The Human Connection: Motivation and Social learning

Transform the English language classroom into a motivating social learning community!

The Human Connection: Motivation and Social learning

In an increasingly digital world, the English language classroom is more important than ever in providing a social learning environment that boosts communication and motivation.

Download our paper to:

  • Discover the relationship between motivation and social interaction within English language learning
  • Investigate the threats to student motivation within the classroom, ranging from foreign language anxiety to a lack of connection
  • Explore the benefits of face-to-face versus online learning, and discover how to link learners’ online worlds with your classroom
  • Gain practical strategies to boost motivation within the classroom

Download our free paper

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Everyone who downloads our position papers will also receive a toolkit of practical resources to help them implement the advice of our experts. Try out this sample resource from our Global Skills paper, designed to improve your learners’ collaboration skills and help them communicate more effectively.

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Expert Toolkit

Meet our Expert Panel

We collaborate with an Expert Panel of world-leading academics and educators in English Language Teaching. Why does this matter to you? The Expert Panel ensures that research-based support informs our products and services, meeting your needs and the needs of your students in the best possible way.

Fiona Mauchline

Fiona Mauchline

Fiona is an ELT teacher, lecturer, teacher trainer and consultant based in Oxford. She is currently a member of the teaching staff at Hertford College, University of Oxford, but also lived and taught in Spain for 30 years. She is the published author and co-author of several EFL secondary coursebooks, and of resources such as ETpedia Vocabulary, How to Write Secondary Materials and most recently Teaching Teenagers for Delta Publishing (2024). Her main areas of professional interest and research are adolescent cognitive development and motivation, the teaching of teenagers and the teaching / learning of vocabulary and creative writing. She is also the co-founder of EVE: Equal Voices in ELT and founder of #SpillTheELT. Fiona is co-author of this paper.

Nick Thorner

Nick Thorner

Nick Thorner is a teacher and writer based in Oxford. He has engaged in both teaching and teacher training in a variety of international contexts, including Italy, Latin America and the Middle East and has many years’ experience preparing students from around the world for IELTS exams and UK university courses. He has authored two course books including Foundation IELTS Masterclass and is author of professional development title Motivational Teaching. Nick is also involved in academic research and has recently contributed a chapter on demotivation to the Palgrave Handbook of Motivation for Language Learning. Nick is co-author of this paper.

Kata Csizér

Kata Csizér

Kata Csizér’s main field of research is the social psychological aspects of L2 learning and teaching, as well as foreign language motivation. She has published over 100 academic papers and co-authored several books, including the recent Palgrave Macmillan Handbook of Motivation for Language Learning with Martin Lamb, Alastair Henry and Stephen Ryan. She is also one of the editors of the Journal of Second Language Learning and Teaching. Kata is a consultant on this paper.

Keita Kikuchi

Keita Kikuchi

Keita Kikuchi is a Professor at Kanagawa University, Japan. He holds an Ed.D. in TESOL from Temple University, Japan and an MA in ESL from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. His research interests include curriculum development and second language acquisition, especially individual differences. Keita is a consultant on this paper.