Team: Elena Ponomareva, Irina Belyakova, Svetlana Antonova (Tyumen State University)

Module: English Language Improvement Unit 1. Language Learning and Communication Lesson 1. What makes a good language learner (Elena Ponomareva)

The objectives of the lesson:

By the end of the lesson a student will have improved the following areas of language:

Reading: for general information, for detail, in order to express their opinion, for multiple matching.

Listening: for opinion, for general information, for detail;. filling in the gaps, explanation of meaning of words and expressions

Speaking: discussions and debates, monologues, dialogues, presentations

Writing: summaries, essays, case study reports

Vocabulary: formal/informal register, asking for/giving opinion, specific words and expressions, word formation, polysemy and homonymy.

Grammar: grammar mistakes correction, emphasis, syntactic transformations.

Pronunciation: sound clusters and their pronunciation, intonation, imitation, overdubbing

Key aspects:

1) Criteria that make a good language learner

2) Difficulties language learners may encounter

3) Students’ purposes for learning English and their expectations

Criteria that make a good language learner

Warm up: Answer these questions about your all second-language learning experiences. Then work in groups and compare your answers.

1 What was the language that you learned? Did you have a choice of language? If so, why did you choose that particular language?

2 What was your purpose for learning? Was it, for example, for travel or business, or simply curiosity? Or did you have no real purpose?

3 Did you teach yourself, have a private teacher, go to classes or study online? Or did you

simply pick it up by using it?

4 If you attended classes, what were your expectations? Were they met?

5 How motivated were you? What factors either raised or lowered your motivation?

6 What level of proficiency did you hope to achieve? Did you achieve it?

7 All in all, were you satisfied with the experience? If not, what would you have done

differently?

Listening for specific information:. What does successful language learning depend on?

Watch the video by Jack C. Richards on Successful Language Learners and answer the following questions:

1. What do successful language learners do that other learners don’t according to Richards?

2. What examples of specific strategies does he give?

3. Did you use any of these strategies when you were learning a language? If so, how successful were they? If not, what strategies did you use? Tell your partners or post to the discussion board.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sROpRYnwrL0

Watch the video on Good Language Learning and answer the questions

1. The speaker lists six characteristics of a good language learner does – what are they?

2. What is the main message that the speaker is communicating?

3. Which characteristics do you agree with and which do you disagree? What works better for you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdAcfPQ7go4

Reading and speaking – reaching an agreement:

Read the list of good language learner characteristics and compare them with the information in the previous videos. Which have already been mentioned in the videos?

Good Language Learner Characteristics

• Can work well with others in the class/group/team

• Will not feel pressure or anxious about learning a foreign language

• Never feel  shy or inhibited about using L2

• Look for every available opportunity to use the target language in and out of class

• Make  a point of listening to, understanding and responding to spoken English without worrying too much about grammar or unknown vocabulary

• Are keen on using study techniques such as word trees/networks, mind maps, etc which are likely to involve attention to form

• Will usually be adolescents or adults rather than a children

• Are analytical enough to notice, categorise and store features of language and its regularities

• Are usually aware of their own and others’ mistakes

• Are motivated towards foreign language learning

• Are motivated through tasks which are involving and challenging

• Are prepared to experiment by taking risks

• Are not afraid of appearing foolish

• Have a high degree of tolerance for ambiguity, unknown words, etc

• Can easily adapt to new/different learning conditions and environments

• Are usually  very good listeners and can acquire through listening

• Are also (usually) high achievers in other fields of education

http://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2013/11/07/are-you-a-good-language-learner/#.VQm6nYigs41

Discuss the characteristics listed above in groups or on the discussion board and try to agree on the five most important. If you would like to revise some expressions for giving opinions, agreeing and disagreeing, have a look at http://www.multimedia-english.com/grammar/expressing-opinions-57

Reading. Motivating Language Learners to Succeed 

Before reading:

Motivation is recognized as a key factor in successful language learning. How can a teacher motivate their students to learn English? What were the most effective motivating factors for you when you  studied a) at school  b) at university?

Read the text on Motivating Language Learners to Succeed and do the following assignments

http://www.tesol.org/read-and-publish/journals/other-serial-publications/compleat-links/compleat-links-volume-5-issue-2-(june-2008)/motivating-language-learners-to-succeed

Answer the questions:

1. What is motivation and what are the two types of motivation mentioned in the article? What is the essence of each?

2. What explanations and examples are given in the article to support the following tips?

• Create a Friendly Atmosphere in the Classroom

• Encourage Students to Personalize the Classroom Environment

• Create Situations in Which Students Will Feel a Sense of Accomplishment

• Encourage Students to Set Their Own Short-Term Goals

• Provide Pair and Group Activities to Develop Students’ Confidence

• Connect Language Learning to Students' Interests Outside of Class

3. Which tips do you think are easy to implement and which ones might be problematic in your context?

Language learning styles. Warm-up:

Answer the questions.

Imagine you are trying to learn a new computer program. What would you prefer:

• to be told how to do it?

• to be shown how to do it?

• to read how to do it in the manual?

• to try using it and find out for yourself?

• a combination of these?

Explain your preference to your group or share it on the discussion board.

Language learning styles. Reading, specific vocabulary and speaking:

Before reading:

What language learning styles do you know? Look at the learning styles given below and match the styles and their definitions:

Visual learners	like movement and need frequent breaks in desk activities.
Auditory learners	(also called analytic learners) like to concentrate on the details of language, such as grammar rules, and enjoy taking apart words and sentences. They are sometimes unable to see the “big picture” because of their attention to its parts.
Tactile learners	take risks with the language. They are more concerned with speaking fluently than speaking accurately, and so make more mistakes.
Kinesthetic learners	like to think about language and how to convey their message accurately. They tend not to make so many mistakes because they take time in formulating what they want to say.
Field-independent learners	learn by touching and manipulating objects - this is known as “hands-on” work.
Field-dependent learners	(also known as global learners) focus on the whole picture and do not care so much about the details. For example, they are more interested in conveying an idea than worrying about whether it is grammatically correct.
Reflective learners	prefer to learn by listening. They enjoy conversations and the chance for interactions with others. They don’t need to see words written down.
Impulsive learners	usually enjoy reading and prefer to see the words that they are learning. They also like to learn by looking at pictures and flashcards

Read the article on Language learning styles and check your answers.

Language learning styles

So far in this series of articles I have given information and advice on language learning that is of specific interest to parents of ESL children. The task of learning to function in a foreign language situation is not one restricted to ESL families, however. Everyone at Frankfurt International School - adults and children, teachers and parents - is confronted with the challenge of learning and using a foreign language, whether at school, at work or in their day-to-day life in the German community. Some fortunate people seem to master the difficulties of language learning with great success and little effort, while for others the task is neither an enjoyable nor a successful one. Why should this be the case? What is it that makes learning a new language so easy for some and so difficult for others? In the next few articles I would like to explore answers to these questions, starting this time with a discussion of language learning styles.

Each of us has our own preferred way of learning that is determined by our cultural and educational background and our personalities. Language researchers have categorized the various learning styles in numerous ways. Some researchers have identified different perceptual styles: the visual, the tactile and kinesthetic, and the auditory. Others have looked at cognitive styles and distinguished between field-independent and field-dependent learners. Still others have examined the personality styles of reflectivity and impulsiveness. Let’s briefly examine each of these styles:

1. Visual learners usually enjoy reading and prefer to see the words that they are learning. They also like to learn by looking at pictures and flashcards.

2. Auditory learners prefer to learn by listening. They enjoy conversations and the chance for interactions with others. They don’t need to see words written down.

(A recent study has found that Koreans and Japanese students tend to be visual learners, whereas English-speaking Americans prefer the auditory learning style.)

3. Tactile learners learn by touching and manipulating objects - this is known as “hands-on” work.

4. Kinesthetic learners like movement and need frequent breaks in desk activities.

5. Field-independent learners (also called analytic learners) like to concentrate on the details of language, such as grammar rules, and enjoy taking apart words and sentences. They are sometimes unable to see the “big picture” because of their attention to its parts.

6. Field-dependent learners (also known as global learners) focus on the whole picture and do not care so much about the details. For example, they are more interested in conveying an idea than worrying about whether it is grammatically correct.

7. Reflective learners like to think about language and how to convey their message accurately. They tend not to make so many mistakes because they take time in formulating what they want to say.

8. Impulsive learners take risks with the language. They are more concerned with speaking fluently than speaking accurately, and so make more mistakes.

So what are the practical implications of this information for people learning a new language? Firstly, it is useful to put yourself into one or more of the categories that have been identified above. Most people will not find it difficult to identify themselves as a particular kind of learner (although some may feel that their style varies according to the learning situation and the language task). Awareness of your preferred learning style may help to explain why some aspects of language learning seem to come easier than others or are more enjoyable. If you are an analytic learner, you are unlikely to feel comfortable doing a language activity which involves a lot of unstructured, spontaneous speech without any concern for grammatical correctness. An ESL teaching colleague recently experienced the converse situation when doing a grammar activity with her class. The teacher had chosen some personalized examples to demonstrate a grammatical point - how to ask questions about the past. So, for example, in response to the sentences I was born in 1963 and I usually went to school by bicycle students had to say When were you born? and How did you get to school? One of her students, however, was a field-dependent learner whose sole focus was on the communicative meaning of the sentences, not on their value in practising grammar. His response to the statement I fell in love for the first time in grade 6 was not the expected How old were you when you fell in love ..? or What happened in grade 6 ..?”, but What was his name?

The second implication follows from the first. Learners who are in a position to choose how they acquire a new language can ensure that their preferred style matches the teaching methodology of the particular language course they want to enroll in. For example, reflective learners may not fare so well in purely conversational classes and auditory learners will probably want to avoid a course with a heavy reading requirement. Of course many learners have no such choice - language learners at FIS for instance! In general, however, language teachers are aware of the range of learning styles in their classrooms and try to find activities that will at least please all the students at some time during the course.

Despite the amount of research that has been done into learning styles over the last few years, there is no clear evidence that any one style is generally better than another. This is just as well, because we cannot do very much to alter how we prefer to learn. What is much more important in influencing the rate of progress in learning a language are the strategies that are employed in the particular learning situation. For example, how you can improve your chances of understanding a difficult text that you have to read.

http://esl.fis.edu/parents/advice/styles.htm

After reading:

1. Discuss if language learners should be tested before they start to learn a language in order to reveal their learning preferences. Were you ever tested before a course in order to reveal your learning preferences?

2. Suggest your ideas how to teach in a class with different learning styles through the example of teaching a) grammar b) vocabulary?

3. What assignments can be given to please students of all learning styles when they read and work with a text

A quiz and a survey:

Do an online quiz to identify your learning style:

Compare your results in your groups/on the discussion board. What is the most common learning style?

http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles-quiz.shtml

Discussion: Learner autonomy

Good learners generally take responsibility for their own learning, both inside and outside the

class. That is, they take steps to become autonomous. Advise the following learners on how to continue their language learning outside the classroom.

1. I'd like to read in English but I don't know where to start; I'm an intermediate student.

2. I don't live in an English-speaking country? Where can I get more listening practice in

3. English - something not too difficult?

4. I like movies, but most movies in English are too difficult to understand without subtitles.

5. Is learning the words in the dictionary a good way of increasing my vocabulary? If not. what are the alternatives?

6. Our teacher doesn't give us homework, but I think I need to practise grammar. What can I do?

7. How can I use the internet to help me practise my English?

A quiz, discussion, interaction and reflection:

Questionnaire

The following questionnaire is one that was created on the basis of the results of a number of good learner studies. It can be used to raise learner awareness as to what learning habits and strategies they are currently using and point the way to those they need to develop.

Based on the combined findings of a number of Good Learner Studies, this Questionnaire aims to raise metacognitive awareness in learners studying a foreign language and be used as a basis for a lesson or lessons aiming to help students improve their learning strategies for FL acquisition

You might like to try it out with your learners or on yourself as a learner of any foreign language, including English, if you are a non-native speaking English language teacher.