Page 30 - Teaching English at Primary Level: From Theory into the Classroom

Key Principles

folding needs to be based on a well-defined activity, it just means that it has
to be clear what kind of help can be provided by the teacher to accomplish
clearly defined learning goals. It is important to note that in the end we need
to see the result of scaffolding, i.e. some kind of evidence that the child has
achieved a higher level of competence and is able to function autonomously,
like being able to ride a bike without training wheels. In addition, Ellis (2012, p.
105) argues that ‘for scaffolding to be effective in assisting learning, it needs
to be tuned to the learner’s developmental level (i.e. it should be neither too
much or too little).’

YLs Attitudes and Motivation to Learn an FL
Attitudes towards learning an FL are today generally regarded as a key vari-
able in successful language learning. We can say that they play an important
role in building motivation which is a complex and multifaceted concept,
comprising several aspects, such as the learner’s attitudes, personality, and
identity issues (Dörnyei et al., 2004). While positive attitudes tend to increase
the motivation to learn, negative attitudes have a decreasing effect on learn-
ers’ motivation. The findings of several studies suggest that YLs’ attitudes
are strongly influenced by their parents, teachers, and friends (Mihaljević Dji-
gunović, 2012; Bratož et al., 2022).
Pressley et al. (2003) argue that motivation in the YLs’ classroom can be
increased by using several motivational mechanisms or techniques. An im-
portant mechanism is high but also realistic expectations which reflect the
teacher’s confidence that their learners will be able to achieve a higher level
of competence. This is also related to the feeling of success pupils experi-
ence when they carry out a task really well. Another technique is reinforce-
ment, which can take the form of an external reward (for example, a sticker
or a candy). However, as the authors (Pressley et al., 2003) point out, rewards
do not need to be tangible in order to work, in fact, as many teachers have
come to realise, the most powerful reward is the teacher’s praise. Praise is an
effective tool to engage and motivate YLs, especially when it is a response
to the pupils’ specific efforts and not based solely on their natural talents, for
example

I can see you really worked hard on this task. Well done!
You really improved your pronunciation. Just go on like this.

At the same time, we should bear in mind that overpraising may have the
reverse effect and decrease motivation. Finally, another motivation strategy
worth mentioning is cooperative learning which promotes pupils’ participa-
30