The effect of ARCS-V motivation strategies on students' academic success, anxiety and motivation levels in English course

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of ARCS-V motivation strategies on students' academic success, anxiety and motivation levels in English lessons. The research was carried out with a total of 48 students from 6th grade students studying at a public secondary school in the second semester of the 2017-2018 academic year. In the research, the pretest-posttest control group design, which is one of the experimental models, was used. The experimental design of the study consisted of an experiment and a control group. While the subjects included in the study were handled using ARCS-V motivation strategies in the experimental group, they were handled in the control group based on the methods suggested in the textbook. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools were used in order to obtain data regarding the sub-problems identified in the research. At the beginning of the study, "English Achievement Test", "Foreign Language Anxiety Scale for Children" and "Academic Motivation Scale (Echelle de Motivation en Education)" were applied to both groups as pretest, and at the end of the application, the same tests and scales were applied as posttest. Volunteer students in the experimental group were also interviewed through a semi-structured interview form prepared by the researcher. SPPS 21.0 program was used in the analysis of the quantitative data obtained in the study. Frequency and percentage calculations were made in order to determine the demographic characteristics of the students in the experimental and control groups participating in the research. TAP 6 program was used to conduct the analyzes after the trial application of the achievement test; item difficulty and discrimination indicators, variance, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis, mean and KR-20 calculations were carried out. The qualitative data obtained within the scope of the research were analyzed by using the MAXQDA program and using descriptive analysis method. As a result of the research, no significant difference could be found between the posttest success scores of the experimental group students to whom ARCS-V motivational strategies were applied and the control group students who were taught in accordance with the methods suggested in the textbook. In addition, no significant difference was found between the average scores of the groups for fear of negative evaluation. A significant difference was found between communication anxiety and test anxiety average scores in favor of the experimental group. In addition, no significant difference was found between the groups in the dimensions of identified extrinsic motivation and amotivation of the experimental and control groups, while a significant difference was found in favor of the experimental group in the dimensions of introjected extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. In the study, it was also tried to determine whether there was a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the students in the experimental group, in which ARCS-V motivational strategies were applied, in terms of their English course success, anxiety levels and motivation levels. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that there was a significant increase in the English course achievement test scores of the students in the experimental group after the experimental procedure. It was concluded that there was no significant difference between the pretest-posttest scores of the "Foreign Language Anxiety Scale for Children" in the fear of negative evaluation and test anxiety dimensions, and there was a significant difference in the dimension of communication anxiety. It was observed that there was no significant difference between the pretest-posttest scores of the "Academic Motivation Scale" in introjected extrinsic motivation dimension, but there was a significant difference between the pretest-posttest scores in identified extrinsic motivation, amotivation and intrinsic motivation dimensions. In addition, it was tried to determine whether there was a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the control group students, who were taught according to the course book, related to their English course success, anxiety levels and motivation levels. There was a significant increase in the English course achievement test scores of the students in the control group after the experimental procedure. It was concluded that there was no significant difference in all sub-dimensions of the "Foreign Language Anxiety Scale for Children" and "Academic Motivation Scale". In the research, the opinions of the experimental group students about the teaching process in which ARCS-V motivation strategies were used were taken. The analysis of semi-structured interviews with sixteen students about the teaching process was carried out within the framework of seven themes. From the answers given by the students, it is understood that they generally have a positive feelings towards the English lesson and that the ARCS-V motivation strategies included in the lessons have positive effects on the students' interest in the lesson, their success in the lesson and their interpersonal relationships. In addition, when compared to previous English lessons, it was stated by the students that the lessons taught using motivational strategies were more fun and interesting, more competitions were given in the lessons, they were encouraged with more prizes, they played more games, and thus their interest in the lesson increased.