Research Consultant: Student Motivation in English Learning

About the project

The British Council operates English language courses in many locations overseas. A critical contributor to successful language learning is motivation. Anecdotal feedback from young adult learners of English suggests that the teacher plays an important role in motivating students. However, it is clear to us that there will also be other contributing factors. In fact, it is not always entirely apparent what “motivation” actually means in the learning context for our students, nor what factors contribute to a sense of motivation. We wish to both understand this better, and subsequently to decide on how best to increase motivation among learners.

The study

With this in mind, we wish to commission a two-part pilot study:

1. To develop an operational definition of student motivation, and the factors influencing that.
2. To make recommendations for teacher or institutional intervention to enhance motivation among students and thus enhance their learning success.

We are seeking an understanding of factors influencing student motivation, which are uncluttered by current preconceptions or assumptions about general understandings of good practice. We would nonetheless expect the study to make reference to relevant research, best practice and current thinking in this field. However, we are particularly keen for the study to ascertain directly from the students their own specific feelings, perceptions and experience of being more or less motivated in their learning experience.

The second part of the pilot study will use the conclusions from the first part to make a series of recommendations as to how individual teachers or the whole teaching body might improve classroom practice to enhance the motivation of the students in the scenarios that have been studied.

About the role

Format of the study

This pilot study will be carried out in two European countries (Spain & Ukraine). We expect that the successful proposal will engage with British Council adult and/or young adult learners in a number of appropriate ways. The organisation will work with the researchers to ensure that all suggested and agreed methodologies are facilitated. 

The primary participant group for the study will be students attending British Councils’ teaching centres in Spain and Ukraine. In addition, we will also include students who are studying online with a screen to screen teaching methodology, in order to provide some contrast to traditional face-to-face in the classroom teaching.

The pilot study is to start in April and a written report and PowerPoint summary version report to be presented at the end of May. This report may be published in the public domain, subject to findings and results. 

The British Council may decide to broaden the study in a later phase to include a larger representative sample of its global learner population.

Qualifications and experience required

Applicants should have the following experience / skills sets:

• A sound knowledge of the English language teaching / learning “industry” and its global context
• Experience in carrying out formal research in a similar area and publication of results
• Familiarity with research into evaluation of teaching and learning, performance indicators, and models of measurement.
• Masters level qualification in relevant area
• Knowledge of the British Council’s context, work, and current strategy for English Language teaching.

If you are interested, please read the Request for Proposal (RFP) and other documents available for download below. 

To apply, please send your latest CV and the completed Appendix 2 as per the requirements in the RFP, to: jenny.simms@britishcouncil.org with the title Research Consultant – Student Motivation: [your name].

In light of the changing situation with regards to COVID-19, we fully anticipate that we will need to be flexible and adjust travel plans for this research accordingly.  We cannot be precise at the moment but if you are interested in applying for this research, please submit your proposal as per the RFP.  In addition, please indicate if you are available to delay the work and the period of time that you are available to complete it.

Please note, we can only respond to successful applicants and only within four working days of the application deadline.