ITAF’s Experience in Teaching English to

Forward Air Controllers

A lesson in motivationLtc Emanuele Di Castri

Mr Benjamin C PimBLED 2012

Overview

• What is MOE for FAC

• What is L2 motivation?

• Motivation in the L2 classroom

• Motivational strategies

- students

- teachers

• Working example: ITAF ESP course for FAC personnel

What is a Forward Air Controller ? ( FAC)

An FAC is a qualified individual who,from a forward position on the ground or in the air, directs the action of combat aircraft engaged in Close Air Support of friendly Land Forces.

What is Military Operational English ?(MOE)

STANAG 3797 “ English is the language to be used when

controlling NATO aircraft. Therefore FACs need adequate knowledge of and proficiency in the English language to the EQUIVALENT OF NATO STANAG 6001 Level 3.

COMMUNICATION

- IMMEDIATE- CLEAR- EFFECTIVE- CONFIDENT

What is Military Operational English?(MOE)

What is L2 motivation?

“Motivation explains why people decide to do

something, how hard they are going to pursue it

and how long they are willing to sustain the

activity” (Dörnyei, 2001, p.7).

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Motivation in the L2 environment

1. Integrative motivation: becoming part of the community

2. Instrumental motivation: a way of achieving another aim.

But in the L2 classroom:

1. Learners do not usually have sufficient first-hand experience

about the target language community to be able to form

attitudes for or against it, and

2. Language learning typically takes place in a classroom

setting.

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General Framework For L2 Motivation (Dörnyei, 1994)

1) Language level:- Integrative;- Instrumental.

2) Learner level:- Need for achievement;- Self-confidence;

Language use anxietyPerceived L2 competence Attributions about past successes & failures

3) Learning situation level:- Course-specific: Interest, relevance, expectancy, satisfaction- Teacher specific: affiliative, authority type, modeling, task

presentation, feedback- Group specific: goal-orientedness, norm and reward system,

group cohesiveness, classroom goal structureBLED 2012

Social context

Milieu

Learner

Attitudes Goals

Figure 3

Motivated behavior

Self-perceptions

Cognitive factors,dyslexia

Instructional setting

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Motivating Students

Components Of Motivational Teaching Practice (Dörnyei, 2001):

1.Creating the basic motivational conditions

2.Generating initial motivation

3.Maintaining and protecting motivation

4.Encouraging positive restrospective evaluation

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Motivating Teachers

Teacher motivation is reflected in the following:

1. Lesson preparation

2. Teacher/student relationship

3. Classroom atmosphere

4. Self-confidence

5. Interest

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Working Example

• M.O.E Military Operational English course

• Teachers

• Students

• Classroom activities

• Final exam

• Future implications

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Coordinators

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The teachers

• Native speakers

• CELTA (or equivalent) qualified

• Experience teaching ESP

• Open minded

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Motivating Teachers Strategies

• Spark initial interest

• Personal research

• Team research

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The students

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Classroom activities

• Teaching styles

• Use of realia

• Boundaries of the classroom

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Out....

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and about...

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working together

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Final exam

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Future Implications

• Adapt courses for students

• Use whatever realia you have available to you

• Harness human resources to the maximum

• Non- standardized way of teaching

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ReferencesDörnyei, Z. (1994). Motivation and motivating in a foreign language. Modern Language Journal, 78, 273-284.

Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Teaching and researching motivation. London: Longman.

Dörnyei, Z. (2009). Individual differences: Interplay of learner characteristics and learning environment. In N. C. Ellis & D. Larsen-Freeman (Eds.), Language as a complex adaptive system. Oxford: Wiley- Blackwell.

Dörnyei, Z., & Ottó, I. (1998). Motivation in action: A process model of L2 motivation. Working Papers in Applied Linguistics (Thames Valley University, London), 47, 173-210.

Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (Eds.). (2009). Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Gardner, R. (1985). Social psychology and. second language learning: The role of attitudes. and motivation. London: Edward Arnold.

Gardner, R. (2006). The socio-educational model of second language acquisition: A research paradigm. EUROSLA Yearbook, 6, 327-260.

Gardner, R., & Lambert, W. (1959). Motivational variables in second language acquisition. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 13, 266–272.

Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory of relating self and affect. Psychological Review, 94, 319-340.

Noels, K. (2001a). New orientations in language learning motivation: Towards a model of intrinsic extrinsic, and integrative orientations and motivations. In Z. Dörnyei, & R. Schmidt (Eds.), Motivation and second language acquisition (Technical Report #23, pp. 43-68). Honolulu, HI: The University of Hawai’i, Second Language & Curriculum Center.

Ushioda, E. (2001). Language learning at university: Exploring the role of motivational thinking. In Z. Dörnyei, & R. Schmidt (Eds.), Motivation and second language acquisition (Technical Report # 23, pp. 93-125). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai’i, Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center.

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