Gordon Parvez, India
Motivating students is definitely most essential. It helps keep their attitudes right!

Shalini Kumar, India
Without motivation there is no synergy in the class. Imagine training a lifeless class!

Sanjay Kulshrestha, India
Without motivation nothing can be done. So motivation is essential to perform any task successfully.

Anna, UK
Often pupils do not see the purpose of what they are being taught and so display an apparent lack of motivation. When the cause of lack of motivation is identifiable (and I think that as teachers we have a responsibiltiy to identify barriers to learning) it may be mitigated.

Regarding HES's wonderful dictionary definition of the word 'motivate' and the deductive reasoning that followed: it may be useful to consider whether the divide between the teacher's role to encourage and that to motivate (generate interest) is quite so rigid.

Sanjay Bhushan, India
When a student is motivated, half the battle is won.

Joel, Czech Republic
Of course you have to move students to learn, if this sounds familiar then you were at the same seminar I was at, motivating, moving, all in all one and the same, no? If motivating means creating the need in your students to learn and become actively involved in the lesson then I'm all for it.

Motivation is an integral part of the teachers job, we are the link between the text book and the real world, and yes it's a difficult job, some students don't need as much motivation as others, but we all need a little encouragement, a little motivation.

Kate, Czech Republic
Sometimes I feel de-motivated that my pupils need so much motivation!

Tjang Kian Liong, Bandung, Indonesia
Many (or perhaps most) young students are not aware of the importance of using the present opportunity to learn seriously, they mostly focus on having fun and might avoid doing serious work such as studying.

If the teacher can motivate them by tuning their minds to continually seeing the fact that they are responsible individuals who are building up their own values and future, I am sure the students will cooperate with the teachers to perform better in their studies.

Antonio Chen, Mexico.
I strongly agree with the motivation idea and it is us, the teachers the ones who produce it out of the students curiosity and desire to learn. In my opinion, one of the factors that helps to motivate a student is the teacher's ability to clarify his pupil's questions and satisfy his learning demands.

Harshad Sanghrajka, UK
Activities need motivation. Teaching is no exception. Students who are motivated are more successful.

A.fetah Abdulah, Bulgaria
Motivation is necessary for learning, teaching and working.

Michael Along, China
Anything can be learned well if you love it. A teacher's job is to help students enjoy their learning. What I mean is if they could enjoy their subject, they would find out answers by themselves.

Tina van Klaren, The Netherlands
I believe that "tickling" a student's intrinsic motivation and getting his eyes to shine is one of the most wonderful achievements of a teacher's daily task. Accepting and encouraging his mistakes (and therefore the student himself) so that he may pleasurably open his window of learning wider is essential. Just be there for him and, when the student is ready, bridge those language gaps. (You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink).

Esteban Barraza, Argentina
One may be tempted to assure the importance of motivating in our classroom. What is not clear, this is personal, how must this be done, and to what extent is motivation to be considered the major factor to learning in teaching English as a foreign language.

Bob Majirioghene, Nigeria
Three teachers recently lost their jobs in my school because they were unable to 'carry the students along'. They knew what to teach but did not have the match to light the candle in the student's eye.

Jackie Poulouktsis, Greece
Of course motivating is important in teaching! Otherwise,lessons can often become just another routine affair, with teacher and students 'going through the motions'. The effect is stultifying and soul destroying...as all teachers know! If the students are reminded of the reasons for doing exercises etc and if they are shown how the skills and knowledge they are acquiring will be useful in their future lives, it can only help! For example, writing a good composition requires not only language knowledge, but also skills of organisation and clarification, summarising etc., which will help them in other areas of their life. Correct grammar will enable the student to express herself and make herself understood. The students must be aware of how wonderfully their minds are being stretched by learning another language. Topics which interest the students are perhaps the best way to get them really interested in the lesson, wanting to find out more. Quizzes and puzzles too. Reluctant students must be praised whenever they make an improvement or contribute to the lesson. This is where the family needs to co-operate with the teacher.

Hossein Mirabdollahi, Iran
I think motivation certainly plays a very crucial role in learning and teaching a foreign language and not only the teachers but also the community and the family can help increase motivation. If this happens the process of learning and teaching will be much easier and full of fun.

Flopp, California USA
Motivating and teaching are two different things. Motivating an audience of students can be important, especially if the material is boring and there's resistance to learning it, but it certainly isn't essential to the teaching process. Many lethargic speakers enjoy successful teaching careers because the material they cover is interesting by itself. And many motivational rhetoricians enjoy successful speaking tours without teaching anyone a single thing! They're two different things.

Donny, St Rogers Island
Adults tend to be self motivated learners. Many children are not. A good teacher will have the skills of a motivator. Whether they are used will depend on the learner.

Cybill Molina , Peru
Of course yes, one of the mot important roles of the teachers is to motivate the students, but first they have to find out why these students have poor motivation.

Agnieszka, Poland
As a teacher in junior high I may say that simply I cant imagine my work without doing all my best to motivate and engage students in their language learning process. It is such an integral part of teaching that trying to pretend that motivation does not exist would be like pretending that we do not get wet when we take a shower. Simply, motivation is one of the most important factors in the classroom whatever subject we teach.

Liliana Rodríguez
I certainly agree with 1 since motivation is the motor that leads us to achieve objectives.

HES, England
Define "To Motivate"! It does NOT mean "to encourage". It means positively to induce or create a new, spontaneous drive in an animal with a nervous system capable of responding. To put a wish where there was none before. In this case, the suggestion is that the teacher ought to do something to make the "subject" WANT to learn that which the teacher hopes to teach. Balderdash and Poppycock! You would be an unusual teacher if you tried actively to dissuade pupils from learning your skill, but that does not constitute a positive obligation to "motivate" or create an intention or desire where none exists. The enormously heavy duty of the teacher is limited to FULFILLING; not to GENERATING. The former is itself often too much for most of us.

Bob Craven, Netherlands
Absolutely important to motivate where it is lacking. In my experience this is best done by making the st. WANT to understand what you are saying and for this, story-telling is very important; the power of stories to grip the st. is the main tool in "motivation arsenal" !

Margot McCamley, Tunisia
Motivating students comes about because learners are able to use the language. When learners do this, they are motivated. It is the teachers role to show students how to use the language effectively for their needs. So is it the teachers role, or is it the students role? It's a bit of a catch 22 - students get motivated because they are learning from the great things teachers are providing for them to learn effectively. Teachers are motivated by the way students respond to the effort they make and so the cycle progresses...

Hans Bogstad, Belgium
The teacher can certainly help the student get motivated, but there are so many other factors in the student's life which can either strengthen or break down this effort, such as job situation, family background, educational history, relationship with other students, level of financial security, etc.

Betty, Italy
I really think that motivation is an essential part of teaching....Without it, students might lose their interest in the language itself.

Pradeep Sharma, India
The students in India are highly motivated to learn English language, but only initially. Since language learning requires the proper environment, exposure and context, which most of them don't get as they come from regional language cultures, they lose enthusiasm very soon. Then the teacher has to act both as a motivator and a teacher.

Wilhelm Milhuisen, Sri Lanka
I believe motivating students to learn is of paramount importance. Planning resource material well ahead with the elements for motivating students will give teachers a hold on the class, help steer the students in the right direction and at the end of the class, point out those students who came out on top and those who need more individual attention - more Tender Loving Care.

Reza Niroorang, Iran
I think motivation plays an important role in learning a foreign language. Students who are motivated help their teachers in teaching materials and can learn better. Something which is very important here is that motivated students never show extreme behaviour.

Fowzia Salem bin Othman, Yemen
In a situation like ours where English is not used in everyday life for most people resulting in the students not seeing its communicative use, I think that motivating the students in the class becomes very important. I have seen it work in practice.

René Marbeuf, France.
If you learn something, it's because you ARE motivated (just like eating & being hungry). Otherwise teaching would be like cramming food into geese(without the final result:"pâté de foie gras"!). What motivates you is pleasure; curiosity or interest(deriving any kind of advantage or benefit from what you learn). It's extremely difficult to arouse either in your public/audience/spectators-class. Anyway, even if motivation does play its part,it's not enough to allow you to learn: you must be properly intellectually( even physically and morally) "equipped".

Heather Roberts, New Zealand
Motivation is part of the teacher's enthusiasm, commitment and hopefully passion for the subject. If we don't have that we can't expect the students to feel much positive about it. It would be nice to think we could motivate students to study for intrinsic rewards and sometimes we can; otherwise we are motivating them with the extrinsic rewards that we are aware of.

Edwina Hughes, UK
As a teacher of business English to corporate executives who already possess a degree of motivation, I still find that my role as motivator is often as important as the technical tuition. I become a mentor.