Home › Blogs › Yearinthelifeof's blog › The daily motivational #1: how expectancy-value theory rocks your classroom
      TeachingEnglish
      The daily motivational #1: how expectancy-value theory rocks your classroom
      Submitted by Yearinthelifeof on 20 January, 2012 - 17:23

      Ask yourself this question: do your students really expect to pass the course?

      What is it worth to them if they do pass the course? Is there any other course of action (by which I could mean any other language course) which can deliver the same outcome? Could they expect, rightly or wrongly, to pass a different course more easily? Is it unreasonable to expect them to attach greatest value to the course of action that will most likely be successful for them?


      Welcome to Expectancy-Value Theory! -  Brophy (1999) and Eccles & Wigfield (1995)

      Key components: The expectancy of success / The value attached to that success

      •  The two key factors which influence the motivation to perform are a person’s expectancy to succeed and the value they place on having succeeded in doing that particular task.
      •  A person will be more highly motivated when both of these are developed.

       

      Do you notice any occasions when this might have affected your classes?

       

      Average: 5 (3 votes)

      Tag

      Comments

      Yearinthelifeof's picture
      Yearinthelifeof
      I tried to keep it short and sweet
      Submitted on 21 January, 2012 - 15:20

      If you want to learn more:

      http://www.teacherstoolbox.co.uk/T_Expectancy-value.html

      http://www.slideshare.net/cianel/expectancy-value-theory-presentation

      http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-11142005-153232/unrestricted...

       

       

      BigMerv's picture
      BigMerv
      Yep
      Submitted on 21 January, 2012 - 15:22
      You're on to something here. I've certainly known students to sit in my classes coz someone's making them take the course, only to find out they're studying for an alternate, similar qualification at a language school. In some countries it's the norm for the day classes to be seen as unimportant and that additional classes are necessary if you really want to pass whatever exam it is. It's a crazy world.
      BernaYilmaz's picture
      BernaYilmaz
      I see this often
      Submitted on 21 January, 2012 - 15:35
      Some students don't see value in a language course. Maybe their employer said to do it and they just show up. When this happens, they struggle because there is no real value to them in what they are doing. Thanks for interesting links too.
      jazzyiris's picture
      jazzyiris
      Thank you for those great
      Submitted on 22 January, 2012 - 12:46

      Thank you for those great links! I too have students who need to change their view on their innate abilities, relying (or attributing) all their successes (or failures) to their IQ rather than work itself!

      Yearinthelifeof's picture
      Yearinthelifeof
      :-)
      Submitted on 22 January, 2012 - 13:00

      Thanks, jazzyiris. This can be such a delicate issue, which is why I've really enjoyed researching motivation and finding out what makes our learners tick. It's an easy - and effective - way to not blame yourself for failure; much easier to say the course or the book weren't very good.