'French is the language of love and stuff': student perceptions of issues related to motivation in learning a foreign language

This digest found in

Gender
Thinking skills
Modern Foreign Languages

Definitions of technical terms used in the study

Motivation consists of a desire to learn the language and attitudes towards the learning situation. Researchers usually attempt to identify the influence of factors such as gender, age, home background and teacher competence in the motivational process.

An integrative orientation occurs when the learner is studying a language because of a wish to identify with the speakers of that language. The alternative, complementary orientation, instrumental orientation, occurs when the learner is motivated by external goals such as passing exams or financial rewards.

Agency is an internal sense of responsibility for one's own learning. This includes awareness of independent learning strategies, metacognitive awareness and metacognitive strategies.

Independent learning strategies include revising at home, and using a dictionary, a library and instructional CD ROMs etc.

Metacognitive strategies - Metacognition is defined by the ERIC digest as thinking about thinking, knowing "what we know" and "what we don't know." The basic metacognitive strategies are: connecting new information to former knowledge, selecting thinking strategies deliberately and planning, monitoring, and evaluating thinking processes. Thinking people control their own learning. They determine when it is necessary to use metacognitive strategies, select appropriate strategies to solve a problem situation and experiment with alternative solutions. They evaluate the effectiveness of the selected strategy and decide when a problem is satisfactorily solved.

Metacognitive awareness is awareness of a range of problem solving strategies, such as planning and goal setting.

Labelling theory is defined by the Collins dictionary of sociology as an analysis of the social processes involved in the social attribution ("labelling") of positive, or more commonly, negative characteristics to acts, individuals or groups. The definition is derived from H.S. Becker's view which sees acts as not naturally good or bad. Rather, normality and deviance are socially defined. Labelling theory goes beyond truisms like 'give a dog a bad name' as the concern is with the effects positive and negative labels have upon individuals' self-conceptions.

These definitions have been supplied by the digest authors for the purpose of our web site audience.

Your path: Home > Welcome to The Research Informed Practice Site (TRIPS) > Themes > Gender > French is the language of love and stuff:student perceptions of issues related to motivation in lTueFeb100944292004 > Definitions of technical terms used in the study
Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction How motivated are British pupils to learning a foreign language? Are there differences in motivation between pupils of different abilities? Do boys and girls differ in their motivation to learn a foreign language? Are pupils more motivated to learn some languages than others? Are there differences in motivation between pupils of different ages? How could teachers improve pupils' motivation? How was the study designed? What are the implications of the study for schools and teachers of modern languages? Where can I find out more? Definitions of technical terms used in the study Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader 'French is the language of love and stuff': student perceptions of issues related to motivation in learning a foreign language This digest found in Gender Thinking skills Modern Foreign Languages Send to a friend Word doc 60KB Printer friendly Collate for later Definitions of technical terms used in the study Motivation consists of a desire to learn the language and attitudes towards the learning situation. Researchers usually attempt to identify the influence of factors such as gender, age, home background and teacher competence in the motivational process. An integrative orientation occurs when the learner is studying a language because of a wish to identify with the speakers of that language. The alternative, complementary orientation, instrumental orientation, occurs when the learner is motivated by external goals such as passing exams or financial rewards. Agency is an internal sense of responsibility for one's own learning. This includes awareness of independent learning strategies, metacognitive awareness and metacognitive strategies. Independent learning strategies include revising at home, and using a dictionary, a library and instructional CD ROMs etc. Metacognitive strategies - Metacognition is defined by the ERIC digest as thinking about thinking, knowing "what we know" and "what we don't know." The basic metacognitive strategies are: connecting new information to former knowledge, selecting thinking strategies deliberately and planning, monitoring, and evaluating thinking processes. Thinking people control their own learning. They determine when it is necessary to use metacognitive strategies, select appropriate strategies to solve a problem situation and experiment with alternative solutions. They evaluate the effectiveness of the selected strategy and decide when a problem is satisfactorily solved. Metacognitive awareness is awareness of a range of problem solving strategies, such as planning and goal setting. Labelling theory is defined by the Collins dictionary of sociology as an analysis of the social processes involved in the social attribution ("labelling") of positive, or more commonly, negative characteristics to acts, individuals or groups. The definition is derived from H.S. Becker's view which sees acts as not naturally good or bad. Rather, normality and deviance are socially defined. Labelling theory goes beyond truisms like 'give a dog a bad name' as the concern is with the effects positive and negative labels have upon individuals' self-conceptions. These definitions have been supplied by the digest authors for the purpose of our web site audience.