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DESCRIBING LEARNERS I. Age 1. Young children 2. Adolescents 3. Adult learners II. Learner differences 1. Aptitude 2. Good learner characteristics 3. Learner styles 4. Language levels 5. Individual variations 6. What to do about individual differences III. Motivation 1. Defining motivation 2. Sources of motivation 3. Initiating and sustaining motivation IV. Consolidation

I. Age
A major factor in our decisions about how and what to teach. People of different ages have different needs, competences and

cognitive skills.

Age

Young children

Adolescents

Adult learners

1. Young children ( up to 9 or 10)

They respond to meaning even if they do not 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, crucially, have a chance to touch and interact with.

1. Young children ( up to 9 or 10)

They generally display an enthusiasm for learning and a curiosity about the world around them.

They have a need for individual attention and approval for the teacher. They are keen to talk about themselves, and respond well to learning that uses themselves and their own lives as main topics in the classroom.
They have a limited attention span ( 10 minutes).

2. Adolescents (13 to 17)

One of the key issues in adolescence,

especially in the west, is the search for individual identity and that this search provides the key

challenge for this age group. For them, the

approval of their classmates and friends is the most important thing. Adolescents are often disruptive in class. If the teacher actually expects to control them,

he should solve this problem in a supportive and

constructive way. The teacher should help them rather than shout them.

 If adolescents are engaged, they have a great capacity to learn, a great potential for creativity, and a passionate commitment to things which interest them. The teacher must be to provoke student

engagement with material which is relevant and

involving. Meanwhile, the teacher needs to do what he can to stimulate the students self-esteem, and be concious of the students need for identity.

2. Adolescents
Students must be encouraged to respond to texts and situations with their own thoughts and experience, rather than just by answering questions and doing abstract learning activities. The teacher must give them tasks which they are able to do, rather than risking humiliating them.

3. Adult learners
They can engage with abstract thought.

They have a whole range of life experiences to draw on.

They have expectations about learning process, and

may already have their own set patterns of learning.

3. Adult learners
They tend, on the whole, to be more disciplined than some teenagers, and crucially, they are often prepared

to struggle on despite boredom.

They come into classrooms with a rich range of

experiences which allow teachers to use a wide range of

activities with them. They often have a clear understanding of why they are learning and what they want to get out of it.

Are adults entirely problem-free learners ?

- They can be critical of teaching methods.

No

- They may have experienced failure or criticism at

school which makes them anxious and under-confident

about learning language.

- Many older adults worry that their intellectual powers

may be diminishing with age.

Good teachers of adults need be aware that:

Their students will often be prepared to stick with an activity for longer than younger learners.

They encourage their students to use their own life

experience in the learning process. They should recognise the need to minimise the

bad effects of past learning experiences. In many cases, they need to listen to students concerns and modify what they do to suit their
learning tastes.

II. LEARNER DIFFERENCES II. 1. 1. Aptitude: competence

- Do you think that all the pupils have the same

linguistic talents? Some students are better at learning languages than others.

Is it good to have an aptitude test to distinguish

between the most and the least intelligent students? - The students getting bad results will become demotivated. - The teachers tend to treat students with bad results differently from students with good results. It would be much better for both teacher and students to be optimistic about all the pupils in the class.

II.2. Good learner characteristics

Why do we have to know these characteristics? - to cultivate these characteristics in all our students.

What is a good learner? - Neil Naiman: + positive task orientation (being prepared to approach task in a positive fashion) + ego involvement (where success is important for a students self image) + high aspiration + goal orientation + perseverance - Joan Rubin & Irene Thompson: 14 characteristics.

Different cultures value different learning behaviors. It is better to reach some kind of learning bargain

where both our beliefs and the learners

preferences can be satisfied. It is not always just the learners who may have to change.

II.3. Learner styles Are there different kinds of learners? How can we adjust our teaching to match the personalities in front of us?

There are many different styles of language study. -Some students respond better than others to discovery activities. - Others may prefer a more directed approach to language study.

- Others may respond with enthusiasm to creative writing or speaking activities.

-Others may need more structured work. We do our best not only for the whole group but also for the individual within it.

II. 4. Students are generally described in three levels:

advanced

upper intermediate
mid- intermediate lower - intermediate

elementary
real beginner false beginner

II. 4. 1. The plateau effect:

At high levels, not easy to see where the students are going.
This causes a plateau effect because they regard the level they have reached as adequate for their needs and the limits of their capacity.

Special measures to counteract it.

Setting goals clearly so that students have a clear learning target to aim. Explaining what still needs to be done

II. 4. 2. Methodology For beginners: less complex activities and content: repetition, For advanced learners: discovery learning, discussion

II. 4. 3. Language
Adjust the classroom language we use to the level we

are working with.

- Simplified language is too insubstantial even for

beginner students.
-authentic English tends to have a de-motivating

effect on even advanced students if it is beyond their

level.

II. 4. 4. Topics

Match topics to the level, reserving complex issue for more advanced classes.

II. 5. Individual variations

There are differences in the ways individual brains work. People stimuli. response differently to the same

II. 5. Individual variations

Theories

Neuro-linguistic programing

MI theory

Neuro-linguistic programing
We use a number of primary representational system to experience the world. These systems are described in the acronym VAKOG which stands for: -Visual

- Auditory
- Kinaesthetic - Olfactory

- Gustatory

MI theory MI stands for Multiple intelligences. As humans, we have a range of intelligences: - Musical/ Rhythmic

-Verbal/ Linguistic
-Visual/ Spatial -Bodily/ Kinaesthetic -Logical/ Mathematical -Intrapersonal -Interpersonal -Naturalistic -Emotional

Different intelligences predominate in different people. The same learning task may not be appropriate for all of our students.

The teachers should give their class a variety of activities to help the various types of learners.
By keeping our eye on different individuals, we direct them to learning activities which are best suited to each of them.

II. 6. What to do about individual differences:

First, we have to start with the recognition of students as individuals as well as being members of a group. We should adjust our teaching methods, the materials we use and the production we expect to the level we are working with.

II. 6. What to do about individual differences:

Second, we get our information about individuals. We want to offer maximal advantage to the different people in the class. We also want to offer activities which favor, at different times, students with different learning styles.

II. 6. What to do about individual differences:

Last but not least, we may worry about classifying students with fixed descriptions so that we assume

they are always going to behave in the same way.

Students develop as a result of classroom experiences of success or failure. They will almost certainly change in some way as a result of their learning environment and the tasks

they perform.

I. DEFINITION II. SOURCES OF MOTIVATION

. III. INITIATING AND SUSTAINING MOTIVATION 1. Goals and goal setting 2. Learning environment 3. Interesting classes

MOTIVATION
I. DEFINITION:
Motivation can be defined as the factors that determine a persons desire to do something.

There are two types of motivation:

Extrinsic motivation (outside motivation): is caused by any
member of outside factors such as the need to pass an examination,the hope of financial reward or the possibility of future travel

Intrinsic motivation (inside motivation): by contrast,cones

from individual .The learner might be motivated by the enjoyment of the learning itself or by a desire to make themselves to feel better

MOTIVATION

II. SOURCES OF MOTIVATION:

SOURCES OF MOTIVATION

The society we live in

Significant others

The teacher

The method

MOTIVATION
III. INITIATING AND SUSTAINING MOTIVATION. 1.Goals and goal setting:

Long-term and short-term

The long-term goals are viably important, but they can often seem too far away. The short-term goals are much closer to the

learners day-to-day reality.

MOTIVATION
III. INITIATING AND SUSTAINING MOTIVATION. 1. Goals and goal setting: 2. Learning environment: The physical appearance of the classroom may motivate the learners. However, this is less

important than the emotional atmosphere that

teachers are able to create and sustain in the classroom. That is a supportive and cooperative environment to suit the various learner types.

MOTIVATION III. INITIATING AND SUSTAINING MOTIVATION.

1. Goals and goal setting: 2. Learning environment: 3. Interesting classes: The learners motivation will be sustained if they are interested in the subjects they are studying and in the activities and topics they are presented with. So the duty of the teacher is to provide the learners with a variety of subjects and exercises to keep them engaged. The choice of the material, more importantly, the method to exploit the material, is essential, either.

I. Multiple choice
1. All the pupils have the same linguistic talents. 2. What one school or education system calls advanced may be more like intermediate to some other teachers. 3. The same learning task may not be appropriate for all of our students. 4. All the learners are motivated in the same way F

T F

II. Answer the questions

1. What learners have a limited attention span? Please give me a specific time. 2. Can you tell me the big feature of adolescents?. 3. As a good teacher, what should he do to avoid the disruptive feature of adolescents?

4. Should the teacher give his students the tasks which are not able to do? Why/ Why not?