How can we motivate adult language learners?

Ken Beatty
Two Adult students studying in a library, one with a laptop, the other writing

The problem of motivation

Have you ever had a problem like Jaime?

One of my TESOL graduate students in Colombia does. She has a dream job, teaching English at a country club near Bogota. The club attracts international visitors who come to stay, swim, play tennis and golf. Her job is to improve the English skills of everyone from the club’s hotel staff to the tennis coaches, lifeguards, and golf caddies. Most are highly motivated.

Except for Jaime.

Jaime, a golf caddy, would slump into class each day, throw down his bag, sit at the back, and automatically take out his phone.

“Jaime, could you take out your book, please?”

“Forgot it, teacher.”

“Jaime, could you answer the question?”

“No idea, teacher.”

She tried everything to motivate him, but nothing seemed to work. So, imagine her surprise one day when she walked into class to find him sitting at the front, book open, sharpened pencils ready, and no phone in sight. Although she found it surprising, she didn’t want to embarrass him and instead taught the lesson as normal. Jaime’s hand shot up constantly, either asking her to repeat a point while he took careful notes, or attempting to answer each of her questions.

What changed? By the end of the week, she had to find out and asked him to stay behind.

“Because I only speak Spanish,” he sighed, “I only work for local golfers. But I just found out that the caddies who speak English and carry clubs for the international golfers get tipped ten times as much.”

Jaime had discovered one of two major reasons for adults to learn a second language: career progression. The other, if you can’t guess, is love...removing language as a barrier to intimacy.

Transferring motivation

Everyone is motivated about something and that motivation can be translated to the classroom. For example, without mentioning language learning, ask your students to list a few things they have been motivated about in the past, and identify the principles involved.

Let’s say a student is motivated to improve her soccer skills. Beyond “It’s fun!”, dig deeper and you’ll uncover things such as understanding personal potential, doing something social, and not letting down teammates. If you substitute classmates for teammates, you can see that these are all motivations for learning a language. There are countless more, but focus on what is personal for each student.

Enemies of motivation

Beyond a lack of awareness about the advantages of learning English, here are three enemies of motivation.

Enemy 1: I’m shy.

It’s a simple truth that more outgoing people have an easier time learning a language; they’re more willing to make an effort and continue trying until they succeed.

Naturally shy people will still learn – sometimes focusing more on reading and writing – but there are ways to help them be more outgoing. For example, language games can help shy students by increasing a sense of competitiveness and lowering their affective filters, the emotions that interfere with language acquisition such as anxiety and a lack of self-confidence (Krashen, 1992). The connection is confidence; build up students’ confidence and they will be more motivated.

Enemy 2: If I don’t speak, I won’t make mistakes.

This issue is often a byproduct of constant teacher interruptions and comments on students’ language use. Be patient, give students time to think before they answer, and don’t always take the answer from the first person to raise a hand. Consider asking everyone to raise their hands before asking one student.

When you give feedback, focus on errors and ignore mistakes. We all make mistakes in our first and second languages when we speak and generally know we are making them. It’s just that we may be temporarily distracted. Errors, on the other hand, are mistakes that are repeated and the speaker is unaware of them. This leads to fossilization and challenges remediating them. Focus on systematic errors instead of mistakes.

Also, as a general rule, when students are speaking, observe the same politeness you would with anyone else. Avoid interrupting, and offer corrections later, perhaps privately or in a note.

Enemy 3: I don’t have time.

Many adult language learners are heavily committed to other activities; families and work obligations leave them little time to study. However, others may assume they are busy. As a language task, ask students to write a schedule of their typical day and explain what they do hour by hour.

While studying cello in my 30s, I was fortunate to come across a book by educator John Holt (1991) who also learned cello as an adult. In the book, he said that if you do anything new in a major way, make room in your life by giving up something else. For students, that something else may be part of their social life.

But even the busiest students have a few minutes between tasks… time waiting in lines, or on a bus. Using a phone app can provide practice.

Motivation over time

Students tend to be motivated to different degrees as they progress through a language. At first, students will make rapid progress and have high expectations about learning English. However, as they advance, their progress becomes less noticeable. This can be a difficult time for students.

Try using 'imagining sessions' with students, where they roleplay themselves 20 years from now as fluent English speakers. What will they be doing? Maybe they’ll be English teachers themselves! Share your journey to becoming someone who now teaches English. Perhaps you were once a golf caddy named Jaime.

Explore our educator section to see how we can help improve your teaching

References

  • Holt, J. (1991). Never too late. Perseus: Cambridge, MA.
  • Krashen, S. (1992). .

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    Planning for success with the GSE

    By Sara Davila

    The Global Scale of English (GSE) is the first truly global English language standard.

    It consists of a detailed scale of language ability and learning objectives, forming the foundations of our courses and assessments at app English.

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    GSE was introduced at the – an English language school run by the University of Toledo in Ohio, USA – with impressive results.

    The American Language Institute

    The Institute provides English courses for students who want to improve their English and prepares students to take the International Student English exam. They offer an intensive language program consisting of 20 hours of classes every week and 40 hours of self-study. This 60-hour week is designed to fast-track students from a lower level of English to a standard which allows them to participate successfully in college courses. There are five course levels offered, from A2+ to B2+ and class sizes average at around 10 students.

    Most students at the Institute are full-time international students planning to attend the University of Toledo once their English language proficiency reaches the required standard. On average, they are between 18 and 20 years old, and enter the language program with a B1 level of English.

    A mission statement

    At the Institute, the main aim of the language courses is to help students develop their English skills to a level that will allow them to integrate successfully into the university community, not just academically but socially. In their own words; “Our ultimate goal isn’t to teach them how to take and pass language tests, but to teach them how to use English and engage themselves with the local communities.”

    So how did the GSE, in conjunction with the Versant test and other app products, help to achieve this goal?

    Transitioning to a objectives-based curriculum

    First, the course coordinator Dr Ting Li adopted the GSE for a more detailed approach to the CEFR. She found that the GSE “made the CEFR more manageable because it broke out the levels and outlined CEFR goals into different categories.”

    Next, she replaced the current course materials with NorthStar Speaking & Listening, NorthStar Reading & Writing, and Focus on Grammar. These courses covered the areas taught in the previous curriculum, as well as the three key areas of study; literacy, speaking and listening, and grammar.

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    Finally, the Institute started using the Versant English placement test to decide which level students should enter when they first begin studying at the Institute.

    Key findings from the case study

    The new curriculum was a great success. Students, teachers and administrators all found that the courses and assessments, all underpinned by the GSE, made the language learning experience smoother and easier. Once students had completed the highest level of the course and achieved a 3.0 GPA, they were able to transition smoothly into their courses at the University of Toledo.

    The alignment between the NorthStar courses, the grammar study books and the Versant test was informed by the GSE. This meant students didn’t have to sit as many assessments as before, reducing time teachers had to spend setting and marking exams, and allowing them to focus more on supporting learners and the quality of their lessons.

    Dr Li highlighted the following key benefits:

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    • There was no difference between credits earned 2 years into the university program compared with the general student population.

    What’s more, the Institute was recently recognized by the , meaning that the course run by Dr Li is now nationally recognized. Using the GSE to inform the organization of the course curriculum made the accreditation process smoother and easier.

    Working as a team

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    How the GSE helped Salem State University meet learner needs

    By Sara Davila

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    Cultural and linguistic diversity

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    The ability to change and adapt

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    A curriculum that will meet learner needs

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    Standing out from the crowd

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    How to reduce anxiety using to-do lists

    By Rachael Roberts

    Help reduce anxiety using to-do lists

    Many teachers have a to-do list a mile long or even several to-do lists in different places.

    Theoretically, a to-do list is a good idea. When we write something down, the brain can stop holding onto it quite as tightly, which can reduce anxiety and any feeling of overwhelm.

    This tendency to obsess about unfinished tasks is called the Ziergarnik effect, after the Russian psychologist Bluma Ziergarnik, who noticed that waiters only remembered orders before they were served. As soon as the meals were delivered, the memory vanished.

    So, if your brain is constantly nagging you about tasks that remain undone, write them down or make a rough plan and the anxiety will often disappear.

    The downside of ‘to-do’ lists

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    Long lists can also be overwhelming and off-putting in themselves, and as you cross items off the list becomes cluttered and disorganized.

    Making better use of your to-do list(s)

    1. Learn to prioritize

    It is vital to distinguish between tasks as this will help you decide how to prioritize, delegate and ignore. Categorize your tasks in the following way:

    • Important and urgent (prioritize these).
    • Important but not urgent (book in a time to do these, and stick to it).
    • Urgent but not important (see if you can delegate these, or consider if you need to do them at all).
    • Not urgent and not important (you could almost certainly take these off your list altogether).

    2. Keep separate lists for separate areas of your life

    It’s much easier to see what needs to be done and to prioritize things if you keep separate lists. If you are comfortable with tech, there are plenty of apps to help you with this. You can flag things as important and set reminders and deadline alerts while keeping separate lists. and are just a couple of the options available. If you’re more old school, you can have separate pages in a notebook.

    3. Break tasks down

    Understandably, you might avoid getting started on a big task that will take a long time. There never seems to be a suitable time slot to get it done. Instead, break it down into smaller tasks and tackle them one at a time. For example, break down marking 30 books into three slots of marking ten books.

    4. Know your next actions

    Before you finish work on part of a bigger task, make sure you know your next step, so that when you come back to it, you can get started straight away. This also works well when you decide at the end of a working day what the first task you’ll do tomorrow is.

    5. Review weekly

    A regular review is essential. Look through what you’ve achieved and feel good about it - and remove it from your lists. Analyse where you tried to do too much (try to stick to 3-5 tasks a day) and consider this when setting yourself tasks for the following week. Take note of any tasks you should have done but didn’t get around to and, assuming a certain task is a priority, decide exactly when you will do it next week.

    Good luck!

    Teaching requires you to juggle 101 different things, and that’s before you take your home life into account as well. Get on top of your to-do list, and not only will you feel less overwhelmed, but you may also even find yourself a bit more free time.