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How to make and keep young learners motivated? This is one of the many problems teachers encounter in the classroom. I am going to talk about how to keep young English learners motivated based on my experiences as an ESL instructor. I have handled students of different age groups and I can say that teaching the young ones can be both rewarding and challenging. It is a given fact that there are several factors or reasons that make their motivation inconsistent. First of all, they have a very limited attention span. They are easily distracted by the things or people around them. It is tough to get them focused on the lessons. I always ask myself how to address this concern. Then I realize, and thanks to my background in nursing in my university, following the reward and punishment method can possibly make a difference. At first, I was not sure whether it would be effective. Nevertheless, I gave it a try. I bought and prepared some sticker pads for each student. I made the mechanics on how they can collect stickers. Every time they achieve something or whenever they display good behavior, they will be given stickers which they could collect and later on exchange them to some rewards such as toys, snacks and stationery. I did not expect much from the outcome, but to my surprise, my students loved it. I have seen a significant change and improvement in the way they cooperated in the class. They always looked forward to participating in every class activity. They behaved well. They also studied and prepared for their classes in advance. Therefore, giving rewards is a tested and proven way to sustain students’ motivation. Another reason or hindrance in keeping them motivated is their nature. Young learners are hyperactive. They easily get bored and most of the time, they just want to play. At their age, they do not realize the importance of learning the English language yet. It is not their personal choice to be in the class. Actually, they even do not know why they are in the classroom in the first place. So as their teacher, I need to understand this aspect and think of strategies to make learning natural for them. Before going to class, I always prepare my lessons and the materials I can make use of. I have to ensure that learning would be fun and interactive for my students. I also incorporate some games and art activities to break the monotony of using only textbooks. Through these, they will not feel that English is a subject that they have to study. They will perceive it as something that is part of their daily life, a normal thing for them to experience. I have to vary my resources so that they will be hooked on and will always be excited to find out what’s next in store for them. One of the skills that teachers should possess is how we can successfully motivate our students. We should not ignore this area because having highly motivated students would be beneficial for both the students and teachers.
