Overview: Module 3

A lesson plan is essentially a step-by-step guide detailing exactly what you will do
throughout the course of the lesson. It is an important way of ensuring the lesson is
coherent and achieves its final objective(s).

But that’s not the only important purpose. Your lesson plan needs to motivate your
students to learn. Because motivation is so important in teaching and learning, we have
dedicated the whole of Unit 4 to motivation. So, for the moment, remember that a key
purpose of a lesson plan is to motivate your learners to learn.

For most schools, lesson planning is a formal requirement but there’s not necessarily
one method of EFL lesson planning which is considered universal.

Ideally your school should have a general procedure, partly because if you are absent
for any reason another teacher can understand exactly what you were intending to do
and can carry that out with as little confusion as possible.

The important thing, therefore, is that your plan is thoughtful and detailed,
not only to achieve your lesson aims but also for the smooth-running of the
class.

When planning a lesson, you need to think about a variety of factors, including:

 Overall objective
 Learning outcomes
 Logical development of stages
 Time management

The way you plan an EFL lesson depends largely on the type of skill you are focusing on
(language, pronunciation, reading etc.) on that particular day. There are certain
recognised procedures for the preparation of each and in this module we are going to
look at the three most common:

 Presentation Practice Production (P.P.P.)

 Test Teach Test (T.T.T.)
 Task-based Learning

Unit 1: Presentation Practice

Production
The P.P.P. approach is perhaps the most well-known style of EFL lesson planning as it
plays a major part in the CELTA qualification and is often asked for by employers. It is
seen as a ‘communicative approach’ to teaching.

The general concept is that a language point is presented to the class in context
(through dialogue, a text, a situation build etc.), students then complete a
controlled practice stage where they have to repeat the target language in a specific
exercise e.g. gap fill, before finally moving on to freer practice where they produce the
language themselves (plus any other appropriate language they have learned
previously) through a communication task e.g. a role play.

Presentation

The presentation stage of the lesson is quite crucial as it naturally affects everything
that follows. The idea is that the target language is presented logically and in context
because if the students can recognise the language in context then they will have a
better grasp of its function and will instinctively begin to use it appropriately.

When the concept has been understood, the target language should be presented
through a specific ‘model’ to help them understand the fundamentals of the concept.

For example, when teaching a class on the second conditional, the presentation stage of
the lesson could go as follows:

 Present the language in context via a video clip from a series called ‘What Would
You Do If…?’ (*click here for a link to one of the videos
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=jdFkojA3boU&playnext=1&list=PLROSRQsVldhx0gERmcYjEbH9lyhsvPY6j&feat
ur...). This is a lively way of introducing quite a difficult grammatical concept and
the themes involved (what would you do if you saw a waiter drop some food then
put it back on the plate? etc.) should hopefully provoke some lively debate!
 Teacher then asks students what they would do in that particular situation.
 Provide one or two clear model sentences on the board highlighting the essential
target language (What would you do if you saw a waiter drop some food then put
it back on the plate? If I saw a waiter drop some food then put it back on the
plate, I would report him to the manager.)
 Drill model sentences.
 Highlight form: If + past simple… + would + infinitive…
 Summarise the ‘rule’: We use the second conditional to talk about improbable or
hypothetical situations in the present/future.
Practice
Practice, or controlled practice, is the important middle stage towards effective
language production.

Most of the exercises you do in class, from gap-fills to matching sentence halves, make
up this stage and you will often do these exercises as a natural part of your lesson.

However, this can mean that the practice stage takes over and becomes just a series of
ill-thought-out tasks to get your students through the lesson. However tempting this is,
you really need to remember that this section is supposed to be part of three equal
steps which make the lesson as a whole.

This stage should be all about ensuring that the students have understood the target
language presented and can practice using it accurately. Exposure to the language
through a variety of tasks is an important part of the practice, as is checking for correct
usage through reporting back. A typical practice stage activity could be getting the
students to complete grammar tasks like the following…

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb to make second conditional
sentences.

Production
Whilst many students will be able to give accurate responses in the controlled practice
stage, original production of the language can often be much more difficult.

This is the step where students go from being passive learners to active users. If the
presentation and practice sections are not well thought-out, it will be evident when
students come to produce the language themselves.
It’s important to remember not to tell the students what to say at this stage, the
production needs to be ‘free’ so that students can become independent language users.
There are a variety of activities that can be used for free production:

 Role-plays
 Debates
 Quizzes/games
 Descriptions
 Writing…

Here you could get the students into small groups and ask them to discuss a particular
question e.g. ‘what would you buy if you won the lottery?’ perhaps asking them to give
reasons for their choices or rank the order of their hypothetical purchases.

Or groups could even act out their own version of the video clip shown in the
presentation stage.

Any number of activities are possible but just remember to give students the time they
need to effectively produce the language because some may be daunted by the
prospect of playing an active role and, of course, thinking in another language always
takes a bit longer!

Lesson plan structure

This is the traditional structure of a lesson plan. This lesson’s aim is get students to
notice how the use of past continuous interrupted with past simple creates a dramatic
story. It could be used with a pre-intermediate to intermediate level class. Please pay
attention as you will be tested on this later!

Build context e.g. Ask students to talk about the most frightening experience of their
life.

Model sentence e.g. Teacher says ‘I was crossing the road when I was hit by a car!'

Highlight meaning e.g. Teacher shows a past entry in their diary of the date when it
happened (fictional hopefully!).

Highlight spoken form e.g. teacher says the sentence naturally with linking sounds and
intonation.

Check understanding. E.g. What was I doing just before being hit?” (Answer,
crossing the road) This highlights what was in progress just before the interruption.

Highlight written form e.g. Teacher writes on board 'I was crossing the road when I was
hit by a car!'
Summarise rule e.g. Teacher clarifies that this sentence starts with past continuous
( I was crossing ) interrupted by past simple (when I was hit…)

Restricted practice e.g. Teacher hands out two cut up parts of sentences with past
continuous and past simple actions to match up. (Teacher monitors students while they
do this task to see which students need further help).

Report back e.g. Teacher asks students with correct answers to feedback to the rest of
the class.

Freer practice e.g. In groups, students are given some pictures e.g. a train, a wet floor,
a horse, an aeroplane and a puddle and are instructed to create a dramatic story to use
the target language. (Teacher monitors and takes notes for further work). Students
perform/tell their story to the whole class.

Consolidation and error correction e.g. Teacher highlights some common errors with
this tense on the board to help clarify the meaning and use of these two tenses (never
singling out individual students of course).

Let's look at a lesson plan

Look at the following plan where the lesson aim is expressing past habits with ‘used to
+ infinitive’

Please note that this is the traditional order and structure of a grammatical lesson plan
starting with building context through to consolidation and error correction.

Match the lesson stages with procedures of what happens in the class
Build context
Model sentence
Highlight meaning
Highlight spoken form
Check understanding
Highlight written form
Summarise rule
Restricted practice
Report back
Freer practice

Match the lesson stages with procedures of what happens in the class

Unit 2: Test Teach Test

Another popular method of lesson planning is known as the Test Teach Test (TTT)
approach. In this method, students are immediately asked to do an activity using the
target language. This allows students to call upon their prior knowledge and lets the
teacher assess whether they know the language or not and teach accordingly.

Test

The initial ‘test’ shouldn't be anything too demanding or long-winded. The idea is that
it’s diagnostic, allowing you to identify any gaps in the students’ knowledge. An
advantage of this type of lesson planning is that it mixes things up a bit for the students
so they don’t get bored with the same old lesson format. It also means that the class
feel that what you’re teaching them is tailored to their needs rather than a ‘one size fits
all’ approach. Even for lower-level classes this method can work as long as you
sufficiently ‘grade’ the exercise, you don’t want to overwhelm the students too much at
this stage and make them feel as if they know nothing! An example format for a pre-
intermediate class could be:

 Lesson aim: Describing people and clothes

 Give the class a handout with an image and ask them to describe the people in
pairs.

 Move around the room monitoring and answering any questions

 Elicit any good vocabulary you heard from students related to physical
descriptions and clothes

Teach
The next stage is to fill in your learners’ knowledge or present the new language point
from scratch if necessary.
This can be difficult to plan ahead of time because you do not know exactly what your
students’ requirements are until you test them, so it may be a bit daunting when you
are a novice teacher. But don’t let this put you off, it can be a really beneficial method
for students who have been learning English for a period of time but only ‘half-know’
certain language.

Once you have tested your students, you can try to ‘complete’ their knowledge.

 Ask students to come up and write one or two sentences on the board that they
used when describing the two police officers
 Get the class as a whole to discuss if the sentences are correct or not, guiding
them to form accurate sentences. Correct common errors such as “she hasn't
long hair” or “he is wearing a trousers”
 Look together at grammar related to physical descriptions e.g. she’s got…, he’s
wearing… etc.

Look at this example:

Match the sentence halves:

1. He’s wearing…
2. She’s got…
3. His…
4. He has…

1. …tie is blue [3]

2. …blonde hair [2]
3. …a hat [1]
4. …dark hair [4]

Test
This stage is similar to the Production step from PPP and requires students to use the
target language in a freer practice session. Hopefully, (if you’ve filled in their knowledge
sufficiently!) students will here be able to become accurate users of the target
language. As mentioned in unit 1, any number of activities can be used and this is often
the most fun and interesting part of the lesson where students can actually enjoy using
the language.

Student A:

1. Find someone in the magazine your teacher gives you.

2. Describe that person here:

..........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
Student B:

 You are an investigator.

 There was a murder, and student A saw who did it. It was a famous person, but
student A doesn’t know their name.
 Ask questions to find out as many details as possible. Ask complete questions.

Wearing?..............................................................................................
Looks?..................................................................................................

Search in the magazine and ask “Is this the person you saw?”

Unit 3: Task-based Learning

Task-based Learning is a method which focuses on learner autonomy and user
fluency through students undertaking ‘real-life’ or problem-solving activities.

Nunan describes it as “teaching and learning a language by using language to

accomplish open ended tasks".

Learners are given a problem or objective to accomplish but are left with some freedom
in approaching this problem or objective.”

Usually this involves an introduction to the theme before setting a quite open task such
as ‘plan a birthday party’ or a ‘murder mystery’ style activity.

Afterwards, learners feedback via a report or reviewing the language used for the task.

Some tips to keep in mind come from the Asian ESL journal:

 The purpose of the task must be clearly stated

 The task must be suitable for the level of the students
 Tasks must be interesting and motivating to the students
 The language that the task will produce must be predicted
 Tasks should have variety and flexibility

Task Based Learning ideas

A Task-based approach

As pioneered by N. Prabhu. Task -based learning offers an alternative for language

teachers. In a task-based lesson the teacher doesn't pre-determine what language will
be studied, the lesson is based around the completion of a central task and the
language studied is determined by what happens as the students complete it. The
lesson follows certain stages.

For TBL activities examples given, make note of the following stages for the activity:
  Assignment: Resources and instruction are given to students.
 Planning: Students use the resources to complete their assignment.
 Reporting: Results are reported orally through formal oral report before the
class or conversational engagement.
 Analysis: The teacher evaluates performance of tasks and highlights areas of
interest.
 Practice: By participating in tasks that are relevant and practical a student’s
confidence and proficiency in learning a new language grows.

Pre-task

The teacher announces the material and informs the students what they will have to do.
During the task stage the teacher may prompt the students to remember applicable
language that will help them for the task. It can also be helpful to play a recording of
other students who have completed this task so that the students know exactly what
they need to do. You can offer the students time to prepare for the task and make
notes.

Task

The teacher can guide the students and praise them as they work through the set task,
applying the language skills they have acquired.

Planning

As a group, create lists of everyday problems and the people, places, things and actions
related to these problems. Prepare a written report based on the lists for each group
member to use in delivering an oral report.

Report

Students report back to the class with teacher advising on the order of reports to be
presented and possibly also giving some feedback. Teacher may compare other
students’ interpretation of the same task to provide some contrast.

Analysis

Next the teacher highlights relevant parts from the main text of the recording which
students should analyse. The teacher may ask students to identify remarkable features
within the text. The teacher can also demonstrate the language that the students used
during the report phase for further study and analysis.

Practice

Finally, the teacher identifies language areas to focus on based upon the needs of the
students and what transpired from the main task and reporting phase. The students go
ahead and undertake practice activities to increase their confidence whilst making a
note of useful language.

TBL Maximizes Learning Opportunities

Teachers who take advantage of a TBL approach provide engaging learning
opportunities that are practical for their students. It is important to stimulate students
as much as it is to encourage them. The use of tasks designed to specifically relate to
learning a new language allows students to have more meaningful classroom
experiences.

The positive results of a TBL approach can be attributed to the following factors:

 Freedom in applying language to practical tasks that are relevant to the student.
 Natural language patterns develop within the context of the tasks.
 Exposure to a broader vocabulary results, including phrases and figures of
speech.
 Language responds directly to the needs of the students.
 TBL is communication centred which is motivational.

The language explored arises from the students' needs. This need dictates what will be
covered in the lesson rather than a decision made by the teacher or the course book.

It demands a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of time

speaking. PPP lessons seem very teacher-centred by comparison.

The focus of the lesson is on the task itself. This takes the focus off “learning and
producing English” which is very helpful in terms of increasing self confidence and is
authentically communicative.

It is enjoyable and motivating.

Look at the following lesson plan based on TBL.

Aims:

Students will collaboratively write instructions

Students will demonstrate understanding of their peers by making a paper wallet and
boat.

(You will need two laptops or two Interactive Whiteboards if you are really lucky)

Lesson outline

Teacher’s instructions “Today you are the teachers.”

Teacher appoints two groups, A and B. Each group watches a video of how to make
something (approx 2 minute long) in different rooms.

Each group watches the video as many times as they like.

Task: Students write instructions on how to make the object. (Set a time limit of say 20
minutes)
Teacher instruction check question: “What are you doing now?” (Answer, staying in this
classroom, watching the video, writing instructions.)

“How long is the video?” ( answer: 2mins)

“How many times can you watch it?” (As many as we like)

Here is the video used:

Teacher instruction: “Group B. Come with me into a separate classroom. Watch the
video.”

Here is the video used:

Teacher monitors each group, correcting and feeding in useful language.

After 20 minutes, teacher brings students back into the same classroom together.

Sit student A’s directly opposite students B’s with a desk in between and hand out
paper/card.

Teacher instruction “OK. A’s go first. Do not show the object. Do not say the name of
the object. Do not use your hands to gesture.”

B’s listen and do what A asks.

Outcome:

Hopefully most students will have been able to make the paper boat and wallet.

Post task.

Teacher instruction “I’d now like you to write a short text on what you did in class”.

Task based Lesson plan

Lets look at a task-based learning lesson

Put students into groups and get them to prepare their own role-plays or dialogues
making it clear that they can invent new characters and use their imagination!

Drag and drop the stages into the correct order.

Stage one

Stage two
Stage three

Stage four

Stage five

Stage six

Show the students a 5 minute video clip of a soap opera which ends in a cliff-
hanger (if necessary, stop the video at a particularly dramatic point)
Get the students to note down the names of characters, setting, level of
speech formality and any key words/expressions
Write ‘what happens next?’ on the board
Put students into groups and get them to prepare their own role-plays or
dialogues making it clear that they can invent new characters and use their
imagination!
Students act out their role-play in front of the group.
Get students to vote on the best ending to the clip

Summary
Present Practice Produce (PPP)

Although many teachers may have been trained to use a Present Practise Produce (PPP)
method, the task based approach has been proven to be more effective specifically
when teaching a new language.

A standard PPP lesson

 Teacher presents an item of language in context to convey its meaning. There

are several ways to do this: through a text, a situation or a conversation as an
example.
 Students are then requested to complete a controlled practice stage. Here, they
may have to repeat target language through choral or individual drilling, fill gaps
or match sentences. The emphasis is very much on students using the language
correctly and helping them become more comfortable with it
 The final stage is the production stage, also known as the 'free practice' stage.
Students undertake a communication task such as a role play and are expected
to produce the target language whilst also using any other language that they
have already acquired which is deemed suitable and relevant to the task.

Students will often produce the language but the form sounds unnatural as they
completely overuse the target structure.

Additionally, they may not produce the target language during the practice stage
because they will fall back on existing language that they already know to complete the
task.

Although the logic and structure of a PPP method has its appeal, students respond
better to TBL. TBL has also proven to deliver a better quality of learning.

Producing structured language results through the PPP method does not create the
results students need outside the classroom. For more natural, organic speech, TBL is
much more effective.

With activities that are interesting and engaging, it also produces those results in a
shorter period of time.

For further reading on this area see 'A Framework for Task-Based Learning' by Jane
Wills, Longman; 'Doing Task-Based Teaching' by Dave and Jane Willis, OUP 2007.

Although in this module we’ve looked at the most commonly-used methods for planning
an EFL lesson there are many more styles which can be used, all with their own
advantages and disadvantages.

As long as your aims are well thought-out and you have a clear plan of what you intend
to do in each lesson then you’re already more than half way there.

Play around with the different styles to see what suits you best and, most of
all, keep you and your students engaged and responsive!
TBL should be all about producing language and encouraging learner autonomy through
tasks such as role-play, problem-solving or free writing.

Unit 4: Motivation
Motivation

We’ve mentioned the word ‘motivation’ several times during this Module. Motivation is
so important that it deserves a whole Unit to itself.

Motivation is important in everything you say and do with your learners, and not only in
lesson planning.

We would be taking up a big chunk of your valuable time if we went deeply into theories
of motivation which, although sometimes interesting, are unlikely to add much to your
learning at this stage. You can delve into these if you wish.

You know what motivation is and you know that at times you are highly enthused and
driven, whilst at other times, you don’t quite feel the same drive or you’re bereft of any
drive at all. Of course, your students are no different.

When you are motivated, there’s some kind of inspiration and eagerness to succeed in
what you are doing, no matter what this is. If you apply this awareness to your students,
you can identify the motivated learner; this is a learner who is willing and eager to
invest great effort and substantial time in language learning, and is driven to make
progress and do better.

Learner motivation, then, makes learning, as well as teaching, immeasurably easier and
more pleasant, not to mention more productive.

What is more enlightening – instead of digging into the numerous theories – is how
motivation occurs and how knowledge of this may be of practical use in your role.

1. Two types of motivation

Generally, there are two types of learner motivation:

Intrinsic motivation

This is the urge to engage in a learning activity for its own sake, for the enjoyment it
provides, or the feelings of accomplishment it evokes. This type of learner is driven by
personal achievement.

Extrinsic motivation
This is derived from external incentives and reward and success, e.g. a qualification,
need for a high proficiency score (e.g. to gain entry to an English-speaking university),
or the desire for higher pay (where language proficiency offers that).

Whether one type of motivated learner is more motivated than another is up for grabs.
There is not enough conclusive research. What is more important for you is to give
thought to this when meeting up with your new class, particularly adults.

Asking them why they have decided to take your course (and noting the reasons) will be
of great benefit to you when you are teaching them or when you happen to mingle with
them during some other school activity.

By being informed, you can empathise with them, foster the necessary attitudes, and
directly encourage their drive, be it personal achievement or reward. You will contribute
to their motivation and will be able to kick start any drop in this if there is a lapse.

Unfortunately, a motivated learner’s motivational levels can drop, as we’ll see in the
next section.

2. In general, some key elements of motivation

Here are some key elements of motivation, drawn from our experience:

You need to be motivated to motivate them

You have to be motivated before you can motivate your learners. Don’t expect your
students to be motivated if you are not. There may be times when you feel lacking in
vitality or conviction and find it difficult to overcome a temporary lacklustre feeling.

Tough though this is, you will need to get out of it or your students will quickly become
deflated.

Everyone can be motivated in some way or another

There may be the odd student who appears to be demotivated. There may be many
reasons for this – perhaps there are cultural considerations, e.g. he doesn’t like you
taking up his learning time when you get your students involved in fun activities. Or he
may be finding the work too hard. Or, perhaps, he’s not convinced by the whole
communicative approach.

Therefore, you need to find out as much as possible about your students from Day 1.
What are their likes and dislikes? How have they previously been taught? Did they
communicate with you during the lesson or were your lessons wholly teacher-centred?

And if you can’t identify a reason for the drop in drive, make up some reason for
meeting with the student for a few minutes after class (away from his classmates) to try
and identify the reason for the drop in motivation. It’s amazing how a little chat can
help.

Once you trace the reason why, you can work out ways to help build up his motivation.
Motivation should be multi-directional

When you take up your teaching role, remember that motivation should be multi-
directional. Don’t just think that your role is only to motivate learners. You can also help
to motivate a colleague when he is feeling down. You will reap rewards from this in the
future, when he will help you when you are a bit lacklustre.

Motivation doesn’t last

Motivation doesn’t last. You need to keep at it all of the time. Motivating others is a
strenuous activity but it’s also rewarding. You cannot give up when you, your students
or any of your peers are feeling down. Dig into your reserves and help as much as you
can.

Remember this! We have mentioned this before and we mention it again. The whole
person comes to school, be it students or teachers. They come with all their personal
baggage, e.g. worrying about a sick parent/carer, or upset due to a breakdown in some
personal relationship.

So the motivated person yesterday may not be the motivated person today. Help and
show empathy wherever you can.

3. Relationship between motivation and language learning

As research has shown, and as your own personal learning and any teaching
experiences probably confirm, motivation is very strongly related to achievement in
language learning. You will be in a position to strongly influence your students’
motivation to learn their new language.

To this end, you will need to ensure that your lessons have clear objectives and goals,
that your activities are varied and personalised for students, and that you give feedback
and assess on an ongoing basis.

By doing so, you will be able to foster, stimulate, or even rekindle your learners’
motivation to learn.

If you are able to accomplish this, learning will happen regardless of whether your
students’ motivation is extrinsic or intrinsic.

There’s little doubt about it.

4. Recognising a motivated learner

What do you think are the characteristics of learner motivation? How will you recognise
a motivated learner?

Think of motivated students you have observed in the past. You may have
thought: She’s always on the go, wanting to learn. How does she do it? What traits and
qualities did she have?
Or, perhaps, you have always been a motivated learner. What traits and qualities do
you have in relation to learner motivation? Reflect on this.

Research has shown that the motivated learner will typically display most or all of the
following characteristics:

 The learner is willing to tackle tasks and challenges, and has confidence in her
success.
 The learner finds it important to succeed in learning in order to maintain and
promote her own positive self-image.
 The learner has a need to achieve, to overcome difficulties and succeed in what
she sets out to do.
 The learner is ambitious, goes for demanding challenges, high proficiency, and
top grades.
 The learner is very aware of the goals of learning, or of specific learning
activities, and directs her efforts towards achieving them.
 The learner consistently invests a high level of effort in learning, and is not
discouraged by setbacks or apparent lack of progress.
 The learner is not bothered or frustrated by situations involving a temporary lack
of understanding or confusion; she can live with these patiently, confident that
understanding will come later.

5. How you can influence and drive learner motivation

Always focus on practical ways in which you can influence and drive motivation.

Here’s what to do:

Make them aware of their own success

A very simple yet effective way you can motivate your students is to make sure that
they are aware of their own success. This message can be conveyed by a nod, a tick, or
a smile. But a sense of pride and satisfaction may, of course, be enhanced by explicit
praise or approval, or by a comment in the learner’s answer book.

Set clear objectives and goals

Learners should be aware of the objectives of the task – both language-learning and
content. Tell them. For example, a guessing-game may have the language-learning goal
of practising questions, and the content goal of guessing answers.

Remember! Some learners, particularly adult learners, may get annoyed by too many
fun activities. If you tell them the purpose of the game before you start, then they will
be more accepting of the fun element.

Explain purpose and usefulness

It may seem obvious, but learners sometimes need to know why they have to learn
something. For example, students may wonder why they have to learn prepositions.
If you explain to them that preposition errors are the most common form of mistake in
student writing, your learners may be more motivated to pay closer attention to the
material. At the very least, they won’t think that they are wasting their time learning
something they think they don’t need.

Vary classroom topics and tasks

Topics and tasks should be selected carefully to be as interesting as possible. However,

there are very few single types of activities that interest everyone, so you should use a
wide range of different ones over time. Even within a lesson, we can organise a series of
tasks that have students doing different things to keep them engaged.

For example, you can get your students to listen to a dialogue about ‘School Routines’;
then have them complete a worksheet; then get them to compare their answers with a
partner; then have students partner up to create an original dialogue on the same topic.
Variety is a major key to success.

Generate tension and challenge

Game-like activities provide pleasurable tension and challenge through the process of
attaining some 'fun' goal while limited by rules. The introduction of such rules (an
arbitrary time limit, for example) can add excitement to almost any goal-oriented task.

Create a fun atmosphere

Entertainment produces enjoyment, which in turn adds motivation. Entertainment can

be teacher-produced, such as jokes, stories, mimes, songs, or even dramatic
presentations. It can be in recorded format, such as movies, video clips, or television
documentaries.

Other activities such as a role play and simulations that use the imagination and put
learners in other situations can be very motivating.

It is important to note, however, that some students are inhibited and may find such
activities intimidating at first. As such, you especially want to try to avoid running
students up to the front of the class to ‘perform’ spontaneously.

Personalise learning

Students are more likely to be interested in tasks that relate to themselves or their
interests. For example, getting students to use their own or each other's opinions,
tastes, experiences, and suggestions as material can be very motivating since they’re
relating the learning material to their own life experience and context.

We have taught boys-only classes in the Far East where the English Premier Soccer
League was king, as was David Beckham at the time. Every single boy in the class was
mad on football and anything to do with football, e.g. magazines, strips, soccer cards
with their favourite player’s picture on the front and key details about him on the back,
etc.
There was no need to motivate them when a lesson was built round, for example: What
are the 3 questions you would ask David Beckham if you met him? OR Draw your own
football strip and tell your group why you chose the colours and the shape of the badge.

Create open-ended exercises

A cue which invites a number of possible responses is usually much more stimulating
than one with only one right answer. By aiming for this, the participants' contributions
become more unpredictable. They are also more likely to be interesting, original, or
even humorous. For example, If I won 100,000 euros, I would...

Give students a sense of autonomy

An example of autonomy would be to have students pick from a list of topics to debate.
Or you can let students choose partners with whom they would like to team up with to
take part in a specific activity or game.

Assess students

Whether or not a learner admits it, regular and formal assessment is a very powerful
motivator. The motivating power of tests/quizzes, in particular, appears clear: learners
who know they are going to be tested on specific material next week will normally be
more motivated to study it carefully than if they had simply been told to learn it.

Assessment is a very useful and needed incentive, provided there is not too much stress
attached, and provided it is not overused or given without purpose.