Students commonly believe that they can’t learn a language because they lack natural talent. In the second of a two-part article, Marcin Lewandowski provides ideas for using the growth mindset in class.
The first of this two-part article discussed what the growth mindset was, and why encouraging it could help foster student success. In the second part of this article, I talk about how to cultivate the growth mindset.
Cultivating the growth mindset
So how can we cultivate this mindset in our learners? There are many methods we can employ to challenge learners’ limiting beliefs. I’ve listed some of my favourite ones below.
Be a role model
- If you are/were a language learner yourself, talk about your own struggles as a language learner and what you did to overcome them. This is likely to be very inspirational to your learners who will want to aspire to your level of performance (‘if my teacher can do it, so can I!)
- If you don’t know any other languages why not take one up. Giving your learners an update on your progress will be motivational for your learners and your own struggle with learning a language will help you better understand your learners and their difficulties.
Give a sense of progress
- show students the progress they’ve made by letting them see themselves doing tasks they couldn’t do before. You could ask them to reflect on any new language (e.g. vocabulary) they’ve learnt in the last week or so. And share any such language with the class.
- use pre test / post test methodology when introducing new material and let students compare their results (distance travelled). Students will get used to the idea that with effort they become smarter. You could also ask them to rate themselves on effort/time spent revising (this could provide useful feedback for you especially where the effort doesn’t correlate with the results).
Emphasise challenge not success
- set challenging tasks and guide students if necessary.
- portray challenges as fun and exciting and easy tasks as boring and less useful for the brain
- encourage use of different strategies when the strategy used does not work.
Highlight the value of mistakes in the service of learning
- Some language learners (especially teenagers) may feel inhibited in a public situation so it’s important that you create an environment where learners understand:
- that it’s impossible to tackle a challenge without making some mistakes.
- that learning requires stretching beyond your comfort zone.
- Ask students to share their ‘best’ mistake of the week with you, and what they learnt from it (and do the same yourself!).
Learning from mistakes leads to deeper cognitive processing, which in turn leads to better understanding and better retention.
Use praise (wisely)
Praise can be a powerful motivator however how we use it may instil either a fixed or a growth mindset. For example praising ability or talent, as in ‘You got that so quickly. You must be good at this!’ reinforces fixed mindset ideas. Learners receiving this type of praise may also question their ability: ‘If I don’t get things quickly the teacher will not think I’m good.’ Instead use praise to reinforce positive learning habits, i.e. praise effort, process, strategies or improvement: ‘I’m impressed with how your vocabulary has improved. Revising the words in your glossary has clearly paid off!’
Creating an environment in which learners believe that success in life and learning is not an entitlement afforded to a lucky few, but is instead an outcome of hard work, resilience and perseverance will help them reach their potential both in English and in life.
Make sure you check out the first part of Marcin’s article.