Abstract:
The central purpose of this study was to assess the practices and challenges in implementing
motivational strategies in grade 9 English classrooms at Ambo Secondary School. The
descriptive research design and mixed methods approach were employed in this study. Four
grade nine English teachers and 95 grade 9 students were the participants of the study. The
study used questionnaire, interview and classroom observation as data collection tools. The
questionnaire was administered to the students and students. Subsequently, an interview was
used in which 4 teachers and 5 students participated. At the end, all teachers were wisely
observed when they teach in classes for additional input. The data were analyzed using
percentage and qualitative description. The findings implied that the teachers used some
motivational strategies to motivate students actively engage themselves in teaching learning
process in classrooms. However, they ignored most of the motivational strategies that were
mentioned in the literature review part of this study because of the challenges that were
identified as the major factors that negatively affect the practices and implementations of
motivational strategies in EFL classrooms. These include large classroom size, lack of students’
interest, inaccessibility of students’ textbooks, students’ negative attitude towards learning L2
and shortage of time. Therefore, the researcher would like to recommend that in order to
alleviate the aforementioned problems in the school under study, the school should arrange
appropriate class size, facilitate the access of students’ textbooks and allocate sufficient time for
each lesson with the cooperation of other concerning bodies. On the other hand, the school
grade nine EFL teachers should try their best to practice and implement the motivational
strategies mentioned in the literature review in classroom appropriately to motivate their
students. In terms of the students, they should learn English for further knowledge and use it in
their real life.
