Teachers’ Motivational Strategies In College English Online Course And Learner’s Perception Of The Effectiveness

Motivation is the driving force behind learning activities and is a necessity that motivates and guides learning.In the Information Technology environment,how to keep students motivated in online courses is the focus of this study.This study investigates the following questions drawing on theories from educational psychology and second language acquisition:(1)What strategies do teachers use to motivate learners in College English online courses?(2)How well do teachers use the motivational strategies?(3)From the learner’s perception,how effective are teachers’ motivational strategies in motivating them? The data for this study comes from the New Target College English online course at a university in Chongqing,and 21 videos from the course are selected.A modified teachers’ motivational strategy observation scale which suits the course is constructed on the basis of the ARCS motivation model.The utilization of the strategies is analysed with the help of qualitative analysis software NVivo 12.In addition,a questionnaire is developed based on video analysis to investigate the effectiveness of teachers’ motivational strategies.The study has found that the strategies employed by teachers to motivate learners are rich and cover a wide range.But the frequency of use varied widely across the dimensions,with the Attention dimension being used most frequently,followed by the Relevance and Confidence dimensions,and the Satisfaction dimension being used least frequently,which is consistent with most teachers’ motivational strategy research findings.Teachers in online courses are skilled at using body language to support explanations,using visualisation,concreteness and variety as strategies to introduce learners to situations,stimulate them to think and engage their attention.However,life stories related to the content and typical errors are rarely introduced.Teachers focus on using personal language to maintain emotional interaction with learners.They also concentrate on connecting with learners’ goals,but strategies to establish connections between the known and the unknown knowledge,as well as familiar learning scenes,are used less frequently.In addition,the teachers present subtitles in sense groups,and also apply the mother tongue to supplement comprehension.Learners are allowed to arrange their own learning activities on the online platform.Strategies such as guiding rational attribution have also been used to alleviate learners’ learning anxiety and build confidence,but all are used less frequently.Online mark-up mechanisms are employed to monitor learners’ course learning,but strategies to reinforce learners’ internal motivation are employed less frequently.The results of the questionnaire survey indicate that they generally approve of the effectiveness of the teacher’s motivational strategies in online courses.Most of them believe that the strategies are effective in attracting their attention and making them connected to the course,as well as enhancing their confidence and making them feel satisfied with the course,which effectively motivate them to learn.In all dimensions,content presentation,content explanation and body language support strategies are all successful in capturing learners’ attention and introducing them to the learning situation.Interactive,goal-oriented and familiar strategies applied by teachers can link learners to learning goals,learning contents,learning settings and what they have learned to compensate for the lack of interactivity in video teaching,making them feel that learning is inextricably connected to them.Strategies such as presenting subtitles in sense groups and adopting native language support for comprehension can help learners to understand the teaching contents.Positive emotional feedback and appropriate attribution can help to reduce learning anxiety and create positive expectations for the course.The utilization of online platforms can facilitate learners to become master of their learning and better organize their own learning,thus enhancing their confidence in learning the course.What’s more,practice and expansion of new knowledge in online courses allow learners to consolidate what they have learned while maintaining motivation on the topic.Emotional support keeps learners positive in their learning.Online mark-up mechanisms leave a record of learning to form external monitoring and maintain motivation.The study has also identified some shortcomings in the use of motivational strategies by teachers in online courses.It is hoped that online courses will be designed with more emphasis on the connection between old and new knowledge and the construction of knowledge systems,providing positive emotional support for learners and focusing on the reinforcement of learners’ internal motivation.