Does progress in English slow as you get more advanced?

Ian Wood
A young woman sat in a library with headphones around her neck reading a book
Reading time: 4 minutes

Why does progression seem to slow down as an English learner moves from beginner to more advanced skills?

The journey of learning English

When presenting at ELT conferences, I often ask the audience – typically teachers and school administrators – “When you left home today, to start your journey here, did you know where you were going?” The audience invariably responds with a laugh and says yes, of course. I then ask, “Did you know roughly when you would arrive at your destination?” Again the answer is, of course, yes. “But what about your students on their English learning journey? Can they say the same?” At this point, the laughter stops.

All too often English learners find themselves without a clear picture of the journey they are embarking on and the steps they will need to take to achieve their goals. We all share a fundamental need for orientation, and in a world of mobile phone GPS we take it for granted. Questions such as: Where am I? Where am I going? When will I get there? are answered instantly at the touch of a screen. If you’re driving along a motorway, you get a mileage sign every three miles.

When they stop appearing regularly we soon feel uneasy. How often do English language learners see mileage signs counting down to their learning goal? Do they even have a specific goal?

Am I there yet?

The key thing about GPS is that it’s very precise. You can see your start point, where you are heading and tell, to the mile or kilometer, how long your journey will be. You can also get an estimated time of arrival to the minute. As Mike Mayor mentioned in his post about what it means to be fluent, the same can’t be said for understanding and measuring English proficiency. For several decades, the ELL industry got by with the terms ‘beginner’, ‘elementary’, ‘pre-intermediate’ and ‘advanced’ – even though there was no definition of what they meant, where they started and where they ended.

The CEFR has become widely accepted as a measure of English proficiency, bringing an element of shared understanding of what it means to be at a particular level in English. However, the wide bands that make up the CEFR can result in a situation where learners start a course of study as B1 and, when they end the course, they are still within the B1 band. That doesn’t necessarily mean that their English skills haven’t improved – they might have developed substantially – but it’s just that the measurement system isn’t granular enough to pick up these improvements in proficiency.

So here’s the first weakness in our English language GPS and one that’s well on the way to being remedied with the Global Scale of English (GSE). Because the GSE measures proficiency on a 10-90 scale across each of the four skills, students using assessment tools reporting on the GSE are able to see incremental progress in their skills even within a CEFR level. So we have the map for an English language GPS to be able to track location and plot the journey to the end goal.

‘The intermediate plateau’

When it comes to pinpointing how long it’s going to take to reach that goal, we need to factor in the fact that the amount of effort it takes to improve your English increases as you become more proficient. Although the bands in the CEFR are approximately the same width, the law of diminishing returns means that the better your English is to begin with, the harder it is to make further progress – and the harder it is to feel that progress is being made.

That’s why many an English language-learning journey gets abandoned on the intermediate plateau. With no sense of progression or a tangible, achievable goal on the horizon, the learner can become disoriented and demoralised.

To draw another travel analogy, when you climb 100 meters up a mountain at 5,000 meters above sea level the effort required is greater than when you climb 100 meters of gentle slope down in the foothills. It’s exactly the same 100 meter distance, it’s just that those hundred 100 meters require progressively more effort the higher up you are, and the steeper the slope. So, how do we keep learners motivated as they pass through the intermediate plateau?

Education, effort and motivation

We have a number of tools available to keep learners on track as they start to experience the law of diminishing returns. We can show every bit of progress they are making using tools that capture incremental improvements in ability. We can also provide new content that challenges the learner in a way that’s realistic.

Setting unrealistic expectations and promising outcomes that aren’t deliverable is hugely demotivating for the learner. It also has a negative impact on teachers – it’s hard to feel job satisfaction when your students are feeling increasingly frustrated by their apparent lack of progress.

Big data is providing a growing bank of information. In the long term this will deliver a much more precise estimate of effort required to reach higher levels of proficiency, even down to a recommendation of the hours required to go from A to B and how those hours are best invested. That way, learners and teachers alike would be able to see where they are now, where they want to be and a path to get there. It’s a fully functioning English language learning GPS system, if you like.

Learn about the Global Scale of English learning objectives

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    Connecting with your students using simple creative activities

    By Laura Vazquez

    “We are all creative, but by the time we are three or four years old, someone has knocked the creativity out of us. Some people shut up the kids who start to tell stories. Kids dance in their cribs, but someone will insist they sit still. By the time the creative people are ten or twelve, they want to be like everyone else.” — Maya Angelou.

    We want our kids to excel in everything they do. This is partly down to the media, which has fostered the idea of celebrity kids and football leagues that encourage kids to become professional athletes at the age of eight or younger.

    However, we have missed the most crucial thing in their education – and that is to build their character through everyday creative activities which encourage the formation of human connections.

    Moving from kindergarten to elementary school

    Consider how nervous a first grader must feel after leaving the safe kindergarten playground and entering a strange new 'grown-up' world. The playgrounds are bigger, the kids are older, they have to line up to buy their first meal at the school cafeteria. The classroom has changed too: the desks look different, the books are bigger, and there are new challenges too.

    Some are thrilled to feel part of the older kids’ environment. Others, of course, are frightened and insecure. They have to understand and accept all the new rules and regulations, which now apply to them too.

    High expectations from parents must be met

    We also have moms, dads and caregivers worried for their little ones. They have high hopes for them. They want their children to become successful learners, multi-medal athletes, excellent readers, mathematicians or perhaps scientists…

    Professor David Healy, director of the North Wales Department of Psychological Medicine, said:?“We want kids to conform to ideals based often on parental insecurities and ambitions.”

    Elementary school has therefore become something resembling a battlefield, where children must thrive in spite of (and not because of) their interests. Only top grades and excellence in everything will make parents proud.

    But what if a child is not successful? What if their reading skills are below average? What if their daydreaming about a trip to the moon doesn’t allow them to concentrate?

    Then we have two lists of kids, the thriving kids with excellent grades and the other ones.

    So how can we take the pressure off and help all kids to thrive? Here are some simple creative activities to help.

    Reaching out to your students with a simple hello

    When did we forget that education is about promoting playfulness, imagination, and creativity to build up confidence?

    My very first and most important recommendation would be this:

    Before you start a class, give yourself a moment to say?"Hello"?to each individual in your class. Take that moment to make eye contact with every student and see how they are doing that day.

    Make this an important part of your routine. Then have them do the same with their classmates. You could even introduce phrases such as:

    • "How was your day yesterday?"
    • "How are you feeling today?"
    • "What did you have for breakfast this morning?"
    • "I notice you look nice today!"

    You can also try another creative activity. Ask your students to say good morning to the new day and think of something they are grateful for or someone they are grateful to. For example:

    • "Thank you mom, for my breakfast."
    • "I am grateful because all my classmates are here."
    • "Thank you moon, for your light every night."

    These are just a few simple creative activities. But the most important thing to consider, if you want to introduce creativity in the classroom, is that every student needs to feel in a secure and welcoming environment, free of criticism or judgment of their ideas. If you achieve this in your classroom, you will be well on your way to exploring your students’ creativity and building new connections with them.

  • Group of Young Children sat on the floor, laughing with a teacher

    3 creative routines to help foster a safe learning environment

    By Laura Vazquez

    “The world is undergoing revolutionary changes, we need a revolution in education too.” -?Creative Schools, Ken Robinson?

    In February 2006, the late Sir Ken Robinson delivered a talk at TED titled: . This was some years ago and time seems to have stood still in education since then.?

    Creativity is a key 21st century skill. Our young students need to harness it in order to be successful in further education and the workplace, especially now that technology is advancing at such a rapid rate.?

    So what can we do to encourage creativity and create a safe learning environment? I’ll take you through three activities that I use with my own students to help them flourish.?

    Clear and structured objectives?

    To nurture and encourage creativity in the classroom, it is important to have clear, well-structured objectives and routines that give students a safe learning environment. Here’s a breakdown of a few you can try in your classroom.?

    1. Monday activity?

    As part of your routine, do something different every Monday and have your students guess what it is. For example, you could change your earrings or only wear one. You could shave your mustache, wear a hat, or do something less obvious.?

    Students should participate too, so have them do something different every week. Select a student in the class and everyone must guess what has changed that Monday.?

    This activity is designed to encourage students to pay attention to each student in the class and notice things about them during the week. At the same time, it will encourage them to be creative and think about how to do things differently and mix up their own routines.?

    2. Friday team building challenge?

    Every Friday, my class play a team building challenge activity which helps them set and follow rules, be respectful to one another, and work and play with students from different circles.?

    Here’s a simple, energetic team building activity you could try:?

    • Have students call out all the new vocabulary words they learned during the week. Write them on the board as they do so.
    • Split the class into teams of four or five students.
    • Tell them they have to use their bodies to spell each word (if there are lots of words, pick the top three). Wipe the word off the board and explain that they can stand up, lie down, and use their arms and legs – but they should work together to form the shapes of the letters. The first team that correctly spells the word you dictate wins a point!

    3. "Hurray, I failed” activity?

    The final activity is all about celebrating failure. Start by putting students in a circle or a line, and have them each name a color out loud. If someone repeats a color or takes longer than five seconds to answer, they must stand up, dance, and shout “hurray, I failed!” as loudly as possible.?

    You can select any topic – such as nouns, countries, or, even better, your students’ interests. The intention is to create a safe learning environment for your class, where students feel supported and being wrong is fun and okay. This will enable students to participate in class without fear of judgment or criticism.?

    Try it out until your students become comfortable with dancing and 'hurraying' in front of everyone in the group.?

    This activity has yielded fantastic results with groups of people I’ve worked with, regardless of their age group (young, old, junior high). Participants may feel silly or shy, until one participant starts doing it for fun, and then the rest of the group will start feeling comfortable with being wrong. They will realize it’s okay, and the exercise will start to flow with greater ease.?

    If your group is shyer or your students are more introverted, you can ask the person who makes a mistake to wear a silly hat – until the next person fails.

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    3 activities to nurture creativity in the classroom

    By Laura Vazquez

    What keeps people from?exercising?their creative potential? From negative past experiences to the way we see ourselves, there are many things that can hold us back, no matter how old we are. As teachers, it’s our job to help each individual find out what their creative barriers are, whether internal, external or imagined.

    Our classrooms, therefore, need to become places where we nourish emotional safety and welcome mistakes. As such, we should encourage a culture that promotes failing as part of learning.??

    Here are three activities to help nurture creativity in the primary classroom.

    Activity one: My whole self

    In this activity, students express themselves in words and images, using a life-sized drawing of their bodies. The aim of this is to help them share their feelings and ideas. With a little adaptation, it can work just as well with teens and young learners.?
    Before the lesson, ensure you have enough cardboard or paper for each student. Each piece will need to be approximately 2m long. If you’re using paper, roll it into tubes, so it’s easier to distribute to each student later.

    In class, hand out the paper/cardboard to each student. Tell them to draw a life-size outline of themselves on the paper. Students working online can copy the outline you share onto a large piece of paper. They can do this in their notebooks if they don’t have any paper to hand.?

    In teen classes

    Tell the students that they are free to use their creativity. They should draw, write, and express themselves however they want. If they are stuck for ideas, ask them:

    • How do you feel??
    • What are your ambitions??
    • What are you worried about??
    • What do you enjoy?
    • What are you looking forward to?

    Note that questions should be adapted to your students’ age and level of English.?

    During the activity, your students can use colors, stickers, magazines – and anything that will help them express what is in their minds and hearts.?

    A note on using this activity in elementary classes

    Primary-aged students will need more support. Here are some example instructions:

    • In your right hand, write what you do when you feel frustrated.?
    • In your right foot, write your favorite song.?
    • In your left leg, write the name of the person you get good advice from.?
    • In your right arm, write what makes you happy.?
    • In your left hand, write your greatest dream.?
    • In your left foot, write which cartoon character you would like to be.?
    • In your left leg, write what you like to do in your free time.?
    • In your left arm, write things you value the most.?
    • On your stomach write your favorite meal.

    Afterwards, students should explain what they’ve included in their silhouettes to the rest of the class. Encourage students to ask each other respectful questions.?

    Activity two: Message in the box

    The aim of this activity is to establish a routine where students can share their ideas, thoughts and feelings on a regular basis.?

    Have students bring an old box into class (of any type). Encourage them to personalize their boxes with decorative paper, markers, crayons, stickers, etc.?

    Instruct students to write an idea, feeling, thought or question down. The complexity of the task will depend on the grade you teach and their level of English. Topic ideas include:

    • What are you grateful for today??
    • How do you feel today???
    • What do you wish for??
    • What do you do when you’re angry??
    • What do you like most about yourself?

    Have your students write their answers and put them in the box. When everyone has finished, they should take turns to choose a piece of paper at random and read it out loud to the group.?

    Wrap up this activity by asking the class, “What things do we have in common as a group?”. This way students will see that everyone has similar worries and dreams and hopefully they’ll be more willing to talk about their feelings in future classes.

    Keep the box in a safe place and review the notes after a month to see if peoples' thoughts and feelings have changed since they did the activity.

    Activity three: Activity story board

    The ideal class environment is one where students feel challenged, but not overwhelmed.? The aim of this activity is to have students reflect on the challenges they have faced in their day-to-day learning and think about what they need to do to improve.?

    On a blank piece of paper, ask students to draw two vertical lines and one horizontal line to form six boxes. They should number each box from 1 to 6.?Students should then write a challenge or objective in box number six. It should be something that they would like to improve, for example, studying habits, reading skills, doing homework, getting better at exam results, etc. Then encourage them to think of five things they can do to help them reach their objective and write them in boxes 1-5.?

    1. Read at least two paragraphs every day
    2. Draw what I think is the main idea on paper.?
    3. Look up the meaning of words I don?t understand.?
    4. Try to increase the number of paragraphs I read each week.?
    5. Make a monthly progress chart? to see if I have improved. If not, I need to work on another strategy.
    6. My objective:? Ex. Get better at reading comprehension quizzes.

    Provide students with your support and constructive feedback. Have them share their objectives with the rest of the class and every couple of weeks check how they are doing.?
    Remember to praise their ideas and efforts to improve. Students are more motivated when they feel their teachers are invested in their success.