Teachers’ views and methods for motivating students to write in English.

Abstract

Both learning to write and motivation are central themes in Norwegian education and motivation is an important factor in learning to write in English. Yet, little research has been done on what knowledge teachers have of motivation for writing and how they practice it. The purpose of this study is to examine individual teachers’ views on motivation and how they experience motivating students for writing. Interviews were used to ask a small selection of teachers what they thought of motivation, and how they practiced motivation for writing. The data was categorized and analyzed in relation to the relevant theory. This study found that while teachers partly incorporate several of the principles that are described in theories on motivation for writing, they did not show a broad understanding of these theories. Additionally, the study found that the teachers felt their ability to focus on motivation for writing was constrained by various limiting factors such as exams, students’ abilities, and time. As motivation is regarded as important for learning to write, further studies to achieve a more general overview of teachers’ outlook on motivation for writing, as well as studies to test which motivational methods could be successfully integrated into the Norwegian education system are needed.