Anxiety and Motivation - What to Know

These days there is a lot of pressure, worldwide, for
students to be masters of everything. Students feel a 
mixture of anxiety to be the best, and motivation to do
their best. When these two mix, it can create great 
things. However, sometimes it can cause a lot of 
stress which can lead to failure and defeat.  If we can 
identify these issues in our classroom and predict 
their course then we as educators can make moves to eliminate these factors, thereby enabling our students to experience a more comfortable and effective classroom.

Common factors for motivation include teacher expectations, students’ intrinsic motivation, harmony between perceived and actual language ability and students' use of metacognitive learning strategies. These factors combined, or alone, contribute to student anxiety and motivation about learning English as a foreign language. If students are supported by teachers and feel they can rise to their high expectations to succeed in class, they are more likely to work harder. When this motivation is combined with supportive teacher attitudes, appropriate praise, consistent patterns of teaching and inclusive teaching styles, classrooms are more effective and comfortable places for all students, including foreign language learners. 

Moreover, if students feel comfortable in their classroom, they develop intrinsic motivation to strive for success, leading to self-awareness and discovering which strategies work and which don’t; all factors in the development of metacognitive learners. Research shows that students of language who use metacognitive strategies such as answering questions “before reading, during reading and after reading” are much more likely to become successful and literate students during the course of their education.  Furthermore, students who believe they are able to perform the tasks required of them in the classroom are far more likely to be confident and motivated learners, because they are not anxious about making errors and can instead focus on their education. 

On the other hand, students who are placed in a classroom that is too demanding for their comprehension level, with teachers that are negative and discouraging may fare differently. Students in a classroom environment with teachers who give negative comments about their abilities and who communicate any low expectations they have to their students can suffer from anxiety and low motivation. This is mainly because students are unaware of why they are treated this way; they may believe they are making an effort to do well in class, but are treated poorly, or the miscommunication could be due to language barriers. This method of teacher-student relationships exhibits a style that is incongruous with students’ learning needs and will ultimately lead to poor outcomes in the classroom. Additionally, students who feel they are not equipped for the demands of the class will feel anxious and unwilling to participate. This further widens the gap between their ability and the class level or materials they are supposed to learn, thereby increasing anxiety, discomfort, and demotivation. 

In order to prevent this problem from occurring in any classroom is a difficult job. It becomes more convoluted when working in an EFL classroom where communication is difficult. I believe it's important to challenge students to a level they are actually able to achieve. Pushing a student to excel in a way that is impossible even for a child genius does no one any favors. We as educators need to look at each child and their abilities and weaknesses and understand that they are doing the best they can with our support and guidance. Students are definitely amazing but they still need our help! Educators need to ensure that their students are being heard.