2004 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 13-27
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a teacher's verbal interaction emphasizing children's personal development and improvement on their motivation in physical education class through experimental intervention. The subjects were 19 fourth grade elementary school children (10-11 years old) and one male elementary school teacher with 11 years teaching experience.
In the study, a non-intervention unit of 7 lessons of apparatus gymnastics was conducted in the first trimester. Then an intervention unit of 9 lessons of portball (a basketball-like game) was conducted in the second trimester, during which the teacher gave children positive verbal feedback about the student's personal development and improvement as much as possible. The teacher's protocol was recorded and his verbal interaction with children was recalled by the children after each lesson. The children's motivational variables included personal goal orientation and perceived class climate, satisfaction with, positive attitude toward, and perceived self-competence in physical education, all of which were measured before and after the intervention unit.
During the intervention unit the teacher gave positive verbal feedback about personal development and improvement more than during the non-intervention unit. The number of children who perceived peer interaction was increased concurrently with the number of children who perceived teacher interaction.
The more positive verbal feedback emphasizing on personal development and improvement the children perceived, the higher their scores on motivational variables were appropriately enhanced. They highly evaluated task oriented goal and mastery class climate as well as their satisfaction with, positive attitude toward, and perceived self-competence in physical education. On the other hand, they showed lower ego oriented goal and lower perception of performance class climate.
Characteristics of effective verbal interaction that is perceived by children were positive feedback emphasizing personal development and improvement related to motor skill learning, question-inductive feedback in reciprocal interaction, and feedback in the presence of peers.
