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Building a Better Student: A Typology and Toolbox 

MICHAEL GALLI, BCIT

KEN BEATTY, ANAHEIM UNIVERSITY

2Working backwards: What is the perfect student?

3The perfect student … Listens to instructions Asks relevant questions Is intrinsically motivated Participates in class Helps classmates Speaks L2 And …?

4Sadly, not all our students are perfect!

5What qualities?

What qualities or attributes make some students more challenging in the language classroom? 1.

2.

3.

6Sometimes it’s something physical: vision issues

7Sometimes it’s hearing issues

8Or it may be speaking issues

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There are also mental issues

10Challenges in the

mixed ability classroom

11Challenges in

the mixed ability classroom

CultureFirst languageMaturityAptitudeIntelligenceLearning stylesAutonomy

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Culture: do we teach Christmas?

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Culture

What do we teach when it comes to culture-related topics and details?

Do we teach “Canadian” culture as we see and experience it?

How might this affect students who are sensitive to their instructor’s perspective?

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Culture

• Santa• Rudolf

• Science• Politics

• Giving• Family

• Christianity• Church

Religion Values

Pop-Cultur

e

Beliefs

15First

LanguageDoes one’s 1st language make it more / less difficult to learn English?

What languages make it most difficult to learn English?

How do we predict, identify and remediate typical learner errors?

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Maturity

Why do students act out?

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Each and every student“In foreign language teaching, we customarily begin with the lives of others, with whom students may not easily identify, and then expect students to transfer the material to their own lives.  However, transfer to the textbook is easier when the content starts with the student … then leads into the materials to be learned.”(Moscowitz, 1978, p. 197)

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Aptitude

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Aptitude

How do we identify and expand aptitude?

Aptitude starting points:finding out what students

• know• don’t know• think they

know, but are wrong about

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Intelligence

How do we define intelligence in the L2 classroom?

Create note-taking opportunities …

… that help organize the learners’ brains.

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It’s all about memoryIn 1970, Howe concluded that students were seven times more likely to recall information one week after it was presented if the information had been recorded in their notes. Howe argued that "the activity of note writing per se makes a contribution to later retention..." (p. 63). (Beecher, 1988, para. 5)

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Learning styles

Choose a learning style. How would you teach the simple past tense?

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Critical thinking skills:developing collaboration

a. Developing a skeptical approach to problem solving and decision making;b. Breaking down problems into their simplest outcomes;c. Searching for evidence that both supports and refutes a given conclusion;d. Maintaining a vigilant attitude toward their personal bias, assumptions, and values that may interfere with making an objective decision. (Buskist and Irons, 2008)

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Autonomy

How could you turn a teacher-centered activity like a dictation into an autonomous task?

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Ask students to self-assess

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Provide opportunities to personalize learning

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Back to that perfect student

30Challenges in

the mixed ability classroom

CultureFirst languageMaturityAptitudeIntelligenceLearning stylesAutonomy

31

Questions?Question

s?