Building Confidence in Second Language Learners

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There are a few components that make a student thrive. One of the main key factors is confidence. Having confidence will encourage an individual to pursue more challenges, build loftier goals, while also maintaining the desire to fuel their ambition to want something more for themselves. So how do we increase confidence in language learners specifically? Aside from merits and praise received in the classroom, here are three proven tips that will help language learners successfully navigate their new language with confidence.

1. Engage- Enable students to share their own stories or ideas in the classroom. Rather than spend the class lecturing, provide some time for students to share and express themselves during the ice breaker, or carve out a time in class to encourage discussion. Make sure to have all students participate and be heard, even if it’s a one word answer- it will make the student feel heard and seen.

- I have a student who would reluctantly give one word answers, but by

encouraging and validating his answers, he eventually became more at ease to speak in the class and amongst his peers.

2. Vocabulary- Encourage correctness over complexity. This is a simple, yet overlooked aspect of language learning. Students and teachers alike presume that the more complex the material that is exposed in the classroom will dictate their language learning proficiency level. No matter if the student is a beginner A-1 learner or the most advanced level, the idea to build confidence in a student is to create an environment where they are encouraged to speak more of what they already know, while integrating the new material in their learning experience.

- By prompting students to use the skills they already have, this method validates their current ability while challenging them to incorporate it into new lesson materials.

3. Progress- Provide students insight of how they have progressed periodically throughout their language journey experience. I find that by having students review their work, and asking them which projects they think they did best in, or simply showing them how their test scores have been improving over time creates an excitement and a desire that they will be able to accomplish more in future lessons.

-When I teach penmanship to children, I ask the student to write one new word multiple times in a row. Afterwards, I would point out one of the more legible written words and show them how their handwriting has progressed in just those few words. Afterwards, I would ask them what they think, and the response has always been a positive one. This type of review of progress encourages the student wanting to write / learn more.

Enjoy, and don’t forget to have fun! ~*xo