Demotivation towards Learning Leads to Misbehavior in EFL Lessons

After having deeply analyzed the fourth journal entries previously posted on this reflective blog.  I may claim that there exist an evident intervention point that must be considered as a crucial aspect in my teaching practice: “Demotivation towards Learning Leads to Misbehavior in EFL Lessons”. I will support this statement quoting extracts from the journal entries.  

“Unfortunately, misbehavior in students did not help most of them reach the objective of the class: Learn about family members.” (Journal entry III)

Demotivation seems to be one of the hardest issues that I have ever faced in my teaching practice. Experience has indicated me that nagging at students and requesting for discipline is not as easy as asking boastfully to students to pay attention and respect the lesson.

“Those students who had to present their family trees were anxious. In fact, those who were not speaking in front of the class did not pay so much attention; they were just focused on gossiping” (Journal entry IV)

I still remember the first time that I met my students the school where I am currently working, this a rural educative institution with around a thousand students. Serious social problems are evident at that place. Students’ attitude regarding the class was not the best. They seemed to be annoyed and reluctant to the class.

“The very first day, I was a little bit anxious due to the fact that at the very beginning of the lesson, students tended to behave naughtily and noisily. Besides, as one of the purposes I born in mind had to do with getting to know my students a bit more, I asked them about the ideas they could share with me regarding the school environment. Most of them complained about previous methodologies implemented by past teachers.” (Journal entry I)

Having the abovementioned aspect in mind, I began thinking of the possible forms in which I would address the demotivation and reluctance my students were showing. So, I started to observe their behavior in class. Besides, I devoted the first part of the class to ask them about the ideas they borne about English as a language. They all recognized this was important in life. However, they seriously complained about the methodology they had been forced to follow while learning English the previous years. Students claimed that not even a word in English was pronounced by the teachers they had had.

“Students were not focused and they did not like the activity that much. They talked a lot; they did not understand the instructions and the aim of the activity got lost.” (Journal entry II)

They also stated that the forms in which the teachers, coordinators and principal call their attention was not polite at all. Furthermore, students expressed that they were sick of being threatened with the argument of being reported on the “classroom behavior report keeping”. Some of them laughed as they said they did not care if they were given a negative mark.

My job as a reflective practitioner just started. So, I would come up with the following course of action to solve this problem:

First of all, boring grammar lessons should be avoided. Grammar should be presented in small doses as communicative activities are carried out in the group. Moreover, the idea of nagging at students and threating them as form to push them to work, should be also avoided. In fact, students must be perceived as human beings that need be treated with love, respect and humility. Probably, those are the sorts of values that these kids need to start growing up as social beings.