Function of Pictures in Listening Comprehension
pictures as advance organizer are able to activate relevant aspects of stored memory and to provide framework.
Pictures are also able to provide a certain level of prior knowledge which can facilitate listening comprehension as they help students building
up a mental framework with which to link the incoming information they are listening to Yousif, 2006, p. 44. Thus, pictures provide the learner
hooks on which to hang meaning and make sense of the aural stream.
3 Focusing Attention Levin and Mayer cited in Carney and Levin, 2002, p. 9 suggest that
pictures im prove students’ learning from text because picture make the text
more concentrated, concrete, comprehensible, and correspondent. Based on Levin and Mayer as cited in Carney and Levin 2002, p. 6
they further argue that four variables must also be taken into account when considering the “whys”, “whens,” and “for whoms” of picture facilitation:
1 desired performance outcomes e.g., comprehension, memory, transfer, 2 the nature of the illustrations e.g., that they must be related to the text
content, 3 the nature of the text e.g., the more difficult the text is to understand, the more that pictures help, and 4 learner characteristics e.g.,
learners lacking domain-relevant background knowledge benefit move form illustrations.
4 Increasing Interest and Motivation Some people have a natural or a learned preference for visual material,
and learning requires less effort when they can use their preferred material. Pictures often elicit comments on their charm and attractiveness, so they
also function as motivators by providing interest.
Listeners tend to be selective, in terms of what they find most interesting, important, or comprehensible. Thus, providing pictures that
represent the speakers, their appearance, their behavior, the setting or the situation can motivate the learners to listen.
E. Motivation 1.
Definition
Motivation refers to a process that starts with a need and leads to a behavior that moves an individual towards achieving a goal Melendy, 2008,
pp. 187 –198. Motivation provides the primary impetus to initiate learning the
L2 and later the driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning process; indeed, all the other factors involved in L2 acquisition presuppose
motivation to some extent. Without sufficient motivation, even individuals with the most remarkable abilities cannot accomplish long-term goals, and neither
are appropriate curricula and good teaching enough on their own to ensure student achievement. On the other hand, high motivation can make up
considerable deficiencies both in one’s language aptitude and learning conditions.
According to Ebata 2008, p. 1, motivation produces successful L2 communicators by making them self-confident. Moreover, it can lead learners
to continue learning even after they fulfill a specific goal. The other reason why some scholars are interested in investigating motivation might be the
complexity of the issue, and the fact that motivation seems to be related to a variety of factors, each of which can be tackled in a separate study. No wonder,
there have been many studies seeking to investigate and explore the motivation- related issues comprehensively for its paramount role. In spite of that,
motivation is not easy to define. It has been defined in many perspectives.
However, experts in this field have conducted various studies in order to explore and elaborate the matter of motivation to be more specific and
understandable. The study of motivation has been a prominent area for research in psychology and education for many years
Dӧrnyei, 2010, p. 49. This interest may reflect the wide-spread perception of classroom teachers who tend
to regard student motivation as the most important factor in educational success in general
Dӧrnyei, 2001, p. 127. Others are Pintrich and Schunk 2002, p.1 who refer motivation to the level of continued engagement in the language
learning. Based on the explanation above, motivation could be defined as a power that involves desire, effort, and enjoyment which gives someone energy
to do something or move toward an end or goal and influence individual levels of success in any activities.
2.
Motivation in Learning Language
Motivation has an important role in learning. Motivation affects learners’ learning process. It increases a learners’ energy and activity level.
Generally, more motivated learners achieve higher levels of achievement. Based on Elliot, et al 2000, p. 197, motivation affects learning and
performances in four ways. They are: 1 Motivation increases as an individual’s energy and activity level; 2 Motivation directs an individual toward certain
goal; 3 Motivation promotes initiation of certain activities and persistence in those activities; and 4 Motivation affects the learning strategies and cognitive
processes an individual employs. Thus, motivation is very important in learning.
Various researchers have classified motivation from different points of view. From a cognitive viewpoint, two types of motivation are recognized:
extrinsic and intrinsic. The former is applied by others and involves systems of rewards and punishments, while the latter is self-applied, lying in the affective
domain of feelings and emotional responses Slavin, 2003, p. 23. In other words, extrinsic motivation is related to do an action in order to receive an
extrinsic reward or to avoid punishment, whereas intrinsic motivation is about an action that is done for its own sake to experience satis
faction Dӧrnyei, 2001, p. 188.