Abstract

This study explored the relationship between the use of motivational strategies by Albanian and Japanese teachers and the observed and reported motivation of missionaries at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Provo, Utah. The aim of this study was to collect baseline data about the motivational strategies already employed by teachers in the Albanian and Japanese areas of the MTC and to explore the relationship that the teachers' use of these strategies has with the motivation of the respective missionaries. The data for this study was collected from seven teachers and 28 learners during a series of observations using a modified version of the Motivation Orientation of Language Teaching (MOLT), a classroom observation instrument developed by Guilloteaux and Dörnyei (2008). The MOLT is used to record the observable motivated behavior of learners as well as the motivational practices of the teachers according to Dörnyei's (2001) foreign language classroom motivational strategy framework. Each participating class was observed using the MOLT three times during the missionaries' nine-week stay in the MTC. The data from the observations was supplemented with teacher and learner surveys administered during the first and final weeks of the study period. Not only was this study useful for collecting valuable information about teaching practice at the MTC, but it also adds a new dimension to the empirical research that has been done in motivation in second language acquisition by expanding the research to English speakers being taught in foreign languages, whereas most research had been focused in ESL and EFL contexts. It is the first study to combine surveys with an observation component in target languages other than English. The results of this study support previous findings that teacher use of motivational strategies does indeed correlate significantly with learner motivation.

Degree

College and Department

Humanities; Linguistics and English Language

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