Enhancing Interaction and Motivation: Revisiting Reward and Punishment in Language Classrooms

Behaviorist theory, as articulated by B.F. Skinner (1953), explains learning as a process shaped by cause-and-effect relationships between stimuli and responses. It emphasizes the external environment's role in influencing behavior over internal factors like thoughts or emotions. In classrooms, this theory is operationalized through the use of rewards and punishments to reinforce desired behaviors and discourage undesired ones.