The Role of Student Perceptions on Motivation in the ESLClassroom
Tecumseh Stretch

University of Southern Maine
stretchtecumseh@gmail.com

Abstract
Student motivation is of paramount importance in the ESL classroom. Students with natural ability often failto progress in an L2 due to a loss of motivation; whereas, students with less innate ability often achieve
language fluency as a result of high motivation. The purpose of this action research study is to investigate
how teachers can best motivate students to learn in the ESL classroom. This paper highlights the impact
teacher efficacy, motivational strategies and student-teacher rapport can have on student motivation. The
study was conducted using online surveys of 10 current ESL teachers on their in-class practices andperceived student motivation. Analysis identified five main themes and have attempted to reasonably
demonstrate the relationship between student motivation and teacher experience, confidence, preparation,
motivational strategies, and rapport. The findings indicate that there are ways for teachers to better
motivate their students, however, the best approaches are often those that work best for the individual.

Keywords
Motivation, student-teacher rapport, self-efficacy

1Introduction

Throughout my teaching career, the greatest challenge has been motivating students to engage in the lesson.
As a teacher, I have had great success in my lessons reaching my students and encouraging them to learn andgrow as ELLs. However, this wasn’t always the case, and I often found myself needing to adjust my
strategies to meet the changing needs of my students. Throughout my experiences training new teachers, I
found that other teachers struggled with motivating their students, as well. Therefore, this action research
project was conducted to investigate and analyze strategies that can provide insight for improving my own
teaching practice, as well as, adding to the wealth of knowledge. The purpose of this study was to identify
ways to better motivate my students to learn in the ESL classroom.
Motivation is a complex concept and must be assessed on an individual basis, based on each
student’s individual situation. It can be greatly affected, both positively and negatively, by socioeconomic
status, familial pressure and involvement, school requirements, desires, goals, and culture. However, myown experiences have found that the teacher can also have a significant impact on student motivation, bothin and out of the classroom. Given the breadth of studies on student motivation, I focused my attention on
two aspects of motivation research, namely teachers’ perceptions of effective motivational teaching strategies,
and student perceptions of strategies and instructors.
The literature surrounding motivation in the ESL classroom is quite varied, albeit dominated by a
few major theories, all of which have underlying assumptions. Motivation is individual, mutable, andsusceptible to external factors. Gardner discusses instrumental and integrative motivation, both as internalmotivations to either achieve a goal, or to integrate seamlessly into a society (Zareian & Jodaei, 2015).
Dornyei discusses the role of internal motivation, but phrases it in an image of ideal L2 self, the “ought toself,” and also gives credence to the learning environment (Zareian & Jodaei, 2015). Self-determination
theory, as discussed by Deci and Ryan (2008), argues that intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic factors, orexternal goals, are the driving force behind student motivation. Rhetorical and relational goals theory (Mottet,
et. al, 2006) discusses the role the teacher plays in shaping and encouraging student educational goals, andusing teacher-student communication to foster student goal achievement. The ARCS motivation model,developed by Keller (1983), provides assessment methodology to quantify motivation by addressing the needfor understanding the relationship between student attention, relevance of material to student lives, student
confidence and student satisfaction with student motivation to learn.
In my experience, all of these competing views of student motivation provide insight into the larger
truth, much of it overlapping. Each of these models emphasizes the individual nature of motivation and therole personal desire, goals, and enjoyment can have on motivation. Furthermore, the role individual
experiences, and external factors also greatly impact the motivation of individual students. My goal, in thisstudy, was to determine, not necessarily the root of individual motivation, but the different ways in which I,
as a teacher, can motivate my students, and the different strategies that are effective in motivating my classes.

2

Literature review

To further investigate the subject and provide a foundation for my research project, I used articles that
explored the relationship between teaching strategies, teacher perception, student perceptions, student
lived-experiences, and the impact of these aspects on student motivation. Three of the studies were
founded in ESL literature, with a firm grounding in ESL motivational theory. The fourth study came from abackground in general education with a foundation in psychology. The one article from outside the ESL
discipline helped establish some perspective to the overall discussion of student motivation, as a whole.
These four studies were all performed in different countries with different demographics, anddifferent initial focus. However, they all reached similar conclusions, through different avenues. The
studies all concluded that teacher motivational strategies have a great influence on student motivation,
improve student engagement, student psychological well-being, student confidence, and student satisfaction
with the lesson. Furthermore, all four studies identified the correlation between student perception of thelesson, and specifically the teacher as a major source of student motivation, emphasizing the value ofstudent-teacher rapport to student achievement.
Bernaus and Gardner (2008) discuss how the student perception of teaching strategies considered“traditional,” decreased student engagement and motivation in the lesson. Therefore, student perception ofwhat was happening in the class directly altered the way they engaged with the material. This was very
similar to Guilloteaux and Dornyei’s (2008) discussion of how students view of the class as a whole, and theteacher specifically, altered the way students engaged with tasks assigned, regardless of the task. Thoonen
et al. (2018) also reached a similar conclusion when they argued “teachers’ sense of self-efficacy has an
impact on both teachers’ practices and students’ motivation to learn” (p. 12), where the teacher’s confidence
alters student perceptions, increasing student motivation. Furthermore, student self-efficacy discussed in
Bernaus and Gardner (2008) has a similar impact on student achievement. In all of these studies, I saw
evidence that students’ perceptions of themselves, their teachers, and the lesson materials, had a significant
influence on student motivation and achievement.
However, one other aspect of the studies became clear, the relationship between teacher
preparedness and motivation. Yüncü Kurt and Kurt (2018) discussed the relationship between instructor
behavior, e.g. being enthusiastic, energetic, and caring, as well as teacher preparation and feedback being
motivating factors for university students. Whereas, these students possessed the confidence and ability to
express these thoughts, younger learners may not understand the relationships, or feel comfortable
expressing criticisms of teachers who fail to provide effective feedback, care, or be prepared for lessons.
Bernaus and Gardner (2008) discussed this problem, when they found that teacher strategies had minimal
impact, and recommended that teachers should use whatever approaches they feel comfortable using. In
other words, teachers should be prepared first and foremost, for everything else in the lesson will flow fromthat preparation.
These four articles provided me with great insight into the subject of student motivation and thefoundational theories surrounding the subject. They also provided some great examples of survey
methodology and approaches to evaluating teacher performance and self-reporting. The student-centered
feedback also provided me with a view from the other side of the desk, allowing me to reframe my questions
to foster teacher reflection on their own teaching strategies and philosophies. Understanding that the mostinfluential aspect of motivation rests in student perceptions, and that teacher-student rapport is the foundation
upon which that perception is built, provided an excellent place to begin my research study.

3

Methodology

3.1
PurposeLooking further into the literature on motivation helped to clarify my own research questions.

The goal ofthis action research took form, and became a search for further understanding of how teachers foster
motivation in the ESL classroom. Though motivation can be an internal force that drives a student to learn
another language for either its intrinsic value or for personal extrinsic goals, motivation can also be heavily
influenced by external factors. In the field TESOL, and particularly TEFL in non-English speaking
countries, the teacher is often the main, if not only, source of external motivation for students to learn anotherlanguage. Therefore, teacher can be one of the most influential external factors for motivating or
demotivating students. As teachers, one of our fundamental aims must be fostering and maintaining student
motivation. To further this goal, the purpose of this action research project became investigating motivational
strategies that teachers found most effective; how teaching experience and preparation impacted theirlessons; and how teachers established and fostered rapport with their students.
3.2
Setting
This study was conducted online through a survey created via Google Forms, during the month of June, 2023.
The survey was sent out on June 9th, and data collection was completed on June 16th. The survey focused on
three areas of interest, namely, student-teacher rapport, teacher preparation, and motivational strategies usedin the classroom. The survey was disseminated to two graduate level courses by the professor, and shared via
Google link with colleagues in Japan, via email, and through the Saitama JALT group on Facebook.
3.3
Participants
Initially, the survey was intended for graduate students in the TESOL program at the University of SouthernMaine, however, due to a lack of participants, the sample field was expanded to include colleagues in Japan.
In total, ten teachers participated in the survey, five ESL teachers in the USA, and five EFL teachers in Japan.
Participants were limited to those with at least one year experience teaching TESOL.
Participants ranged from new ESL teachers, with one-year experience, to highly-seasoned veterans,with more than twenty years of experience. The participants fell into two further groups, those who taught
ESL, and those teaching EFL. The first group, from The University of Southern Maine, was composed ofteachers who have some experience teaching ESL. The second group of participants was composed ofexperienced teachers, all of whom lived and worked in Japan, and had extensive EFL teaching experience.
When combined, these two groups provided a wide range of perspectives on motivational strategies, teacher
preparation, rapport building in the ESL classroom, and experience with different student populations.
3.4

Data collection

Data was collected online, through a survey with 30 questions divided into four sections including
participant background, teacher preparation and classroom environment, classroom management
and motivational strategies, and building rapport with students. The survey was developed by me
and borrowed aspects from each of the four studies in the literature review, and used therecommendations from Dana and Yendol-Hoppey (2020) to further develop the questions. The
survey included a collection of 30 questions using 5-point Likert scale, multiple choice, select allthat apply, and short answer questions. The survey was created on Google Forms, for this study,
and sent out to participants on June 9th, 2023.
The study was conducted anonymously, to ensure truthfulness in participant answers.
The participating teachers were asked to be completely honest, and report on their classroom
practices, self-efficacy, and use of different motivational strategies. The participants were given
one week to complete the survey. After the one-week period, only five participants in the USA
returned the survey, so the participant field was expanded to include five EFL teachers living inJapan.
I would have liked to have a larger sample size, 20+, for this study, however the data I
collected can still provide some insight on motivation.

3.5

Data analysis

Recommendations found in Dana and Yendol-Hoppey (2020), as well as similar methods found inother studies including Thoonen et. al (2011), Guilloteaux and Dornyei’s (2008), and Benaus andGardner (2008), were used as guides for data analysis. Qualitative analysis was used to interpretthe data and arrange it into themes making it easier to explain the role of teacher influence on
student motivation. Through my interpretation, five overarching themes became apparent, thatemphasized the importance of the teacher’s role on student motivation in the ESL classroom.

4

Findings

In order to clearly organize and present the data, five themes were identified. These findings will be
discussed in relation to current literature and my own teaching experiences.
Teacherexperience/background, confidence, preparation, student-teacher rapport, and the use of motivational
strategies in lessons can all have significant influence on student motivation in the lesson. In this section, I
will describe the findings and try to provide visual representation through data charts and participant quotes.
The participants fell into two broad categories: those with >10 years teaching experience, and thosewith <10 years teaching experience. As shown in Figure 1, 70 percent of the participants fell into thecategory of less than 10 years teaching experience, and three respondents had over 10 years. These twodivisions will have significance later when we discuss the data. The participants also worked with students
of different ages, and had different lesson focus. All three categories of background data had an influenceon teacher strategies and student motivation. As teachers, we know that difference in student ages andgoals can create differing needs and require adjustments in the way a teacher teaches their lesson, and also
impact student reactions to the teacher.
Figure 1: Experience teaching TESOL (years)
Morethan 10
years
30%

Less
than 10years
Less than 10 years70%

The first theme was related to teacher confidence. The survey used a 1–5-point Likert Scale toask respondents to rate their efficacy, confidence, and their student engagement (see Figure 2).
Respondents all identified as either agree or strongly agree that they are confident in their lesson, however
not all respondents felt their lessons were as effective. All of the respondents indicated that their student
engagement and teacher efficacy was improved when they were confident in their lessons, and also indicatedstudent engagement, motivation and participation declined when they were not confident.
Figure 2: Teacher confidence and related data
5

Likert Scale

4

3

Teacher
Confidence
Self Efficacy

2Student
Engagement
Student
Motivation

1

0
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Respondents

8

9

10

Teacher preparation was the next important theme. Respondents were asked to assess their own
lesson preparation, how well-prepared they were for their lessons, and how their preparation affected student
focus, attention, engagement, and motivation. Data indicated that teachers who were more prepared in theirlessons had greater student engagement, motivation and better view of the lesson as a whole. The data also
indicated that when participants were under-prepared, students were less motivated, and more difficult tomanage as a class.
Our fourth finding indicated that the motivational teaching strategies, and classroom
management/atmosphere play a significant role in student motivation, participation, and comfort.
Respondents were asked to indicate what motivational strategies they employ in the lesson, the kind of
atmosphere they try to create, and how they praise or correct students. Participants all used multiple
motivational strategies, each with different frequency, and each participant found that different strategies
worked better for them. One participant stated:“I find students are more motivated when the activity is play-based in some way, such as a game,
free play, or hands-on materials.”
Furthermore, all of those who took the survey indicated that creating a welcome atmosphere, and usedsmiling, humor, and intonation modulation as ways to create a warm, comfortable environment. A way toconnect with students and create a welcoming atmosphere involved providing students agency in the lesson.
One participant wrote:“Connecting the lesson to students' lives is highly motivating for my students. I also like to havestudent choice in what they read and write about, as they are more engaged when they areinterested in the topics.”
The majority of respondents also indicated a propensity to provide feedback and praise individually rather
than in front of other students. However, all of the respondents agree that students should have someagency in the lessons, and must feel comfortable making mistakes in the lesson.
The final theme was highly significant and involved student-teacher rapport. Respondents all
indicated that student teacher rapport was of utmost importance in the lesson, with one participant indicatingthat rapport was their main motivating technique. Short answer responses, in particular, indicated that all of
the participants used multiple rapport building strategies, with a few being used universally. Teachers all
discussed student lives, dreams, and interests with students, and also did so in an informal setting before andafter lessons. One participant wrote about building connections throughout the school year:“[A]t the high school level, if a student is not motivated, the best strategy for me is connection anddrawing upon the student teacher rapport that had been carefully crafted throughout the year.”
Another discussed the importance of connecting to students’ lives outside of school.
“This allows me to help my students make connections with their out-of-school lives, and it helps
me remember details about the students' families which they appreciate.”
All of the respondents also indicated that honesty, being forthright and providing feedback using specificexamples helps to foster student-teacher rapport.

5

Discussion

Based on the findings of this study, I come to four main conclusions. These conclusions will be discussed
as relationships between the findings in the previous section. First, the connection between teacher
experience, self-efficacy and confidence was undeniable. Second, teacher preparation had a direct impact
on teacher confidence, student engagement, and positive student perception of the teacher/class. Third,
though motivational strategies used may differ by teacher, using multiple strategies improved teacher ability
to motivate students. Finally, fostering student-teacher rapport significantly improved student motivationand engagement in the lesson.
The data suggested, teachers with more practical experience were more confident in the lesson, andbelieved they were more effective teachers. The survey results showed that the teachers with the greatest
number of years teaching, also had the highest reported self-efficacy, confidence and perception of student
participation, motivation and engagement. This aligns with findings from Thoonen, et al. (2018), whoargued that teacher perception of their own effectiveness portrays confidence, and as a result students
develop confidence in the teacher’s ability. In other words, with more practice, teachers come to be more
comfortable in front of the class. However, the results also indicated that teachers with more experience
were also less prepared than their colleagues. This result was similar to findings by Benaus and Gardner(2008), who found that teachers with more experience were less likely to try new approaches, and were more
likely to be more teacher-centered in their lessons.
Teacher preparation was shown to be directly related to teacher confidence and positive student
perception and engagement. The teachers who reported greater class preparation, also indicated they had
better student engagement and motivation when adequately prepared; whereas, participants reported poor
classroom management and less engagement when they were under-prepared for their lesson. This was very
similar to findings discussed by Yüncü Kurt and Kurt (2018), when they discussed student feedback onteachers. They found that students responded better when teachers were sufficiently prepared for the lesson,and that when teachers were more prepared, student engagement and motivation greatly improved. Benaus
and Gardner (2008) also found that the student perception of the teacher impacted their engagement in thelesson. Therefore, it stands to reason that teachers who are perceived as being well-prepared by students,
will also have better student engagement, motivation, and performance, resulting in higher confidence.
Participants indicated that the motivational strategies they used were different, however, all of them
indicated that the use of strategies improved student motivation and engagement in the lesson. Different
strategies being effective for different people, in different contexts, makes sense given objectively. Given
the years of experience, lesson focus, student age, and myriad other external factors, it stands to reason thatwhat works for one teacher may not work for another. Benaus and Gardner (2008) alluded to this point
when they argued that the strategies teachers utilized made little to no difference on student motivation;
however, the way they were applied in the lesson, and perceived by the students, had a significant impact.
The data from my study also indicated that utilizing multiple strategies was the most effective way todetermine what will work for the individual teacher, as well as in the given context of a specific class.
Therefore, teachers who used more strategies in their lessons were more effective teachers, as they were able
to find what worked best for them, given their individual contexts.
Student-teacher rapport has long been seen as important in the lesson. It was, in fact, the only realadvice I was given when I started teaching. This study was, in part, designed to identify parallels between
rapport building and student motivational strategies. As the data suggested, these two are inextricably
linked, especially for K-12 students. Guilloteaux and Dornyei (2008) discussed this relationship andconcluded that students who had a favorable opinion of their teacher, i.e., good rapport, were more willing toengage in an activity regardless of the perceived value of the activity itself. Yüncü Kurt and Kurt (2018)
also discuss this relationship, when they argued that students were more apt to come to lessons, volunteer,
and were more motivated when they had a positive view of their teacher. In my own experiences, I havefound this to be absolutely true, and have seen the results of teachers who failed to build rapport with theirclasses, for example, some classes I have had great success with, have become unruly and unresponsive withother teachers, and vice versa. The data in this study supported this conclusion, with each of theparticipants actively engaged in rapport building, which had a direct, positive impact on their lessons.

6

Limitations

This study was conducted over a short period of time and only included ten participants. I would have liked
to have more, ideally fifty plus, which would help to even out any anomalies in the data, e.g., averageteaching experience was skewed closer to 10 years, by two highly experienced teachers. However, due totime constraints, I was also limited to a two-week window for respondents to find participants, and for themto respond. This limited the number of participants, and also limited the methods available for datacollection. The study would have greatly benefited from personal interviews and classroom observation, as
well. Given that the study depended entirely upon self-reporting, the validity of teacher responses must be
taken at face value. Without personal classroom observation, and follow-up interviews, the data has a highamount of trust being placed in the honesty of the self-reporting.

7

Implications

7.1

Implications for future researchThis study highlighted some excellent themes for further research, which would benefit, and can befurther investigated through additional data collection methods. As mentioned above, classroom
observation, intake interviews and follow-up interviews would be of great value further fleshing-out
teacher perceptions and provide validation to the current data. A further study, over a longer
period of time, involving observation and student involvement would also be of great value to the
ESL field. I would like to further investigate the role of teaching strategies, teacher efficacy,
preparation and rapport from the student perspective. I believe pursuing this research project,from the other side of the classroom, would be invaluable for the field, and would be of significant
value for future professional development programs.
Further research in the area of student motivation would benefit greatly from building on
the conclusions generated by this study, particularly from the relationship between student
perception of the teacher’s efficacy, and student teacher rapport. It would be interesting to further
investigate how classroom rapport influences student perception of a teacher’s ability to teach. I
have personally seen teachers who were unprepared, and objectively not very effective teachers of
the subject matter, maintain student attention and focus throughout the year. It would also beinteresting to see how situations like these impact student motivation in a longer term, and how
they influence long-term student success and language development.

7.2

Implications for practical application

Though this study had a small sample size, and would benefit from further study, it has provided
some insight into student motivation and the efficacy of teaching strategies in the ESL classroom.
I have come to a few conclusions that will greatly benefit myself, and may be beneficial for other
ESL teachers to incorporate into their own classrooms. I will now attempt to provide some insightfor other teachers that may be worth applying to individual situations.
As teachers, experience is highly beneficial to overall efficacy in the classroom, however it
can also limit our self-reflection and overall improvement. As a result of doing the lessons year
after year, teachers can become stagnate in our ways, and feel that we are already prepared for thelesson we’ve taught a dozen times before. However, though we may be excellent at the lesson, wemust also be willing to improve our practice. Even if it takes a little extra effort, taking time toprepare each time will benefit our students, and enable us to make adjustments to meet theever-changing needs of our students. If we can demonstrate to our students that we are prepared,caring, and confident teachers, our students will be more willing to engage with the lesson and will
be more motivated to learn whatever we teach. As an added benefit, through ongoing
self-reflection and preparation, we can also create engaging and exciting lessons for ourselves, as
well.
The data from my study also demonstrates the value of being willing to try new approaches
and keeping an open-mind in the lesson. If we can engage in self-reflection and identify whatstrategies or approaches work best for us, or for the situation, we can improve our efficacy andsubsequently provide a better environment for our students.
Through ongoing personal
improvement, willingness to adapt and adjust to new teaching strategies and technologies, andbeing flexible in the lesson, we can improve our teaching practice, and find new ways that will
better motivate our students. Technological advances in education are happening daily, and wemust also be willing to try new approaches to motivate students in the information era.
Finally, we have a duty to provide the best educational opportunities for our students, andthis includes a safe, comfortable environment that ensures equity and compassion for all of ourstudents. To achieve this goal, we must build trust with our students, and build a relationshipthat fosters encouragement, motivation, honesty, and safety. Student-teacher rapport is thefoundation on which we can create this environment. My study has demonstrated the value
rapport has, not only for motivating students, but in creating a connection between teacher andstudent. This connection can provide a support network for students who may not feel comfortablein their new environment, or may feel like an outsider in the broader school community. By
forging these bonds, and fostering student motivation, we can enable students to become active
participants in the society, or in the case of EFL, become members of a larger global community.

8Conclusion

This study has provided a good starting point for further research, and provided a few insights into
teacher perceptions of self, and the impact teachers can have on student motivation. Teachers are in
the rare position to help shape the way students see the world, and in the field of ESL, teachers
have the distinct privilege, and responsibility, to help shape the way they perceive a new language.
Through my study, I attempted to demonstrate how teachers can motivate students to learn a new
language, and came to some important conclusions. Teacher experience is highly valuable, butteachers must also be willing to adapt to new situations. Teachers must be willing to try new
strategies and approaches, find what works best for them, and adjust to the needs of their students.
Student perception of teacher efficacy is one of the most important factors for student motivation in
the classroom, and when teachers are confident, prepared, and attentive to student needs, students
respond in kind. Finally, student-teacher rapport can have a significant influence on student
motivation, participation, and engagement. Though this study was limited in scope, it has
provided some insight into the nature of student motivation, and the ways teachers can help theirstudents learn. It has also provided some new directions for further study, which I plan toinvestigate in my own practice.

9

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