Motivation and Communicative Attitudes Among Japanese Efl Pupils

Abstract

This paper describes how gender and age affect Japanese pupils' motivation for learning English and their attitudes to communication with people from different cultures. A new foreign language curriculum was introduced to Japanese elementary schools in 2011. Although each school can officially choose any foreign language in its own right, most elementary schools are now conducting English activity. However, as most homeroom teachers lack both experiences and qualifications for teaching English, this activity puts them under pressure. In addition, the number of foreign assistant language teachers (ALTs) is not sufficient in most elementary schools. The writer surveyed fifth and sixth grade pupils' motivation and their communicative attitudes in Japan during 2010, before the new course program, "foreign language activities," began in 2011. The data were collected from three elementary schools in Japan via a questionnaire. The items on the questionnaire are related to motivational attitudes, orientations (reasons for studying a foreign language), communicative attitudes and some other variables relevant to learning foreign languages. The main focus of this study is to examine motivational and attitudinal variables among the pupils with regard to learning English, especially gender and age effects on these variables. The results show that girls generally have higher scores on motivation and communicative attitudes. Most previous studies have also shown that girls generally have a positive attitude toward learning a foreign language. This study argues that the reason behind this positive attitude toward learning English is due to their positive attitude toward communication in general. With regard to the age, there are a few differences between two school grades. As there is only one year difference in age between fifth and sixth grade pupils, the result is to be expected. The study suggests that Japanese elementary schools face a number of difficulties teaching English as it is difficult for teachers to motivate all pupils. Keywords: motivation, communicative attitudes, home room teachersThe need for communication skills in English is more important than ever in Japan as in other countries such as Sweden (Henry and Apelgren, 2008), Hungary (Csizér and Kormos, 2008) and many Asian countries (Butler, 2004, Chen andCheng, 2010). Since the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) revised its curriculum guidelines for Japanese schools in 2008 (MEXT, 2010, an emphasis on communication skills has been reinforced in the teaching of English. High school teachers are required to teach English through the medium of English. "Foreign language activities" have been included in the curriculum for elementary school teachers since April 2011. In December 2013, MEXT announced a plan to introduce English education at elementary schools. It has been said that the decision to introduce English to the elementary school curriculum was due in the first instance to pressure from the industrial world...

English Language Motivation between Gender and Cultures

“…Many studies found that female students combine the two types of motivation instrumental and integrative for learning English compare to their counterpart males which seems to have instrumental motivation to accomplish their personal purposes such as getting a job (Akram & Ghani, 2013). Adachi's (2015) study indicated that female students are motivated as a result of their attitudes towards English whereas, males are motivated by the people surrounding them. As a result of the gap between female students and male students' motivation in language learning, this article highlights this relation according to social and cultural factors in the Arab world compared to non-Arab world.…”

“…Adachi's (2015) study revealed that male students' motivation for learning English was influenced by their parents. According to Azarnoosh and Birjandi (2012), in Iran, particularly male students bring honor to their family when they speak English proficiently.…”

“…Concerning the preference of teachers, the study found that students preferred the public teachers than native speakers of expatriate teachers because they are not familiar with students' educational, cultural background, and needs. Adachi (2015) found that male students' motivation in primary schools were influenced by their teachers and peers. The study conducted by Mathew, Job, Al Damen, and Islam (2013) showed that more than 70% of the participants agreed that they will comprehend better in English class if their teachers changed their methods of teaching.…”

“…-Creating a positive learning environment helps students to be stress-free and encourage them to participate (Adachi, 2015). -Teachers should provide lack self-efficacy or demotivated students with simple activities that are at their level.…”

The Effects of Cooperative Learning on Self-Efficacy in an EFL Classroom

“…In fact, it is difficult to determine whether participant rejection of the cooperative approach reflected opinions formed as a result of these classroom experiences, or whether they are rooted in cultural attitudes shared amongst a wider learner community. It is possible that the absence of English communication in the day-to-day life of most Japanese people, and its perceived status in Japan as a foreign language, rather than an L2 (Adachi, 2015;Amburgey, 2015;Maftoon & Ziafar, 2013), could help explain this collective response by participants.…”