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.

3. Self-Determination Theory

Motivational orientations is an important beginning in language learning because it determines the choice of language to be learned, the kinds of activities that learners are more inclined to engage in, the types and extent of proficiency that learners expect to attain, the degree of external intervention needed to regulate learning and the extent of engagement in the long run. Furthermore, knowing learners’ motivational orientations is helpful in organizing language learning goals, analyzing the classroom climate in terms of control or autonomy and subsequently suggesting practical implications for educating autonomous self-regulated learners Noels, 2001, p. 49. However, Deci and Ryan 2002, p. 55 propose an alternative perspective of motivation called self-determination theory that reintroduces a component of motivation that has long been neglected by most modern motivational theories that is innate needs. The theory has been claimed as one of the most elaborated and well-researched theories on the role of needs in human beings. Self-determination is a theory of motivation concerning peoples innate growth tendencies and innate psychological needs or it is concerned with the motives behind the choices that people make without any external influence and interference. According to self-determination theory, motivated actions can be either self-determined or controlled. Self-determined actions are those which individuals freely choose and want to do. This means that the only incentive for undertaking this ki nd of actions comes from one’s enjoyment and interest in a particular activity i.e. intrinsic motivation. On the other hand, controlled actions are those which are determined by an external force. Therefore, they come as a result of extrinsic motivation Brophy, 2004, p. 18. From the explanation above, it can be concluded that self-determination is one of motivational theories that considers motivation as the effect resulted from the satisfying of innate psychological needs of human. Like other theories, self-determination is classified into two general types: the extrinsic and the intrinsic. The former refers to the motivating factors that come from external of an individual. The latter, in the meantime, refers to the motivating factors that originate from inside an individual. These two motivations will be discussed with more emphasis on the intrinsic one. This is because that the study concerns with promoting students’ natural intrinsic motivation in the classroom. In other words, the study seeks to promote students’ motivation in natural way through classroom experiences. a. Extrinsic Motivation Extrinsic motivation relates to external factors that force, initiate, and guide an individual to act or do something. Extrinsic motivation is associated with undertaken to attain an end state that is separate from the actual behavior, determined by some external contingency such as good marks or the avoidance of negative consequences Muller, 2004, pp. 169 – 190. Two distinct definitions of extrinsic motivation are : 1 when motivation is based on something extrinsic to the activity and 2 when motivation is based on something extrinsic to the person Harackiewicz Sansone, 2000, p. 233. Extrinsic motivator performance-contingent reward can simultaneously initiate processes that result in greater intrinsic motivation or extrinsic motivation, depending on the circumstances and the individuals. Since the origin of extrinsic motivation is not within an individual or it is separate from in class experiences, this discussion therefore does not deal much with this kind of motivation rather gives more emphasis on the intrinsic one which is more specific to students’ daily classroom experiences and their natural tendency to learn. As stated by Ryan Deci 2000, p. 54, intrinsic motivation has been considered as an important construct because it reflects the natural human tendency to learn and assimilate. There are four categories included in extrinsic motivation according to Deci and Ryan 2000, p. 63, they are: 1 External Regulation Action devoted by someone because tangible reward or punishment heshe will get from external, when the rewardpunishment is no longer existed heshe will be not motivated anymore. 2 Interjected Regulation Action devoted by someone in order to maintain feeling of worth. External situation drives someone to be motivated. An example is a student who learns English every night in order not to fail in the National Exam. 3 Regulation through Identification. Action devoted by someone because heshe know it will bring himher advantages or it is important for himher. An example is someone who loves to study English because heshe knows it will be important for hisher further education. 4 Integrated Regulation Action devoted by someone because it is fully assimilated to hisher self. It is considered as extrinsic motivation because done for attaining particular outcomes rather than for the enjoyment of himherself. b. Intrinsic Motivation In the perspective of self-determination theory, intrinsic motivation refers to the motivation that comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside rewards. Ryan and Deci 2000, p. 56 elaborate more specifically when someone could be said intrinsically motivated. According to them, when a person is acting for fun or challenge rather than