Age

1. Age People of different ages have different needs, competences, and cognitive skills

2. Children vs. older children They respond to meaning even if they don’t understand individual words. They often learn indirectly rather than directly. Their understanding comes not just from explanation, but also from what they see and hear and have a chance to touch and interact with. They display an enthusiasm for learning and a curiosity about the world around them. They have a need for individual attention and approval from the teacher. They are keen to talk about themselves, and respond well to learning that uses themselves and their own lives as the main topics in the classroom. They have a limited attention span.

3. Teachers of young children They need to provide a rich diet of learning experiences which encourages their students to get information from a variety of sources. They also need to work with their students individually and in groups developing good relationships. In addition, they need to plan a range of activities for a given time period, and be flexible enough to move on to the next exercise when they see their students getting bored. Classroom for young children: Bright and colorful, windows they can see out of, lots of room for different types of activities, many different activities (games, puzzles, making things, drawing things, physical movement, songs, etc.), working in groups.

4. Teachers of adolescents They must provoke student engagement with material that is relevant and involving (focusing on their world of thought and experience), while bolstering self-esteem and being conscious of their students’ need for identity. Teachers also need to earn students’ respect by controlling them in a supportive and constructive way.

5. Uniqueness of adult learners They can engage with abstract thought. They have a whole range of life experience to draw on. They have expectations about the learning process, and they may already have their own set patterns of learning. They are generally more disciplined than teenagers, and are often prepared to struggle despite boredom. They often have a clear understanding of why they are learning and what they want to get out of it.

6. Challenges of adult learners They can be critical of teaching methods. They may have experienced failure or criticism at school which makes them anxious and under-confident about learning a language. They may worry that their intellectual powers may be diminishing with age. Teachers of adults should (1) involve their students in more indirect learning through reading, listening, and communicative speaking and writing, (2) allow them to use their intellects to learn consciously where appropriate, (3) encourage them to use their own life experience in the learning process, and (4) help minimize the bad effects of past learning experiences (by offering activities which are achievable and listening to students’ concerns and modifying what we do to suit their learning tastes).

7. Good language learners *Your opinion

8. Good learner characteristics Different cultures value different learning behaviors. We need to be aware that our insistence upon one kind of good learner profile may encourage us to demand that students should act in class in certain ways, whatever their learning background. In other words, we risk imposing a methodology on our students that is inimical (harmful) to their culture. It is better for us to reach some kind of learning bargain where both our beliefs and the learners’ preferences can be satisfied.

9. Categorize learning styles Teachers need to understand that there are different individuals in their classes, which requires planning a variety of activities that appropriate for all of them. They also need to balance the interests of the individuals against what is good for the group and be aware of certain individual traits when putting students into pairs or groups. In addition, they need to recognize which students need more personal attention than others, and which need different kinds of explanations and practice of language.

10. Labeling learner levels They mean different things to different people.

11. 4 issues – student levels The plateau effect (subtle/indiscernible progress for higher level students) Methodology (suitable techniques for different levels) Language (adjust classroom language to levels) Topics (match topics to levels)

12. Motivation Motivation is some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something. Extrinsic motivation: outside factors Intrinsic motivation: inside factors (within the individual) Sources: society we live in, significant others, teacher, method Initiate and sustain: goals and goal setting, learning environment, interesting classes

13. Motivation – “Tools for Teaching” Capitalize on students’ existing needs (satisfy their motives for taking the class) Make students active participants in learning Ask students to analyze what makes their classes more or less motivating (e.g. instructor’s enthusiasm, relevance of material, course organization, appropriate difficulty level of material, variety, rapport between teacher and students, clear examples) Hold high expectations of students Tell students what they need to succeed in your course Strengthen students’ self-motivation Avoid creating intense competition among students Be enthusiastic about your subject

14. Motivation – “Tools for Teaching” Work from students’ strengths and interests Give students some choice and control Vary teaching methods Emphasize mastery and learning rather than grades Give students lots of feedback as quickly as possible Reward success Introduce students to the good work done by their peers Be specific when giving negative feedback (make it constructive) Avoid demeaning comments