Original Research
Students’ perceptions of lecturers’ motivational strategies and their attitudes towards the English language and an academic English module
Literator | Vol 43, No 1 | a1904 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/lit.v43i1.1904
| © 2022 Maria Mushaathoni, Madoda Cekiso
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 07 April 2022 | Published: 17 November 2022
Submitted: 07 April 2022 | Published: 17 November 2022
About the author(s)
Maria Mushaathoni, Department of Applied Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South AfricaMadoda Cekiso, Department of Applied Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria,, South Africa
Abstract
Motivation and students’ attitudes are generally cited as two of the most important factors influencing language-learning performance. Motivation and attitude not only enhance students’ understanding of learning and make them more open to learning, but also raise their expectations of the learning process and lower their anxiety. Therefore, the current study sought to establish the university students’ perceptions of their lecturers’ motivational strategies and their attitudes towards the English language, and the English Academic module. The study was quantitative in nature and a survey research design was followed. A questionnaire was used to solicit data from 150 first-year Foundation students who were conveniently selected. Likert items were used to measure the respondents’ perceptions of their lecturers’ motivational strategies and their attitudes toward the English Language and English Academic module. To analyse data, the most frequent responses are considered by working out percentages that agree, disagree, etc. The findings showed that the students perceived their lecturers as using a range of motivational strategies. These include, but are not limited to, allowing students to ask questions, providing feedback, motivating students to read more material, and praising students for good learning behaviour. The findings further revealed that the majority of students had a positive attitude towards the English language and English Academic module. Lecturers’ motivational strategies and students’ attitudes towards the English language and English Academic module could be perceived as significant considerations for lecturers when they tailor instruction and module design to the needs of the students. In addition, lecturers’ awareness of students’ attitudes can serve as vital information that could be used as a springboard to change the students’ attitudes for the better.
Keywords
attitude; positive attitude; negative attitude; English language proficiency; instruction; module design; academic English module
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