Motivation and Investment in Language Learning

ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING WITH A MOBILE PHONE

Motivation is a key component in language learning but investment in learning will help as well. Motivation to succeed in the classroom no matter what the subject is enough for some students to excel. But for others a payoff or return on the investment they have put into learning will help them to succeed. This is the point being made by Norton Peirce (1995) in her article on Social Identity, Investment and Language Learning. Learning a new language with help from a smartphone or phone application has clear motivational value as Hiromi rightly points out. With such high usage it represents an almost universal avenue for presentation of second language learning tools. I enjoy using my phone ap to infrequently practice my Italian vocabulary. I particularly like hearing the words pronounced correctly as I practice. But what motivates me? Returning to Italy and being able to buy groceries at the markets and then returning home to a villa to cook and eat them. Am I prepared to invest time in this learning? Sometimes....so my learning is progressing slowly.

 

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INVESTMENT

I await the day when an impatient Italian teacher appears on my phone via skype etc at a regular time each week to tutor me!

Norton Peirce, B 1995, Social Identity, Investment and Language Learning, TESOL Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 1 pp. 9-31.

Ciao 

Conrad