Learner motivation and engagement - what’s the difference?

A common goal among teachers is the desire to make their classes more motivating for their students. By this, they mean that they want their students to be happy and want to learn through the activities that the teacher prepares. This is clearly a great objective, and something that we should all strive for when we teach, but is ‘motivating’ the correct word to use here?

What is motivation?

Motivation in education refers to the drive which students have for their learning in different areas of their study. Some students are motivated to learn in order to pass English language exams, some are motivated by a culture of learning in their family, and some are motivated to learn because they enjoy working with their classmates and fulfilling a social need that they may have. These forms of drive, however, exist independently of the teacher’s actions, and the activities which are performed in the classroom.

True motivation for learning comes from two sources: the learner themself (intrinsic factors), and factors around the learner which push them to learn towards an external goal (extrinsic factors). Considering the examples in the previous paragraph, intrinsic motivations for a learner might include the social aspect of learning, enjoyment of the feeling of success and achievement, and students’ enjoyment of particular activities or games that they prefer. Extrinsic factors may include the pressure to pass an exam, their family culture, or in older learners, to improve their communication skills in an international workplace. As teachers, we should understand what motivates the students in our classes, though we also need to understand that our teaching does not actually affect the types of motivation that learners bring to the classroom.

So what does affect learning in the classroom?

The ways in which we plan classes and activities, the ways that we interact with learners, and the overall atmosphere that we create for students can obviously affect the quality of learning that happens in the classroom. These factors may not affect the intrinsic or extrinsic motivators that learners already have, but they do act to help them to focus, and enjoy our classes in different ways while learning. This is learner engagement, and this is definitely affected by the ways in which we teach.

Different learners are engaged by different types of classroom activity, and may prefer to take part in some activities over others. Knowing what engages different students, and how different activities engage different aspects of their attention is important to keeping the students in you classes happy and productive. 

Different types of engagement

Learner engagement is related to learning preferences (some of which used to be referred to as ‘learning styles’). The theory goes that each learner has a set of preferred ways of doing things as part of their learning; some students prefer to sit back and listen before speaking out, and some prefer to try new language or information out in writing before speaking. Some learners learn best with visual support, whereas some prefer to use a dictionary or glossary while they learn. There are hundreds of variables in these learning strategies, and finding the ways in which individuals in your classes prefer to engage with language and content will help you to design activities and resources which work for them, by appealing to their preferences and therefore raising their engagement levels as they learn.

Some different types of preference/engagement which relate to learning have been defined in Multiple Intelligences Theory, which suggests a spectrum of engagement types which we all have, including (but not limited to):

• Interpersonal (through interacting with others)

• Logical/mathematical (through working out puzzles and patterns)

• Musical (through use of music and song)

• Intrapersonal (through thinking to themselves)

• Bodily/kinaesthetic (through physical movement)

• Spatial (through focus on areas and spaces around them)

• Natural (through focus on natural processes)

  
  

And more, which can be revealed as learners tell you what kinds of topics, activities and ways of doing things they enjoy most.

Engagement, motivation, learning preferences and study strategies are closely related, though should not be confused when thinking about how learners learn. The key is when all four of these important areas come together to give students what they want and need in the way that they are happiest with.

Find out about the students that you teach by trying out different types of activity, which require different responses from learners, and you will be able to cater more closely to what drives them to study, and what keeps them most engaged as they do so.

Language Point Teacher Education Ltd. delivers the internationally recognised RQF level 5 Trinity CertTESOL over 12 weeks, part-time in an entirely online mode of study, and level 6 Trinity College Certificate for Practising Teachers, a contextually-informed teacher development qualification with specific courses which focus on online language education or online methodology, and can be used to develop your awareness of strategies for working with exam-focused classes.

If you are interested to know more about these qualifications, or you want take your teaching to a new level with our teacher development courses, contact us or see our course dates and fees for details.

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