How Do I Encourage My Students?
This is always a concern of every teacher. It can be frustrating when your students seem to be loosing interest or motivation in your classes. Below are five suggestions for how to foster student motivation and help them find a drive to learn English.
Competitions
Competitions work on a very superficial level, however, they are definitely useful in getting students with a very superficial level of interest in English involved.
Comparisons
I don’t mean compare the student with others in the class; I mean compare the student with him or herself. Show the students how they are improving. As you probably have experienced personally, there are times when you really feel like you are making no progress with your second language. By giving students short quizzes at the start and end of units you can show them how much they have learned.
Verbally praise students
By giving some students in the class verbal praise, they can serve as an example of how to do things right. Most students want to impress.
Give them an example of your language learning struggles
Take a personal example of a hardship you had when learning a second language and how you overcame the problem. I real-life example from their teacher is always helpful and encouraging. I truly believe that you can’t be a good language teacher unless you are constantly learning a second language yourself.
Give them a real life context
Bing in another foreigner (a friend or visitor from home) to talk with the students. They will want to ask questions and have no choice but to use English. This lets them understand that English has a real life application.
You can use these different techniques throughout your course. Mixing them up may help keep your class lively and motivating.