MOTIVATING ADVANCED LEARNERS 30th September 2009

1. MOTIVATING ADVANCED LEARNERS 30th September 2009 Many times we have found ourselves dreading or simply not enjoying teaching advanced students. Here are 8 things about advanced students that may explain why that is:

2. 8 THINGS ABOUT ADVANCED LEARNERS • Most of them feel that they have reached a PLATEAU and cannot make any further progress • Advanced students tend to make a number of FOSSILIZED ERRORS, sometimes with very simple structures (e.g. I am agree, I study English for 10 years) • PRONUNCIATION can be weak for their level. • They tend to be FLUENT but avoid COMPLEX language. • They lack sensitivity to REGISTER and are unable to switch register. • The ‘been there / done that’ attitude: they have done so many courses that they feel ‘they’ve seen it all’ and can get bored or become DEMOTIVATED easily. • PRODUCTIVE skills tend to be weaker than RECEPTIVE. • They may believe they KNOW MORE than they do.

3. PLATEAU and PROGRESS: LEARNER TRAININGNeeds analysis and goal setting A needs analysis is essential for higher levels. It gives students an opportunity to: • reflect on their own expectations of the course and what is expected of them • reflect on their learning process (learner training) • assess their own learning progress: set themselves goals, which they can revisit on a regular basis We have created a needs analysis handout which deals with all those points

4. PLATEAU and PROGRESS: LEARNER TRAININGExtra tips • Students follow their interests in English Practising English outside the classroom is necessary but can be rather tedious if students choose an activity they do not enjoy. Why read a book if you do not even read in your own language? They could, instead, pick an activity they enjoy doing in their mother tongue (e.g. reading the sports section, joining a stamp collectors’ forum etc.). • Weekly language ‘collections’ • 10 words that sound good. • 5 words I’ve learned this week. • The list of words I don’t like. This is a way to help students remember new words actively. • Authentic material It is much more motivating and challenging for students to use authentic material. So we should try to integrate that into class activities as much as possible (a BBC article, a National Geographic documentary and so on). If there is no time, you can always give it to them for homework as follow up links.

5. complex language fluency Challenge pronunciation accuracy PLATEAU and PROGRESSSpeaking: challengethemtofind a balance At advanced levels, students’ productive skills are usually weaker than their receptive skills. You may find different case scenarios: very fluent students who only use simple language and avoid complex language or a student who is very fluent with very low accuracy and/or poor pronunciation. So a challenging activity should be a balance of fluency, grammatical, lexical and phonological accuracy and variety of language. We should, therefore, take all four elements into account when organizing a speaking activity.

6. PLATEAU and PROGRESSSpanglishes and fossilized errors: error correction Error correction is essential with higher levels. There are several ways of correcting students during a speaking activity: • The ‘error section’: student keep a section in their notebook (they could call it ‘My spanglishes / typical errors’) where they could write down their own errors (from previous error correction slots) and refer to that before or during a speaking activity. • The ‘error correction sandwich’: the teacher does an error correction slot in the middle of a speaking activity rather than at the end, so that students have it on the board (as a reminder) when they resume the speaking activity. • On-the-spot correction: usually done during wholeclass discussion/feedback. The teacher stops a student mid-flow, writes down their sentence on the board and gets the whole class to rephrase / correct it. The student then has to reformulate the ‘new, improved’ sentence

7. PLATEAU and PROGRESSUse of simple language: language extension strategies As mentioned earlier, advanced students also tend to avoid using complex language. Here are some suggestions to work on language extension: • Banned language in the classroom: at the beginning of each class or speaking activity, the teacher writes on the board phrases / structures that students are not allowed to use in class. Students have to find a way around them. Very effective to prevent using the same old simple structures such as ‘it is possible’ but also for fossilized errors, such as ‘I am agree’. • Recording students : students are recorded during a presentation or a role play and have an opportunity to listen to themselves again and correct / improve their speaking. This is better than any feedback sheet. They could even repeat the task afterwards. • L1 / L2 translation: while students will use English during a speaking activity, they may speak to each other in L1 when preparing it or to make side comments, because they are not used to using colloquial English or talking to each other in ‘non learning’ situations. You could use a sentence that you hear in class Tío, en menudo embolao te has metido. get them to translate it Oh man, you’re really in the shit now. and encourage them to use that next time they are talking to each other.

8. PLATEAU and PROGRESSPronunciation • Teachers should dedicate full sections of a lesson to pronunciation practice: pronunciation can be integrated into grammar and vocabulary activities, listening, reading and speaking (especially role plays) • Drilling is still allowed • Teachers should provide substantial practice on connected speech: you can find some explanation and practice activities on connected speech on BBC learning English. Click here to check it out. • Reading along a recording is great (and challenging) pronunciation practice

9. PLATEAU and PROGRESSMakeyourwritingbetter. At advanced levels, students are expected to write with a high level of accuracy. However, their writing is usually simple, spanicized and academic. A writing task should involve more than correcting errors. It should involve improving style. Here is an example of a magazine article: • C1.1 (level 6) – Merche’s first attempt. A FOOTBALL ADDICTDo you need to be informed about all football results?Do you spend more than two hours per day reading football news?Do you listen to sport radio programs?If you answered "yes" to these questions you are probably a football addict.The person with this addiction is someone that feels the necessity to know everything about football.

10. PLATEAU and PROGRESSMake your writing better. After some work… Need to know all the football results? Spend all day with your head stuck in the sports section? Even need to listen to it on the radio? If the answer is “yes”, you’re probably a football addict. You’re obsessed!

11. PLATEAU and PROGRESSEvidence of learning Students also need tangible evidence that they are making progress. So teachers should: • give them regular tests: for example at the end of a module, every three modules, a quick surprise test on the internet (there are a lot of links available for test practice) etc. • set quantifiable aims: for example if they get 50% in a C-test they should aim for 90% by the end of the course.

12. PROJECTS Projects are authentic, challenging and completely learner-centred. Blogs, Wikis, Nings One of the projects we set up last year was a blog. Success obviously depends on students’ dedication to it. In our case, it was very successful and students used it on a regular basis. We used the blog to: • set up tasks (e.g. write a book or a film review) • exchange information (e.g. recipes, travelling tips, learning experiences) • post links, presentations, pictures etc. • have a forum Here is an example of a blog that was set up last year with B2.2 students Link Presentations Students usually take pride in their presentations, and put a lot of work and research into them. It is very challenging, but a great opportunity for extensive speaking practice and insightful feedback on their skills (either by recording the presentation or by giving them a feedback sheet).