Development of Students’ Motivation and Meaning Sphere by Means of Self-Actualization During English Class

Introduction. Studying students' meaning sphere and also its development is important for increasing their motivation. This paper presents new data on the relationship between motivation and self-actualization. The study develops and validates a didactic model for increasing students' motivation and developing their meaning sphere by means of self-actualization during English class. Methods. The study employed the questionnaire of Motives of Educational Activity by A. A. Rean and V. A. Yakunin; the Personal Self-actualization questionnaire by N. F. Kalina. The analysis of the Pearson correlation coefficient, arithmetic mean, and mean square deviation was conducted for processing of the results. The study involved 78 first- and second-year students (50 boys and 18 girls) from Rostov State Transport University. Results. The study revealed the coefficients of self-actualization and motivational sphere. The findings confirmed the validity of the developed didactic model for increasing students' motivation and developing their meaning sphere through self-actualization by means of meaning-making techniques applied during English class. The developed didactic model proved to be an integral system. Discussion. Performing creative tasks and applying meaning-making techniques during English class, taking into account students' culture- and age-specific features, help to increase their self-actualization (creativity, autonomy, communication flexibility, etc.). These, in turn, increase the level of motivation. Conclusion. Students' motivation and self-actualization have a strong positive correlation (r = 0,98).