Language Testing in Focus: An International Journal

The opportunity to enroll in a foreign university skyrockets the motivation of many students. However, a huge number of these students eventually find themselves, in the midst of their studies, to unsure that they will even be able to graduate. This article focuses on the causes of demotivation for these students and aims to find a solution to this problem. Our study relies on previous research conducted by H. Douglas Brown, Zoltan Doernyei, Natalie Ness, Penny Ur, Desley I. Watson-Raston, and others. This article contributes to this literature by, first, looking into the causes of motivation loss among foreign students studying the English language in Russia, and second, by proposing certain tactics that could be put into practice in the classroom. By conducting our research over the last year and a half, we have come to several conclusions. According to our observations, authentic materials, along with the freedom for students to choose study topics and the way assignments are presented determinately increases not only student motivation but also improve learning results in speaking and writing. In our research, we tried to use a big variety of research methods. These included focus and control groups, general and individual questionnaires, video essays, and classic tests.