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students_1.docxComparing Internal and External Factors of Student Motivation
in Saudi Arabian and South Korean Schools
Motivation is a unique phenomenon. Merriam Webster online dictionary defines motivation as the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something ( ). Psychologists define motivation as a force that drives somebody to behave in a particular way, especially when it comes to fulfilling personal goals (Oniyama & Oniyama, 2005). Student motivation is described as the ability to “stimulate academic learners to behave in a desirable way that favors quality outcomes whether it be in academics, sports or other extracurricular activities” (Christiana, 2009, p. ). One researcher described the term motivation as, “What get people going, keeps them going, and helps them finish tasks” (Pinrich, 2003, p. ).
Of great importance when addressing motivating is identifying the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation comes from external factors that are not related to the task. An example is a learner striving to achieve good grades because they want to get a good job. Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, comes from internal factors related to the task. Analysts sometimes refer to intrinsic motivation as self-or personal motivation, which propel one with the need to fulfill personal desires. A learner striving to achieve good grades because he/she wants to be a scholar exhibits intrinsic motivation (Christiana, 2009). These motivational factors are very important for the student to take ownership of his or her success; therefore, a teacher can stimulate motivation, but the student must want to be motivated in order to succeed.
From an intrinsic perspective, students need to be encouraged to consider how performing well in a particular discipline, such as mathematics, would make them feel (Delong & Winter, 2002). Teachers working with students need to rely on aspects such as personal fulfillment to help students appreciate a particular subject on a more personal level (Tiwari, Tiwari, & Sharma, 2014). Internal motivation is difficult to achieve yet the benefits are long lasting and very effective. The intrinsic factors cover students’ involvement, curiosity, challenges, and social interaction (Faulkner, 2009).
External motivation is highly dependent on the use of assorted rewards. Reward based approach is only effective for a short time and once the headlined objectives are attained, it is easy for an individual to lose a sense of motivation. Extrinsic motivation is appropriate and useful, but psychologists recommend rewards for short-term goals and internal for longer term goals (Delong & Winter, 2002). Regardless of its effectiveness or the duration of the effectiveness, these variables can be used to motivate students towards a desired performance.
Motivation directs the behavior of an individual towards particular goals. Goals can either be short term or long term. In either case, it is the motivation in an individual that creates that driving force that influences individuals to put in an effort to achieve their goals. Motivation also contributes to the increase in effort and persistence by an individual. The greater the motivation, the more the effort and time they will put in the realization of their set goals (Ormord, 2012, p. 190).
Motivation also affects the cognitive process, the way the brain processes information. Motivated learners are more likely to pay attention thus try to understand and elaborate on the learning material. Another way that motivation influence learning is that it determines what consequences are rewarding and punishing. It is more satisfying to get an A for a learner who is motivated to achieve academic success. Likewise, it is more painful for them to get an F or even a B after putting in that much effort. Overall, as a result of the above-discussed effects, motivation leads to an increase in the performance of an individual as they strive to achieve their goals (Ormord, 2012, p 190).
The quest to become successful in society is one aspect that internally pushes many students to perform well academically or in in extra-curricular activities.
Motivation is one of the important topics that has been researched and is still being constantly investigated to understand factors that motivate students from different cultures and assess which are effective because different cultures have different motivating factors (Springsteen, 2014). Motivation could be a key point to education reform (Jenkins, 2011). It is well understood that motivation plays an important role for learning to occur but how and why type of motivation is not completely understood. The goal of teachers is to try and understand what motivates learners and to identify the problems that may face so they can solve them (Hedge, 2001).
In the current technologically competitive world, it is upon the quality of a countries current education system that more likely serves to make the country can a powerhouse on the global map. (Gilakjani, Lai-Mei & Sabouri, 2012).
Good academic performance in schools, therefore, depends on how well the students and the entire schools are motivated and what serves as motivators (Delong & Winter, 2002). When creating a learning environment that is motivating, educators struggle to determine what are motivators for the group and what are motivators for an individual student and how to best used those motivating factors (Christiana, 2009). This study explores the literature on student motivation, an aspect that is not limited by geographical boundaries but affects students worldwide, to better understand how it affects student learning. Regardless of racial, social or economic reasons people are motivated to accomplish goals but their goals may not be to succeed in school or to be successful in all subjects within a school (Tiwari, Tiwari, & Sharma, 2014). Some factors such as family support, teacher’s actions and even classmate behavior affect students’ participation, attitude and motivation for an education. What stimulates students to perform in a particular way is personal but also reflective of their particular cultures (Springsteen, 2014). This includes simple aspects such as effectiveness of the classroom environment. Student’s motivational levels tend to differ with various factors: such as how well their basic needs have been met, the level of arousal they may need, what makes they feel competent and have feelings of self-worth or self-competency, to have degree of autonomy they desire, and their need for relatedness (Ormord, 2012, pp 184-189). This explains why students perform differently despite the fact they share the same academic environment. To minimize the discrepancy of academic performance between students, the issue of student motivation has to be considered (Kusurkar, Ten Cate, Vos, Westers, & Croiset, 2013).
Some schools tend to use strict rules, which can make students feel they can never succeed and serve to de-motivate students. A balanced school should have in place a situation where minor mistakes are allowed. Positive emotions tend to play a huge part in enhancing student motivation. (Cifu, 2012) When all these aspects are put into play in creating a habitable classroom environment, students will be motivated.
The content shared in the classroom, the method or process used for teaching, and the school environment, both between the teachers and students as well as the physical location, are some factors that influence the motivational level of the students in both countries. The content should connect with students and be relevant to real life. It should involve critical thinking and creativity. Furthermore, the use of technology as a teaching and learning tool can serve as a motivational tool (Khan, 2011). Other teaching strategies that serve as motivational tools are encouragement and praise, storytelling, and quizzes. The relational and physical environment in which students learn is also a key factor in motivation. In education, the environment is the varied physical locations, diversity in culture and different context present within a learning center. An environment that the child feels’ comfortable in is more likely to achieve a motivating factor as compared to one that emits discomfort for the same learner. The intellectual environment encourages competition and motivates the slow learning students primarily to work harder and become like their more intellectual peers. Often students are more motivated to work when learning in a team with other students (Williams & Williams, 2011) Achieving, intrinsic motivation is difficult but provides positive results to the students (Jenkins, 2008). Basic psychological needs also have a significant effect on people’s motivation and psychological well being. These needs vary for individuals and in different situations. Everyone has a basic need for arousal to do things to optimal levels. There is also the need or competence and self-worth for people to effectively deal with their environment. The need for autonomy is also another basic psychological need where people want to gain control over want they want to do as well as take charge of their lives. The last psychological need is the need for relatedness where people want to feel connected to other people (Ormord, 2012). Comment by Minadene Waldrop: Do you have a reference for this statement? Can you explain how quizzes serve as a motivational factor?
Researchers have identified various ways in which culture affects cognitive factors underlying motivation. One of the cultural and ethnic differences in motivation is self-worth. Western culture encourages thinking and being good at certain things and thus an individual will engage in self-handicapping behaviors to justify poor performance. On the other hand, East Asian cultures work towards correcting existing weaknesses. A sense of autonomy is also another major cultural difference on motivation. Children are offered more autonomy on decision-making at a younger age in the Native American culture unlike in the Western culture. Another major difference is relatedness. Unlike in the Western culture where children spend more time socializing with their peers, children from the Asian culture seek teacher’s approval and attention. Values and goals also differ from one culture to another as regards motivation. Asian cultures instill more extrinsic motivation while European cultures encourage more of intrinsic motivation in children. Learners’ cultural and ethnic backgrounds influence their attributions as well (Ormord, 2012, pp .184-189).
The classroom environment plays a greater role in shaping the academic performance of any student. It is within these four walls that students tend to spend most of the time and hopefully trying to achieve academic excellence. For most school leaders, classrooms do present intellectual spaces, but from an analytical point of view, classrooms are more than that. Given the fact that students spend more than seven hours, five days a week, in classrooms, the environment needs to be very captivating for academic excellence to be attained. Creating motivational classroom environments means having the physical surroundings comfortable (Rangachari, 2007; Dörnyei, 2007).
Studies about Saudi Arabian Students
Even though Saudi Arabia continues to spend much money and effort into education, the country is not rated high in results as compared to other countries. South Korea also spends large amounts on education but the amount paid of private expenditure is higher than the OCED average (OECD, 2014). In the 2010 International Mathematics Olympiad, Saudi Arabian students scored only 55 points out of a possible two hundred and fifty-two points. Students from South Korean scored ____ points. This particular research is examining if student motivation accounts for the difference in ranking for students in Saudi Arabia and South Korea.
Studies about Saudi Arabian Students
According to Moores-Abdool et al. (2009), in Saudi Arabia, it is believed teachers who teach in English support Christianity and secularism. Saudi students speak Arabic to study the Koran and express their faith in God. Teachers can increase the motivation level of the students by connecting the students’ personal goals with learning. Male students are supposed to have goals of doing work, while girls do not always have such goals or aspirations. Comment by Minadene Waldrop: Describe the article. Tell who they studied, how they conducted their study and what they learned. Each study should be somewhere between a half-page to a full page.
Therefore, as Aslam (2014) states, lack of motivation is found in female students in Saudi Arabia; however, the factors that positively affect students are supportive family, likable teachers, and a safe school atmosphere. Comment by MacBook AIr: Describe the article. Tell who they studied, how they conducted their study and what they learned. Each study should be somewhere between a half-page to a full page.
Springsteen (2014) compares descriptions others provided of Saudi Arabian students with his own experiences teaching these students. She heard or read Saudi Arabian students have a lack of confidence, were lazy and poor planners, had poor attitudes toward education, and often were negligent and overall not motivated to do well in education. These characteristics were attributed to the family environment and cultural issues such as not having to work outside of the classroom. Comment by MacBook AIr: Describe the article. Tell who they studied, how they conducted their study and what they learned. Each study should be somewhere between a half-page to a full page.
Studies about South Korean Students
The perceptions people have of South Korean students are that they must be highly motivated because the country has one of the best education systems in the world. Several studies about these students provide more insight in to the motivation factors affecting them.
In Motivating Korean Elementary Students, Faulkner (2009) explains that South Korean parents spend a lot of resources on their children’s education. For example, they often pay for extra tutorial classes. The students are highly motivated towards colleges because of their association with social status and good jobs. Moreover, South Korean teachers teach with dedication, receive a good salary and have a high social status. For South Korea, the reason for the invasive technique of student motivation is to be at the top of the world both economically and intellectually. Students from South Korea have been reared in an environment that highly values intellectual capabilities. It is through such advantages that a country comes up with solutions that are viable worldwide. The rate of innovations from South Korea is far ahead of Saudi Arabia given the fact that the country prioritizes science and math, disciplines that are not performed well in Saudi Arabia. A lesson that can be adopted from South Korea is that student motivation is an aspect that can occur naturally but when need arises; it needs to be forced in place (Faulkner, 2009). Comment by MacBook AIr: Now take this article and explain who they studied and what they learned. Make it everything you write clear and have it to fit together. You may have to add and change some of what you have written and you definitely will need to add more.
Niederhauser (2012), an English as a second language teacher in a South Korean university, described what motivates South Korean students. She states that the lack of difficulty for meeting college requirements, students’ inability of students to choose their majors, and women’s scarcity of career opportunities are large motivated factors. Also students’ prior learning experience is another factor that demotivates them. College students have had approximately six years of English classes. Still they are no able to speak English. Students’ frustration with their lack of skills serves to prevent them from wanting to learn. Finally, the lack of positive role models for English learners and Korean attitudes toward foreign languages and cultures also influence student motivation. Comment by Minadene Waldrop: Now take this article and explain who they studied and what they learned. Make it everything you write clear and have it to fit together. You may have to add and change some of what you have written and you definitely will need to add more.
Kwon (2016) studied students’ motivation for learning technology in South Korean middle school students. Learning technology to achieve a prestige job was a high motivator but more so for male than female students. Comment by Minadene Waldrop: This needs more discussion. Now take this article and explain who they studied and what they learned. Make it everything you write clear and have it to fit together. You may have to add and change some of what you have written and you definitely will need to add more.
Comparisons
The studies included in this research about Saudi Arabia and South Korea had similarities
but there are differences that have to be noted. The ages of the students in the studies are different. Most were university level except for Kwon’s study about middle school students (Kwon, 2016). The majority of the studies were about students studying English but Kwon’s study was about students studying technology. The Saudi Arabian students were female university students, some in private schools and other in public universities. The South Korean students were male and female.
Faulkner (2009) indicates that since most South Korean students are attracted to intellectual success, they usually brush aside the fact that they were forced into learning English and make it a personal affair. By analyzing this scenario, the dynamics of motivational force have shifted from an extrinsic level to an internal one. The cause of such shifts highly depends on the viability of the external source, in comparing the two countries, is an aspect that is missing in Saudi Arabia. To be more efficient incorporate English, Saudi Arabia could also consider changing the curriculum (Maherzi, 2011). Comment by Minadene Waldrop: Check your word choice here. Do you mean they begin to care about learning English? Or does it become internal motivation?
Content
Saudi Arabia and South Korea manifest different sources of motivation for their students. While in South Korea, the teachers are the significant source of motivation; family support plays the role of the students’ motivation in Saudi Arabia. One common internal factor is the students’ self-motivation drives participation and attitude towards education in both countries. The internal factors in Saudi Arabia are confidence, laziness, and school environment, while social status and method of learning are the internal factors in South Korea (Rangachari, 2007; Dörnyei, 2007).
Physical environment
In comprehensive studies been carried out in numerous American schools, physical environment is one aspect that accounts for the difference in performance of the students in private institutions and government entities. Private school students tend to perform well because they have access to better facilities, and public school students are deemed to perform poorly due to poor maintenance and lack of adequate government initiatives. Such discrepancy is accounted for by the lack of motivation in public schools. Lack of proper classroom environments such as poor lighting and ventilation, external noise, and cracked walls, as well as other issues act as a motivation killer. It is a natural occurrence that students in such academically hazardous environments will have less zeal to focus on studies. The other aspect of the physical climate is that students should be able to interact peacefully and share resources equally. Where resources are inadequate, students tend to spend much time fighting over them instead of using the little resources available. Therefore, to create motivation, the classroom environment has to be put into a state where students are thrilled to exist in and not the other way round where instead of concentrating on their studies, they struggle to fit in such learning conditions (Rangachari, 2007; Dörnyei, 2007). Comment by Minadene Waldrop: Is this general info? How does it relate to South Korea? Saudi Arabia?
In Saudi Arabia, there are extreme weather conditions that bar education for students in public schools. While the weather pattern may change dramatically, students in public schools have a bit more comfort than students from the public schools. It is therefore bound to affect performance in the long run. South Korea depicts the same however weather pattern does not affect learning. In both countries, public schools have just enough resources to provide basic education. Private schools illustrate the opposite with parents contributing more to influence the type of education their children get. In the long run in both countries, students in private schools perform better than those in public schools (Jenkins, 2008).
Intellectual, social, and emotional aspects contribute a great deal to creating an acceptable classroom environment that aids in student motivation. The better the classroom environment, the more focused on academics students tend to be. From an intellectual point of view, students have to survive in an authentic environment that confers on them important and challenging tasks. To create an intellectually productive environment, teachers are the most important assets. The more organized and consistent teachers tend to be, the more streamlined and motivated students will be In an intellectually disoriented school where, for instance, the math teacher is an alcohol addict, students will develop less or no interest at all in the discipline at hand. Consistent feedback is important when establishing a viable learning environment. When a student gets constant positive or encouraging feedback from the instructor, the student tends to get serious with his or her studies (Williams & Williams, 2011).
From a social point of view, creating a motivating environment means enhancing the relationship between students to a point where they can work together peacefully. Schools fail academically and students become unmotivated due to segregation. To motivate the intellectually poor individuals, students, as peers, need to work together as a unit. In addition to the students, instructors also need to be approachable by students. Feared instructors usually do not guide students well towards academic excellence (Sarwar, Razzaq, & Saeed, 2014). In general, the behavioral expectation of each student and teacher needs to be high in order to uphold a socially habitable classroom environment.
From an emotional point of view, the learning environment does not need to be too competitive. Competition can be healthy for promoting the academic environment, but too much of can be threatening to students do not believe they have a chance to be successful (Ormord, 2012).
Student Number in Classrooms
A smaller teacher-student ratio implies more direct contact between students and instructors and the greater possibility of better teacher-student relationships. If an instructor has more time to stay physically close and be aware of the students then students may be more comfortable and there are less classroom management problems. A smaller teacher-student ratio has been shown to be a very important factor for supporting student motivation (Tomlinson et al., 2003). According to OECD reports the average classroom size is 21. Saudi Arabia has an average of 21 students per classroom in primary and secondary schools. South Korea is a more densely populated country than Saudi Arabia therefore the number of students in each classroom is expected to be very different and the statistics reveal an average of 35 students per classroom (OECD, 2011).
Efficiency of Learning Facilities
The physical classroom environment in both of the countries is high compared to other countries in the region. In the current technologically advanced world, most aspects of life including education are conducted differently. Trivedi et al. (2014), state that the two countries have well established information technology facilities that promote a productive environment. Aside from the aspect of information technology, facilities are well developed and analytical studies do indicate that it is one of the root causes for student motivation. When students step in high tech laboratories with enough equipment at their disposal, they are naturally compelled to work hard and this is an as works well for South Korea and Saudi Arabia in terms of student motivation (OECD, 2011). Early student exposure technology elevates the motivational level (OECD, 2011). Comment by Minadene Waldrop: How do you know this? Where is your reference?
