Teaching for Success: Learning and Learners

Understand learners, policy and practice with this continuing professional development course for English language teachers.

In this course you will look at four professional practices:

• Understanding learners

• Knowing the subject

• Using inclusive practices

• Assessing learning

Types of Motivation

According to American psychologist , Carl Rogers , there are two main types of motivation.

Intrinsic motivation : it comes from the learner - he/ she may feel happy when studying English. It might be a source of joyment.

External motivation: it is an external forcing drive . It might a kind of benefit that may affect the learner's life positively. For example , he / she studies English for a job promotion.

My Reflections

• Think of a foreign language you have studied in the past: what motivated you to learn?

• What motivates your learners to learn English?

• Add your ideas in the comments below.

I sill remember when I fell in love with English in the 80's. There was a TV program which provided the viewers with the basics of English. I was crazy about listening to pronunciation. I used to repeat some words and phrases without even understanding their meanings. English sounds attracted me and therefore I started studying English at an early age. As far as my students are concerned, there are several reasons why they are eager to improve their language skills, especially speaking and writing. First, It is required to speak English in the job market. Second, academically speaking, if one would like to continue their doctoral studies, they will need English to conduct their research, especially scientific research. Third, English is a lingua franca. You can speak in the whole world when you are stuck in a communicative situation. For all these reasons, students feel that English is important as a means of communication in the current world. In the beginning of each academic year, I do my best to raise my students' awareness of the importance of English. This helps increase my students' motivation. In my lessons, I usually bring materials and activities that attract them.

Getting to know your learners

Getting to know your learners helps you to find out more about what motivates them. Watch the video of teachers describing how they get to know their learners.

• Have you tried any of the techniques the teachers mentioned?

• How do you get to know new classes/ learners quickly?

Share your thoughts with other learners by adding your comments below.

My reflections

It is pretty difficult to get to know your students in a large class. There are some activities that might help the teacher have an idea about their students. In my context, I usually start the year with a series of 'getting to know you' activities. What do you think about these two amazing activities: Activiy 1 is "This is my World". Students are required to draw a circle and then draw things such as possessions , favourite food, favourite sports , most likeable perso, the best movie they have ever seen... Afterwards, they are asked to share their world with their partners. Finally , students stand in front the whole class to tell things about themselves.

Activity 2 is calld " Cloud ". I draw a cloud on the board. I jot down a name of a person , a name of a city , a date , a sport , a season .... I tell my students that the cloud reflects my personal life. I asked them to prepare a list of questions about the content of my cloud. I have to answer the questions. After that , they are supposed to make their Clouds. In front of the class, the student holds up their cloud and answer their classmates' questions. A lot of interaction takes place. A good rapport is built up here.

suzanne mordue ( Lead Educator ) Personalisation is a great way to motivate learners. There are some articles on the Teaching English website about this topic: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/personalisation

Learning_and_learners_1.6_Getting_to_know_you_activities.pdf

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Reflecting on Week 3

I liked the content of this week. It has opened my eyes to many teaching skills that the teacher should have to make their teaching practices better. First of all , the module has raised the participants' awareness on diversity as being an aspect of mixed classrooms. The teacher has to bear in mind that the class is a melting pot of different learners. It is unfair to treat all learners alike.They are different but must be treated equally. Here, the idea of differentiating teaching comes to value diversity among learners.In fact , the participants learnt many types of differentiation.

1.Differentiating content

-by tasks

-by text

-by media

2.Differentiating by interest

3.Differnetiating working groups

Providing support is another aspect of differentiating instruction. One of the teacher's roles is to help learners in many ways. Scaffolding is necessary to make learning take place.

Another great idea is to decide the outcome of learners by having recourse to tiered intructions method. It is unfair to ask students to do the same task without taking consideration into their levels. I find this way democratic.

All in all, I find this module fabulous.

Week 4

Assessing Learners

Assessment and testing are often used interchangeably but are not the same thing. Assessment covers everything that teachers do to collect information about learner progress and achievement. This includes testing but has other aspects as well, like monitoring progress during each lesson.

Assessment is a stage that a teacher should not belittle. The success of learners in learning is fully based on this teaching practice. To track the students' progress in learning , the teacher has to do many types of assessment. He/she might assess their students during a lesson to ensure that learning takes place. In the end of an instructional unit , it is time to test them and to see whether they are progressing or not. If not , the teacher should analyze the areas that must be covered to make things better. So, assessing learners is a non-stop process.

Concerning the teachers' opinions on assessment, I agree with both of them. Mastering assessing techniques shows to what extent the teacher is professional. Also, one of the teacher's roles is being a diagnotician. He/she is supposed to spot their students' strengths and weaknesses. This makes the students overcome difficulties and therefore progress in their learning.