Unmotivation

Most dangerous of all is when the learner starts thinking that learning English is beyond his reach – the farthest degree of unmotivation and frustration.

The following quote borrowed from Hunter (1999) quite well summarizes this vicious circle of unmotivation: “Workers with good family background neglect their work and are not pushed by their supervisors because of their family background. [...]”

It is important to distinguish unmotivation, which may be associated with remarks such as “What's the point of doing a project?” (Interest and Relevance) from demotivation, which may result from difficulties experienced while undertaking the current project, or may be the residual effect of prior experience of project work (Expectation and Satisfaction).

I've been there enough times to know exactly just how painful this state of “unmotivation” can be. Lack of motivation drains our capacity to take action. Stagnation sets in. Our sense of purpose is zapped.

The linguistic unmotivation of the fully interlingual approach is discussed and – we believe – proved in a number of writings, e.g. Tsujii (1986), van Eynde (this volume) and Allegranza (in press).