Rewards and Learners’ Engagement in L2 Classes: A Case Study in an Indonesian High School Context

Abstract

The present study intends to investigate the types of rewards given to learners in English as a second/foreign language (L2) classes and L2 learners' views on the possible effects of rewards on their engagement. The study employed a case study design with class observations and semi-structured interviews as the methods of data collection. Indonesian high school learners at a private university participated in this study. Through the observations, it was found that learners received three types of rewards: verbal praise, non-verbal praise, and social reward. From the interviews, it was found that rewards could make the learning atmosphere more fun and competitive as well as increase learners’ attentiveness. Nonetheless, rewards alone were not sufficient to engage learners in independent learning requiring them to exert more effort in their L2 learning process. Overall this study contributes to the understanding of rewards in the Indonesian high school L2 context which is thus far fairly under-researched. Among others, this study concludes that teachers should know what kinds of rewards, when and how they are delivered to best achieve the intended effects. Suggested directions for relevant studies in the field are also stated alongside the possible limitations of this study.