Wonder and happiness. What two desired yet abstract thoughts. When I think of those two words the first thing that comes to mind is a little child going for a walk but stopping every few steps to look down at the ground to find an ant carrying a twig, or grabbing a leaf that fell of the tree or snatching a frog they see hopping. A little child is filled with wonder and happiness. How many times have we heard a toddler as “but why?” There is a wonder at the unknown yet they are delighted in their ponderings.
What does this have to do with teaching English as a second language? The article “New approaches to learner autonomy in language learning” talks about new approaches to learning. Two approaches they mention are the wonder approach and the happy learning approach.
The article talked about how when students are in wonder at what they are learning, that is, intrigued and fascinated by the subject, their motivation to learn increases dramatically. A struggle for ESL learners can be the fact that they lack a metacognitive mindset entering the classroom, being unprepared and unmotivated at the beginning of class. It is important as teachers to engage our student’s minds in what they are learning. The article “Motivating Students” says this about encouraging wonder in students, “include fascination with the subject, a sense of its relevance to life and the world.” It is impossible to force wonder and fascination onto a student, yet we can create an environment that appeals to their wonder. There are many ways in which teachers can do this.
One way in particular that can cause wonder in students is by having wonder as a teacher. Being clearly fascinated by what you are teaching about, draws student’s attention. Most people can probably think of a teacher they have had who was not fascinated by the subject they taught and as a result, you did not care about the class/subject. On the other hand, you have probably (and hopefully) had a teacher who was extremely fascinated and excited about the subject they taught. I have heard many testimonies of students falling in love with a subject merely because of their teacher.
The happy learning approach calls to light the idea that when students recognize the usefulness and helpfulness of what they are learning in the classroom to their everyday lives they are motivated, eager to learn and happy to learn. This feeling can be destroyed by the environment set up by the teacher, or it can quickly improve and enhance. By providing authentic and real-life learning in their classroom teachers can utilize this learning approach to springboard their students to higher learning.
A way that teachers can facilitate a
happy learning environment is to teach subjects that the students can identify
with. For example, if students in the classroom are newcomers to Canada,
teaching them how to get a driver’s license can be extremely gratifying.
However, the same lesson plan is pointless if you are teaching a group of
students in Japan who never plan on coming to Canada. The article “4 Creative
Ways to Use Authentic Materials for Teaching English” says this, “when teachers
use authentic materials, they are in fact helping ESL students to make a
comfortable transition into the L2 culture.” As teachers, it important to
connect with your students so you know what they want to know and where their
interests lie.
Bibliography
Chou, E.
(2018, August 05). 4 Creative Ways to Use Authentic Materials for Teaching
English. Retrieved from https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/authentic-materials-for-teaching-english/
Mcdaniel,
R. (2018, May 07). Motivating Students. Retrieved from
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/motivating-students/
Yagcioglu,
O. (2015, August 19). New Approaches on Learner Autonomy in Language Learning.
Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042815045401
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