Tag: english learning

For study until 20th of October 2024

Subject: Mindsets for Language Learning

Audio: On usual social media platforms.

I had been studying Dutch for three months when a very predictable situation raised its ugly head. It happens over and over in language learning situations and I was in some ways expecting it. It is the nature of the beast when it comes to learning  or to put it plainly, the dark side of the human mind.

It all started when the students started to organize their own Zoom and Whatsapp groups to practice, there was nothing wrong with practicing with others but I knew the stage was being  set for something. I wasn’t the teacher in this class  but I sensed the great  machine of negativity and mental assassination was ready to be switched  on and already  subtle signs had started to appear. I knew that something was rotten in the state of Denmark. To put it another way, trouble was brewing.

Sure enough, during the practice time on zoom, I could see one student who seemed a bit uneasy, chatting more in English than in Dutch, a sure sign that a difficult English conversation was about to take place.

“I really like our teacher” she remarked “but things move a bit quick, she doesn’t really give me a lot of time for questions”. I could see her name was Samantha from the bottom of the Zoom screen.

“She’s under a lot of pressure, I commented, “she’s only been given one hour a week to teach us, she is under as much pressure as we are, besides, we are supposed to learn at home and come prepared” I quipped.

“I suppose, but she could at least let us speak more…” she responded. Heads started to nod, I could see a mindset developing.

“She is good… but…” she continued.

I could see in my mind’s eye a vortex opening before us, ready to devour us one by one but I doubted Tom Cruise was going to appear and save all of us, he was too busy making Mission Impossible movies.

 This wasn’t the first time I’ve sat in these kinds of circles and it isn’t something teacher training really prepares you for. Besides, in this class I was a student, I should’ve learnt to shut up.

“Sharon’s Dutch is very good, I mean its ok for her because she knows the stuff already, I don’t even know why she’s in our class” continued Samantha truculently as she mouthed off about another student.

“I just get the feeling she doesn’t like me” came another voice  from the room, more heads started to nod as I watched the vortex in my mind’s eye expanding, remembering that these kinds of conversations are deadly in language learning circles.

“My friend had our teacher last year, she says that she is very good but really strict and by the book” someone else chimed in. The argument started to build and I realised that I had to get the class mindset back if we were ever going to learn anything.

“You know the Dutch are very direct, it’s a cultural thing, no one is to blame for that – we just aren’t used to it, besides its only a stereotype based on accent and ways of speaking. It has nothing to do with liking you or disliking you” I reasoned.

“Well I still don’t like her” piped up another student.

In every language learning class there is always one person who has too much fluency for the class they are in and another who knows next to nothing. This immediately gets people’s backs up and creates a culture of blame when people compare themselves to each other and feel they are not learning. If these students had been kids, it would have been brushed off as one student being more intelligent than the other but when everyone is the class is mature, there is always a level of discomfort. In the minds of adults in these kinds of situations someone has to be blamed and I could see that just like a sliding puzzle everything was beginning to slip into place. Someone had to be blamed for what was regarded as a lack of progress, and in this meeting, attention was turning to the teacher.  In my career as a teacher, I had seen heads roll for this, I was well aware of the dangers of mesmerism in the classroom, opinions  can travel faster than any virus and there is no one really to blame exactly, except some bad ideas which are misplaced and personalised to make us feel better about learning.

“Well lets start by going over what we’ve learnt so far from the class” I replied, trying to get into a position of leading the class away from negativity.

Samantha at that point made an excuse that she had forgotten an appointment, and then vanished. Although I was glad to see the back of her, it was too late, she had already left her mark on all of us. Nobody in the class wanted to practice and it led into a mindset which was not ready to practice or learn. As for Samantha, well the whole point of the practice session was that she and others could participate but she eventually left the group and the course citing that “she wasn’t getting anywhere” although I doubt she realised the legacy she had left on everyone else.

I am always really fascinated by these experiences in language learning, especially how a group of well mannered students can become tribal and end up looking like they are in  a scene from the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, tearing people to shreds given half the chance. Although the actual learning part is very individual, there are often cultures which are created by individual mindsets in places of language learning and they can become very difficult to break if left unchecked.

I stopped attending the practice group because it was a breeding ground for arrogance. At one stage they even agreed amongst themselves to try and talk to the School Head Teacher about their “problem with the teacher” who promised to investigate.

By the end of the course, there were only a handful of us left and we, including the teacher, were all left scratching our heads wondering what had happened. Worse than that, a culture has been created and future students no doubt had their comments “My friend Samantha studied here and she said…” and the culture is enabled again and the whole thing is repeated.

The key in any class is always in finding unity with others in learning, without that there is nothing. It becomes like a kingdom divided against itself. This happens not only with language students but also with teaching staff, teams in offices and wherever people are asked to work together. The way to deal with this is not to attack the person who voices it but to realise it is an opinion which is on the scene and it needs to be disarmed before it causes panic. The person and their opinion must be separated. It is important not to label the person bad and shun them, but to see the only thing at work here is a fake opinion.

My advice to any learner or team member who wants to succeed, guard your thoughts well, not only about learning but about any thoughts or opinions which are developing in the classroom. Avoid discussions about personalities and focus as much as you can on unity. If your learning is slow, have a look at what’s going on around you and make sure your mind is not caught up in any negativity. If you have a problem with the teacher, voice it immediately with the teacher  and don’t let it fester.