Teach English in Daniudian Zhen - Xinzhou Shi

Introduction One of the most frustrating and deterring situations for a lot of teachers is a class who is unwilling to engage in classroom activity. Many teachers struggle when it comes to dealing with these situations, so here will be listed a variety of techniques that can be used to aid any teacher in need of motivating their class. The techniques will be discussed to see which of them work best considering the grand spectrum of students all over the world with different ages, ethnic backgrounds, education and so forth. Motivation The definition of motivation in this context means “a willingness to engage in an activity requiring attention”. People are usually motivated in something when they are interested in it, therefore the best way to motivate someone is to create a strong interest in the subject. This is the foundation of what all the following techniques are based on, creating an interest in the hearts of the students. People are particularly interested in things when they see it as fun, useful, meaningful, or important. It takes time and persistence to find what the students are really interested in, but ultimately the effort is well worth it. Incorporating the student’s interests with the learning objective will give the benefit of motivating the student to achieve the objective, out of their own self interest. Some schools try to engage the students by adding some friendly competition amongst them, setting a system of reward and punishment, and setting goals for them to reach. Ongoing in-class games makes the reward of participating more tangible, such as giving young students points for answering questions or free time if they complete a task early on. The main hinderances of motivation for students are typically: lack of self confidence, fear of failure, peer pressure, lack of interest, boredom, and distractions (most common nowadays being mobile phones). All of these are prone to make the students increasingly withdrawn from the lesson, and it will be harder to involve them in various activities. Direct influence The teacher plays an integral part in the student’s level of motivation. Direct influence is determined by the teacher’s actions, behaviour, and qualities. This will determine the rapport between teacher and student. The students will build trust and respect with their teacher, encouraging them to uphold their teacher’s expectations of them. Rapport with the students will be enhanced if the teacher shows genuine interest in the topic expressed by the student. The students are more likely to produce their best results when the teacher is: Consistent, positive, funny, knowledgable, easy to communicate with, inspirational, and fair. The ideal behaviour of a teacher would be to: - Give praise to each and every improvement. Never letting a good deed go unnoticed will encourage the students tremendously to earn the same appreciation again. - In case of misbehaviour it is better to draw the attention to the behaviour rather than to the student themselves. It rarely helps to criticise the students personally, separating the behaviour from the student will allow the student to keep their pride and resolve their behaviour much faster. - Enforce classroom rules. Assuming that the rules set in place are reasonable and accepted by everyone, there is no good reason to allow some students to slip the consequences when breaking them. If the students notice that the teacher isn’t holding everyone to the same rules, then the teacher will loose respect. However in some circumstances where following a rule would be unfavourable, a teacher that shows some understanding and chooses a better alternative would gain respect from their students. Indirect influence This is what the teacher can utilise behind the scenes to make things run smoother. This sort of influence plays a part in classroom dynamics, such as interactions between the students and the teacher. Setting up a good atmosphere in the class is very important because it provides a safe space and a sense of belonging for the students, it creates a place optimal for learning activity where students feel free to express themselves. Decorate the room with personalised items such as a class portrait, a list of student achievements, remains of group projects (painting, design etc…), inspirational quotes, and relaxing background music. The use of props such as photos, objects brought to class, and others can also help motivate students. A field trip to the local park, shopping centre, restaurant are all excellent opportunities to motivate and engage students. The use of peer pressure can also be used to prompt students into engaging in the learning process. First pick the most engaging student in the group to answer an open ended question. Their comprehensive answer will set an example for the others to follow. Personal experience A short bit of personal experience will be added to share some practical knowledge about student motivation. This event occurred in an English teaching school called British Academy in Casablanca, Morocco. The age of the students ranged from early teens to late forties. Each class greatly varied in levels of motivation. Around two thirds of the students were keen to be there, eager to learn English, and would have no trouble interacting with their peers as well as with their teacher. The rest of the students did not cooperate as easily due to being shy, nervous, uninterested, or a mixture of all three. What tended to work well with these students was to get them working with each other, either in small groups or in pairs. This however was not very easy to put into practice. Role play, compiling short stories together, having a conversation in English with occasional help from the teacher seemed to be the best option. Listening to the Moroccan students was very interesting as it provided some insight into their culture. This led to further inquiries about their day to day lives. The students could sense that their teacher was interested and this sparked their motivation to elaborate more and push themselves to use their limited vocabulary to the best of their abilities. Conclusion The aim should be to create a comfortable atmosphere, where students feel safe communicating with the teacher and with their peers, and are not afraid of making mistakes. Allowing them to interact with one another compliments each other’s learning development and strengthens peer relationships. Working with the interests of the students is the key to motivating them.