Who are the learners? Ways that learners (and classes) differ What the teacher can do to work with such differences Chapter 4

# of Ss male/female ratio age seating have books, arrangement material Basic facts to learn at a class first glance seating arrangement have books, material actively doing something? reaction to teacher’s presence silent? talking?

Possible Factors for Changes in Class Mood (from one teacher to the next) Teacher’s attitude (teacher often finds what he/she expects to find) Students’ response to teacher’s attitude (if Ss find T unhelpful , no amount of games will sparkle the class)

Learners may have different…. P Motivation Ability to remember things B eliefs, political views, prejudices eliefs about what a teacher can or should do oredome thresholds ersonalities, ways of relating to and working with other people revious learning experiences references for content to work on and for classroom methodology D egrees of focus, distraction ifficulties or physical disabilities R easons for needing English eactions to things, moods, habits Intelligences Jobs, home lives, health L earning styles evels in various language systems and skills kills, aptitudes & abilities ensory preferences peeds of working & learning S

MOTIVATION Strong external reasons why they want to study (pass an exam, get promotion, please their parents…) Rewards within the studying itself (the fun of learning, a personal challenge) The strength of Ss’ motivation will be a factor in determining: how seriously they approach the work how much time they set aside for it how hard they push themselves

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES (MI) Intelligence is usually thought of as being a single, inborn capacity. But the theory of (MI), as first proposed by Howard Gardner, views intelligence as being multi-dimensional. Verbal/linguistic Logical/mathematical Visual/spatial Bodily/kinesthetic 5. Musical/rhythmic 6. Interpersonal (contact with other people) 7. Intrapersonal (understanding oneself) The last two share characteristics of what has also been called emotional intelligence

SENSORY PREFERENCES The mind is predisposed to process experience in different ways Some people respond best when they can touch and feel tangible, physical objects (KINAESTHETIC) to hearing things (AUDITORY) to seeing things (VISUAL) When planning classes, T may naturally bias lesson ideas towards his/her own sensory preferences, forgetting that there is a range of working modes appealing to visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners

Working with Individual Differences I can’t really take all these individual differences into account. The important thing is to “teach the class”.

I can adapt class lessons to respond to many individual needs and differences within the group.

I teach very little to the class as a whole – but my class has lots of individual tasks and small group work. I think the classroom is always a set of private lessons – as many as there are individuals.

Teach the Class or Teach the Individuals Teaching the whole class Balancing whole class work with attention to individual differences Working primarily with individuals' needs – privately and in small groups

Common Level Structures in Schools classes organized according to students' age classes organized according to language level

Language levels – Schools divide learners into classes, using coursebooks labeled for those levels (Advanced, Post-Intermediate, Upper Intermediate, Intermediate, Pre-Intermediate, Elementary, Beginner) Level systems from the Council of Europe - (C2 –Mastery,C1-Operational proficiency, B2 –Vantage, B1-Threshold, A2 – Waystage, A1 – Breakthrough) Levels around exams students take: KET, PET...

What level is the class? Conclusions about level: Every learner has an individual range of levels Every class is a mixed-level class

Ways to Find out about Learners’ Needs Needs analysis is the different ways of finding out (e.g., using questionnaires, interviews, etc,) what students need (or want) to study on a language course.

Often a Needs analysis includes not only information about why learners might need language in the future, but also information about: where learners are starting from: their present language level, current problems, etc. what learners would like to learn (which may be different from what they need) how they want to study it (people have very different preferences about how they learn things)

Balancing Course Plans and Needs

Getting Feedback from Learners

Why do many teachers avoid feedback?

Why might learners not give useful honest feedback?

Learner Training means….. ……“Raise student awareness about how they are learning and, as a result, help them to find more effective ways of working, so that they can continue working efficiently and usefully, even when away from their teacher and the classroom”. – Work on teaching learning as well as teaching English”. Learner training includes: work on study skills ,e.g. use of dictionaries, reference material, workbooks, notebooks, filed material student examination of the process of learning and reflection on what is happening, e.g. of teaching strategies you use (and the reasons why you use them).

Designed as a companion for “Learning Teaching” Methodology I by C Designed as a companion for “Learning Teaching” Methodology I by C. Moscoso - Office of Academic Research - ICPNA