The use of reward and cooperative learning for motivating learners in writing

Abstract

Intrinsic motivation is one of the critical elements required for successful writing. Therefore, teachers need to provide pertinent motivators according to learners’ needs. This research work tackles learners’ reluctance to write in English. Its focal point is the use of verbal reward as an extrinsic motivator and cooperative learning as an intrinsic motivator in teaching writing. The overarching aim is then to determine the effect of using cooperative learning and verbal reward on the intrinsic motivation of first-year pupils to write English paragraphs at Okba Ibn Nafaa Middle School in Mila. This investigation is based on the hypothesis that if writing English paragraphs is taught under cooperative learning and verbal reward conditions, learners’ intrinsic motivation to write would be increased. For this purpose, we relied on the true or false test of knowledge about cooperative learning and the teachers’ questionnaire to select one teacher for the classroom observation which is used to get a clear vision about the pupils and the research questions. Then, the field notes are transferred into contact summary forms. Three main questions have been chosen for the study: (1) what people, events, or situations were involved? (2) what were the main themes or issues in the contact? and (3) what new target questions and speculations about the field situations were suggested by the contact? Finally, the teachers’ and learners’ questionnaires seek to check the hypothesis. The results of the investigation have shown that pupils who write under cooperative learning and verbal reward conditions display an increase in their intrinsic motivation to write English paragraphs. This positive outcome reflects the efficacy of integrating intrinsic and extrinsic motivators to respond to learners’ needs and helps to suggest some modest pedagogical implications to help teachers secure potent outcomes when teaching writing.