Goal setting: A path to achieving team fluency

Samantha Ball
Office works stood in a cubicle and in a hallway talking

Reading time: 5 minutes

We know businesses that invest in skills development are more likely to retain top talent, and see many other benefits as well. Upskilling your team's English proficiency can have a transformative effect on the business, leading to new opportunities, growth, and a more engaged workforce. However, implementing a corporate language learning program can be challenging. Using traditional goal-setting frameworks can support you and your team on this journey. Here's how:

Goal setting: A path to achieving team fluency
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Popular goal setting frameworks for businesses

There are several approaches one can take to help with this:

3X3X3 model

ensures that goals are set over manageable three-month periods, fostering a steady progression.

SMART goals

With their specificity, measurability, achievability, relevance, and time-bound nature, SMART goals provide a framework that aligns individual efforts with broader organizational objectives.

PACT goal framework

Ìýthe PACT goal framework, championed by the National Society of Leadership and Success, offers an alternative perspective.

Regardless of the chosen model, it is imperative to communicate it effectively across the team. Consistency in the implementation of goal-setting practices ensures that everyone is on the same page, reducing ambiguity and enhancing the overall effectiveness of the language learning process.

Utilize digital tools and technology

Your employees have a lot on their plate, which means that any language training program should be designed to be easily accessible and engaging. Technology has significantly improved skill development in modern times (not just language learning), allowing organizations to really nurture their employee’s development.

There are numerous online language training apps and software available that provide dynamic and interactive approaches to help employees achieve their language goals. Choosing user-friendly platforms that cater to different learning styles can ensure broader adoption and engagement.

Mondly by ÃÛÌÒapp, for example, is a flexible language-learning solution designed to facilitate self-led learning within easily digestible modules. It can be a cornerstone for organizations looking to set and achieve learning goals. The adaptability of Mondly by ÃÛÌÒapp enables employees to progress at their own pace, providing a personalized learning experience that aligns with their individual language proficiency goals.

Monitor and evaluate your teams’ language skills often

When learning any language, the journey is just as important as the destination. Continuous monitoring and evaluation ensure that learning objectives are not static but adapt to the evolving needs of the individual and the organization. To fast-track your employees' English progress, use the Global Scale of English (GSE). The GSE allows you to monitor your team's developing English language skills on one simple, numerical scale, from entry-level to expert.

This multifaceted approach to measurement allows managers and employees alike to gain a comprehensive understanding of their English language proficiency, fostering a culture of improvement and development.

Another tool to add to your repertoire is Versant by ÃÛÌÒapp, a robust English assessment tool that is instrumental in understanding the current language skill levels of your employees. This information serves as a baseline for setting realistic yet challenging goals.

Celebrate your team’s achievements

Recognition and celebration of achievements act as powerful motivators. If a goal is achieved but not acknowledged, the impact may diminish, and motivation can wane. Therefore, incorporating a culture of celebration within the organization is essential. This can take various forms, from verbal recognition in team meetings to tangible rewards such as certificates, performance-based bonuses, or even more competitive features like leaderboards (which Mondly by ÃÛÌÒapp uses).

It is important for organizations to record the achievements of their employees in language learning as it not only boosts morale but also provides a valuable source of feedback. By acknowledging and celebrating the successes of their employees, organizations reinforce the significance of learning a language and create a positive feedback loop that encourages employees to set new goals and continue progressing their language proficiency.

Growth and success in the workplace

As organizations become empowered by the integration of goal-setting into their language-learning initiatives, they are embarking on and expediting their journey of continuous growth and success. By integrating technology, continuous monitoring, and praise in your organization's goal setting, you can create a comprehensive approach to language learning. This approach enhances language skills and has a positive impact on the business as a whole.

The result is a workforce that is not only proficient in English but is also confident, collaborative, and highly productive. As we move through 2024, organizations that prioritize progress-based learning are poised to thrive in an environment where effective communication is the key to unlocking unparalleled success.

Find out more about creating a culture of learning English in the workplace and the transformative power of language learning for businesses in this article – Creating a culture of learning.

Explore more in our blog post 'Why your performance management strategy needs language learning'.

See our language workplace solutions here

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  • A teacher sat with a student at his desk, the student is writing and the teacher is looking at him doing this smiling.

    7 ways to individualize your teaching

    By Andrew Walkley
    Reading time: 4 minutes

    There's no denying that tailoring your teaching to individual students is an effective strategy. However, many teachers struggle with finding the time to include teaching moments which address an individual learner's specific needs. So, what's the best way to create an individualized classroom? Andrew Walkley, co-author of Roadmap, explains the benefits of this approach and shares some techniques to ensure that every student gets the most out of your lessons.Ìý

    The best of both worlds?

    First of all, what does individualized teaching mean? It's the concept that students will learn most effectively when the activity is specific to their needs and the language they are using is appropriate for their level. This concept is sometimes seen in opposition to coursebooks and class-based learning, where students are all expected to follow the same syllabus. However, class syllabuses and coursebooks have the following benefits:

    • Providing students with common goalsÌý
    • Encouraging learners to follow an unfamiliar topic that then opens new doors of learning
    • The learning opportunities in peer-to-peer explanationÌý

    When we talk about individualized teaching in the classroom, we want to exploit the benefits of learning together while also providing opportunities for more individualized development. So, how can you, as a teacher, combine the two approaches?

    1. Involve students in choosing your route

    All classroom groups are different and made up of people from different age groups with distinct needs and interests. Roadmap can help in two ways:

    1. There is a fast and slow track. The fast track focuses on language input and speaking. The slow track has additional skills lessons at the back of the book that are thematically linked to the corresponding fast track lesson.Ìý
    2. Each lesson has a clear goal and final task. For shorter courses, get each student to choose three tasks they would definitely like to do. Based on the results, you can prioritize those lessons.

    At the start of the course, make a point of asking about students' learning priorities and then plan accordingly. Once you've completed an input and speaking lesson, you can ask the students if they want to further explore the topic through the skills lesson.

    2. Make use of tasks

    Open tasks, where students exchange their own ideas in a meaningful way, are a key part of individualized lessons. In essence, they are self-differentiating because each student will attempt to complete the task using whatever language they are able to use. In Roadmap, each of the main lessons ends with a clear task connected to a Global Scale of English (GSE) can-do statement. However, there are also lots of other speaking opportunities without a 'speaking' label (under vocabulary or reading, etc.), as well as the conversation that typically occurs in any lesson, all of which can be treated as open tasks.

    3. Give individualized feedback and then share it

    In a group setting, it's impossible to give individual feedback on every single task. However, you can give individual attention to different people throughout the lesson. Make yourself available to give students the language they need as it arises during an activity. Then, when they've completed the task, write some of these examples on the board, but leave a gap for the keywords. Elicit these keywords from other members of the class. If they can't get it, ask the student(s) you helped to explain the missing language. You might then repeat the task, but this time, pay attention to a new group.Ìý

    4. Check what vocabulary students know

    All coursebook writers and teachers make choices about what vocabulary to introduce to students. In the case of Roadmap we are guided by the GSE and teachers might like to experiment themselves using the GSE Teacher Toolkit. However, all students will have their own lexicons. You can individualize learning better by asking students to rate the words you aim to cover in a unit according to whether they know them or not. For example, 1 = it's completely new, 2 = the meaning is familiar but I don't use it, 3 = this is part of my productive vocabulary.Ìý

    5. Get students to create their own word lists and cards

    This knowledge will enable you to encourage students to focus on their individual vocabulary needs. They can reinforce learning by developing a word list or making flashcards using a web tool such as Quizlet. For new words they may have a word/collocation with an L1 translation.

    With familiar vocabulary, they could have cards with a keyword on one side and varied collocations or common examples on the other (also in English). It's worth setting aside some time in class to do this at the start of a course. If your students are engaged and motivated, it can become a regular discipline for learning new vocabulary.Ìý

    6. Ask more open questions about usage, not just meaning

    When we do vocabulary tasks from the course material in class, we can use open questions to individualize learning with the following two techniques. Firstly, as you go through the answers, rather than going in order 1 to 8, you can nominate people to give the answer that they're most unsure of and want to check. Secondly, we can ask the rest of the class open questions which focus on how words are used. For example, take these questions from different vocabulary exercises in Roadmap B1+:

    • What (other) things might you spill?
    • Why might a character in a series be killed off?
    • What (else) can you describe as reliable?
    • What can someone do to stay calm?Ìý

    You could also ask questions such as, "What's the opposite of staying calm?" or "What might you say if you spilled something?"

    When you ask these questions, you are checking meaning, but more importantly, you are also pushing students to reveal how well they know a word. Do they know the collocations of spill and reliable? Do they have the other language they might need to talk about the aspects of a TV series or help someone who is in a panic? You can then encourage students to choose how much of this potentially new language they want to add to their word lists.

    7. Provide open homework tasks and make time to share the results

    Homework is another opportunity to individualize learning. Give students a wide choice of tasks based on the material of the course or beyond, for example:

    • Choose any number of exercises they want to do from workbook materialÌý
    • Find and read one article they are interested in (in L1 or L2)
    • Write five things they want to learn how to say in English (perhaps using Google Translate)
    • Write up an interesting conversation they had in English (the conversation could be originally in L1 or L2)

    Whatever task they choose, the key is to dedicate some classroom time to discussing which homework task they did and why. Encourage them to explain their answers and what they learned through the task, and whether or not they would choose to do a similar task again.ÌýÌý

    For a more detailed introduction on how you can individualize your teaching, check out Andrew's webinar:Ìý