An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Ghanaian Trainee Teachers’ Motivation to Major in the English Language: Implications for Classroom Pedagogy

Authors

  • Daniel Arkoh Fenyi Department of Applied Linguistics, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana
  • Richard Morrison Department of Languages, Foso College of Education, Assin Foso, Ghana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47540/ijqr.v1i3.459

Keywords:

Classroom Pedagogy, English Language, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Teachers’ Motivation

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the motivation with which all the 18 final year English-major students of a College of Education in the Western North Region of Ghana made the ‘choice’ to major in the English language. This qualitative study employed a semi-structured one-on-one interview and focus group discussions as the data collection instruments. The data collected were subjected to a thematic analysis. The outcome of the study reveals that the learners admit that motivation plays a crucial role in their choice to major in the English language. Seven thematic areas were identified as the motivation for the choice. These are; self-esteem and fulfillment, communicative functionality, global competitiveness, technology, home and family factors, academic relevance, and the teacher factor. It is revealed that the stakeholders of education, such as teachers, curriculum planners and designers, developers of teaching and learning materials, principals, and school managers, should be aware of the motivation of the students for ‘choosing’ to major in a particular course [such as English] to design programs, curriculum, teaching and learning activities and materials that would best sustain and enhance the interest of the learner in the program.

References

Albodakh, M. &Cinkara, E. (2017). The relationship between learner motivation and Vocabulary Size: The Case of Iraqi EFL Classrooms. Arab World English Journal, 8(2), 279-292.

Alizadeh, M. (2016). The Impact of Motivation on English Language Learning. International Journal of Research in English Education, 1(1). 11-15.

Andri, P.J (2018). The role of students motivation in learning.Cemogag Press

Anjomshoa, L. and Sadighi, F. (2015). The Importance of Motivation in Second Language Acquisition. International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature, 3(2). 126-137.

Arroll, M. A. (2015). Health psychology and interpretative phenomenological analysis. In M. J. Langweilder & P. W. McCarthy (Eds.), Methodologies for effectively assessing complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). London: Singing Dragon.

Bakar R. The effect of learning motivation on student’s productive competencies in vocational high school, west Sumatra. International Journal of Asian Social Science. 2014;4(6):722-732.

Butler, Y. G. (2014). Parental Factors in Children’s Motivation for Learning English: a case in China, Research papers in Education, 30(2),164-191.

Clarke, V. (2010). Review of the book Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research. Psychology Learning and Teaching, 9.

Cresswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). California: Sage Publications.

Dang, T.B.D., Le, V.L.& Ha, T.V. (2021). Factors Affecting Motivation of English-Majored Students towards Learning English at a University in The Mekong Delta, Vietnam. European Journal of English Language Teaching. 6 (6) 95-115.

Debnath, K.J. (2018). Learning Psychology. Pameran: Amd Press

Dennis, Y.D. (2019). Motivational strategies in the language classroom. Kludep: CKP.

Dikilitaş, K. &Bostancıoğlu, A. (2019). Inquiry and Research Skills for Language Teachers. Springer Nature.

Fenyi, D.A, Andoh, J. & Mensah, A.E (2020). E-Language Pedagogy the Go-to? Attitude of the College language Tutor towards Technology Integration. Journal of Education and Practice. Vol. 11 (30) 104-116.

Filgona, J. Sakiyo, J., Gwany, D.M. &Okoronka, A.U. (2020). Motivation in Learning. Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies. 10(4): 16-37.

Guay F, Chanal J, Ratelle CF, Marsh HW, Larose S, Boivin M. (2010) Intrinsic, identified, and controlled types of motivation for school subjects in young elementary school children. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 80(4):711– 735.

Jamil, S.A& Khan, M.K.M. (2021). Components of Motivation in the ESL/EFL Classroom. International Journal Of English Language, Literature And Translation Studies (Ijelr). 8 (4) 83-90

Hussain, M.S. &Farid, A.S.A (2020). Students' Motivation in English Language Learning (ELL): An Exploratory Study of Motivational Factors for EFL and ESL Adult Learners. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature. 9 (4) 15-28

Khan, S.S &Takkac, M. (2021). Motivational Factors for Learning English as a Second Language Acquisition in Canada. Higher Education Studies; 11 (1) 160-170.

Kumah, Y.P (2018). Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation for learning. Winneba: Limpa Publications

Lim, S.K. (2021) An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Japanese EFL Learners’ Motivation during the Covid-19 Pandemic. EFLIJ. 25 (5) 176-190

Mensah, D. (2016). Learning among special needs children. Kumasi: Deepok Publication

Meşe, E. &Sevilen, Ç. (2021). Factors influencing EFL students’ motivation in online learning: A qualitative case study. Journal of Educational Technology & Online Learning, 4(1), 11-22.

Musah, K. (2015). Decision making. City Gate: LoveBird Publication

Noon, E. J. (2018). Interpretive phenomenological analysis: An appropriate methodology for educational research? Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 6(1), 75-83.

Nyarkoh, O. (2016). Factors of ensuring academic success. Koforidua: Cee Press

Pintrich PR. A motivational science perspective on the role of student motivation in learning and teaching contexts. Journal of Educational Psychology. 2003;95(4):667-686.

Singh, P. and Singh, M.P. (2021). The Role of Teachers in Motivating Students to Learn. TechnoLearn: An International Journal of Educational Technology, 11(1): 29-32.

Wang, H.C. & others. (2015). The Impact of Choice on ESL Students’ Motivation and Engagement with L2 Vocabulary Learning in Taiwan. Journal of TESOL, 12 (2) 1-40.

Published

2022-03-22

How to Cite

Fenyi, D. A. ., & Morrison, R. . (2022). An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Ghanaian Trainee Teachers’ Motivation to Major in the English Language: Implications for Classroom Pedagogy . International Journal of Qualitative Research, 1(3), 233-242. https://doi.org/10.47540/ijqr.v1i3.459

Issue

Section

Articles