Integrating Motivation-building into Language Instruction: A Study of Iranian Foreign Language Classes

A large number of studies have been conducted on the exploration of English language learners’ motivation. However, the dynamics of this variable as reflected and constructed by language teachers’ discourse in the class has not been examined yet. Thus, the purpose of the present study is to examine English as foreign language teachers’ discourse regarding the strategies they use to improve their learners’ motivation via a conversation-analytic approach and also the notions of frame and footing. To do so, teacher-student interactions in four English language classes in different sequential contexts were videotaped and transcribed. The findings indicated that the teachers often integrate motivation-building and motivation-enhancing strategies in an ongoing interaction via the negotiation of different footings and frames. Teachers mainly used several types of strategies such as guiding their students in formal and informal conversations, disclosing their own learning experiences, mitigating their corrections, and setting short-term and long-term goals for them. Moreover, the results shed more lights on the intricate verbal and non-verbal maneuvers existing in the teachers’ shifts in footings and frames, both formal and informal. The pedagogical aspects of the findings concerning our awareness of the significant role of teachers in raising their students motivation are discussed.