TEACHING FACTORS THAT AFFECT STUDENTS’ LEARNING MOTIVATION: BANGLADESHI EFL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS

Research literature consistently suggests that EFL (English as a foreign language) students’ motivation is affected by some teaching factors (Falout et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2018; Lamb, 2017). The main purpose of this study is to identify exactly which teaching factors adversely affect students’ motivation to study English at higher secondary (HS) level (grade 11 and 12) in Bangladeshi EFL context. To collect qualitative data an interview protocol was developed based on the teaching factors identified in some selected studies conducted in Asian EFL contexts (Kikuchi, 2009; Sakai & Kikuchi, 2009; Trang & Baldauf, 2007; Quadir, 2017). A total number of 40 grade 12 completers were interviewed to collect students’ perceptions. Miles and Huberman’s (1994) qualitative data analysis procedure was applied to analyze the data. From the analysis five distinct factors, which adversely affect students’ motivation, are identified in descending order: teachers’ instructional styles and teaching method, private tutoring, teachers’ personality and behavior, teachers’ competence and classroom management, and teachers’ attitude and commitment. Most of these factors comprise further subcomponents which detect the underlying sources of students’ disinterest. For amelioration of the situations some feasible implications are discussed addressing the identified factors.

classroom environments students engage in learning activities under the instructional guidance of their English teachers. The repeated emergence of the teacher-related demotivation factors in the EFL studies necessitates individual research investigations into the issue in different contexts to identify the underlying factors and to work out contextually realistic remedial measures to ameliorate the situations.
The study reported in this article took place in Bangladeshi context. Since English language learning is mostly confined to classroom usages, Bangladesh is seen as an EFL context in this study. Bangladesh has one of the largest EFL high school student populations in the world (Hamid & Honan, 2012). English education is emphasized across all academic levels in the state. In the mainstream of state education system, English is taught as a compulsory school subject from grade 1 to grade 12. At higher secondary (HS) level (grade 11 and 12) two English papers are taught for 3/4 hours per-week in institutional settings. In all institutional and public examinations English papers are held in high regard by the stakeholders (Hamid et al., 2017). However, every year massive failures are reported in English papers in the public examinations under the national curriculum (Hamid et al., 2017).
In the current society of Bangladesh, English language proficiency is highly regarded as a "crucial linguistic capital" (Hamid et al., 2017, p. 870) which is associated with higher education, job opportunities, immigration, and many other future prospects (Hamid et al., 2017). Both in rural and urban regions, proficiency in English is regarded as a means of social and economic achievements across social classes (Erling et al., 2014). Both students and their parents are acutely aware of the instrumental values of English for their future achievements. English occupies students' "thoughts and consciousness, more than any other school subjects" (Hamid & Baldauf, 2011, p. 201).
English language education in Bangladesh was traditionally based on grammar translation method. However, a major shift took place in 2001 in the process of revising the conventional English curriculum into CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) based curriculum with the aim of enhancing human resources development efforts of the government of Bangladesh (NCTB, 2003). Although the curriculum was revised with the objective of achieving the outcomes of communicative-competence-based teaching-learning approaches, in reality, almost the same traditional practices persist in classrooms .
In Bangladeshi English language classrooms, the conventional teachercentered pedagogy is mostly practiced. A formal and remote relationship  is maintained between teachers and students. Teachers commonly believe that they must hold "the supreme command" on the class (Rahman et. al., 2019, p. 600). The medium of instruction is mostly L1 (Bangla) in English language classrooms. Teachers practically lack quality materials and logistic support for conducting classroom activities. Both quality and quantity of classroom activities are questioned by a number of researchers (Alam, 2018;Rahman et. al., 2019). The widely perceived uselessness of classroom instructions compels a large number of students to buy private tuition in English in many different forms investing huge amount of money in the lowincome country (Hamid et al., 2017;Quadir, 2017). In the peripheral rural areas, the quality of classroom instruction is evidently poorer compared to the urban schools.
The shortage of qualified, competent and English-proficient teachers is a commonly cited barrier to achieving the expected outcomes of English education in Bangladesh (Alam, 2018;Hamid et al., 2017;. The conventional parameters of assessing teachers' quality are education, experience, and professional support (Stockwell, 2015). But regrettably, most of the components are lacking in the current English language education system in Bangladesh. The existing teachers' training capacity for English language teachers is inadequate and ineffective (Karim et al., 2018). It is important to note that the English teachers in Bangladesh have never been provided with adequate logistic facilities, nor even effective guidance, or teaching materials to cope with the curriculum requirements (Islam, 2015). The resulted gaps lead high school English teachers to follow their individualized, used to, and to some extent incompatible approaches in teaching English in classrooms (Ali & Walker, 2014). In other words, inadequate provision of pedagogical guidance and teaching-learning materials leads English teachers to confine their teaching practices within their familiar and preferred instructional approaches ignoring curricular requirements.
High school (HS) students in Bangladesh learn English as a school subject amid all these contextual constrains of classroom teaching. The conventional teaching practices conducted in HS level classrooms may affect students' inherent motivation to study English to gain proficiency with the objective to secure a better future. Therefore, it is necessary to take students' perceptions and experiences of their classroom teaching-learning practices into account to identify the teaching factors that adversely affect their motivation to study English.

Studies Conducted in EFL Contexts
A large body of research conducted in a wide range of EFL contexts reveals that the top-ranking attributions of students' demotivation to study English are consistently teaching factors. In other words, EFL learners quite repeatedly and invariably attribute their disinterest towards learning English to the teaching practices in their English classrooms (Falout et al., 2009). Instructors' disagreeable behaviors and personalities, instructional styles and teaching methods, poor linguistic competence are the most commonly cited reasons of students' losing motivation to study English as a school subject. These factors of students' demotivation recurrently appear in a number of studies conducted across many Asian EFL contexts.
Presumably the highest numbers of EFL demotivation research investigations are conducted in Japanese context. Kikuchi (2009) collected data from 656 Japanese high school students in a quantitative study and identified teachers' behavior and teaching methods as the major sources of learners' demotivation to study English. In the same context, Sakai and Kikuchi (2009) detected teachers' competence and teaching style as the second dominant factor which adversely affects students' motivation to study English. Falout et al. (2009) in a large-scale research investigation on 900 Japanese university EFL students identified that teacher immediacy was the most influential external factor which negatively affects learners' motivation.
In Korean EFL context, a good number of research works have been conducted to explore students' de/motivation factors. Jung (2011) collected data from HS students by administering reflective questionnaire. The study listed boring lectures, ways of teaching grammar and vocabulary as the teaching factors that demotivate students to learn English. In a qualitative research study based on autobiographic essays, Kim and Lee (2013) identified that teaching practices construct the most dominant factors which negatively affect EFL learners' motivation. Song and Kim (2017) conducted a study by administering open-ended questionnaire to identify high school EFL students' demotivation factors. They found that teaching factors like teacher-centered pedagogy, examfocused teaching, insufficient opportunity for participation in classroom activities, and persuasion for memorization demotivate HS students towards learning English. Kim et al. (2018) conducted a qualitative inquiry on Korean young EFL learners and found that teachers' incomprehensible explanation was one of the potent factors which adversely affect learners' motivation.
In a research study conducted in Vietnamese EFL context, Trang and Baldauf (2007) identified external and internal demotivation factors by analyzing stimulated recall essays of university students. They detected teacherrelated factors as the strongest external attributions which negatively affect students' motivation in that context. Under this factor the specific sources of learners' demotivation were teaching method, teachers' behavior, teachers' competence, grading and assessment. Alavinia and Sehat (2012) conducted a study in Iranian EFL context to identify the factors affecting students' motivation to learn English. They collected data from HS students using questionnaire. Through quantitative analysis they found that teachers' personality and behavior were the most salient factors which adversely affect EFL learners' motivation. In the same EFL context, Heidari and Oghli (2015) distributed questionnaire among HS students. The study detected teacher-related factors as the strongest demotivators to learn English.

Research Conducted in Bangladesh
Turning to the research conducted in Bangladeshi education context, it appears that impacts of teaching factors on EFL learner motivation have not yet received any notable research attention. Quadir (2017) conducted qualitative research to investigate the general sources of HS students' demotivation to study English as a school subject in the educational context of Bangladesh. In the study, English teachers was identified as the most dominant factor which affects students' motivation to study English as compulsory school subject. Under this potent factor some underlying themes were detected: teachers' instructional style, personality, attitude, and competence.
In the history of EFL research in Bangladesh, students' perceptions of classroom teaching practices are rarely explored. It is necessary to listen to their experiences and feelings as they learn English sitting in the classrooms staying in close contact with their instructors. This current study emphasizes learnercenteredness in methodology since the first-hand information is essential to capture a critical and in-depth understanding of a phenomenon in an educational context (Creswell & Poth, 2017). In the area of L2 education, researchers (see Benson, 2005;Hamid & Baldauf, 2011) have emphasized the necessity of learner-centered study focusing on students' language learning experiences explained from their point of views. To develop effective learning environment in an EFL context, researching students' experiences and perceptions from their perspectives is essential. The main objective of this study is to explore HS students' perceptions regarding the teaching factors which negatively affect their motivation to study English.

Participants
The current study used a convenience sample consisting of 40 grade 12 completers of four different institutions. The participants completed their HSC (Higher Secondary Certificate) examination within the previous 1 to 4 months at the time of data collection. Since they had recently completed their HS level, they were considered to be articulate to report their perceptions and experiences regarding the teaching practices that adversely affect their learning motivation to study English. All the participants were students of the mainstream national curriculum. Their age ranged from 18 to 19. Among the participants 17 were females and 23 were males. Of them 42% participants completed their HS education from urban schools, 25% from sub-urban schools, and the rest (33%) were from rural schools. As it was possible to manage access to HS completers of diverse local contexts through convenient sampling procedure by contacting institutional members, 40 participants from four institutions were considered to be adequate for the current study.

Data Collection and Analysis
To collect qualitative data for the study an interview guide was designed based on the recurring teaching factors identified in some selected studies (Kikuchi, 2009;Quadir, 2017;Sakai & Kikuchi, 2009;Trang & Baldauf, 2007) on EFL students' de/motivation conducted in some Asian EFL contexts. Analyzing the list of the factors, the researcher incorporated the following items in the interview guide: English teachers' instructional skills, teaching methods, attitude towards students, behaviors, classroom management skills, commitment to teaching, and attitude towards private tutoring. At the end of each interview the participant was asked to add perceptions which were not listed in the protocol. The interviews were conducted in their L1, Bangla. An English version of the interview protocol is put in the Appendix. The first two questions were asked to create an ice-breaking effect. All the participants were interested and willing to share their perceptions. The participants were informed about the purpose and content of the interview one to two days earlier to give them time to recollect the relevant experiences and perceptions regarding the teaching practices of their recently completed academic level. The one-to-one interviews took 40 to 50 minutes time. Their reported perceptions were audio recorded. The recordings were transcribed verbatim by the researcher, and accuracy was checked by a colleague.
In order to identify the factors, the collected data were analyzed following the qualitative data analysis procedure suggested by Miles and Huberman (1994). They suggested a three-step procedure for qualitative data analysis: data reduction, data display, conclusion drawing and verification. The qualitative data collected from the interviews were reduced and displayed by constructing matrices.

Factors that Adversely Affect Students' Motivation
Of the total number of 40 participants, 34 (85%) reported that some aspects of their English teachers' teaching practices adversely affected their motivation to study English at HS level. The rest of them (15%) did not report any negative influence of their institutional English teaching on their learning motivation. Based on the constructed matrices of learners' account, five distinct factors that negatively affect students' motivation are identified. At least 70% participants cited the points under the constructed factors. All the five factors are listed in Table 1 in order of the most to least reported. From the analysis further distinct components are constructed within the identified factors. Each factor is explained with all the details of the underlying themes. The number of participants reporting the same perception is mentioned in the parenthesis next to the citation.

Factor 1: Teachers' Instructional Styles and Teaching Methods
The most salient factor constructed from students' report was regarding their English teachers' instructional styles, teaching approaches and methods which affected their motivation towards learning English. A total number of 32 (80%) participants reported their perceptions under this theme. Two underlying distinct factors were identified within this factor: (i) Instructional style, and (ii) Teaching methods/approaches. Table 2 summarizes the data.

Factor 2: Private Tutoring
The second dominant factor which affected students' learning motivation was the practice of private tutoring in English. A total number of 30 participants (75%) reported that they had to seek help of private tutors as the classroom instructions were not useful enough. Therefore, institutional English teachers are directly and/or indirectly related to this source of demotivation. In some cases, institutional English teachers are also involved in afterschool private tutoring. This factor comprised two sub-categories: (i) Payment and unavoidability, and (ii) Private tutors' competence and management. Table 3 presents Factor 2.

Factor 3: Teachers' Personality and Behavior
Altogether 30 participants (75%) shared their perceptions under the theme of English teachers' personality and behavior which affected their motivation to study English. This factor consists of two sub factors: (i) Teachers' personality and (ii) Behavior. Table 4 reports the summary.

Table 4. Teachers' Personality and Behavior (Factor 3) Personality Behavior
• impatient to explain difficult lessons slowly (24) • not easygoing/cheerful (20) • spent time telling personal stories (8) • critical and rude to students' errors (25) • humiliate students in class for minor mistakes (24) • did not encourage to overcome weaknesses (22) • nice to some good students in class (18)

Factor 4: Teachers' Competence and Classroom Management
Under this factor, 29 participants (72.5%) shared their perceptions regarding their instructors' competence and classroom management skills which reduced their motivation towards learning English. Two underlying sub-factors were identified here: (i) Competence and (ii) Classroom management skills. Table 5 shows the results.  (11) • left incomplete instructions on lessons (10) • did not know the purpose/s of doing the activities in classroom (12) • did not try to interact with students sitting in the back (12)

Factor 5: Teachers' Attitude and Commitment
The final factor constructed from students' perceptions points to their instructors' commitment and attitude in classrooms. The two distinct sources of students' demotivation under this factor are English teachers' (i) Attitude, and (ii) Commitment. Of the total number of participants 28 (70%) shared their perceptions under this factor. The incidents are listed in Table 6.

Table 6. Teachers' Attitude and Commitment (Factor 5) Attitude Commitment
• guided only some good students in class (18) • did not listen to students' problems in learning (16) • expected students to perform satisfactorily without prior instructions (16) • neglected poorly performing students (11) • did not motivate students to study English seriously (17) • teachers themselves were not motivated in classrooms (12) • usually late to class (10) • were not regular (9)

Contextually Feasible Remedial Measures
Based on the teaching factors identified in the current study some contextually feasible remedial measures are discussed in the following.

Teachers' Instructional Style and Teaching Method
This factor comprises students' perceptions about English teachers' instructional styles, teaching methods and approaches which affected their motivation to study English. This finding is consistent with some research studies conducted in Asian contexts (Falout et al., 2009;Kikuchi, 2009;Quadir, 2017;Song & Kim, 2017;Trang & Baldauf, 2007). The reported incidents inform us of students' perceptions of their classroom instructions along with their expectations from classroom teaching. For effective pedagogy it is necessary to align instructional style and teaching method with students' interests and needs (Trang & Baldauf, 2007).
This study reveals that HS students expect guidance to improve their English language skills from their classroom instructions. Therefore, familiarizing students with diverse language learning strategies to enhance language skills (e.g., listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar, and vocabulary) is supposed to meet students' expectations. Oxford (1990) emphasized that L2 learning strategies "make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective and more transferable to new situations" (p. 8). Studies conducted in L2 contexts have revealed significant correlations between strategy use and L2 proficiency (Cohen, 1998). With some prerequisite preparations it is possible to provide students with orientation and training on a range of language learning strategies within classroom settings. The teachers' training programs need to provide substantial support to prepare English teachers to incorporate language learning strategy-oriented activities in classrooms.
Uninteresting and traditional teaching methods and approaches are some of the most detrimental factors that affect students' motivation towards learning English. These factors are listed as common complaints in many other EFL contexts (see Jung, 2011;Kikuchi, 2009;Trang & Baldauf, 2007). Making teaching-learning activities interesting in language classrooms is a complex process. Teacher training programs need to emphasize on this significant pedagogical issue in an EFL context. To sustain students' attention and interest in English classrooms it is necessary to maintain variation in teaching-learning activities. To bring variation EFL instructors may plan and design classroom activities incorporating both receptive and productive language skills appropriate for their students' proficiency level. All the macro language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) need to be alternatively and proportionately practiced in English classrooms. Incorporating pair works, group works (small or large groups) in language classrooms would potentially contribute to reduce monotony and boredom of conventional classroom atmosphere and would allow students to interact in the target language exploiting their linguistic capacity (Dӧrnyei, 2007). EFL teachers and teacher trainers also need to emphasize the practice of student-centric classroom activities relevant to learners' needs and interests. The positive outcomes of student-centered teaching approaches are widely appreciated in many L2 contexts (Dӧrnyei, 2007;Trang & Baldauf, 2007).
Instructors' tendency to persuade students to memorize textual content, vocabulary and grammar of the target language causes demotivation towards learning English (see Quadir, 2017;Song & Kim, 2017). Instructors of English language classrooms need to be aware of the fact that memorization is an ineffective practice for L2 learning. Effective learning requires comprehensive instructions and active practice of linguistic elements (e.g., phonological, lexical, syntactic, grammatical elements). Students need to be provided with adequate exposure, exercises, and practices in classrooms. Since grammar and vocabulary are integral parts in learning a foreign language, classroom instructions on these linguistic elements need to be interesting and engaging. The Internet is an enormous source of teaching-learning materials of English grammar and vocabulary for different proficiency levels. To facilitate classroom activities of grammar and vocabulary, English teachers need the provision of accessibility to those materials and short-term orientation programs on how to exploit those online resources. Adequate support of logistic facilities is a vital concern to ensure the effectiveness of using online resources for language pedagogy.
Effective feedback plays a powerful role to guide and motivate students towards learning activities (Kaboody, 2013). While giving feedback teachers need to carefully insert some inspirational elements which may promote EFL students to invest their efforts more enthusiastically. Furthermore, language teachers need to be aware of planning comprehensive and comprehensible instruction to ensure usefulness of institutional English classes. They also need to address students' questions and confusions to facilitate their learning process.

Private Tutoring
From the analysis of qualitative data, private tutoring appears to be the second potent source of students' disinterest to study English. This factor may be unique to the context of Bangladeshi education. Private tutoring is a common practice at most of the academic levels in Bangladesh (Hamid et al., 2017). Private tutoring consumes huge family resources in this low-economy country. It is apparent from students' report that they are unhappy to buy private tuition spending the amount of money. Though the institutional English teachers may or may not be always directly involved in private tutoring, uselessness of classroom instructions forces both students and parents towards buying extra private tuition (Hamid et al., 2017).
In Bangladesh, there is government legislation against private tutoring; however, implementation of all those restrictions will be realistic only when teachers would be sanctioned reasonable amount of salary. Teachers of some institutions receive inadequate amount of monthly salary amid the high price of essential commodities (Quadir, 2017). It is also necessary to upgrade job facilities of institutional English teachers to attract qualified and competent candidates and to enhance quality of classroom teaching. Furthermore, English teachers need to be aware of the fact that effectiveness of classroom instructions will practically reduce the needs for private tutoring.

Teachers' Personality and Behavior
Teachers' disagreeable personality and unbecoming behavior are found to be strong sources of students' demotivation in many EFL contexts (see Kikuchi, 2009;Quadir, 2017;Trang & Baldauf, 2007). Many language teachers are unaware of their students' affective factors, and the powerful effects of those negative experiences in creating long term disinterest towards the subject (Trang & Baldauf, 2007). The psychological climate of a learning context is hugely important (Dӧrnyei, 2007) as L2 learners learn better in a fear free environment where they are not afraid of losing face in front of their peers (Nakata, 2006). Based on the students' reports the following recommendations are proposed.
English teachers need to be aware of creating and maintaining an anxiety free classroom atmosphere where all the students, of all proficiency levels, feel enthusiastic to participate in classroom activities. Teachers' positive behavior with students, supportive and inspiring comments can contribute to bring positive learning outcomes in foreign language classrooms (Wubbels et al., 2016). Language instructors need to remain aware of the fact that mistakes and errors are natural parts in L2 learning. Weak students' poor performance needs to be handled with patience and compassion. Language learners' affective factors need to be significantly incorporated in teachers' training programs and institutional policy. A provision of counseling within institutional setting may also be supportive to remedy emotionally affected learners.

Teachers' Competence and Classroom Management
This study detects that teachers' incompetence and poor classroom management skills adversely affect students' motivation. It is a commonly accepted fact that competent teachers succeed in enhancing students' competence (Trang & Baldauf, 2007). Therefore, the following initiatives may be suggested to ameliorate the condition.
To effectively engage EFL students in classroom activities, it is necessary to plan pragmatically relevant lessons for classroom practices (Kaboody, 2013). Large class size is a common challenge in the context of Bangladesh. Planning, incorporating and conducting pair works and group works would be helpful for involving a large number of students in classroom activities at a time. English teachers' encouragement and guidance to engage in outdoor language learning activities would inspire students to carry out and involve in learning activities outside of classrooms.

Teachers' Attitude and Commitment
Instructors' attitude and commitments towards teaching are essential qualities for effective classroom pedagogy. Education psychology asserts that teacher's commitment and enthusiasm get contaminated among students (Dӧrnyei & Ushioda, 2011), and therefore, committed teachers contribute to promoting students' motivation in EFL classrooms. The following suggestions are proposed regarding English teachers' attitude and commitment.
In EFL contexts it is important to create and culture democratic classroom environment to engage each student in learning activities. Instructors' interactions with only the proficient students in class promotes a sense of negligence among the deprived ones. Classroom teachers' negligence and the resulted feeling of deprivation may create acute disinterest towards the subject and learning activities as well (Trang & Baldauf, 2007). Teachers need to remain careful about fair distribution of classroom activities among all the attendees with proportionate involvement. In large classrooms it may be necessary for teachers to keep record of students' participations on the student-lists to manage impartial distribution of classroom activities.

CONCLUSIONS
There has been little academic attention to the dynamic nature of studentteacher interactions and the resulted outcomes in the EFL classrooms in the context of Bangladesh. This study has tried to explore students' perceptions to identify the teaching factors that adversely affect their motivation to study English as a school subject. The qualitative analysis of students' perceptions of teaching practices presents a collective picture of HS level English language classrooms in Bangladesh. The identified factors of this study point to a range of cultural, educational, social and economic factors and their interactions in this context. Implementation of effective teaching practices is a demanding and complex process, and to a large extent dependent on teachers' capacity (Fullan, 2007). In this EFL context of Bangladesh, the culture of top-down policy initiatives of curriculum reformation has invariably ignored the necessity of building-up teachers' capacity in a large scale. Teachers' professional qualities are largely dependent on teacher-training process, recruitment policy, provision of professional facilities, logistic support and so on and so forth. It is important to note that, English language teachers in Bangladesh have never been provided with adequate training facilities, pedagogical guidance, economic support, and teaching materials to prepare themselves for quality instructions. Furthermore, English education in Bangladesh has never been supported by any contextually feasible policy framework  which would contribute to upgrading and enhancing English teachers' professional skills and effectiveness of English pedagogy.
The principle main objectives of this research were to explore EFL students' perceptions of their classroom teaching in order to identify the teaching factors that adversely affect their motivation to study English, and to propose some contextually feasible remedial measures addressing the identified factors of the current study. The findings of the study would be insightful for English language teachers to reflect on students' needs and expectations in their classroom teaching preparations. Furthermore, they would be informative for the stakeholders of English education (e.g., education policymakers, curriculum developers, teacher trainers, and especially English teachers), particularly in Bangladeshi context. This study implicates future reformation policy of English teachers' professional development, English language education, and teachers' training programs in the context of Bangladesh. Though this research investigation is limited to the self-report interview data of a convenience sample, and therefore may present a partial picture of the whole scenario, it provides an opportunity to look into the classroom practices from students' perspectives. Further research might aim to implement the proposed remedial measures through action research, teacher training or professional development programs to contribute to increasing English teacher competence and their professional development.