Enhancing First year middle school pupils’ motivation to learn English during the COVID19 pandemic

Abstract

Motivation plays a significant role in any teaching/ learning process. It is one of the most fundamental fields of research which drives researchers to investigate the strategies and the techniques that can enhance pupils’ motivation. After the reopening of schools during the COVID19 pandemic period, many English teachers started thinking about the appropriate techniques and activities to be relied on in the classroom in order to improve and recover pupils’ learning. The purpose of this work was, then to explore the motivational strategies that are adopted by EFL teachers to enhance their novice pupils’ motivation to learn English. To reach this goal, A case study was conducted at Heddi-Tayeb middle school relaying on two research instruments for data collection. An interview with the English teacher, and a classroom observation. The data collected from these research instruments were analysed qualitatively. The results obtained showed that the teacher could make his students motivated and highly engaged with English classes under the safety measures of the COVID19 pandemic, and this was due to the techniques and the activities that were selected, and the teaching materials and aids that were used by the teacher to raise students’ motivation. On the other hand, pupils showed positive behaviour as a reaction to the strategies and techniques of the teacher. Consequently, EFL teachers in middle schools could deal with the pandemic situation and attempt to choose suitable motivational activities and techniques for their pupils even though they were not able to make them work in groups and pairs.