Enhancing Language Learning: Factors, Strategies, and Teacher Roles
Cognitive Factors and Learning Styles
To Learn:
- Visual
- Auditory
- Kinesthetic
To Organize Information:
- Field-independent
- Analytical or synthetic
- Reflective or impulsive
To Elaborate Information:
- Communicative
- Conformist
- Critical thinkers
- Memorizing learners
Learning Strategies
- Direct Strategies: Cognitive, compensation, memory
- Indirect Strategies: Metacognitive, affective, and social
Affects in Language Learning
Success in language learning depends less on materials, techniques, and linguistic analysis and more on what goes on inside and between the people in the classroom.
Motivation
- Intrinsic: Associated with better and long-term learning
- Extrinsic: Associated with short-term learning, especially for children
Types of Motivation for Learning Languages
- Integrative Motivation: Students want to learn the language because they want to get to know the people who speak that language and are interested in the culture associated with it.
- Instrumental Motivation: Students want to learn a language because of a practical reason, such as getting a salary bonus or getting into college.
Personality
Self-Esteem and Self-Efficacy
The learning difference between children with high or low levels of self-esteem and self-efficacy is enormous. A student with low self-expectations will have poorer results: it is what we call the self-fulfilling prophecy.
Personality Traits
When dealing with communication, extroversion, risk-taking, and empathy can help learners develop speaking skills faster.
Teacher’s Perspectives
The Pygmalion Effect
It is important to communicate positive expectations and reinforce children’s self-esteem.
Anxiety
- Communicative Classes: These imply a certain amount of anxiety (probably more so than mechanical grammar practice), but it is absolutely necessary to deal with it to promote communicative competence.
- Formal Instruction: Children start to manifest anxiety when language learning becomes more formally instructed and demands communicative interactions without preparation.
Increasing Self-Esteem, Motivation, and Reducing Anxiety
Teachers need to:
- Provide a safe atmosphere: Deal with errors in a constructive and positive way.
- Use a student-centered model: Increase autonomy and self-appreciation.
- Promote cooperative learning and respect learning styles.
- Incorporate relaxing techniques and physical activity.
- Use humor.
- Pay attention to the teacher’s verbal and non-verbal messages.
- Provide opportunities to reflect upon the learning process.
Multiple Intelligences
- Every single person is intelligent in a different way and is gifted in at least three different intelligences.
- Dealing with individual characteristics in the classroom means showing respect for every single student, no matter their sex or personality.
- Language learning is not only a cognitive process (age, gender, etc.) such as becoming skilled at communication and grammar, but also an emotional experience.
Types of Intelligences
- Mathematical-logical
- Verbal-linguistic
- Musical-rhythmic
- Bodily-kinesthetic
- Interpersonal
- Intrapersonal
- Visual-spatial
- Naturalist
- Existential
The Role of the Teacher
- Controller: Teachers are totally in charge of the class, controlling what pupils do, when they speak, and what language they use. This is visible at the presentation stage of a session.
- Organizer: The success of many activities depends on good organization and on the pupils knowing exactly what they are going to do. Once the activity has begun, teachers intervene to use gentle correction or to prompt.
- Prompter: Teachers may need to encourage pupils to participate or make suggestions about how pupils may proceed in an activity when there is silence or confusion.
- Participant: Especially in simulations, it may be interesting for teachers to participate with pupils in the activity. However, it is important to limit teacher talking time.
- Resource: In communicative activities, teachers should be a resource center, ready when pupils need linguistic help. This help should only be given when a previous effort has been made by pupils.
- Assessor: One of the main roles teachers play is assessing pupils’ work. Teachers can distinguish between correcting and organizing feedback, which is a major part of assessing our pupils’ performance so that they can see the extent of their success or failure.