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Perceptions on the influence of non-communicative activities on students’ motivation to learn a foreign language

Abstract:

The present study shows the results of the perceptions of students and teachers from a province in the Amazon Region of Ecuador with respect to non-communicative activities and their impact on the motivation of students who are learning a foreign language. In order to gather the data, a questionnaire was applied to 180 students and 8 teachers from the second year of senior high school; in addition, all of the teachers and a sample of 40 students were interviewed. For an effective understanding of students’ and teachers’ perceptions, the data gathered were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative approaches. The main conclusion is that both teachers and students consider non-communicative activities in the classroom as motivating for learning a foreign language. From the analyzed activities, the most encouraging ones for the students who learn a foreign language are the ones related to learning vocabulary, correcting classmates’ written work, and use of audiovisual materials.