Motivational Research Meets Practice: A Webinar by Dr. Bochra Kouraichi
The Scientific Research, Innovation, and Graduate Studies Unit of the College of Languages and Translation at King Khalid University organized a webinar on October 23, 2024. Dr. Bochra Kouraichi delivered a presentation titled "Motivational Research Meets Practice: A Reciprocal Approach to Inspire Students and Teachers." It was primarily based on her own experience with motivation research as a teacher and PhD student. Her aim was to encourage her PhD students and faculty members to apply motivational strategies in their research and to work in a more motivating environment.
She began her presentation by posing some motivation-related questions for participants to answer on Slido. The responses were very thought-provoking and insightful. She started explaining the overall concept of language learning motivation by mentioning some scholarly quotes (Csizér, 2020; Lamb, 2019). She also introduced a few language learning motivation theories by quoting other scholars (Dörnyei, 2009; Keller, 2010). According to her, motivational teaching (Dörnyei, 2001) involves creating the basic motivational conditions, generating initial motivation, maintaining and protecting it, and encouraging positive retrospective self-evaluation.
Kouraichi further explained Keller’s (2010) ARCS Model, highlighting its major elements: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. Then she explained Dörnyei’s L2MSS Model, which conceptualizes learners’ possible future selves categorized into three elements: the ideal L2 self, the ought-to L2 self, and the learning experience. The presenter then asked the participants what strategies they use to motivate themselves and their students.
Following that, she shared a blog she wrote during her PhD and expanded on a number of motivational strategies that could be insightful for PhD students, namely drawing a motigraph to track motivation over a period of time, engaging with the academic community, and leaving the program with an impact.
The presenter concluded by emphasizing the importance of making motivation research practical through the ability to motivate oneself and others.
The webinar was very engaging and, overall, a great success.
