KOTESOL: Recharging Dying Batteries
Just as smartphone batteries lose their electrical charge over time, language learners may become run down and in need of recharging. We have suggested several ways of motivating tired students in last month’s issue: making lessons interesting, making them relevant and creating a stress-free classroom environment. We will add these additional suggestions: creating opportunities for success, creating opportunities for involvement and not allowing for opportunities to disengage. We must remember also that it takes a motivated and vigilant teacher to create and maintain favorable conditions for student motivation.
Create Opportunities for Success
Nothing can be more motivating than success, and nothing can be more demotivating than failure. It is logical, then, that the more conditions for success that the teacher creates, the more motivated the student will be. It is also very important that the teacher be acutely aware of the proficiency level of each student. It is not uncommon for the proficiency levels among students in an English class to vary widely. When students’ ability levels differ and all students are expected to complete the same tasks, we can only expect varying degrees of success from the students. Some may complete the task with uneventful ease, while some may utterly fail. Rather than assigning the same exact task to all levels, the teacher can tailor the tasks to the individual students’ differing levels. The teacher may also have students work on tasks in pairs or groups, allowing them to pool their resources in order to complete tasks successfully. What is critical is that in selecting activities for individual students, groups and the whole class is that activities need to be appropriate for the students’ level. Indeed, one of the surest ways to demotivate a class is to select a course book that, though excellent, is not at the class’s level.
Routines can aid in creating student success. We often think of routines as being the same old thing over and over again. But if we have a set routine to follow for each type of activity that we ask our students to do, they will be more familiar with the general procedure, and they will be more likely not to fail in an activity for not understanding the instructions. When introducing a new type of activity with new instructions, it is also a good idea for the teacher to first model the activity for the students – that is, the teacher first demonstrates to the students the procedure for completing the task to familiarize them with the new method. The younger the student and the lower the level of proficiency, the more support the student will generally need in the form of routines.
When students are successful in completing a task, reward them. Rewards may take many forms. There are rewards of cookies and candy. These are, however, rewards that I would not suggest because once given for a certain level of work produced, the students tend to expect the reward each time they produce that level of work. Frequent rewards of “goodies” often direct students’ focus away from the language-learning task and onto the reward.
I much prefer giving low-cost or no-cost rewards – something that is valued for the effort exerted and the successful completion of a task. A simple gold star sticker can be quite meaningful to a student as a reward for successful work. A sincere word of praise to a student privately or for the whole class to hear can be the spark that jumpstarts a student toward the desire for many future successes. Reward charts can be made and displayed on the classroom wall or bulletin board with stickers given to students for successful completion of tasks.
If tasks are individualized, each student should have a similar number of reward stickers, thus creating a bit of motivating competition. Rewards are tricky, though. If they are given once for just a little effort on the part of the student, the student may come to expect rewards for minimal effort in the future. Set a standard for giving rewards and stick to it. Progress charts can be equally rewarding. Students very often do not notice improvements in their own language skills. Creating and displaying individual student progress charts can thus produce a motivating effect.
Be sincere with your students, and let them know that you have their best interests at heart. Let them know that you want them to be successful. If you are truly interested in having your students succeed in the tasks that you set for them, they will learn from it and thus make the extra effort to succeed – for themselves as much as for the teacher.
Get the Students Involved
The teacher-centered classroom can quickly become a student-bored classroom. Students sitting motionless in their seats listening to a teacher relay information about English does not create much transfer and even less skills acquisition. Teacher-student interaction is a step in the right direction, but what is really useful and motivating is to have students interacting with each other in English. Pair-work and group-work activities are student-centered activities in which the teacher steps back and takes a monitoring role and allows the students to take the initiative in completing the task at hand through interaction with each other. Roleplays create similar student-student interaction and accompanying motivation.
Teachers can also get their students involved by eliciting their opinions on class activities – on how interesting they were, on how useful they were, on how to improve upon them. Teachers can go one step further and involve the students in the decision-making process on what activities the class does in the classroom. The teacher may limit the students’ choices to a few teacher chosen options, but giving the students the freedom to make their own choice among themselves creates a sense of agency among the students that is high in motivational value.
Student classroom involvement should also have as a goal the transfer of responsibility for learning from the teacher to the student. One may think that this is only possible with older and very advanced language learners, but not so. Even with elementary-level learners, the teacher can go from having students listen to the teacher presenting new material to having students taking turns leading their classmates in practicing that same material all within a single class period – motivating to teacher and student alike.
Don’t Allow Tuning Out
It is not uncommon for the low-motivated student to give up on English because the teacher gave up on them. Giving up on a student for “not trying” is the easy way out, but it should not even be an option. The teacher should not allow a student the option of tuning out, dropping out and giving up. Good classroom management and control should be maintained. Attendance should be taken and reflected in student grades. Students should be required to be attentive in class and on task. Students should be aware of what is expected of them and be required to complete their work.
When teachers ignore students, the students ignore teachers. When teachers take an interest in students, strict though it may have to be, those students will take more interest in classwork. Create an environment in which students know that you are interested in their success, create an environment in which students are involved with each other and with class decisions and create an environment in which students can be successful, and then, you will have created an environment in which students will be motivated unto further successes.
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Monthly Chapter Meeting
Date & Time: January 11 (Saturday), 1:30 pm
Place: Chosun University, Main Building, Left Wing, Rm 4211
Two Featured Workshops
Swap-Shop: Share your teaching ideas and activities with the group.
Admission: No Charge
Facebook: Gwangju-Jeonnam KOTESOL
Website: http://koreatesol.org/gwangju
Email: gwangju@koreatesol.org
Twitter: @GwangjuKOTESOL
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The Author
David E. Shaffer is the President of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter of Korea TESOL (KOTESOL). On behalf of the Chapter, he invites you to participate in the teacher development workshops at their monthly meetings and special events. Dr. Shaffer is a professor of English Language at Chosun University, where he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses for many years. He is a long-time member of KOTESOL and a holder of various KOTESOL positions, including the Publications Committee Chair. He is also a seven-time recipient of the KOTESOL President’s Award and a recipient of the KOTESOL Lifetime Achievement Award.