What Methods Can We Use to Motivate Students?

As we all know, motivate students is a signature party of a teaching career. In the future, we maybe will teach the businesswomen/businessmen group, our pupil group. Motivate them and keep them studying is an expression of working ability. Here comes a question, what methods we can use to motivate students?

This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zixi Y. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.

Switching roles

Above all, we need to change our roles from a student to a teacher. Also, we can call it a manager, organizer, assessor or prompter, etc. in the classroom. Some of the teacher’s features are a good teacher should be kind and patient, and be able to motivate learners. Next, the essay will talk about some methods that we use in common.

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Speech patterns

Firstly, use intonation. Pronunciation is probably the most neglected aspect of English language teaching. Of course, intonation can express emotions. There has a scene simulation. When all students read vocabulary together, they are not pretty sure about the pronunciation and hesitating about it. At this time, you can use s cadence of intonation to elicit them read it aloud. It's just like a prelude to a song which gives people a guideline and confidence to continue.

Body language

Secondly, use eye contact, gesture. A teacher who never looks at students in the eye will appear to lack confidence and could then have problems with discipline- on the other hand, staring at the students is not very productive either. Use these, to show students that they are all involved in the lessons so that they encourage them to join, to speak, to use their creativity, to get motivated. We need to bear in mind that eye contact should be avoided during any activity which is not a teacher-centered. Also, the gesture can be effective and useful in the following ways: convey the meaning of language. So it is a good way to elicit students to speak out. And to increase the pave of the lesson, keep all student's progress so that the weaker students can be motivated.

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Safety

Thirdly, foster a threat-free classroom. Because fear isn’t an effective motivator, students who worry about the wrath of their teachers and parents aren’t likely to thrive. Support your most anxious students and learn what has grown their anxiety. Maybe they have an overbearing parent, are having a tough time at work, or are a sleep-deprived new parent? Make your classroom a positive place by being supportive, positive, and enthusiastic.

Competiton

Fourthly, encourage friendly competition. When used well, competition is a powerful motivator. Use games to review grammar points and vocabulary—but always encourage lightheartedness: this will keep students “with you for the ride” and work to keep the atmosphere positive. Or can get out of the classroom. Does your academy have a garden, cafeteria, computer room? Hold the occasional class there. However, if physically moving your students isn’t possible, try “getting out” of the classroom by including music, films, and podcasts in your lessons, or inviting special guests (such as an expert in a field you’re studying) to teach a guest lesson.

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Choices

Fifthly, allow choice where possible. Whether choosing between completing a listening or reading activity; selecting an assignment topic, or which problems to tackle first, some unmotivated students will dig into the chance to own their class experience. This sort of technique is easier to employ when students are involved in creating, longer-term activities, or task-based learning, which naturally provides more opportunities for decision making.

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Motivation, both intrinsic and extrinsic, is a key factor in the success of students at all stages of their education, and teachers can play a pivotal role in providing and encouraging that motivation in their students. Of course, that’s much easier said than done, as all students are motivated differently and it takes time and a lot of effort to learn to get a classroom full of kids enthusiastic about learning, working hard, and pushing themselves to excel.

Even the most well-intentioned and educated teachers sometimes lack the skills to keep kids on track, so whether you’re a new teacher or an experienced one, try using these methods to motivate your students and to encourage them to live up to their true potential.

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