2025 is here. As we step into the new year, it's the perfect time to reflect on our recent challenges andachievements. It’s also a good moment to think about the future with optimism andplan our goals. Our students, too, are thinking about their New Year's resolutions.
As a teacher, you can help them consider how learning English will help them now and in the future. On top of this, you can guide them as they plan their goals and give them useful advice on how to achieve them.
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You probably already know how useful mind mapping can be when it comes to being creative or thinking about goals. This 30-minute activity will help your students think about how learning English will help them in the future and also consider what is most important to them.
You won’t need to prepare anything ahead of time, but you will need to supply each student with a large piece of paper (e.g., A3 size). If they are working online, they will need to have something to write on. Tools likeare a good, simple and free alternative if you want to be paper-free.
1. Write “How learning English can help me” on the board and have students copy it out in the center of the paper. Younger students can be more creative and also draw a picture of themselves if you think it will be more engaging for them.
2. Ask your students to call out ways English can help them now and in the future. Write them on the board in a spider diagram as they do so. Encourage them to expand on their ideas and speak in full sentences. For example:
“English can help me understand things on the internet.”
Once students have understood the activity, put them in pairs or small groups and have them think of as many ways that English can help them as they can.
Encourage older learners to think about how English might help them with studying at university, living abroad and their future careers. Younger learners might be more focused on things that can help them in the immediate future. If you are working online, put them in breakout rooms to do so. Allow about ten to fifteen minutes for this.
3. Have each group share their ideas with the rest of the class. Students should add anything new or interesting to their own mind maps.
4. Next, students should individually rank which five ideas are most important to them. These will form the basis of their own personal language learning goals.
5. Then have students write out their five top language learning goals. Depending on the age and ability of the group, you may need to supply the structure. For example:
Finally, once students have completed their own personal goals, set homework. They should consider what steps they need to take to achieve their goals. Also, encourage them to think about the following questions:
In the next class, reflect on their ideas and help students put a plan into action.
Tell students to display their New Year's resolutions in a prominent place. If you’re working in a classroom, you can put them on the wall. If you are working online, you can have students print them and display them above their desks at home, or you could attach them to your virtual learning platform.
You should review their goals at different times throughout the year and quiz students on their progress. This will hold them accountable and keep them focused on what they want to achieve.
It's important to foster a growth mindset in your students. Remind them that learning a new language is a journey that requires patience and persistence. Celebrate their progress, no matter how small, and encourage them to view challenges as opportunities for growth.
We wish you the best of luck with your classes, whether they are face-to-face, online or hybrid and a very happy and healthy 2025.
Read our posts 'Building healthy New Year habits with your students' and 'The art of goal setting'.
English is one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world, but how much do you know about the language? Here are 11 facts about Englishthat you might not know.
Students all over the globe learn English for many reasons. Some of these motivations may come from the students themselves – perhaps they are learning because they are travelling to an English-speaking area, or they want to be able to converse with English-speaking friends and colleagues. Other reasons for learning could include meeting school requirements, studying abroad, or progressing their careers.
As well as different reasons to learn English, there are also different goals. Many students are still focused on becoming fluent in English, and we are seeing an increase in people who want to learn the language for specific reasons. For example, immersing themselves in a particular culture or simply being able to order from a menu while travelling abroad.
Teachers are focusing on these personal needs to help students achieve their actual goals. It’s likely you’ve already spoken to your students about why they want to learn English. Understanding this is important as different motivations can influence a student’s attitude towards learning the language – and it may be necessary for you to adapt your teaching strategies for different groups of learners.
Let’s meet some different groups of students, learn a little more about their motivations and explore whether different motivations alter how students learn English. You may recognise some of these learners in your classes.
These students are learning English for pleasure or personal reasons. It might be because of travel, social or family reasons or perhaps because a better grasp of English might assist them with their careers. There are also adult learners who could be learning English as an immigration requirement.
For example, 23-year-old Alice decided to learn English so she could meet people and have more meaningful interactions with her English-speaking neighbours. She says: “I was very shy and not very confident in speaking to people, but learning English helped me connect with others and meet new people. I have changed a lot.”
A motivation like Alice’s requires strong teacher support and peer motivation woven into structured learning. Alice can set her goals and with the GSE Learning Objectives map out what she needs to do to achieve them. Teacher encouragement and personal support – and easy access to digital coursework, a social community of others all learning English, and small classes that emphasise conversation – keep people like Alice engaged and motivated to achieve her language goals. “I cannot do it without them”, she says.
These learners are typically in a more formal type of English programme and are learning the language to achieve specific career milestones, such as a promotion. Their employer might even be paying for their learning or they might be reimbursed for the cost of their lessons.
Vincenzo is 33 and works as a Product Manager in Milan for an international organization with offices around the world. He says: “I asked to take English classes as part of my professional development. My company chose an English provider and gave me a choice of group or one-to-one classes. I chose one-to-one classes as I’m easily distracted.”
Professional learners like Vincenzo succeed using a blended learning model of learning in class and at home that they can tailor around their lives. They have a strong motivation to succeed – that’s why learning at home works for them – but step-by-step progress provided by the GSE Learning Objectives is also important to keep this motivation alive. “I met with my teacher once a week where we would work on mistakes I would make while speaking English. He would also give me extra practice materials, like interesting games and videos to listen to in my own time, to help me really get a better understanding of the language,” Vincenzo says.
Learning English is a requirement for many school programmes and students will continue this at college or university. Many of these students will be learning English with a formal course that offers practice tests for high-stakes exams.
Seventeen-year-old Subra is from Malaysia and learns English at school. Some of her family live in Australia and she is considering studying abroad to attend a University that specializes in health care. When she was young, she learned in a traditional classroom backed with tests that helped her see how she was progressing. Now she uses technology, such as her Android Huawei phone to practise her English but still needs the validation of regular testing to know she is on track.
Subrasays: “I am used to studying for tests as I prepared hard for exams to get into middle school and senior school, which was totally determined by test results.”
Academic learners like Subra need to see demonstrable results to help them stay motivated and guide them to the level of English they need to achieve to get the required score on high-stakes tests. With the clear GSE Learning Objectives and a placement test, academic learners can map out where they are right now and where they need to be in order to reach their academic goals. These learners need encouragement and validation of their progress from their teachers to help keep them on track.
Understanding student motivations will help you teach to their specific needs, thus helping them to stay focused and motivated in achieving their goals.
Kirsty Murray taught English for a year at a collège (the French equivalent of a secondary school) in Villers-Cotterêts: a town in the north of France known for being the birthplace of Alexandre Dumas. She taught mixed-ability groups of 11- to 16-year-olds, with classes ranging in size from 10 to 35 students. Here, she shares the five lessons she learned from the experience.
