ROLE OF MOTIVATION IN LEARNING

Motivation plays a vital role in every sphere of life and various phases of activities. Our success and achievement in life depend on motivation. Motivation is said to be the ‘heart of learning’, ‘golden road to learning’ and ‘potent factor in learning’, as all learning is motivated learning. Our success and achievement in life depend on motivation. It is present in the roots of all human activities. Motivation has become a central construct in both educational and psychological research and plays a significant role in several theories of human development and learning.

Types of Motivation

Intrinsic Motivation. Here, stimulus is internal to the person; it can be biological, emotional, spiritual, or social. In this case, there are no external rewards. The activity is undertaken for self-pleasure and individual satisfaction. It may be characterized by curiosity and a desire to meet challenges. Intrinsic motivation is driven by an interest or enjoyment which a person feels in a task. It is within the individual and does not rely on external pressure but present as an inner force that motivates students to engage in academic activities.

Extrinsic Motivation. Here stimulus is outside the person, it can be there in the form of operant conditioning or social cognition. It refers to the performance of a task for attaining an outcome. It may be in the form of some kind of reward, social approval, or appreciation. Harmer explained that extrinsic motivation is caused by any number of outside factors that might include the hope of financial reward; the need to pass an exam or the possibility of the future level. According to Benabou and Tirole, extrinsic motivation promotes effort and performance with rewards serving as positive reinforcers for the desired behavior.

Factors Influencing Learners’ Motivation

According to Spolsky, the most meaningful factors that affect the teaching/learning process are the teaching method, the age, the aptitude, and the attitude of learners. Skehan lists four motivating factors as the most significant:

(a) Activities in the Teaching / Learning Process. This factor is important because most of the learner’s interest in the subject will depend on the types of activities developed in class.

(b) Final Results. Good results are understood as a reward for the learner, whereas bad results are similar to a punishment.

(c) Internal Motivation. This is connected to the student’s inner drive about the subject as a consequence of previous experiences and the use of the subject to their daily lives.

(d) Extrinsic Motivation. The influence of external stimuli such as rewards or punishments.

Importance of Motivation in Learning

(a) A learner learns best when recognizes the need and develops the desire to learn. This is through motivation. Motivation stimulates learners to think, concentrate, and learn effectively.

(b) Motivation increases the speed of work that a learner is putting to achieve a goal. In education, motivation is a factor of high or low points of the goal (Brown,). When not well-motivated, learners learn very little with difficulty as they see no need to learn.

(c) Motivation is a significantly important factor for academic learning and achievement across childhood through adolescence. Inspiring learners to learn is a major concern in any training situation. Motivation is one of the prime tasks of teaching. The instructor should ensure that it is built in every lesson presentation.

(d) The motivation of learning activities helps the learner to concentrate on what he/she is doing, and thereby gain satisfaction.

(e) Motivation directs learners’ behaviour toward particular goals. It determines the specific goals toward which learners strive; thus, it affects the choices students make.

(f) Motivation enhances cognitive processing. It affects what and how information is processed.

Students’ motivation is a critical part of success in education and later life, but it has often been overlooked by teachers. Understanding of how each of the motivational goals, types, and dimensions influences learning will place teachers in a better position to help and support students who have long been struggling with learning. It is recommended that teachers should create an active learning environment that enhances students’ perceived autonomy and competence, providing students with choices and opportunities for self-directed learning, and planning learning activities that might increase their feeling of mastery.