A Survey of Motivation in EFL Classes from the Perspective of Learners and Teachers

Abstract

Incentives, drives and motivation are the main terms in psychology that strengthen the persistence towards the desired achievement. This paper investigates teachers and students’ perception of how motivation can be promoted and consolidated in the EFL classroom. More precisely, how teachers can raise the level of motivation inside and outside the language classroom. The significance of this study lies in the fact that once learners are motivated, they can easily realise that they are achieving a purpose of their language learning and that they are more willing to accept the challenge of some demanding tasks. In this study two questionnaires were used: one for 46 teachers (in English) and one for 75 students (in Arabic). Teachers were in favour of almost every item related to motivation, and their average scores were higher of than that of the students. Probably experience and knowledge of the issue played a major factor. In general, the questionnaires for both groups yielded higher results than the calculated average for every group; for teachers, it was 72%, and it was 60% for the students. In conclusion, encouragement, appraisal, and motivation are important in classroom activities to raise language learning awareness and learning persistence.