Startups are generally considered to be new, technology-focused companies that are less than five years old. For the most part, they aim to disrupt industry with innovations, grow in terms of users and revenues and provide value to customers and shareholders.
It may not appear that startups have much in common with English Language Teaching (ELT), but there is, in fact, plenty to learn from startups and the way they work.
By understanding how startups think and looking at their best attributes, we can bring more creativity to our classrooms. Not only can we find new ways for our students to learn, collaborate and grow together, but we can also help our students develop much-needed leadership and critical thinking skills.
At its core, startup thinking is about problem-solving and growth. User-focused and data-driven, startup teams theorize, research, plan and test their products on new markets. Their strength is in their agility, being able to "pivot" quickly: change products, services and technology based on feedback from their customers.
They also operate on a number of key principles, all of which can be applied in the classroom:
Startups are entrepreneurial by definition. Their staff work in teams, but also have no problem going it alone, finding solutions and taking responsibility for new projects and initiatives. These are all excellent traits to encourage in the classroom as they will not only help your learners in an educational context, but in their professional lives too.
By learning to be accountable to themselves, measuring their own progress and seeing their achievements, autonomous learners develop self-confidence and progress faster as a result.
It’s therefore important to encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning. Rather than being solely reliant on their teacher, autonomous learners seek out ways to practice and improve their language skills in ways that appeal to them.
To do this, brainstorm strategies with your students to help them find ways to use English outside the classroom. They could, for example, keep a journal in English, watch English language films and take notes, read short stories or news articles, or even set their technology and social media language settings to English.
Startups have a common goal: to establish a business model and achieve a product-market fit. This goal focuses people’s attention and develops rapport among team members. As an additional benefit of working together, startuppers learn their own strengths and weaknesses and begin to collaborate with team members with complementary skills.
By learning about your students’ interests, objectives and needs, you can find inspiration to design relevant class projects. These give your students a common goal and the chance to collaborate effectively. What’s more, project work is rich in language learning opportunities and makes students accountable to one another. This in turn increases motivation and provides a genuine context for language learning.
Startups are not afraid to get things wrong. In fact, all entrepreneurs embrace mistakes, as they are part of coming to the right solution. As Thomas Edison once said "I have not failed 10,000 times – I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work." ?Some startups go as far as to reward and celebrate failure – saying that it’s a sign that a person is trying to succeed.
Encourage students to see mistakes as learning opportunities. Creating a safe space in the classroom where everyone is treated with respect and mistakes are viewed as natural learning experiences. This will help your students learn the language at their own pace, without fear of ridicule.
Startups are famous for focusing on growth and believing in improving their products. They see both negative and positive feedback as opportunities to grow. By always seeking to optimize their products and services, they improve the user experience and earn loyalty.
Similarly, it’s key to foster a growth mindset in your learners. ?A growth mindset perceives intelligence and ability as attributes to be developed, whereas a fixed mindset sees intelligence and ability as innate and unchanging.
Students with a growth mindset will therefore believe they can improve, be more motivated and see more progress as a result.
Startup founders mentor and support their team members when they face challenges, when they need to grow and when they are not reaching their potential. This increases the value of the workforce and enables them to be more productive.
Teachers are often already naturals at this. We know how important it is to offer support to our students, especially when they are feeling frustrated or disappointed with their progress. With our encouragement and support, our students can achieve things they never thought possible. So perhaps, in this final point, startup leaders could learn a thing or two from us.
今月は、 Global Scale of English (GSE) の立ち上げから10年を迎え、その道のりはいかがでしたか。この重要な節目を祝うにあたり、過去10年間に達成されたすべてのことを振り返り、世界中の言語学習、教育、評価の進歩に貢献した仕事に誇りを持つ時が来ました。
世界の 15億人の 英語 話者 のうち、半数以上が第二言语または追加の言语としてそれを学んでいます。
「ビジネスの言語」である 英語 は、国際的なビジネスやリーダーシップレベルで働きたいと考えている人にとって基本的なスキルとなっており、多くの 英語 as a Second 言語 (ESL)スピーカーは、日常的に 英語 で働いています。
しかし、第二言语または第叁言语での作业には、独自の课题と机会が伴います。
私たちは、 英語 がキャリアで果たした役割、ESLスピーカーであることの課題、そして企業が誰もが発言権を持つ文化をどのように作り出すことができるかについて、5人のグローバルリーダーに話を聞きました。
英语を学ぶことは、やりがいのある旅でありながら、やりがいのある旅です。旅行、仕事、または个人的な成长のために言语スキルを向上させることを目指しているかどうかにかかわらず、适切なリソースを使用すると、すべての违いが生まれます。
文法はあらゆる言语のバックボーンです。文法に焦点を当てたワークシートは、文の构造、动词の时制、その他の基本的なルールを理解するのに役立ちます。以下を网罗するエクササイズを探してください。
语汇を増やすことは、効果的なコミュニケーションのために重要です。ワークシートは、新しい単语やフレーズ、その意味や使い方を学ぶのに役立ちます。次のようなエクササイズをお试しください。
読解力を向上させるには、书かれたテキストを理解し、解釈することが必要です。読解力のために设计されたワークシートは、以下の练习に役立ちます。
ライティングエクササイズは、自分の考えを明确かつ首尾一贯して表现するのに役立ちます。ワークシートは、さまざまな书き方や形式をガイドしてくれます。
