Intrinsic Motivation Essay

Motivation is a key factor, especially in an educational environment or learning context. Motivation gives a reason for the actions that people carry out. A motivated learner is a strong learner and because language education requires a considerable amount of time and effort, it can be easy for a learner to lose motivation and interest. Therefore, it is important to understand the different types of motivation, and how they can be used in order to enhance a learning experience.

2.3.1 Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is the act of being motivated through internal satisfactions and enjoyment as oppose to external rewards (Ryan and Deci, 2000). The concept of intrinsic motivation has been linked to the success of games in education due

Though importantly, the way these rewards are delivered has an impact on intrinsic motivation. Large bodies of research have suggested that extrinsic motivators can interfere with intrinsic motivation (Lepper, Greene and Nisbett, 1973; Kruglanski, Friedman and Zeevi, 1971). In other words, when an individual completes an interesting activity and is then rewarded for doing so, intrinsic motivation decreases. Further extrinsic rewards must be used in order to retain motivation. This was first shown by Deci (1971) whereby college students completed three different puzzle activities over three separate days. During the second day, the experimental group were told they would receive a monetary reward (extrinsic motivator) for each puzzle completed whilst the control group had no mention of a reward. On the final day, neither group were given a reward. It was found that the experimental group’s motivation increased on the second day when offered a reward, but on the final day, motivation dropped lower than it was on the first day. This phenomenon is known as the overjustification effect. Though the results seen in Deci’s study may be criticised due to the fact that it partly took place in a laboratory environment, which may not reflect the results that would occur in a real life setting, such as a

The individual motivation refers to the sense of control that games give a player. This personal motivation does not refer to the amount of control the player has, but to the amount of control that they player feels they have. This includes giving the player choices, which provoke different outcomes. The three other forms of intrinsic motivation are dependent on other people and include competition, cooperation and recognition. These interpersonal motivations help increase a player’s satisfaction through competing with others as well helping others and in turn, receiving approval. Malone and Lepper noted that whilst competition can be a powerful learning motivation, it should not be used inappropriately otherwise players might experience loss of self-esteem and other negative