I would say that this may be one of the areas that distinguishes ESL from EFL.  It is highly unusual for me to have an unmotivated student.  Some have to leave the program for a while for personal reasons, but they almost always return as soon as they are able.  The sacrifice significant amounts of time and energy learning English, although understanding my students' lives, I make it pefectly clear that "homework" may be done at the following class period if there is not time to do it at home - without any fear of negative consequences (a difference between adult ed ESL and college level, I suspect).  
 
 

Grace and Peace!
Glenda Lynn Rose, PhD

Instuctor, 
Austin Learning Academy
841-4777
 

--- On Sat, 1/17/09, Steve Kaufmann <steve at thelinguist.com> wrote:

From: Steve Kaufmann <steve at thelinguist.com>
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3481] Motivation in language learning
To: "The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List" <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Date: Saturday, January 17, 2009, 11:13 AM


 A teacher of English in Japan had this to say;

"I have been running into this problem for 5 years now. Out of about 300 people I have taught, I have about 2-3 who have put any real effort to improve their language ability. "

I know from experience that meaningful progress in language learning, in other words, significant self-transformation into a person who speaks another language fluently, takes a lot of effort and commitment, mostly one one's own, outside the classroom. It has also been my experience that the percentage of people who are prepared to put in the effort required is very small. It may be around 1%.

So in the end, language class achieves certain social goals, for both learners and teachers, but does not really bring about any breakthrough in language skills, for all but a tiny minority.

Any comments?

Steve Kaufmann
www.lingq.com
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