Strategies and motivating activities in the classroom of foreign languages and cultures (LCE)

• Asmara Mujica Universidad del Zulia
• Mariela Arrieta
• Marbelis Gómez

Keywords: Motivation, motivational strategies, teaching-learning, foreign languages and cultures, motivating activities

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to analyze aspects related to motivation so as to propose appropriate strategies for the teaching and learning of foreign languages
and cultures (FLC). It was a descriptive research due to the fact that specific models of motivation related to the general competences for teaching and learning FLC, as stated in the Common European Framework of References for Languages (2000), were reviewed. The main conclusion is that Dörnyei's process-oriented motivation model (2001, quoted in Dörnyei, 2007) is the most suitable, since it includes 3 phases where motivation must not only be generated and maintained, but it must also be evaluated retrospectively by the learner at the end of the learning process. This procedure will allow him to reorient his motivation towards new actions. By promoting opportunities for self-assessment and self-regulation, students can set new goals, new challenges and device possible solutions to problems through the use of meta-cognitive learning strategies, thereby achieving greater autonomy that will enable them to direct and perform actions independently. For this reason, it is necessary that the facilitator of the teaching-learning process employs a variety of motivational strategies that promote a behavior oriented towards the achievement of the goals in order to generate a systematic and permanent positive effect on the learners. In this case we suggest the strategies proposed by Dörnyei which include implementing dynamic, creative and innovative activities that increase interest and the desire to put into practice the theoretical scaffolding that the learner has acquired through the different stages involved in learning FLC.

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N.B. Este artículo forma parte del Proyecto CONDES CH-0093-15 titulado “Estrategias motivadoras en la enseñanza-aprendizaje de las Lenguas y Culturas Extranjeras”.