Motivating your students through assessment

David Booth
David Booth
A group of young people looking at results and papers in a hallway, laughing and smiling

Motivating students can be difficult, especially where exams are concerned. The prospect of preparing learners for them seems like a mammoth task. But assessment can also be a way of encouraging motivation. The clue is in the word ‘test’. Whether externally or internally driven, students wish to test their knowledge and their learning; they want to see how they are developing and progressing.

In this article, David Booth explores what makes students want to push themselves and how you can encourage them with assessment.

What motivates students?

Students are incentivized in different ways, through internal (intrinsic) and external (extrinsic) motivation. Internal motivation is when someone takes an exam for their own satisfaction or interest; without immediate external reward. External motivation is driven by other factors such as the need to graduate or get to a particular level for career advancement. External motivation may also come from others, such as parents and teachers, encouraging students to attain a particular level in a subject or a qualification.

The important thing to recognize is that students should identify their intention for learning English. This will then enable them to determine short- and long-term goals that will drive both internal and external motivation. For example, a student might say; ‘I like learning English because I love reading books about Harry Potter and also English will be useful in my future life so I can meet and learn from people from different countries’. Recognizing and acknowledging reasons for learning with help reinforce the motivations for learning.

How can we promote an environment that is engaging and motivating?

Students’ self-belief is important but teachers also have a significant role to play. Teachers can help give students the confidence to build on their own skills. One way to do this is by promoting a growth mindset. This is the theory that ability and performance can be developed through fostering a positive environment, and is the opposite of a fixed mindset which is the idea that a person’s talents are already fixed from birth.

Developing a growth mindset is important because it encourages us to see new challenges as a positive thing. It involves praising effort rather than just focusing on outcomes.

With all the above in mind, here are five things teachers can do in class to help keep up student motivation levels:

5 ways you can motivate your students

  1. One of the best things that teachers and educators can do to support their students is to help them identify their motivation. Ask them why they are learning English. Is it for themselves? Their parents? Or a job opportunity? This will help teachers and learners decide on the best course of action for learning and also help students find satisfaction within the task, whether in an exam or taking a conversation class.

  2. It’s important to teach courses that are focused on developing communicative ability and knowledge, not just passing a exam. As education evolves, assessment must too, so it’s crucial to foster the practical linguistic skills of your students, not just aim for a good final grade.

  3. Teachers can help students develop their dominant learning styles. Do they learn by writing new words or reading things aloud? In doing so, you and your students can tailor their exam preparation towards how they work best and ensure they feel motivated to learn by themselves.

  4. You can give students the best understanding about the type of tasks they will face. Looking at past papers or using a wealth of exam resources will give them confidence and familiarity when facing any final assessment.

  5. Teachers must talk the talk! We must say the right things to keep our students motivated. This involves talking about what they have done in a positive way. Praising students just for their intelligence is not productive, because that refers to a quality rather than their behavior. Instead, we want to encourage student development through hard work and application.

Here are some growth mindset statements to inspire your students:

  • You worked really hard on that.
  • I’m so proud of your progress.
  • You kept going even when it was hard.
  • You have a tenacious attitude; I’m so proud that you never quit.
  • You really did … well because …

Motivating students with the app English International Certificate (PEIC)

PEIC is designed to help motivate students, offering them the opportunity to identify their strengths, and track improvement and success over time. It is widely used by learners who are looking for a general English test that allows them to build a portfolio of their communicative language ability for travel, to improve their employment prospects or for further education. It’s also valid for life.

Graded progression

PEIC offers a pathway for graded progression from level to level and explicit opportunities to evaluate and accredit learning outcomes at each of the CEFR levels. There are six English proficiency levels, from very low (A1) to very high (C2). There are no hidden surprises, false starts, or sudden jumps in difficulty from one test to the other.

This makes it easy for teachers and students to track progress. Showing students they have progressed in their studies is very motivating and encourages further study.

Assessment of communicative ability

The exams assess learners’ ability to communicate and use English effectively rather than their test-taking skills. The emphasis is on communicative skills; the level of ability that the student has in using the language for practical purposes. This is very motivating both in the short and long term.

A positive testing experience for the student

PEIC delivers a relaxed and enjoyable English testing experience that is a natural continuation of what happens in the classroom. It’s perfect for those educators who are interested in using assessment as a way of building students’ confidence and motivation, as well as raising school standards.

Easily integrated into a general English curriculum

Fitting PEIC around a general English program could not be easier. This is because the types of tasks that students will find in the English exams are similar to those found in most modern communicative course books. Therefore, there is no need to do a specific PEIC course before taking the test.

A wealth of learning resources

There are lots of resources out there offering something for everyone, including test guides for each level, test tutorials, practice tests, test tips and many more, so students will feel supported throughout the preparation process.

Learn more about the app English International Certificate (PEIC)

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  • A teacher standing over a desk where a student is sat, helping them. Students are also sat at desks in the background

    4 key challenges in secondary education

    Por Anna Roslaniec

    Let’s examine four of the most common challenges secondary teachers have and look into some strategies to help solve them.

    1. My students are afraid of making mistakes

    You’re not alone! Many teachers say their teenage students are quiet and unwilling to answer questions in class. Sometimes, this might simply be because they don’t know the answers, but more often than not, they are nervous about making mistakes.

    When children grow into teenagers, they tend to become more self-conscious and worried about what their peers think of them – and making mistakes in public is a big no-no for them. However, there are several ways to facilitate a safe learning environment where your students are happy and willing to talk. Sometimes, though, it takes a little experimentation. Here are some things you can try:

    Celebrate mistakes

    When students make mistakes, ensure that you praise them for taking a risk or making an effort. Correct their errors and be clear with the rest of the class that the only way to learn is to try new things.

    Be firm

    Don’t tolerate any bullying or laughing when someone gets an answer wrong. If your students fear that others will mock them for their efforts, they’ll stay quiet. So make sure you have clear rules and that your students understand that mistakes are normal and to be expected.

    Have students discuss their answers in pairs or groups

    If your students are painfully shy and afraid of making mistakes, avoid picking on individuals to answer questions in front of the class. Instead, when asking a question, tell your students to discuss it in pairs or small groups first. This will allow them to formulate their ideas and feel more confident. Afterwards, you can ask the pairs to share what they discussed – leading to a natural open-class discussion.

    Listen to your students

    Another, powerful way of engaging your students in discussion is to listen to a conversation they are having with their partners and then express how impressed you are with their ideas during a feedback session. E.g. “You said X, which I thought was very interesting. Could you explain this to the class? It was a great idea.” This gives them the confidence to share their thoughts.

    2. My students are not engaged with the activities I choose

    This is another very common problem for teachers of teenagers. You spend a lot of time thinking of fun, interesting activities – then, when you present them to the class, your students look away and say they’re bored. Soon enough, you’ll get frustrated and not know how to re-engage them. Here are some ideas to help:

    Get to know your students

    Without fail, the best way to engage your students is by getting to know them as individuals over the year. Find out about their hobbies and interests outside of school, and learn what makes them laugh and what worries them. Use your knowledge of your students to find interesting books to read, videos to watch, or relevant subjects to discuss. This way, you’ll deliver tailored lessons your students find truly interesting and useful.

    Allow a degree of autonomy

    Sometimes quietness is also a sign of disengagement with the learning materials. To get past this obstacle, you can get your students to brainstorm things that interest them in groups, list them on the board and have a class vote on the topic of their next class project. As a teacher, you always have the power to veto inappropriate ideas, but giving students a voice is a powerful way of making them feel valued and involved in their own education.

    Make things (a little) competitive

    Even teenagers love games! And play is an integral part of learning, as it allows our students to be themselves, have fun, and communicate freely at the same time. By allowing them to play language-focused games in class, they’ll soon forget their inhibitions and start talking.

    3. My students just want to do grammar exercises

    Language is all about communication, speaking, listening, reading and writing – yet all your students want to do is grammar exercises. Frustrating as this is, it’s probably a sign that our students are not confident in their speaking or listening abilities. Here’s what you can do:

    Encourage free language practice

    Grammar activities are very structured and there is often a clear answer. Day-to-day communications, however, are much freer, which can intimidate less confident students. This activity will help you combine the two aspects of language learning:

    • Put students in small groups and give them a set of cards with exciting topics printed on them—for example; music, sports, environment, school, vacations, friends, food.
    • Tell students that they should each choose a card and speak freely about their topic for 30 seconds – the short time will help them overcome their fear of speaking and can be gradually increased as they get used to this type of activity.
    • Have students record themselves when they are speaking and then, when they listen back, have them identify the grammatical structures they used.

    They should write down and correct any mistakes under your guidance. Not only will this get students used to talking and encourage a lot of emergent language, but it will also help them feel they are practicing grammar.

    If your students really enjoy learning grammar, you can ‘flip’ your grammar activities and make them more communicative. First, provide them with a series of sentences or listening clips which have a common grammatical structure (second conditional sentences, for example).

    Then have students work together (in English) to identify how the language is structured, so they can discover the grammar point for themselves. This not only gets them talking, but they are doing something they feel confident at.

    4. My students are bored of all the repetition

    Repetition is an important part of language learning. By practicing things over and over again, your students will come to understand it better and will be able to produce the language more easily. However, repetition is often quite dull, especially for fast learners. Here’s how you can make things more interesting for your teenage students:

    Use a greater variety of activities to engage your learners

    If you’ve been teaching your students a particular set of vocabulary, a grammatical structure, or some pronunciation rules, think about how else they can practice them.

    For example, instead of drilling pronunciation over and over again, ask students to think of all the words they can think of that have the same sound in them (e.g. book, look, cook, shook, etc.). This will help them ‘hear’ the sounds in their heads and improve their understanding of other words.

    If you have been learning vocabulary through reading, have students write or tell stories that incorporate the words.

    The idea is not to stop repeating the target language or skill, but to practice it in different ways. Apply this principle to other areas of language learning so your students won’t feel like they are repeating things.