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Motivation is key in learning, but it is vital for EFL students. EFL students have different grades of motivation towards learning the language and they are very various, they range from future career prospects, certifications, a better grade or travel purposes. However, for young learners (aged from 5 to 9), especially if taken out of a school system with grades, the motivation is very low. Since a motivated student will succeed in learning it is crucial for the teacher to build and maintain the motivation high during the lesson. In order to motivate the student: the teacher figure should not be intimidating, the class management should take into account the particular features of young learners and the preferred activities should be games and songs. For young learners an English lesson taught only in English may sound dreadful because they will not understand what is being said. The teacher's attitude is fundamental to dissolve this fear and conversely stimulate their interest. A cheerful, enthusiastic and friendly person will put them at ease and attract their attention. In this way, the students will not be intimidated by this new stranger or English and they will be more open to communicate with the teacher. Needless is to say, that the topics chosen must be in line with the interests of young kids because if they are not motivated by what the teacher is saying or doing, they will not pay attention and consequently they will not learn. It is well known that children have a small span of attention and high levels of energy and in order to keep them motivated through the lesson we should channel their energy to avoid a chaotic classroom. We should make clear what are the classroom rules and the unacceptable behaviors so that the children will have boundaries. However, we should not create a punishing environment, instead it would be more valuable a reward system such as a daily recognition for a good behavior or because they have excelled in something. Since we cannot fight their natural inclination to the movement, we should keep them active and moving in group activities. In this way, it is easier to keep them under control, not only because they are working in smaller groups, but also because their energies are guided towards a chosen activity. The activities in young learners' lesson should be mainly short games and songs as their attention span is short and they need to be motivated constantly. The best motivation for a young learner is a game and with language games we are killing a bird with two stones as their motivation is high because they are having fun but they are also learning. The use of pedagogic games is beneficial for the learners as it is a great way to activate the language because the participation and response of the student is very active. Children are especially receptive to music and songs can be used to help them memorize the language not only because there are many repetitions and rhymes in songs, but also because they will keep singing it once they have learnt it because they just love the melody. Students can attend our lessons, but without motivation the learning process will be tedious and not profitable. Since, learning is highly influenced by motivation we should try to maintain a good level of motivation in order to facilitate learning. For young learner this can be achieved by a positive and friendly teacher’s attitude, through a class management oriented to young learners’ particular characteristics and with the use of games and songs.
