Parsons Daniel

Thomson Regan

Kwansei Gakuin University Repository

Keeping It Fresh:The Importance of Novelty in the ClassroomRegan THOMSON*, Daniel PARSONS*AbstractThis paper briefly outlines the issues of motivation and engagementthat face EFL learners not only in Japan, but the world over. It offers defi-nitions of motivation and engagement, and outlines the problems thatteachers face when students become demotivated and disengaged withtheir learning. It proceeds to describe how research from Mind, Brain, andEducation science can inform teachers about how to counteract this prob-lem, in particular by taking advantage of the Reticular Activation System’ssensitivity to novelty and the subsequent boost to attention, motivation,and engagement.I. IntroductionThis paper aims to address the issue of motivation and engagement in EFLlearners from the perspective of Mind, Brain, and Education science. In Japan, moti-vation to learn English is commonly known to decrease as students progress throughthe levels of education (Yashima, 2002), and they often exhibit signs of being disen-gaged from their lessons. Novelty and the arousal of curiosity have been found tobe efficacious in promoting motivation and engagement in learners and learning en-vironments that have become stagnant, bored, and otherwise ineffective. This paperwill describe the process by which novelty can aid student engagement and motiva-tion, and offer some practical tips on how to achieve this.??????????????????????????????????????????* Instructor of English as a Foreign Language, School of Science and Technology, KwanseiGakuin UniversityKwansei Gakuin UniversityHumanities ReviewVol. 21, 2016Nishinomiya, Japan??II. Motivation in SLAAs has been reported on countless times, motivation is one of the key factorsthat determine a learner’s success in SLA (Gardner, 1985; Gardner et al., 2004;Lightbown & Spada, 1993). A lack of motivation inevitably leads to either failure toachieve competence in learning a second or foreign language, or stagnation at a cer-tain level. Dornyei (1998) terms motivation as that which “is responsible for deter-mining human behaviour by energising it and giving it direction” (p.117). He furtherposits that motivation in second and foreign language learning is by no means asimple thing, rather a multifaceted phenomenon including such factors as a learner’sexpectancy of success, the value they place on the learning of the target language,and what goals they have and how the target language orients towards those goals(Dornyei, ibid.). Additionally, Williams and Burden (1997) explain that there areboth internal and external factors that affect motivation in language learning. Inter-nal factors relate to those factors which come from inside the learner, i.e. thelearner’s feelings, attitudes, emotional state, developmental age and gender, whereasexternal factors relate to outside pressure from parents, teachers, and peers, thelearning environment, and cultural and societal pressures (for details see Table 1 be-low).Table 1 Williams and Burden’s (1997) framework of motivation in language learningInternal factors External factorsIntrinsic interest of activity?Arousal of curiosity?Optimal degree of challengeSignificant others?Parents?Teachers?PeersPerceived value of activity?Personal relevance?Anticipated value of outcomes?Intrinsic value attributed to the activityThe nature of interactions with significant others?Mediated learning experiences?The nature and amount of feedback?Rewards?The nature and amount of appropriate praise?Punishments and sanctionsSense of agency?Locus of causality?Locus of control RE process and outcomes?Ability to set appropriate goalsThe learning environment?Comfort?Resources?Time of day, week, year?Size of class and school?Class and school ethos?? Regan THOMSON, Daniel PARSONSRegarding the Japanese EFL context, Japanese students are widely known tolack sufficient motivation, particularly among those studying in STEM fields (Hill,Falout & Apple, 2012; Kaneko, 2012). For these students in particular, English as aforeign language is often not seen as particularly relevant or interesting. After all, ifthey had wanted to study English, why wouldn’t they have entered the languagesfaculty?III. EngagementAnother factor that is inherently connected to motivation and language learningis student engagement. How much attention students pay to tasks and activities dur-ing class, their participation, interaction with the teacher and their peers, and volun-teering answers are all ingredients of successful student engagement (Huang, 2011).Klem and Connell (2004) state that learners who are engaged will invest effort intheir work, enjoy challenges, and persevere through difficult tasks. One common ob-stacle to learner engagement is a lack or loss of interest in the task or activity athand, leading to learners becoming bored or distracted (Carless, 2007). Stroud(2014) outlines the importance of learners being behaviorally engaged (doing thework assigned to them) as well as emotionally engaged (experiencing positive emo-tions or pleasure from the work). Unfortunately, in the Japanese EFL context, stu-dent engagement in language classrooms is often sorely lacking, and students oftenMastery?Feelings of competence?Awareness of developing skills and mastery in achosen area?Self-efficacyThe broader context?Wider family networks?The local education system?Conflicting interests?Cultural norms?Societal expectations and attitudesSelf-concept?Realistic awareness of personal?Strengths and weaknesses in skills required?Personal definitions and judgements of successand failure?Self-worth concern learned helplessnessAttitudes towards language learning in general?To the target language?To the target language community and cultureOther affective states?Confidence?Anxiety and fearDevelopmental age and stageGenderKeeping It Fresh ??tend to zone out and lose focus on classroom activities and tasks, and not displaysigns of interest or enjoyment in their work.IV. Utilizing brain-based research to foster motivation and engagementAs a way to combat this loss of motivation and engagement in English classes,we recommend turning to research emerging from Mind, Brain, and Education sci-ence. This field of study takes research from the separate fields of psychology, neu-roscience and education, and analyses how they can inform each other to find outhow people learn best. One of the key elements that has been identified as impactfulon motivation and engagement is curiosity. Curiosity stems from novelty, somethingnew that is unexpected and raises consciousness.Willis (2010) emphasises the importance of novelty in the classroom by firstdescribing the Reticular Activating System (RAS), the first gateway to the brain ofall sensory information. The RAS involuntarily chooses only several thousand of themillions of pieces of information available to our brains every second to passthrough and be processed by other parts of the brain. When aroused, the RAS in-creases blood flow to the brain, and because of this, alertness, attention, and engage-ment increase (Steriade, 1996). First and foremost, the RAS is sensitive to criticalinformation for our survival, and sends that information to the lower part of thebrain which is responsible for the fight, flight, or freeze response (Raz & Buhle,2006). The implications for this in a classroom setting is that should a student en-counter a situation in which he or she feels stress, anger, or fear, he or she is morelikely to focus on that threat and lose focus on the task and content at hand (Shim,2005). However, the RAS is also extremely sensitive to novelty, pleasure, andthings that arouse curiosity (Willis, ibid). In a classroom, this means that whenevera student encounters something novel, the RAS is alerted to pay more attention be-cause of a change that justifies further evaluation (Wang et al., 2005).By understanding more about how the brain works and how to capture the at-tention of their students, teachers can better design their classes to take advantage oftheir students’ brains’ sensitivity to novelty and change, arouse their curiosity, andfacilitate more engagement with tasks, activities, and lesson content. Ames (1992)identifies novelty, variety, diversity, interest, and reasonable challenges as being im-portant in students’ mastery goal orientation. Willis (ibid.) outlines an abundance oftechniques for how to incorporate novelty and variety into educational settings, thuscreating interest and encouraging engagement in students. The following (Table 2)are examples from that list, as well as others we recommend as well.?? Regan THOMSON, Daniel PARSONSV. ConclusionWhile many teachers may become frustrated with their students’ seeming lackof motivation and engagement with their English language learning, there are waysto overcome this issue. Implementing some of the above examples, or coming upwith one’s own ideas to incorporate novelty into classes can take advantage of theRAS in students’ brains and focus their attention and effort on classroom activitiesand learning, rather than becoming bored, disinterested, distracted, and disengaged.ReferencesAmes, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of educationalpsychology, 84(3), 261.Carless, D. (2007). The suitability of task-based approaches for secondary schools: Perspectivesfrom Hong Kong. System, 35(4), 595-608.Dörnyei, Z. (1998). Motivation in second and foreign language learning. Language teaching, 31(03), 117-135.Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudesand motivation. Arnold.Table 2 Ideas for incorporating novelty into educational settings?Change your voice intonation, speed, and volume when presenting information.?Use colours to mark key points on charts, documents, boards, and slides.?Vary the font styles and sizes in text.?Change seating arrangements from time to time.?Advertise future units or lessons with posters, puzzles, clues, and hints. Ask students to predictwhat they think it’s referring to.?Play music when students enter the room, when you enter the room, or to signal the presentation ofnew or important information.?Behave in a novel manner, such as teaching from a new part of the classroom.?Incorporate humour whenever possible. This creates pleasure in the brain and focuses students’ at-tention (Sousa, 2006; Dornyei & Czicer, 1998).?Where possible, offer hands-on activities that encourage students to use their hands for somethingother than writing or fidgeting.?Offer students choices. Usually students are told what to do, so giving them a choice of options canbe unexpected and novel. The act of choosing, even from a limited number of options, has theadded advantage of creating personal relevance for students.?Vary the activities of the lesson, both intra-lesson and from day to day or week to week (Dornyei& Czicer, 1998).?Change the venue of the lesson. If the lesson content allows it, take the students outside or to a dif-ferent room.?Change your wardrobe. Wear something unexpected that stands out and grabs students’ attention.?Utilize technology in the classroom. This provides a change from the usual paper/pen and white-board/marker setup that most students are used to.Keeping It Fresh ??Gardner, R. C., Masgoret, A. M., Tennant, J., & Mihic, L. (2004). Integrative motivation:Changes during a year-long intermediate-level language course. Language learning, 54(1),1-34.Hill, G., Falout, J., & Apple, M. (2012). Possible L2 selves for students of science and engi-neering. In N.Sonda, & A. Krause (Eds.), JALT 2012 Conference Proceedings. Tokyo:JALT.Huang, K. M. (2011). Motivating lessons: A classroom-oriented investigation of the effects ofcontent-based instruction on EFL young learners’ motivated behaviours and classroom ver-bal interaction. System, 39(2), 186-201.Kaneko, E. (2012). On the motivation of science majors learning English as a foreign language:A case study from Japan. OnCUE Journal, 6(2), 3-26.Klem, A. M., & Connell, J. P. (2004). Relationships matter: Linking teacher support to studentengagement and achievement. Journal of school health, 74(7), 262-273.Lightbown, P. M., Spada, N., Ranta, L., & Rand, J. (1993). How languages are learned(Vol.998). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Raz, A., & Buhle, J. (2006). Typologies of attentional networks. Nature Reviews Neuroscience,7(5), 367-379.Shim, J. (2005, August). Automatic knowledge configuration by reticular activating system. InInternational Conference on Natural Computation (pp.1170-1178). Springer Berlin Heidel-berg.Steriade, M. (1996). Arousal: revisiting the reticular activating system. Science, 272(5259), 225.Stroud, R. (2014). Assessing Student Engagement in Tasks. Kwansei Gakuin University Hu-manities Review, 19, 93-105.Wang, J., Rao, H., Wetmore, G. S., Furlan, P. M., Korczykowski, M., Dinges, D. F., & Detre, J.A. (2005). Perfusion functional MRI reveals cerebral blood flow pattern under psychologi-cal stress. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of Amer-ica, 102(49), 17804-17809.Williams, M., & Burden, R. L. (1997). Psychology for language teachers. Cambridge: Cam-bridge University Press.Willis, J. (2010). The current impact of neuroscience on teaching and learning. Mind, brain andeducation: Neuroscience implications for the classroom, 45-68.Yashima, T. (2002). Willingness to communicate in a second language: The Japanese EFL con-text. The Modern Language Journal, 86(1), 54-66.?? Regan THOMSON, Daniel PARSONS

Keeping It Fresh : The Importance of Novelty in the Classroom

https://kwansei.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=25563&item_no=1&attribute_id=22&file_no=1

Keeping It Fresh : The Importance of Novelty in the Classroom

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Kwansei Gakuin University Repository