Learner Centeredness Based Methodology- A Motivation Enhancer in the Development of Cohesiveness in Emotive Writing at the Undergraduate Level in Pakistani Universities

Abstract

For non-native learners of a language the most challenging task seems to express themselves powerfully and appropriately both in oral and written forms. This lack of command is often frustrating, hence demotivating. Lowering of motivation level, in turn, hinders the development of communication skills, more so in case of written expressions. This was borne out by personal experience of the researchers while teaching English as a second language at tertiary level in the universities of Pakistan. It is also felt that the teaching methodology used at this level, which is generally teacher-centered, is to partly blame for lack of proficiency in English in Pakistan because it denies the learners opportunity to practice communication skills. Learner-centred approach, instead, does the exactly opposite, providing ample chances to the learners to communicate, which in turn, enhance their motivation level to learn. Thus, the challenge in ELT in Pakistan can be tackled by bring about a paradigm shift in teaching methodology. This paper aims to experiment the learner-centeredness approach as a means of enhancing motivation to see whether the shift in the methodology can offer a solution to the long-standing issue. For the purpose of this study,50 students at FAST-NU Lahore Campus were chosen for experimental study following learner-centered activities. Their feedback was obtained through a questionnaire after the experimental teaching. The study demonstrated clearly that the learner-centered methodology was effective in enhancing the level of motivation for learning English. The learners’ opinions showed that their writing improved a great deal and they felt confident in expressing themselves as a consequence of practice they received. The study on the basis of its finding recommends that the learner-centered approach should be applied at large scale to bring about a qualitative change in ELT provision in Pakistan. However, for this purpose the teachers have to be trained to understand the theoretical underpinning of this approach and should be equipped with a repertoire of techniques to implement this rather new paradigm. For this purpose, large scale training program needs to be implemented to achieve fruitful results.

Key Words: Motivation Enhancer, Learner Centeredness, Emotive Writing, Cohesiveness.