Strategies to Motivate English Language Learners

“How can we motivate ESL learners?” This is a question that I ask myself often, especially when I must teach what seems like a boring lesson. My mind wanders and I foresee my students slumping at their desks with hollow eyes and blank expressions. Learning can’t always be fun. It’s sad, but true. For some ESL students, English class might seem like more trouble than it’s worth. To others—excepting the few who may want to study abroad or work in the tourism industry—it doesn’t seem as valuable as core subjects such as math or grammar in their native language. In other cases, students may have to take ESL classes just to keep up with other students who speak English natively. And finally, as is the case in most English language centers, parents force children to take English classes with hopes that English language skills will provide more opportunities for them in the future. However, there are things that we can do on a regular basis to make the necessary (but not so fun) lessons easier to get through and the fun lessons even more enjoyable.

Rewards
First, let’s talk about the most obvious and controversial way to motivate students— rewards. During my first few years of teaching, I utilized intrinsic motivation almost exclusively and rarely rewarded my students. While intrinsic motivation is more valuable for students than extrinsic rewards, I cannot deny that rewards directly motivate my students when given in a controlled manner. Clearly communicate to your students what they must do to earn a reward and find a way to keep track of their earnings. Use a reward system only to encourage positive behavior, and not to punish negative behavior. For example, if they earn a prize for something they did well, don’t take it away if you catch them misbehaving later. There is a plethora of reward system ideas on the internet for you to look through. Find one that works for you and your class and use it to add another layer of excitement to your lessons.

Curiosity
Another way to motivate your students is to pique their curiosity. English is the most widely spoken language in the world, which has resulted in an enormous amount of quality content in English. You can find countless videos, songs, books, articles, etc. related to your students’ interests in English. Display a map — or better yet use Google Maps — in your classroom to introduce students to places and people they may have never heard of. As a Christian teacher, you have even more access to inspiring English content, and depending on the context in which you teach, you can use English not only to make them curious about the world they live in, but also about the One who created it.

Praise
Unlike other subjects that always have an obviously right or wrong answer, English can be more complex. Progress can be gradual, and students can have strengths in one aspect of English such as writing, and weaknesses in another such as speaking. This gives us teachers the opportunity to be gracious and generous in our praise. If a student gives a wrong answer, you may be able to give them praise for using a complete sentence or good pronunciation before you correct them. When the shy students who were previously too timid to speak utter a single, soft-spoken word, you can shower them with praise. This can build their confidence and give them intrinsic motivation to engage in class and improve their English skills.

Are you motivated?
We’ve all had days on which we roll into class and we’re not “feeling it” so to speak. Whether we’re tired or the lesson we must teach doesn’t interest us, our own lack of motivation will negatively affect our students. One verse that motivates me as a teacher is Colossians 3:23 — “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”[1] Not only does this verse challenge me to do my best, but also to do so for God’s glory. I pray that each of my students will be motivated to do well in my class not just for academic achievement, but that the Holy Spirit will transform them to bring glory to Him. We know that for our students to be transformed, we too must be transformed. May Christ motivate each of us as we endeavor to motivate our students.

Chloe L. currently lives in Southeast Asia, where she has taught for almost 9 years. She taught ESL in a bilingual private school for 6 years before opening an English center with her husband.