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MOTIVATION
18 October,
2004
How to motivate the Learner and How to motivate the Teacher.
THE LEARNER
ENCOURAGE
PROACTIVITY
Being
involved in learning, rather than sitting back as a passive vessel is
all-important in learning.We can encourage students to get involved in clubs,
(show them "That's Beijing" Magazine), find a language exchange,
mix with foreigners, read books (take 'em to "The Bookworm"), watch
films, DVDs, learn on-line (so many free resources... show them where) and so
much more.
GIVE
THEM a CONFIDENCE TOOL
It's
a rising circle (is that the opposite of a vicious circle?), the more
confidence you have, the more you progress; the more you progress, the more
you are motivated; the more you are motivated, the more confidence you have
and so on.
One
point to enter the circle is at confidence. This can be done by giving the
students a tool with which they can see their own confidence grow. (Download Confidence
Sheet).
At
the end of each class they look at the skills they have used and tick in the
box depending if they feel W (Weak) O.K. or G (Good). This is done at the end
of each class (on the same paper) and so over time, they can see where their
confidence is growing or needs more work. The key is to start making students
aware of their learning, feelings, progress and confidence. Progress breeds
confidence.
Some
suggestions made in Monday's meeting were to have a 5 point scale, rather
than 3 (many students maybe too humble to ever award themselves a G!). Also,
the skills could be listed and then dated columns added, so there is a visual
continuity from one class to another. Have a look at the Confidence Sheet and have fun
playing around with it for your own needs.
GIVE OBJECTIVES
A
key way to motivate students is show them where they are and help them
identify where they want to go. Clear, visual goals can help students stay on
course and motivate them to reach their goals. Goals should be realistic and
as teachers, we can help students see if they are unrealistic and tell them
this will probably be demotivating.
Many
business courses want to chew off more than the students can handle. Not only
unrealistic goals, but also the enormity of the language to be learnt, can
demoralize students. Hence, narrowing the scope of the project is useful.
Have students select key areas, the important ones, and focus on those. As
the Chinese say, a journey of 1000 miles starts with the first step. In fact,
the step you are taking is the only one you have.
Involving
students in the make up of the course is also highly motivating (if school
curriculums or Human Resource departments permit!) Having set the goals, they
can choose topics and areas of interest and relevance to them.
If
you want to push it a step further have them teach each other, each student
presenting a topic or language point. One of the best ways to learn something
is to teach it. If you try this be gentle, China may not be ready for it yet,
they may want to know what they are paying you for exactly!
USING YOUR AUTHORITY!
Many
cultures hold the teacher in high esteem and expect him or her to show and
use their authority. In the right circumstances, stamping your authority may
get them motivated!
If
you are sitting comfortably, here are a couple of anecdotes about students
being motivated by a teacher stamping down their authority.
A:
One teacher was challenged by a student (university age) who stood up and
told the teacher in a loud and clear voice that the task set was stupid and
no one wanted to do it. The teacher paused and then responded with similar
clarity and strength of voice, that the student was in no position to make
such claims and was out of line for doing so in such a fashion. The student
left the room in a tearful huff and the rest of the class lowered their heads
and diligently set about doing the task in hand; highly motivated one may
say.
B:
A teacher from outside China entered a class and as the students (adults), in
a lazy and disinterested fashion, prepared for the class to begin, the
teacher lost his tether. He yelled at them and told them, with rather
embellished language, that they were wasting everyone's time and deserved the
pathetic progress they were making. From that moment on they transformed into
the most motivated class you could imagine!
Stamp
your authority at your own discretion!
FRAMEWORK ACTIVITIES
Framework
activities are tasks that
a)
Help students organize their thoughts before they perform or
b)
Get the students themselves to give the context of the dialogue
In
the Attachment Framework Activities, you can see several examples that were
taken from Teaching Business English (Mark Ellis and Christine
Johnson)....14yuan!!
By
giving a simple framework you enable the learner to organize their thoughts
before they speak. Many mistakes are based on the learner speaking and
focusing at a word-level. Such a framework significantly reduces mistakes and
makes speech more coherent. Although the examples given are from a business
context you could adapt them easily for any learner.
Example 1, gives the learner the framework to talk about their relationship
with other people in the company. Instead of rambling on without direction,
the learner is given direction and can focus on avoiding slips, speaking
accurately and more coherently.
Example 5, shows a framework for a dialogue. Here the learners discuss before
hand what they will talk about, and then they "do" the dialogue.
Not only does motivation increase by them choosing the context and topic (and
saving the teacher preparation time!), but also their final dialogue is much
more coherent and organized. By not having to focus too much on organization,
they can concentrate on speaking more accurately and fluently.
As
I am sure many of you have experienced, too much freedom can demotivate.
Creativity needs a restriction. Take into account your own students
personality and level when making and using a framework.
THE TEACHER
How to motivate the teacher.
Money
.....!!!
......sell
your courses,
......sell
your action research
......sell
yourself
Attractive
students.....!!!
Get
a new teaching qualification.
Learn
Chinese (obtain learner empathy, headaches, frustration and satisfaction)
Join
the Teacher Development Forum, share ideas!!
Why do you get out of bed in the morning???
Bits and Bobs:
A follow up note from
Paula Hanna on websites:
Here is a useful website
for anyone teaching BE especially concerning trade, and despite the odd name,
www.export911.com contains good
lesson ideas and specialist info.
A follow up from Michael
Collins on Collocations:
Below is a page that may
be useful.
http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/advdicts/collocation.htm
And that’s it for this
week!
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