Student motivation

Attract and Retain Online English Students
Attention Online English Teachers: Here's a few easy ways to get and keep students for online English classes.

Every student that starts learning English has a different background and a

different motivation.

This means that you can’t just send the same lesson materials to everyone in

the same week. The lesson won’t be productive and the student won’t get all

that much out of it.

There are several online platforms for teaching conversational English. iTalki

and Preply are just a couple of examples.

The primary reason students choose iTalki is to have a conversation. It’s

a platform for conversational English and students (generally speaking) haven’t

signed up to master the TOEIC or IELTS tests.

Doing grammar exercises and correcting your students every mistake will not

make you a popular teacher. They are there to practice speaking and listening

primarily.

Talk about what your students are interested in and not what you are interested in.

What are good topics for conversational English?

Everyday topics of course, but it’s best to find out what they’re interested in

and plan accordingly.

Everyday topics may include:

  • Family – nothing too personal of course. Do not make them feel uncomfortable
  • Work – same as above. Don’t ask intrusive questions related to money, etc.
  • Interests
  • Travel

A lesson about family can be as basic or advanced as you tailor it.

For example, Beginner: “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” vs.

Intermediate/Advanced: “Tell me a story from your childhood about your

brother or sister.”

You should always send or assign lesson materials to students in advance. This

will give them extra confidence, show them that you’re prepared, and give

them something to look forward to. It will also help you retain students longer.

If you aren’t guiding and leading them, they’ll quit.

How are you different?

What’s your special sauce? How will you help them more than other teachers

will? How is your lesson different from other teachers?

Differentiate yourself by creating and providing lesson materials that stand

out.

Tell them how you are different and how your materials and method will help

them to progress faster than other teachers.

Simply sending them a PDF with 5 -10 questions will not pique their interest or

motivate them.

You don’t need to follow the lesson exactly, but use it as a guide for the

student. Give them something to prepare and look forward to.

Beginner to upper-intermediate students often prefer something more

structured. It’s important to show them that you have a plan.

For example, “We are going to work on small talk, pronunciation, and follow up

questions in tomorrow’s lesson.”

Upper-intermediate to advanced students on the other hand may prefer

something more natural and unstructured.

I’ve touched on feedback and evaluations in past blogs. However, it’s important

to point out quickly again that you shouldn’t current every mistake beginner and intermediate students make.

Listen and identify what types of mistakes they are commonly making and correct them. Be careful not to overcorrect.

It’s sometimes more challenging to do with advanced students. However the

same goes for them. They’re there to practice speaking because it’s not their

native language. Therefore it’s absolutely necessary that you correct them and

give them more natural phrases and expressions.

You should be jotting down notes during the lessons in order to give them

feedback at the end. This will show them that you were paying attention and it

provides tremendous value.

Your students should be talking, not you!

Student Talking Time (STT) vs. (TTT) vs. Teacher Talking Time

Many teachers feel uncomfortable with silence and start filling it with rants.

This isn’t going to make you a popular teacher! They are paying for this lesson

and they’re paying to practice speaking. You need to facilitate that in every

way possible. Yes, listening is another key skill, but talkative teachers aren’t

generally popular ones.

Just like many things in life the 80/20 rule applies here. Your students should

be speaking 80% of the time and you 20% of the time.

If you’re asking them questions and they’re answering with one-word answers,

then you should be prompting them to elaborate.

What types of things can you do to get them to speak?

Create a follow-up question wheel.

Just a simple wheel with questions words around it: what, when, where, why,

how, and who. Ask them a question with each.

Create a conjunctions wheel (be careful that the conjunctions are within their

level. For beginners this should be limited to: and, so, because, or)

For intermediate and advanced, you can add more conjunctions according to

their level.

Just point to a conjunction to encourage them to continue speaking.

Listening: play a short (and I do mean short) video and ask them questions

about it.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, give them quality feedback.

Include examples of things that you spoke about, constructive comments

about natural expressions, and hint at something that you might cover with

them next time. Make sure you give them an idea and sense that you have a

plan. This shows them that you understand what their strengths and

weaknesses are and most importantly that you have a plan on how they can

improve.

Final thought…

No matter which platform you’re using, give your students feedback via chat

throughout the lesson.

We have a ton of awesome materials for conversational English. Attract and

retain students with engaging, quality content and students accounts that will

keep them motivated.

We give away lots of conversation material on our Facebook, Instagram and

YouTube channel. Follow us!

Retain your English Students
Students give up learning English all the time.

How do your students know that they are actually making progress? An

absolutely essential part of any student’s development is receiving honest and

accurate feedback from their teacher. 

Learning English isn’t easy and without regular feedback, students will quickly get

discouraged and give up. 

It’s wise to sit with your students on their first day to make clear goals. They

should be the one making the goals and you should be the one guiding them and

asking them the right questions. 

These goals should be part of their student file. They should be what you the

teacher is giving them feedback towards and occasionally referring to.  

Tips for setting goals for your students learning English

Set goals for your students learning English
Set clear and achievable goals

What is their “North Star”? In other words, what is their ultimate goal for learning

English? 

Travel, to get promoted, to move to another country …

What is their goal for the next 30 days? This is the one that you really want to put

emphasis on and help cultivate. Remember that the first 30 days are the hardest.

Set a goal that they can and will achieve. 

Simple answers like, “to speak more confidently” or “to take 2 classes per week”

are not quality goals.

The goal “to take 2 classes per week” helps to answer how they’ll achieve the

goal but not what the goal actually is. 

This is where you can start guiding them right away. 

Instead, ask them, “how many new words will you learn?” Or if their goal is to

travel and make foreign friends ask them, “What are you into?”  – if they can’t

explain it in detail in English, then this is a great example of a short term

achievable goal. The same can be done with food, their job, their family… set

goals around things that they are into and passionate about. Make their goals

about them and not about a general textbook or curriculum. 

What is a goal they want to achieve in the next 6 months? Set a measurable goal

here. If you can’t measure it, they’ll never know if they achieved it. Recording a

conversation is also a great way to keep a record and show progress. 

Once you’ve established their short term and long term goals, setting something

in between is a piece of cake! 

If their North Star is work related, their short and mid-term goals should reflect

that. The same goes for interests, travel, etc.

Giving up on learning English is easy. It's the teacher's job to keep students motivated.

It’s easy to give up

Like going to the gym, the first days and first month are the hardest. Establishing a

routine and looking at the tough road ahead often discourages students from

pushing forward. 

I often use the gym analogy because learning English draws several good

comparisons. When people start going to the gym to lose weight, they often look

in the mirror and to their dismay they don’t see any results. Then one day, they

give into the temptation of eating the muffin or pizza and suddenly they’ve

completely given up. The next day is even harder to go to the gym.

Learning English is similar. Students take a class, study a few words then try to

listen to a song or watch a program in English only to realize how much work is

left.  

Bite-sized goals of 5 or 10 words at a time will help them tremendously. It will help

them see and feel progress.

And the same as the gym analogy, it’s often the people with a personal trainer

that get the best results. You need to be that personal trainer. 

You are their teacher, motivator, coach and mentor. 

What is “quality” feedback?

There is verbal feedback and written feedback. Giving students both types is

equally important. Often written feedback can summarize some or all of the things

that you covered in class. 

If you are teaching classes online via Skype or Zoom or another platform, it’s

good practice to pause and message them feedback. It will show them that you’re

listening to what they’re saying.

Take notes during the class. Do NOT rely on your memory! Taking notes of

mistakes will make the feedback process 3 painless and rewarding minutes

instead of 15 painful minutes of trying to recollect what they said.

Also include a variety of feedback: vocabulary, grammar, intonation,

pronunciation, sentence structure, etc.  

Effective feedback should be:

1. Constructive

It’s essential to give honest feedback. Include a balance of positive and

constructive comments. Too much positive feedback can sound insincere, while

excessive constructive comments can be perceived as negative and cause self-

doubt. Constructive feedback will encourage students to think critically about how

they can improve. Give concrete examples of what they said and how they could

or should have said it. 

Phrase your comments like:

Positive

  • Great job with … (what exactly did the student do/say?)
  • You used the perfect expression to talk about/express … (what exactly did the

student do/say?)

  • You’ve made great improvement with … (what exactly have they made great

improvement with?)

Constructive

  • Don’t forget to … (what exactly was the problem?)
  • Remember to … (what exactly was the problem?)
  • It will help you to review … (what exactly was the problem?)

2. Timely

It’s important to give students timely feedback. What is “timely”? Within 12 hours

of them taking their class is in most cases considered timely. Giving students

feedback more than 24 hours after the class won’t have the same impact or

effect. It needs to be when it’s still fresh in their minds in order to motivate them. 

3. Meaningful and Specific

Quality feedback should target individual needs. You need to focus on the skills

that each student needs to improve. Too much feedback is discouraging and will

just overwhelm your students. Choose 3 things that they can improve on and

make them specific.

For example, “You said, ‘He’s going friend house.’ – The correct way to say this is,

‘He’s going to his friend’s house.’ – Remember ‘going to’ and ‘his’ – Make 10

sentences with ‘going to’ and send them to me before next class.”

Note also how I gave them a specific task and not a general. Guide them and tell

them exactly what they need to do. 

Feedback will help your students in several ways and will help you retain them

both short and long-term. 

Helps to improve performance

How motivated students continue to be is mostly dependent on learning

outcomes. An excellent way to gauge this is by evaluating students. Feedback is

an integral part of how much effort they put forth between now and the next class.

It helps students understand and work on the things they aren’t good at. It’s a

written record that you can both refer back to and something they’ll actively try to

improve on each class.

Source of quality information

Teachers play a vital role in enhancing the overall learning experience. They help

to detect mistakes and highlight the key areas that require improvement. They are

a source of external feedback, support and motivation.

Positive feedback should result in a feeling that encourages the student to keep

learning. It should motivate students and make them feel like they’re progressing.

Offering constructive and clear feedback can help to optimize students learning

potential. You are their teacher and they trust you. 

Gives them a sense of gratification

Everyone loves to feel valued and appreciated. Think of how your students will

react to your comment. If it is constructive feedback, it will encourage the student

to perform better. Feedback is also in itself an accomplishment. Students will feel

gratified when seeing and feeling progress. Your feedback will keep them inspired

to continue learning. 

Keeping all of these things in mind when giving feedback will help you motivate

your students take more lessons but also to continue.

Check out Pocket Passport’s feedback and evaluation and counseling tools. They

make everything easier, more organized and help ensure that your students keep

coming. 

Students Making Progress Learning English
The biggest reason that students give up learning English is that they don't feel like they're making any progress.

To be successful as an online English teacher or school owner you need to maximize attendance and student retention.

This is what ESL education looks like today for many students and teachers

(or ELT, EFL, TEFL, TESL, English education…) Many students all over the world

are feeling down and depressed. They’ve lost motivation to learn English and

it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to keep them motivated and inspired.

This is having a negative effect on how often students come to class and how

long they continue coming.

Students learning English often give up
Why do students learning English lose motivation and give up?

Your English school can do better.

For many English teachers and schools, things were humming along

nicely and then BAM! Covid-19 sent us all packing for our home office.

Overnight online education became the norm.

Sending old-school teachers into a panic, their classes into disarray, and

learners into a frustrating, lonely world.

Students were left thinking and asking. “What am I supposed to do next? How

am I doing? What’s the goal and purpose of this/that activity?”  

Not to mention the social component was completely lost.

How did it come to this? 

Technology should maximize student learning potential by integrating the

most effective methods, tools and science available. Yet the education sector

has been the slowest to adopt and embrace technology.

As a result, instead of being ready for COVID, many were left scrambling to use

technology in some or any form. Many of the tools and activities served no real

educational purpose. They really didn’t help students move forward or give

them a real sense of accomplishment.

Instead students were left without clear goals or purpose. Student anxiety and

depression are up and motivation to learn English is down.

Why are we so behind?

How could the education industry have been caught so off guard? More

specifically, how could English schools have been caught so off guard?

Why have so many English schools been so reluctant to offer hybrid

solutions? Organized institutions have hurdles and hoops with politics and

bureaucracy, and so it’s easier to see how and why. I didn’t say understand, but

just see how and why. English teacherpreneurs and schools though … they

have no excuse. 

– Doesn’t it just make more sense to have a learning management system that

is stacked with proven methods and techniques to optimize student learning

potential?

– Doesn’t it just make sense to offer students the choice to take English classes

in person or remotely?

– Doesn’t it just make sense to appeal to 21st century learner preferences and

expectations?

What do 21st-century English language learners expect?

English language learners expectations

21st century learners expect a lot!

For one, we are accustomed to instantly finding things out (think Google). If we

want a new recipe, we Google it. If we have a disagreement with a friend, we

Google the answer. Within seconds we “learn” things.

This is called micro-learning and it’s completely changed how many people

approach learning. And for a number of good reasons.

1. You can learn something quickly.

2. You can learn things that you’re interested in.

3. For almost anything you Google, there are images which help you visualize

and remember things.

4. For almost anything you Google, you have the choice between reading

about it or watching a video. And guess what? Most people choose video. The

interesting thing to keep in mind here is that visual aids actually help us

remember things. This holds especially true for facts and … vocabulary.

What about that “Magic English Pill”?

Learn English with the magic English pill

Twenty-first century learners also expect results. They expect the “magic pill”

effect. Why? Because technology has made everything so much easier to do.

Though there’s still no “magic pill” for learning English, there are things that

help make your students feel they are making progress. Progress lines that

are a part of most learning management systems are a great example of this. 

They let us know immediately how far we’ve progressed and how far we have

to go to complete something. There’s no guesswork.

Micro-interactions are another example. Micro-interaction is just a fancy term

for those things that pop up on the screen and tell you that you’ve completed

something. For example, a thumbs up, or a badge. Micro-interactions provide 3

main purposes:

1. They communicate status and provide feedback

2. They help people to see the results of their actions

3. They enhance our sense of control that we have over actions

I for one, love micro-interactions and many argue that they’re the reason so

many people love learning apps like Duolingo (enter the little waving owl!)

Last, but definitely not least …

And of course there’s gamification. Everything is gamified these days. We earn

points for this, awards for that. Badges for this and stamps for that. We’ll go

into detail for all of these, but start putting some thought into these.

These are just a few of the things that can make a significant impact on

whether your students come to tomorrow’s lesson or they give up. It can

influence whether they quit today or continue learning English. 

Incorporating these things in your lessons, courses and system will make a

significant difference in how often students come to classes and how long

they continue to study for. Find ways to keep them engaged outside of the

classroom and feeling like they are moving forward.

We would love to talk with you about your English teaching goals and how

Pocket Passport can make your educational goals a reality.

Almost forgot!  We have tons of FREE high frequency vocabulary materials

that are sure to boost student scores on the TOEIC, IELTS and other exams.  

Check out how Pocket Passport can help make your teaching goals-and your

students dreams a reality. And also very importantly how your class

occupancy and student retention can be higher.

Why so many students give up learning English
Ways to get your ESL students coming to more classes and keeping them coming for years to come

  • Why do students learning English lose motivation?

 

  • Why do students give up learning English?

 

WARNING: The following email is deep! Make sure that you’ve had your

morning coffee!

 

Students often ask, “how can I improve?”

 

Our lives and priorities are all different. However there are some things that

are pretty much universal.

 

Of course, friends, family, love and health are all consistently at the top of

everyone’s list.

 

However, without fail among the top 10 most important things in everyone’s

life, are purpose, passion, self development and potential.

 

Why are purpose, passion and potential so important?

 

Starting with purpose; having a goal and a specific target is a huge determiner

of happiness and life satisfaction.

 

They fit in with dreams, career aspirations, personal meaning of what success

is…

 

People search for their purpose. It’s a natural instinct to look for the purpose in

everything that we do. The reason that we exist. Why am I doing this? Why am

I here?

 

If it isn’t clearly defined for us, we will inevitably give up on whatever goal and

challenge we are facing. Students often start out with clear goals, but quickly

lose sight of what they are. The mountain is too high so to speak.

 

As a teacher, your purpose is to guide students to their potential. Clearly tell,

show and demonstrate what the purpose of the activity, lesson and course is.

 

Give your students short, achievable goals that they can reach. Make them

feel like they are always moving forward and consistently making progress.

 

What do you mean by “passion”?

 

Passion comes in all shapes and sizes and it looks different for everyone. But

there’s one thing that’s very hard to disagree with. Passion helps maintain our

psychological well-being. Simply put, it wakes us up in the morning. Without it,

every day feels like a gray, rainy, miserable day. A day that we don’t want to get

up out of bed.

 

People become passionate about things because of something or someone.

It’s usually a person that helps fuel a passion.

 

Help ignite your students passions. How? Part of a teacher’s job description is

coach and motivator. Ask your students to read a passage with intonation and

rhythm. Do it again and ask them to stand up using body language to

emphasize key points. There are lots of ways to show and bring out passion.

 

Help your students reach their potential

 

Potential is that proverbial dangling carrot in front of us.

 

As teachers and leaders, it’s our job to guide, coach and push students to

reach their potential.

 

Our students are the heroes.

 

We are their guides, showing them the way. Reminding them of the purpose of

something step by step. Cultivating their passion by bringing energy into

lessons. Helping and guiding them to truly develop and reach their potential.

 

And anything less means that you should be looking for another job.

 

There are powerful tools to simplify these things. The 21st century learner’s

expectations include:

 

being able to achieve something in a short time (bite-sized lessons: micro-

 

learning)

 

  • instantly seeing and feeling progress: a visual representation (course progress

lines)

 

  • reaching goals: being rewarded with badges or something that signifies that

they’ve achieved something

 

  • a feeling of self accomplishment which ultimately comes from being

evaluated or given feedback which highlights strengths (encourages them)

with a balance and the right tone of feedback on areas for improvement

(challenges them)

 

Here’s to keeping our students motivated, inspired and on the right track.