Didactic variable in Russian students’ ulterior motivation for second language learning

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to identify factors characterizing interdependence between the English proficiency level and motivation in the conventionally organized Russian university English classroom where all students are treated as having similar learning profiles. It is claimed that deficiency of classroom motivation accounts for the students’ negative attitude to and low effectiveness of university English teaching. The author proposes to apply Brousseau's concept of didactical situations, environment and variables as a way of revising the content of the motivational spectrum of the English learner. An experiment for studying the impact of ulterior motivation variables on an individual English proficiency level was carried out in a group of 100 graduate students of Crimean Federal University with the aim to find out the students’ individual ulterior motives explaining variability of attitudes towards English as a subject of the curriculum. The findings of the experiment proved that the students’ motivational preferences didn’t meet motivational criteria of their teachers and curriculum. The students’ self-assessment of their English proficiency showed a significant correlation among English proficiency, individual ulterior motivation variables and individual goals connected with their plans for the future. The main conclusion is that the task of learning transnational English should be viewed as a sequence of didactical situations predetermined by a set of didactical motivation variables. To find out ulterior didactical motivation variables, the teacher should identify the student's types of potential milieu and choose a succession of appropriate didactical situations.