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This qualitative study examines how ten young English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners were motivated to learn English in a picture book program, part of the after-school program implemented in a private preschool in New Taipei City, Taiwan. This picture book program was designed by the researcher, also the instructor, to replace the textbook selected by the school principal with nine authentic picture books to enhance the participants’ motivation to learn English. Seven types of activities were also incorporated into the program. These 5-6-year-old participants, six boys and four girls, had been learning English for more than one year when this program started. The data were collected through participant observation, student feedback on classroom activities, and the teacher log. The participants were observed and video-recorded while participating in class based on Ormrod’s (2011) six motivational behaviors. The descriptive notes of participant observation and student feedback on activities were analyzed, according to Lichtman’s (2006) three Cs of analysis: coding, categorizing, and identifying concepts. The teacher log was adopted to verify the findings. Authentic picture books have been viewed as a motivational medium and one of the useful pedagogical tools in the EFL classroom (Chao, 2014; Fang, 2008; Ghosn, 2002; van Kraayenoord & Paris, 1996; Lin, 2010; Linse, 2007; Sheu, 2006; Wu, 2012; Wu, 2013). However, despite a large body of literature on motivation and the use of picture books in classroom-based action research, little research has focused on EFL preschoolers’ motivation. Through better understanding how the participants were motivated to learn English in this particular picture book program, this study provides insights for other EFL teachers of preschoolers. The findings showed that the participants’ perceptions of the use of authentic picture books were illustration-oriented, story-oriented, learning-oriented, and connection-oriented. Their viewpoints on the seven types of classroom activities were diverse, indicating various factors resulted in their preference on each type of the activities. Furthermore, the participants’ attitudes toward the Picture Book Program could also be affected by their physical conditions and the instructor’s teaching style. The encouraging findings based on the participants’ feedback not only provided in-depth insights on very young learners’ preferences on English language learning but also proved that the Picture Book Program can be adopted in preschools as a motivational means of teaching young EFL learners.
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