motivating language learners

November 4th Presentation

2007-11-06T14:31:00.000+09:00

I have finished the final presentation for 2007. It was a presentation for English Teachers in Japan, Ehime, and can be viewed here:

ETJ Ehime

I am currently working on the next paper for my MA, about learner training, and how it doesn't work very well in my teaching situation.

Down to Business

2007-10-11T12:39:00.000+09:00

I mentioned in the previous entry that I'd be giving a "slightly modified" version of September's presentation in October in Hiroshima. This has turned into a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT presentation altogether.

The details of the Hiroshima presentation can be found here:

ETJ Expo Hiroshima

This will be about how the first five minutes of class affects the rest of class time, based on half-hour interviews of 17 teachers of children.

My next paper for my MA will focus on learning strategies, and basically how they may benefit learners in some cultures, but from my experience in my conversation school, learners rarely want to lead themselves in this culture. They look for the teacher to guide them, and feel they aren't getting what they pay for if they are required to find ways to learn beyond what the teacher gives them.

Maybe some would think this is a harsh statement, and if so I strongly urge you to contact me or at least comment on this blog to make your point. Anyone with an opinion either way, may be able to influence my paper, so it would be in your interest to comment here.

Self-motivation/ Tooting my own horn

2007-08-23T13:38:00.000+09:00

In July, I gave a presentation to JALT in Matsuyama. Sure, it was intimidating to speak in front of people who have been working in universities for many years, and have more experience than I do. But I survived, and have an after-glow.

The title of it was, "Motivation from Natural Resources: Genuine Communication Through Surveys" and can be found here: http://www.eltcalendar.com/events/details/3617

Mid-August held the week-long seminar by the University of Birmingham. This was very motivating, and expanded the worlds of all the students who attended.

In the course of the seminar, we were sectioned into groups to create a project. My group created ideas for the groundwork of a textbook. This got us thinking, and have decided to keep at it. We will work it through to completion, and publication. We have the motivation to work it into our busy schedules.

In September, I'll be giving a presentation for ETJ Ehime in Matsuyama. The title is, "Motivation? Chaos? A Study of Young Learners, Games, and Behavior" and the link for this one is here: http://www.eltcalendar.com/events/details/3727

In October I'll give a slightly modified version of the same presentation to the ELT Expo in Hiroshima.

All in all, I think I'm highly motivated... but I wonder how much of it can be attributed to procrastination from doing reading for my next Birmingham assignment...

Motivational Heroes

2007-07-30T11:24:00.000+09:00

When talking about motivational research, there are a few people who need to be mentioned.

Zoltan Dornyei's book, Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom, is first on the list. It gives descriptions of motivational theories in history leading up to current research. Check out the chart on pages 10 and 11 in that book, and you can see the basic outlines of theories by Deci and Ryan (self-determination theory), Brophy (expectancy-value theories),Weiner's attribution theory, etc! I find it also important to note that Dornyei discusses the research of Robert Gardner, the guy famous for research in French/English immersion schools in Canada. In addition to all of this great background, there is a useful checklist in the back of the book, summarizing Dornyei's ideas given throughout the book, and shows motivational items which can be used in the classroom.

Dornyei and Otto's (1998) paper, Motivation in action: A process model of L2 motivation is interesting in that it proposes that motivation must be studied in relation to time, noting fluctuations.

Another author is John Keller, with his ARCS motivational model. ARCS is an acronym for Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. I have found the most of his research to apply to my students with the exception of students requiring equity (in the Satisfaction stage). This does apply to my adult students, but children tend to be satisfied by winning more than being treated fairly. Most of the games need to be rigged by the teacher (at least in my classroom) so that even if there is a weak student, there is the illusion of competition between all students. I alter point systems, change some rules, etc, to achieve a balance of strengths between all students during English language games. I find that if a child loses a game miserably, then their confidence is shattered (even if for just a short time).

REFERENCES

Dornyei, Z. and Otto, I. (1998) Motivation in action: A process model of L2 motivation. Working Papers in Applied Linguistics [online], Thames Valley University, London, 4, 43-69. Available from: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/archive/00000039/ [Accessed 15 May 2007]

Dornyei, Z. (2001) Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Keller, J and Suzuki, K (2004) Learner motivation and E-learning design: a multinationally validated process. Learning, Media and Technology, 29/3, 229–239.
Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1358165042000283084
[Accessed 20 June 2007]

Keller, J (1999) Motivation in Cyber Learning Environments. Educational Technology International, 1/1, 7-30.

Clarification

2007-07-20T09:57:00.001+09:00

My first paper has been submitted. Now there is a short time to think about other areas of life.

Looking back on the May 4th entry of this blog, I see how it could be seen differently than how it was intended. The "data" I talked about was my own diary data. If it was seen as anything other than that meaning, then I'm sorry. The tutors on the course are excellent.

The decision to re-invent my diary-keeping methods gave my entire paper an interesting perspective, and helped me examine which style is best.

Written discourse is very exciting to me these days. Without listening to tone-of-voice or being able to see visual clues from another person, the writer must make clear their intentions through words. It's something I struggle with as a native speaker of English, so how will I be able to teach it to non-native speakers when the time comes?

Motivation and Games

2007-06-01T11:38:00.000+09:00

The second Motivational Journal is now complete. Now I can spend time thinking about the entries and make some observations.

The first thing I found was my insistence to use games in the children's classes. This is common practice, and it works to a great extent in the classes I've taught, and observed. But writing about it, recording the lessons I do and realizing how much we play games to coax students into learning English~ it just really makes me stop and think a moment.

Are children really that simple? Is it like the Pavlovian dogs with the bell, drooling because they associate English with games?

Games don't always work, by the way. And in some games, I found the students getting TOO excited. Here, the game is taking precedence over English. In my research I call it crossing the "Point of Disruption" (or PoD).

Using realia is another other option. Finding ways to make English "real" for the students can be motivating. We used real fruit last year for a Parent's Week lesson, and that worked well. Printing out pictures of sports stars and their favorite characters, and also having communication with people in English outside of the classroom, these are all ways to make the experience real for them. Unfortunately, there are limits to what we have access to, and to what a conversation school allows.

Total Physical Response (TPR) always gets them moving and excited. It has its uses, but it has its limits, too.

Role-reversal is fun, having the students be the teacher, but this can cause uncomfortable silences while one student is trying to come up with the language on their own. Even if everyone is patient in the classroom (including me), it still can only work for a short time.

So I guess the answer is balance. A little of this, and a little of that. Mix it together, and you have a motivated group of students learning English. That's the conclusion of my teaching journal, anyway.

Learning teachers teaching learning to learners

2007-05-13T22:36:00.000+09:00

I'm not a polished teacher. I'm learning how to teach. Maybe this will be my future: Learning to teach/ Teaching to learn.
The other end~ students. Are they learning from the teacher? Are they apprentice English speakers? Are they learning how to take control of their own learning?
How do we teach learners how to learn things for themselves? If we figure this out, then teachers may become obsolete. Throughout the ages, there have been "Great Teachers." Socrates, Nadia Boulanger (music teacher of Aaron Copland, Quincy Jones, Philip Glass, etc), David Nunan... the list goes on and on. They are known for their teaching. Could teachers really become obsolete? Could, for instance, if one is given rules for how to learn on their own, they learn English without a teacher? Why would people need teachers if they are given the skills to teach themselves?
I'm rambling a bit. However, I'm thinking back to my music days. Could Aaron Copland have created music without the influence of Boulanger? Could Plato have come up with such amazing ideas without the guidance from Socrates? Could any of these people teach themselves sufficiently so as not to require a teacher at all?

I think the answer is "No." I believe it is important to give our students the power and skill to learn how to learn. However, I don't think it means that doing this will render the teacher useless.

On the contrary, once students begin to understand parts of the puzzle, it makes the missing pieces more evident. They may want to learn more techniques for learning the language; more ways to see the monster and quell the beast.

Yes, I've been awake too long. Hehehe. Time for sleep.

Motivational Journal

2007-05-04T13:55:00.000+09:00

I did record thoughts about motivational techniques I use in my classes from beginning to mid-April. I discussed the headings I used in a previous post.
After reading what my tutor suggested, I realised that the data I got isn't sufficient, but I think it is a good place to start. I will be creating a more detailed diary beginning next Monday, after analysing the entries I have already made in April.
The first time trying to create the journal, I went in blind. But I'm excited about this next one. It's like entering a coffee shop you are familiar with: You know where to sit and the choices on the menu.
Since the last time I tried this, I've also read more about how to do it, too. I think it'll be a much more rewarding experience the second time around.

A Spoonful of Irritation

2007-05-01T19:56:00.000+09:00

Not everything we do to help the students actually works. This time I'm not discussing the motivational diary, I'm referring to feedback. And this isn't something that happened today. It's something that I've been thinking about today, but happened last Thursday.

My manager gave one class of my adult students counselling (it has now been one year that I have taught them). During the counselling (conducted in Japanese), I requested some questions be asked to the students, to improve and guide my own teaching.

The questions:
1. This past year's English lessons have been (and they were given a scale to rate difficulty).

2. I want the teacher to .

3. Speaking is the most important at our school. I want to do this, plus:
a) reading practice
b) listening practice
c) writing practice

4. I want to .

5. My favorite activity was:
(Making a travel pamphlet/ the American survey/ describing criminals/ holiday projects/ imagination activities/ other activity)

I thought with this, I could get some measure on how to shape my adult classes. The results:

1st question about difficulty was a wash. They said sometimes too difficult, sometimes too easy. Not useful for me.

The second question's answers were useful. They said they want more printouts about the lesson target structure or key points. (I was making them once a month, but I can make them more frequently.) They also would like me to point out when something is useful or important so they can write it down. (I thought the important parts were made clear, but I can make them more obvious if they like (and they do).)

The next part shocked me. They DON'T want reading/ writing/ OR listening practice. ONLY speaking. I think their opinion was heavily influenced by my manager, who emphasises speaking practice. (But in a 50 minute lesson, I think we could cover SOME other skills! They are somewhat connected, aren't they?)

They had NO answer for question 4, about what they want to do.

The last question was answered with "word clouds," which we do EVERY class anyway.

So, how does this change my teaching? How can I help them? I continue to be with no seeing-eye dog.

My manager saw the answers as a success however, because their answers fit within school policy (focussed on speaking, with the "miracle of word clouds"). Sure, I like word clouds. I could write an essay on how they aid teaching adult students. But I was hoping for something different in their answers.

Or maybe I'm the perfect teacher, and I don't need to change anything. Hahahahahahaha! That's pretty funny.
;)

Motivational Diary Categories

2007-04-30T12:18:00.000+09:00

I have kept a diary to study the motivational techniques I used in classes, from April 4th through April 19th. In the next posts I'll talk about some of my observations, but first I'll explain how I categorized my research.

Under the date, I plugged in 6 section heads. I used: Time/ Names/ Level (or text used)/ Motivational Item/ Reason for Motivation/ Report of How Well It Worked

This was how I organized things. It got me to write a little about each class. I wrote some things down by hand directly after the classes (when time allowed), then typed it into the Excel program in grid-like fashion. However, in the future if I use a diary again for research, I think I need to do it by blog.

Although I have started writing this only yesterday, I find that blogging is EASY for writing my ideas down quickly (and editing when necessary). It's much more free-flowing, and automatically organizes by date.

I am a bit of a grid-lover, but there's probably a way to incorporate that into the blog system, too (Does anyone know how?).

Anyway, the analysis of the data will come in days to follow.

Supplying enough extrinsic motivation

2007-04-30T11:16:00.000+09:00

According to Harmer, "Extrinsic motivation is caused by any number of outside factors, for example, the need to pass an exam, the hope of financial reward, or the possibility of future travel. Intrinsic motivation, by contrast, comes from within the individual. Thus a person might be motivated by the enjoyment of the learning process itself or by a desire to make themselves feel better."
Therefore, we need to provide enough opportunities of extrinsic motivation to get our students to move to the intrinsic side of things. That's why I believe this questionnaire thing (see previous post) can work.
The questionnaire provides opportunities for students to apply their OWN interests and have dialogue with L1 speakers of the language.
The questionnaire is only one procedure, tho. Some approaches involve using the environment around you (realia), encouraging the students to take part in shaping their language education, and creating a 'mood' for increased motivation.
Feel free to tell me your thoughts, ideas, comments on crossing that bridge from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation.

Resource:
Harmer, J 2001 The Practice of English Language Teaching Pearson Education Limited

Japan Association of Langauge Teaching

2007-04-30T10:27:00.000+09:00

Though not posted on the JALT calendar yet, I will be giving a talk titled,
Motivation from "natural resources": Genuine communication through surveys. This will take place at the Matsuyama JALT meeting on July 8th, 2007, 2:15~4:20p.m.

The talk will entail using questionnaires (open and closed questions, which could be asked directly via video/audio feed, or written via survey form) being asked by students of English from Japan. People from English speaking countries will answer these questions, and the answers can be studied in class.

The goal of the project is to increase motivation of learners by giving them the freedom to ask their own questions. They can ask questions according to their own interests, and they can have these questions answered by people living in other parts of the world.

The talk will focus on the kinds of questions to ask, the different approaches possible for set-up, the practical and not-so-practical methods to use the survey/questionnaire, and a discussion of other ways to motivate students.

Introduction

2007-04-29T21:13:00.000+09:00

My name is Erin Kourelis. I am a teacher of English in Matsuyama, Japan.

Here is my first attempt at a teaching blog (or ANY blog, for that matter). I want to become an excellent teacher of English as a foreign language, therefore I am looking to expand my world of learning and teaching through various methods, including blog technology.

If you have suggestions, I am VERY happy to hear them.

I look forward to hearing from YOU!