ELT News Think Tank

This Month's Think Tank Panel

Marc Helgesen

Peter Viney

Chuck Sandy

Curtis Kelly

Panelists: Chuck | Marc | Peter | Curtis
Date: January 2003

Topic: "How can we empower and motivate students?"

Marc Helgesen

Empowerment & motivation. Wow! How do you cover that in a few hundred words? I don't mean to sound cynical. I think there are some very useful and specific things we can do that empower and motivate. But I also think this is hugely complex topic. It is a mistake to try to boil it down to a few "motivating activities or tricks."

Empowering and motivating students is, to a large degree, about a state of mind - the teacher's as well as one reflecting the class culture/shared values of the class.

“I love games. But I find that if you don't bother counting points, you get people pulling in the same direction.”

On the ETJ (English Teachers in Japan) list last year, there was a discussion of "how entertaining should English teachers be?" Maurice Jamall said something that I thought was really important. He said something like, "It's not about entertaining the students. It's about engaging them." This is essential. It reflects that state of mind that, in turn, creates classes that respect learners. And that respect results in empowerment and motivation.

OK, but how?

For starters, realize we are not just teaching English. We are teaching people.

For me, that means trying to personalize nearly everything we do. I'm not trying to teach my students my own language. I am trying to make English their own. It want it to become a language that they can use to express their own experiences, ideas and dreams. Secondly, I think we need to try to create a class culture that encourages learners in doing that.

Lofty goals, to be sure. What specifically can we do in our classes?

Personalizing
Make sure every class, and nearly every task and topic, includes some way for learners to add themselves.

Examples:

• Listening. Any listening task has a topic. Follow it up with 3-5 personalized questions that the learners answer about themselves. Then put them in pairs or groups and have them compare answers.
• 3-minute conversation task. Again, we can personalize just about any topic they run into in their textbook. Periodically, have them close their books. On the board write something like:
    3-minute conversation task.
    Talk about ________ (the topic).
    Give your ideas, experiences and opinions.
    Ask questions.
    English only.
  Notice that three minutes is not a time limit. It is a goal. Three minutes is short enough that nearly everyone can do it. That's success. Which, of course, leads to success. But the idea of challenging them to do three minutes entirely in English gives it enough of a task to make it work.
• Pairwork/groupwork. These often have a personalized element. If they don't, add one. Have the learners do the activities about themselves. By the way, just doing pair- and groupwork instead of full class activities is a way of personalizing since it encourages learners to work at their own levels.
• Get feedback feedforward. And not just at the end of the course (that's too late) I regularly have students rate what we have been doing in class. I usually use a 5-point scale (5 = very, 1 = not at all). Learners rate things on these criteria:
  - Was it interesting?
  - Was it useful?
  - Was it easy?
  They also give me their ideas for the class. Of course, the information helps me guide the class. But it also gives learners responsibilty for their own learning. They need to think about what they value. (I learned this feedback scheme from Tim Murphey and Duane Kindt. Mat White suggested changing the last question from "Was it difficult?" to "Was it easy?" as a way of getting learners to think in a positive mindset - the idea "This is easy for me. I can do it!" becomes self-expectation.

Work on the class atmosphere/ class culture

• Get learners working together. One way I do this is with warm-up activities that include physical movement. Working together physically helps create the sense of groups - sort of like the "rajio taiso" exercises our students have grown up with (see my page on physical warm-ups).
• Eliminate or limit competition. Don't get me wrong. I love games. But I find that if you don't bother counting points, you get people pulling in the same direction. If you are hesitant about this (and I understand that - I was for years), try this: Give them a choice. They can do it as a game with points, or they can just do it as a activity/interaction. Let each group choose the way they like.
• Work on the physical atmosphere of the room. Try background music. Rearrange the desks into "islands" of four so students look at each other rather than you. I'm lucky to usually have the same classroom. I have hung art on the walls and put aromatherapy burners in (they sell electric ones at Tokyu Hands - no fire danger). I am not trying to create a "touchy feely" atmosphere. What I am trying to do is create a sense of community where everyone works together.
  
  I know background music and aromatherapy (bells and smells) aren't practical in every situation. But it is useful to ask yourself what is. You can add bonding activities that build the sense of group. You can probably add music. You can probably move the desks. What else moves? (you?) What can you do to create an atmosphere that empowers and motivates?

By the way, the lead article in this month's developingteachers.com newsletter is called "Motivation and motivating in the foreign language classroom." It presents some of the current thinking and resarch in a very accessable way. Click on the link to check it out.
http://developingteachers.com/articles_tchtraining/mot1_dimitrios.htm

Panelists: Chuck | Marc | Peter | Curtis

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Marc Helgesen, Miyagi Gakuin Women's College

Co-author of English Firsthand and Active Listening

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