Blog Post 1.1
01.02.2019
Encouraging EAL Students to Schedule and Plan Their Self-Study
How do you instil organisation and self-motivation in teenagers? Teachers (and parents) have been asking themselves this question for generations. I’m not saying I have all the answers, however, the importance of planning self-study in English is one of the first lessons I start the year off with all my EAL classes and if you can encourage your students to get themselves into a good study routine in the middle years this will have a tremendous benefit in the senior years.
As we are well aware, exposure to English at school alone between the hours of 8:30am and 3:30pm is not enough to foster a high level of English proficiency. Learning a language or any subject does not happen osmotically. It is essential for EAL students in particular to have a regular self-study and revision routine in order to maximise their understanding of how the English language works and train themselves to routinely use their English in a variety of contexts.
Many of my high-achieving VCE EAL students developed a self-study routine early on in the middle years and are fully cognisant of the importance of scheduling time to practice what they learn in school. They may have come from previous learning environments where excessive amounts of homework were distributed and they were up all hours of the night trying to complete it. Yet, when EAL students commence schooling in Australia they often become complacent because it is now incumbent on the individual student to locate their own revision exercises instead of the teacher providing it to them.
So, we need to show students where they can find reputable and effective tools to enhance what they learn in their EAL (and mainstream) classes outside of the classroom to use in the comfort of their own homes.
Students Need to Plan Their Self-Study
Firstly, we must reinforce that time needs to be allocated daily to the revision of lessons undertaken at school and additional time to refining their English macro skills. Ask students how much time they spend reading novels each day, listening to podcasts, watching the news, practicing their pronunciation or reading the newspaper and they will likely surprise you.
At a minimum, I tell my students to schedule in a minimum of 45-60 minutes a day of cumulative English self-study. This should be done at a time when they are relaxed but energetic enough to take on board what they are learning rather than being passive. Therefore I do not encourage reading in English immediately before going to bed/sleep since they will likely be too tired. This is a better time to read in their first language for enjoyment and to maintain their first language(s).
What tools can they use?
Students should also utilise a variety of self-study tools. If all they’re doing is watching YouTube videos every night soon they will get bored and English study will become a chore. I have provided a large number of links on the attached documents that will point students in the right direction where they can find appropriate resources to practice their English skills. These can be distributed to students as a hard copy and/or electronically.
Students can also keep a ‘self-study log’ noting down what resources they are using and what macro skills they are practising. By doing so, students (and you) can check they they’re not spending too much time on one macro skill and ignoring others.
Students tend to focus on their preferred skill during self-study time. For example, a student who likes writing will fill pages of a personal journal with entries but may ignore listening comprehension since they find listening in English challenging. I tell my students that they should do the exact opposite. Start with the skill they find most challenging and work on that as a priority so that they can improve and it becomes less of a chore.
Check in With Students Throughout the Term
At certain stages throughout the term ask students to show you their self-study logs. This will give you an indication as to who is engaging in self-study and what skills they have been focussing on.
Ask each student in your class to present a useful tool they have found to the class and get them to explain how it has enhanced their English learning. Ask them to email the link to the class and encourage sharing of self-study tools amongst the group. This is also a great mini formative or diagnostic assessment of a student’s oral English.
If you use an online file-sharing resource in your school, such as Schoolbox, Moodle, or other LMS software you can post links for students under headings such as:
· Grammar
· Listening comprehension
· Reading materials
· Media (newspapers and radio)
· Podcasts
etc.
Here’s a screenshot of my current year 10 Schoolbox page and the content tiles I have created for each unit/topic:
I find my students like to have the links provided to them digitally so that they can just click on them and jump straight into their practice rather than having to google random websites hoping they’ve located the right ones.
The Digital World of English Language Learning
Finally, all students have mobile phones. Spend some time showing your students which applications they can use to enhance their English. I ask my students to bring their phones and/or iPad/tablets with them to a designated lesson and we download all of the free-to-air tv stations’ apps so that students can watch the news and also some radio stations, such as Radio National, at their leisure. This way students can listen to authentic Australian English on their devices whilst they are travelling to and from school.
There is a plethora of resources out there for students to use for English self-study. Once they have these at their fingertips they shouldn’t have any excuses not to engage in English self-study nor should they get bored.
Let me know how your students respond to this lesson and if you have any resources you would like to share with this group.
Next up, I’ll be looking at the importance of close reading and encouraging students to read classic literature.
Happy teaching!
Julia
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