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This is how our TEFL graduates feel they have gained from their course, and how they plan to put into action what they learned:
Motivating StudentsBoth young and old students can lack motivation at some point along the way and therefore the teacher must have a plan to keep the students motivated. First the teacher must know the students interests, goals, and previous knowledge of the english language. This enables the teacher to accommodate the student to the greatest level, as well as keep them interested in their continuing studies. With the information the teacher has acquired they then can make their lesson plans suitable to the needs and wants of the students. This will maintain interest in the classroom among the students and also can help reduce the amount of problem behavior resulting from boredom.
Motivation is key to the learning process for the student. Why is it so important? Well, simply learning the language without any desire or interest becomes very monotonous and makes it hard for the student to really benefit from what is being taught. Lacking motivation may result in lack of progression and disappointment for the student as well as for whomever may be requiring them to study english (whether a boss, parent, etc.). The result can become failure to progress onto the next level, receive the promotion, and the list goes on. This is why motivation is so important for the teacher to gain in their students, since it plays such a big part in the students learning process and future opportunities.
Where should the teacher start? It is important that they begin by investing their time in getting to know their students individually. Not just the student’s name, age, address, etc. but their interests as well. This information can be acquired by the use of games, surveys, questionnaires, etc. All these forms should involve all students in a fun way. After they have done this ‘research’ they can then incorporate this information into their lessons and activities. For example, the teachers of children and young adult classes may have students who are really excited about pop culture and the musicians of the decade. Knowing which musicians, actors, popular sports figures, etc. speak to their students and including them into their lessons can help keep their young adult students stay intrigued. Articles, short clips, and song lyrics, are just some of the many ways they can incorporate the information into their lessons.
These are the reasons keeping the students motivated is one of the most import jobs of the teacher and some ideas of how it can be accomplished. It must be the constant focus of the teacher, to know more about their students and to incorporate what they learn into their classroom material. This keeps the students interested helps them to learn and retain the language. There are many ways that the teacher can accomplish maintaining interest among their students. Factors such as age, gender, profession, etc. all will determine what may interest the student, however every person is different and therefore the teacher must know the students for who they are and not for what the average person is like. This is where time investment comes into play for the teacher. Motivation is KEY.
