Agency TESOL International

Building Confidence in Students Confidence is something that is built not only in our daily lives at home, at work or with our friends but also in school. It widely recognised that the root cause of low self esteem can be negative experiences at school. The teacher plays a fundamental role in shaping the academic careers of their students and they are the primary factor in building confidence especially in the students’ formative years. Building confidence should start from the very beginning of a student’s education and they will undoubtedly enjoy learning the english language if they have had positive educational experiences from the outset. Teachers therefore play a central role in building confidence in students. A teacher must be enthusiastic, patient, kind and approachable. It is important that the teacher knows the all the students names and always refers to them by name. An enthusiastic attitude will rub off on the students and they will feel confident and motivated to learn. The teacher should smile and have a sense of humour where appropriate. These attributes will give the students more confidence when speaking the language as it will help to allay their nerves. A teacher with an open and positive attitude will give students an open and positive attitude to learning the english language. An important part of building confidence in students is to give positive feedback where possible. The teacher should acknowledge when a student is trying and should offer praise in return. Making mistakes should not be viewed negatively by the teacher or students. Everyone makes mistakes and they in turn help us to learn. The likelihood is that a student’s fear of attempting to speak or write in english may stem from having received negative feedback from an impatient teacher in the past. It is important that the teacher learns to praise work well done where it is due, to encourage where it is necessary, to recognise that students have differing abilities and to acknowledge when students are doing their best. However, if students are praised excessively or for no valid reason, it will not motivate them to try harder or to set high standards for themselves. It is the teachers’ job to identify the correct language level of the students. The teacher must also recognise that students have different levels of ability. From this, the teacher must set appropriate and attainable goals. If students are bombarded with work that is beyond their current capabilities they will not only lose interest in learning but they will also lose confidence. The responsibility rests with the teacher to set targets that are neither too difficult nor too easy. The teacher should encourage students to confront any weak areas that they may experience with the language. Shying away from difficulty is a key factor in low self esteem. Confident students are able to recognise their weak points; the key difference between them and the less confident is that they are willing to try harder to overcome difficulty. In order to build confidence in students it is important that the teacher includes everyone in class activities. Each class will have its share of confident and shy students, with everything in between, and it is the teacher must ensure that all students have a chance to participate. The shyer or weaker students must be given an opportunity to answer questions and solve problems on their own. This is what helps to build confidence. The teacher can assign duties to help build confidence in students. Duties such as cleaning the board, collecting homework or audio-visual assistance are effective in building confidence. These duties can be alternated so that everybody gets a turn. In this way, students gain confidence in trying new things and it helps them to discover things they enjoy and would like to do more of. In conclusion, the teacher’s attitude shapes a student’s learning experience and can affect students’ confidence levels long after they graduate. Learning should be an enjoyable experience for students and if the teacher can inspire confidence in them, then they can become successful learners of english. References: Build confidence in children – Building confidence in students. http://buildconfidenceinchildren.com/building-confidence-in-students/ eHow – How to build a students self confidence. http://www.ehow.com/how_5572472_build-students-self-confidence.html ITTT Unit 1 – Teachers and learners. ITTT Unit 3 – Theories, methods and techniques ITTT Unit 5 – Managing classes ITTT Unit 10 – CD Lesson