Student Engagement and Motivation

Although there are unlimited ways to motivate students and gain their engagement, we would like to point out one way that we believe it brings about better and more consistent results.

There are three areas to discuss here illustrated on the following pages in the shape of a pyramid. The base of this pyramid is perhaps the single biggest contributor to the students’ performance and it comprises the larger portion of this section. If applied consistently, it systematically internalizes the target language through its implementation in their daily lives through a solid practice plan.

At the top of the pyramid, we begin with Clear Objectives. Most students who lose motivation to continue their classes, they do so because of lack of clear objectives. Asking straight up to the students what they want to accomplish with their class will provide you with great insight of what they want to do and how best tailor your classes. It is also extremely important that the instructor and the student understand the current level, how long it will take to the next level. Students need to visualize their objectives, which must be written, measurable and must have a time line associated with it. This can easily be done by going over the program with the students for them to see where they are going.

The middle part of the pyramid is Student Psychology. This refers to the students’ mental make up toward assimilating a new language. Most students suffer from fear of criticism. It is a false believe that other people will be judging how well you communicate in the new language. Most people are more interested in what you have to say than how well you say it. Overcoming this fear of criticism and develop a can-do attitude accelerates students’ confidence and progress.

The bottom part of the pyramid is what we call The Magic Pill. The three best selling DRTV products, such as in infomercials are magical weight, magical fortune and magical love. Products that take no time, no effort and no money to achieve the desired results. We call them magic pills because they portray easy results with no effort, time or money. Learning another language is no different, many people believe that by simply some classes, they will learn to fluently speak a new language. The reality is far from the truth. Students that limit their new language exclusively to the class, hardly obtain an advanced level. Ask your students how long they have been studying the new language, most have done so for many years; yet their level is still deficient. This is because the majority of them limit the new language to the class, falsely believing, like a magic pill, that it is all the effort needed.

Getting your students off this cloud and down to reality with a solid Study Plan and an even more solid Practice Plan is the key to obtain the results and reach the objectives they seek.

Home Study Plan

The home study plan is based on the program being used in class and beyond. It simply consists of devoting 2 to 4 hours per week studying the material being covered in the class.

Daily Practice Plan

The Practice Plan is based on changes of habits and it is perhaps the most important aspect for engagement and motivation. It requires the implementation of new routines and changes to the students’ daily lives, thus it can be challenging and will require effort to initiate new habits. This plan is divided into 5 sub plans: Listening Plan, Reading Plan, Speaking and Thinking Plans and Writing Plan. Listening and Reading for input and Speaking and Writing for output, as illustrated below: