How can we encourage English learners to feel self-confident?

Jeanne Perrett
A group of students in a classroom sat at their desks, smiling and looking towards their teacher at the front

Encouraging learners to feel more confident in the classroom is a problem often faced by teachers. Below are five simple things you can adopt in your classroom to encourage learners to feel self-confident.

The small things

Let’s start with the physical comfort of our students. Having the room adequately heated or cooled, asking if they would like the window open, making sure everyone has had some water or checking to see if anyone needs to go to the bathroom or wash their hands only takes a minute at the beginning of the lesson. It helps our children to know that their welfare is our concern.

Then, make sure that everyone has their books and praise them for being organized or having their pencils sharpened and ready. These things seem trivial, but they count. They count because we are acknowledging the fact that it isn’t always easy to get up and ready for school every morning, day after day and that just managing that well is an achievement.

So, starting by checking the small things helps to give our students a feeling of well-being before the lesson has even begun.

Clarity and familiarity

Be clear. Be clear about what you are all going to do and why you are going to do it. There is no such thing as ‘the obvious’ when it comes to learning. For example, you know that English is spoken internationally, but primary-aged students may have no concept of what ‘internationally’ means.

They may never have considered the concept of language itself. So, we must state the ‘obvious’ and do it in ways which are meaningful to the children, through videos, pictures and relatable examples. This goes for everything; what a verb is, how we form negative statements, what question marks indicate and what today’s lesson aims are.

Whatever they need to know, we need to state it clearly and when they have forgotten, we tell them again without ever making them feel that they ‘should’ have remembered. They forget – we remind. That’s our job.

Then there is the familiarity of a routine. Apart from making us feel reassured that we know what is happening, routines also feed into the innate need for repetition. Young children want their favorite bedtime stories told to them exactly the same way each night and will pop their heads up to correct us if we do something differently. That repetition is part of practice; doing, saying or hearing something repeatedly until we are completely sure we know it.

Most teachers don’t need reminding of this, but it might be helpful to remember that within that routine, one can also have surprises.

A five-minute ‘something different’ slot could be built into your routine. This could be a fun quiz, game or song and dance. A straightforward way of managing this is to write the names of different ‘surprise activities’ on pieces of card, put them into a pot and let a different student pick a card each day.

Room to maneuver

We all feel more confident if we know that we are free to experiment and, within that experimentation, to make mistakes. It can’t be stated often enough that we will only ever learn something by doing it wrong, often many times, before we do it right.

This message may be even more important nowadays when we see and hear perfect versions of whatever has been created - music, cookery and writing to name but a few - especially on social media.

The learning process is not brought to our attention as often as the result, and the results are often digitally altered to look more impressive. We need to remind our children of this and make them feel good about their efforts, however small and halting.

Peer pressure often contributes to a lack of self-confidence; you only need one mocking ‘friend’ to put you off. So, we must be vigilant in noticing little glances or whispered asides and praise the majority of the students who are quietly accepting or encouraging.

Space to flourish

Finally, confidence in our language learning abilities will soar when we know we can make the language our own and use it however we want.

This goes beyond personalizing activities, which can be done at any level ("What’s your favorite food?" "Do you like tomatoes?") and is dependent on the teacher noticing and accepting what individual children are really interested in. So, for example, if we continue with the example of food, a sporty child might be interested in what famous sports people have for breakfast or which foods give us stamina.

A child who is interested in nature might want to know what birds and animals eat. For this to happen, first we need to notice their interests, show enthusiasm for what they are finding out and encourage them to share what they have learnt with the class.

Explore our courses and tests

More blogs from 蜜桃app

  • A woman stood outside in a square holding a map smiling

    3 traveling tips your English dictionary won’t teach you

    提交者 Steffanie Zazulak
    Reading time: 3 minutes

    Traveling to a new country is a wonderful way to practice your English skills, but sometimes speaking English in a foreign country can be a little daunting—and an can only help so much. That’s why we’re sharing these three traveling tips: try them the next time you travel to an English-speaking country. They’re sure to make communicating in English with others more interesting and fun.

    Learn how to “break the ice”

    While you’re exploring, you’ll likely come across strangers you might want to “break the ice” with or speak to. A simple “hi” or “hello” along with telling them where you’re from is a great way to start a conversation.? Next, ask them for “insider tips” about their city, like their favorite places to visit or not-to-be-missed restaurants.

    If they seem friendly and are willing to share more information, make sure you ask for their name and use it when asking more questions. Most people appreciate it when others call them by their names in conversation.

    Learn how to ask people for help

    It's normal to get lost during your trip, but don't worry. Most English-speaking countries will have tourist centers near popular destinations with trained staff who can help you with any questions.

    If you can’t find a tourist center quickly enough, approach a friendly-looking person (students with backpacks are a pretty safe bet) and use the skills that you’ve already learned about approaching new people. You can include additional questions like “I’m lost, could you help me?” or “Do you know where I can find _________?” to let them know that you need their help. It’s also not uncommon for strangers to come up to you, especially when you’re carrying a map and look lost, to ask if you need help finding your way.

    Learn to express gratitude

    You will likely want to thank many people during your travels, like the new friends who just helped you when you were lost—and there are many ways to express gratitude.

    Saying “thanks” or “thanks so much” is an informal form of “thank you” in many English-speaking countries. You can also add the phrase “I appreciate it” or say “Thank you. I really appreciate your help” if the person you are thanking did something really special for you, like helping you out with directions.

    For some people, talking to someone you don’t know can be a little scary, especially in a second language. But don’t worry?— most people will be pretty responsive to you. In fact, many people welcome visitors to their cities with open arms, just remember to be polite and have a smile on your face when approaching them.

  • woman uses highlighter on book

    Grammar 101: tips and tricks to help improve your Engish writing

    提交者 Hannah Lawrence
    Reading time: 4 minutes

    I've always been fascinated by language and writing: as a child, I wrote newsletters for my classmates and books about my imaginary friends' adventures. That love of words eventually led me into a career as a writer, editor and proofreader. Over my career, I've checked thousands of reports, articles and blogs – and I see the same grammatical mistakes time and time again.

    In this blog series, I'll share my favourite tips and tricks to help you remember those tricky grammar rules; whether you're writing for work, to learn or just for fun, these posts will help you improve your English and write with more confidence. Here are the top three grammar rules that people ask me to explain:

    1) "Which" or "that"?

    2) "Less" or "fewer"??

    3)?"Me" or "I"?

  • A teacher sat at a table with young students working together

    What is Content and Language Integrated Learning?

    提交者 Joanna Wiseman
    Reading time: 4 minutes

    Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an approach where students learn a subject and a second language at the same time. A science course, for example, can be taught to students in English and they will not only learn about science, but they will also gain relevant vocabulary and language skills.

    It’s important to note that CLIL is not a means of simplifying content or reteaching something students already know in a new language. CLIL courses should truly integrate the language and content in order to be successful – and success is determined when both the subject matter and language is learned.

    Who is CLIL for?

    CLIL can work for students of any age, all the way from primary level to university and beyond. So long as the course content and language aims are designed with the students’ needs in mind, there is no limit as to who can benefit from this teaching approach. However, it is most commonly found in primary and secondary school contexts.

    What are the main benefits of CLIL?

    Many teachers see CLIL as a more natural way to learn a language; when a subject is taught in that language there is a concrete reason to learn both at the same time. And as students have a real context to learn the language in, they are often more motivated to do so, as they can only get the most of the content if they understand the language around it.

    Moreover, being content focused, CLIL classes add an extra dimension to the class and engage students, which is especially advantageous in situations where students are unenthusiastic about learning a language.

    CLIL also promotes a deeper level of assimilation, as students are repeatedly exposed to similar language and language functions, and they need to produce and recall information in their second language.

    Furthermore, it has the advantage that multiple subjects can be taught in English, so that students’ exposure to the language is increased and their language acquisition is faster.

    CLIL also encourages students to develop 21st century skills, including the ability to think critically, be creative, communicate and collaborate.?

    What are the challenges of CLIL?

    As CLIL is subject-focused, language teachers may also have to develop their own knowledge of new subjects in order to teach effectively.

    They must also structure classes carefully so that the students understand the content of the lesson, as well as the language through which the information is being conveyed.

    And when it comes to classroom management, educators need to be very aware of individual student understanding and progress.

    It’s therefore important to consistently concept check and scaffold the materials to be sure both the language and content are being learned.

    How can you apply CLIL to your class?

    It’s important to have a strategy in place when applying CLIL in your courses. One of the key things to remember is that the language and subject content are given equal weight and that it shouldn’t be treated as a language class nor a subject class simply taught in a foreign language.

    According to Coyle’s 4Cs curriculum (1999), a successful CLIL class should include the following four elements:

    • Content – Progression in knowledge, skills and understanding related to specific elements of a defined curriculum
    • Communication – Using language to learn whilst learning to use language
    • Cognition – Developing thinking skills which link concept formation (abstract and concrete), understanding and language
    • Culture – Exposure to alternative perspectives and shared understandings, which deepen awareness of otherness and self

    Using a number of frameworks can help you prepare your lessons and make sure activities are challenging yet achievable for your learners.

    Bloom’s Taxonomy, for example, classifies learning objectives in education and puts skills in a hierarchy, from Lower Order Thinking Skills (LOTS) to Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS).

    In the diagram below, you can see the levels increasing in complexity from the base up to the triangle’s peak.