Multiple Motivation as a Key Factor in English Language Teaching: a Case Study in Hambantota, Sri Lanka

This paper attempts to examine the role of the ‘motivation factor’ in Language teaching in the context of teaching English language to rural students in Sri Lanka. Since English can be used as a Lingua Franca for communication among different ethnolinguistic groups, it is extremely important to look at the English language teaching methodologies adopted in different countries. In teaching English as a second language to students in Sri Lanka, initiatives have been taken by both private sector and government sector institutes. For this research, a case study has been selected from an English language training programme conducted with private and public partnership in a rural area; at Tissamaharama electorate in Hambantota district, Sri Lanka. The method of this research was participatory observation. The research was launched to examine current practices of English language teaching and identify successful methods of language teaching by paying special attention to motivation. The study is mainly concerned with problematizing as to why the rural student population was weaker in English language skills, and how can this be mitigated. Among several other variables that can have a greater impact on English language acquisition, the ‘motivation factor’ was recognized at the beginning and the research was designed in a manner to measure its impact on language learning and successful teaching. The study established that the influences of several significant motivation factors such as environmental changes, humour, changing classroom settings, gender fact, diversifying activities, continuously appraising students and using voice skills can enhance language learning to a greater extent when they are applied as continuous and multiple processes.