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Nlp And Language Learning

A summary of how NLP changed my teaching

Date : 18/10/2021

Author Information

Raphael

Uploaded by : Raphael
Uploaded on : 18/10/2021
Subject : French

Neuro Linguistic Programming is frequently used in business to help people build better relationships, develop leadership skills and overcome thinking which hampers professional development. In recent years it has gained momentum in the sphere of education as it has proved effective in helping students gain a better understanding of the way they learn. I believe NLP can help when trying to understand the concept of learning and answer questions such as why do we learn a new skill and how to do it efficiently? .


One essential aspect of learning has to do with the motivation behind the learning of a new skill this can be split into two categories:


1. You are motivated by the outcome of learning, e.g. being able to speak a new language or move to another country

Before starting to learn a new skill, it is indeed important to be aware of the success criteria, in other words the expectations and ways to monitor the progress of learning a language proficiently. Moving to a country where the language is spoken is not the same as learning a language to do well in exams at GCSE. It`s the same about football, training to become a professional footballer is not quite the same as learning a few skills to enjoy a kick in the park. With this in mind, you may ask yourself if the way of teaching foreign languages in the UK, or, dare I say, any English-speaking country, is ideal.


After all, foreign languages are no longer compulsory at GCSE since 2004, with a drop of more than 20% in the number of students taking French, Spanish and German at GCSE in 2015, despite the fact that grades for languages consistently improve. So is the government really supporting language teachers in their mission to teach the subject? How can we possibly tell our students that learning a foreign language at school is important when most of them will cease their learning before being able to communicate effectively in the language? Are parents really supporting the teaching, or the learning of their children, by comparing their past experience of radically different O-levels with the post-2008 GCSE s (easier!). In other words, keeping alive a misconception that learning a foreign language at school is difficult


2. You are motivated by the process of learning, i.e. enjoying studying or simply having fun while doing it

Taking this into consideration, I have learnt to change the way I present myself, as a teacher but also as a person. Firstly, I simplified the way I teach, for instance by designing basic resources such as a grid of high-frequency words, as well as telling my students about The Battle of Hastings and the fact that about half of the words in English come from French, well from Latin and Greek through French.


This helps them greatly when it comes to understanding French or Spanish words that sound like or look like English words i.e. cognates. Secondly, I make sure to show my students that I am a young person (at least in my mind) to whom they can relate. Hence my presence on social media such as Instagram or Youtube.


Finally, with a view to fostering a vocation among young people, I endeavour to introduce culture into most of my lessons, whether through educational videos or magazines, French songs or just stories about my life growing up in Paris and travelling around the world. I find that experiencing culture is the key aspect of learning a foreign language, bridging the two aims of learning: achieving the outcome as well as enjoying the process. You can imagine how much I enjoy running trips abroad for my students, giving them an opportunity to experience culture first-hand!




This resource was uploaded by: Raphael