7 hypotheses that may account for some adult students’ perplexing lack of progress in their language learning. This post offers no solutions, of course. Only reflections and further questions.
Last week a Facebook friend (and former student!) posted a link to a magazine article comparing different nationalities in terms of English proficiency. Perhaps not surprisingly, Brazil was near the bottom of the ranking, which is worrying, especially with the 2014 World Cup upon us and millions and millions of adult students still at A1 level. But I digress. He then posed the following questions:
“We need to understand why this is happening. Is this our fault? Why is it so difficult for adult students to learn? Laziness? Old-fashioned methodology? What can we do to engage our adult students’ interest more and more? So many questions, so many answers. Which one is “right”?
The first question that springs to mind is how proficiency is being defined in this case. Are they talking about native-like mastery or a good operational command of the language? There’s a good body of evidence suggesting that adult students who begin their second language studies after what is generally referred to as the “critical period” tend to stop short of native competence. This means that different definitions of proficiency will skew the data in one way or another.
The second question is how the students’ “proficiency” was measured. Not having read the actual article, I can’t tell, of course, but if I know nothing about the test’s validity and reliability, then it’s hard to discuss whatever results it may have yielded.
If we assume, however, that proficiency is being defined as a good operational command of the language (i.e., B2+ / C1, rather than C2) and that it was measured in a valid and reliable way, then we can begin to look at the results in their own terms and wonder why it is so hard for adult students to master a foreign language.
1. It’s such a platitude to say that you learn better and faster when you happen to like what you’re learning that I’m almost embarrassed to write it here. But it is true. And what I’ve recently come to realize is that many of the adult students I’ve taught over the last 5-8 years just D O N ‘ T like the language (yes, adults, not teens) and, left to their own devices, would rather be anywhere than in an English class. They need English – badly, but seem to have little emotional connection with the language. You know, the kind of emotional tie that makes you want to learn the present perfect because you’d love to watch your favorite TV show in English, spend some time in Glasgow in the near future or read an interview with your favorite musician. Or just because you happen to find the present perfect intrinsically interesting and intellectually stimulating.
It took me a while to realize that in Brazil – at least in my teaching context – most A1, A2, B1 adult students see the language as a kind of passport to a better life. They need to learn English to take part in a conference call, entertain a foreign visitor, conduct a sales meeting or write an e-mail placing an order. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course, but perhaps we ought to re-adjust some of our expectations, parameters and teaching paradigms.
2. So, if English is mostly a passport to a better life, then surely these adult students are looking for courses that are as pragmatic and no-nonsense as realistically possible, right? Yes, but there lies a pitfall: how can the teacher make the course pragmatic and no-nonsense on the one hand and, at the same time, comprehensive, effective and minimally “organic”, respecting natural learning processes, on the other? This is – in the words of a friend – a herculean task and one that I grappled with from 2009 to 2011, when I was still working for a language institute, in charge of the adult students. Did I manage to strike the right sort of balance? Maybe, but I guess only time will tell.
3. Still on the lack of emotional ties with the language. Have you noticed, for example, how indifferent to music most adult students tend to be? Three years ago I designed a series of courses packed with dozens of short song snippets to help learners practice listening (emphasizing bottom-up decoding, sound recognition etc) and pronunciation. Students’ feedback on those activities was always lukewarm and, in class, I lost count of the times I saw them glancing at their watches, wondering when the “real thing” would begin. You know, a sort of “Can we get on with the real work, now?” kind of look. This is especially worrying, since songs can promote the kind of subconscious, intuitive, deeper-level learning that no amount of gap-filling or rule analysis can. Plus, they tend to contain lots of lexical chunks (Cher’s “No matter how hard I try” line comes to mind immediately!), which become even more memorable because of the melody, the rhyming sounds and, possibly, alliteration and assonance, which, research has shown, tend to ease the learning of lexical chunks.
4. This creates an interesting paradox: some of the most effective and “organic” learning tools teachers have at their disposal are things that many A1, A2, B1 adult students often dismiss as a waste of precious classroom time. What should we do, then? Keep trying to show our adult students the value of learning the chorus of a song by heart, of watching a movie scene over and over, of scouring the web for articles on their favorite hobbies, of taking part in discussion forums? Or should we try to mold our teaching (syllabus and processes) to their more grown up, analytical, left-hemisphere way of learning, which can increase motivation and, in the long run, perhaps help adult learners learn better and faster? I don’t know. Where does one draw the line?
5. Some adult students are lazy, of course, and just can’t be bothered. But most, in my experience, are genuinely overworked, overstressed and overwhelmed. When you have a boss breathing down your neck, overdue bills to pay, a wife or husband you hardly see anymore and not enough hours on the day to make up for the time you spent stuck traffic day in, day out, then how important can page 38 of the workbook be in the larger scheme of things? Now, the next logical question is: Does that matter? Probably, since it seems reasonable to assume that this sort of out of class exposure is important, especially in an input-impoverished EFL context.
6. Some adult students often fail to do homework not only because of time constraints, but because they just might not see the point of the activity. The 21st century adult learner seems to know exactly what he / she needs to learn and for what purposes. He / she won’t prioritize self-study activities that he / she regards as too far-removed from their real-life goals – whether or not their perception in fact holds true.
7. Old-fashioned methodology. This is a tricky one. I have argued elsewhere that ELT’s recent history can be divided into two phases: before the Headway series (released in 1987) and after it. Coursebooks for adult students haven’t changed all that much since the dawning of the age of Headway: exposure via texts, grammar-discovery questions, lots of gap-fill type practice, meaning-focused output tasks at the end of each lesson, functional language at the periphery of the syllabus. So, in that sense, I would argue that a lot of what most teachers have been doing in mainstream -and I say mainstream – adult EFL / ESL classrooms hasn’t changed substantially over the last 20 years, which means that attributing success rates with adult students to methodological differences is a tricky thing to do. And even if one decides to break the mold and either teach unplugged and build the syllabus reactively, based on emerging language, as the course unfolds or venture into the realms of lexical syllabuses and chunking-heavy teaching, the question remains: How can we prove that method A generated better results for adult students than method B? We simply can’t.
Anyway, thank you, Gustavo, for giving me a set of questions to think about out loud.
I have worked as a translator for the Brazilian Air Force, and something I learned with its researchers is that no accident happens because of one single element. There are always many influencing factors to one accident. I like your suggestion of analyzing issues through different perspectives.
I would add another topic of discussion: if students had an education in English since pre-primary school would they need to study the language at adult age?
Dear Flávio,
I like the Air Force analogy. Thanks for sharing.
As to your hypothesis… well, if kids are taught English WELL, they won’t need to start from scratch as adults. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they won’t need to study at all – but the hardest and most daunting stages they’ll be able to skip over.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Luiz,
I use my English almost every day at work and I must agree that it was indeed a “must have” when I applied to the job. However, I’ve started learning English not because I needed to, but because I wanted to understand the music I was listening to, movies that I was watching and – most of all – I wanted to be able to travel and to communicate. I guess a successfull class is that one that makes you want to read more about the subject, undestand it better . For me, your ” current events” classes is a very good example. A course that makes you discuss, read and – most of all – think.
xoxo
Claudia
Great to see you here, Cláudia, and thank you for your kind words.
You see, when you started, your motivation had a deeper emotional connection: music, movies, pleasure, fun. This, I believe, certainly made the learning process smoother and faster.
Thanks for stopping by.
Luiz Otávio,
This is a very “disturbing” piece of writing running like a movie of my daily life as a teacher of English – *scary*. The more you read the more anguished you feel. At least that´s the effect this post had on me.It seems there´s no solution and all is lost.Then comes light……….and I would just like to dwell on this pivotal sentence: [the] “lack of emotional ties with the language”.
At first glance, that seems to simplify and nail the problem on the head i.e,if you don´t have a relationship with the language, it´s going to be hard to even contemplate building up a family and I tend to subscribe to that. How do we convince students to “like” the language? Hum………. I´d be rich if I knew.
By no means I´m trying to exonerate myself of my resposiblities as a media in this process.I say that because we have two extremes running alongside:the students are lazy and we blame ourselves *or* they are lazy and it´s their problem.
Where do we stike a balance?
I teach 1:1 and those who are making reasonable progress are precisely the ones who *don´t* have the obligation to learn the language for their jobs,BUT they also have the “love” for the it.So,lack of pressure here wouldn´t be a plausible excuse.
One student loves series and since he learnt the present perfect every week he tells me he could catch this and that while watching the series. He also, on his way home, watches on the bus series on his Mp4 gaget.He expects no miracle and verbalises himself 3hrs a week with me isn´t enough.He takes initiative and responsibility for his own learning.
Another student who is 64 does English for the heck of it and he loves to sing.
So, every class I play the same song until he´s familiar with it. Luckly, I play the piano and we make it for “real” when the lyric has been worked out.He sings his heart out and developed the ability to retrieve a line or a word from a song when he needs it.That´s his way of learning and it works.
And the others? “I don´t wanna talk about it” LOL
To finish, I would just like to state the obvious: no matter how good the method, the teacher, the resources are, if
there isn´t commitment which encompasses that “emotional ties with the language” the situation will remain the same.
We just can´t change people.We can try, but ultimately they´ve got to bring the zest with them.
Once again, thanks for another thought-provoking post.
Elivan,
Thank you for your fascinating account of how the students who go beyond the English-for-work boundaries tend to progress faster. I was particularly impressed by the 64-year-old man who’s developing his interlanguage through music. Plus, 1:1 teaching with a piano player ain’t half bad, is it? 🙂
But still…
I get the sense – and I could be generalizing beyond my limited sample, of course – that most of our adult students fall under the “let’s get this language learning thing over with so I can get that promotion” category, which means that failing to cater to this particular group of clients means fewer and fewer students, high dropout rates, you name it. Isn’t it funny how much things can change in 10 years?
If, as you said, we can’t make these students like / identify with the language (and all the cultural artifacts associated with it), then what can we do? I think maybe the answer to this question is twofold.
One, provide learning experiences (process AND content) that bear some degree of resemblance to how they use or are going to use English at work. If students see the immediate relevance of what they’re learning, that might increase motivation: “Well, I’m still not crazy about this language, but, hey, it’s starting to help me.”
Two, provide learning experiences that focus on success. The adult beginner / pre-intermediate student, let’s face it, usually struggles A LOT. He / she’s someone who must’ve tried to learn English again and again, without success. So the more we can show them – in concrete ways – that, yes, they CAN eventually succeed (however hard it might seem), the less they will hate the language, which, guess that, will, in turn, help them succeed even more.
Nothing succeeds like success, you know…
Dear Luiz,
Thank you for enchanting me with such brilliant article. As a neophyte English teacher, living my salad days, I have lots of questions and I’ve always concerned myself about how to make the difference in my student’s learning process, as you did in mine.
Gustavo,
Thank you for your kind words. I am glad to know that the six months I taught you way back in 2004 (?) made a difference. You were actually my second or third Jundiaí student to become a teacher.
This is an interesting article.I am interested in teaching adults.As a teacher of I find the article very useful.Currently I am not teaching .I am a retired teacher.I have also liked the article on pronounciation.This was , if I am not mistaken, given less when the communicative approach came on the scene.I would be happy if you or any one could comment on this.
Hi, Robby
Thanks for stopping by!
As to your question, there’s probaby a word missing, right? “This was, if I am not mistaken, given less XXX when the communicative approach…”
I’m assuming you meant prominence. Did you?
If so, I think you’re right. In fact, the communicative “revolution” put a lot of important things at the periphery of the syllabus (vocabulary comes to mind immediately) and pronunciation is probably one of them. If you look at the mainstream books published in the late 70s and 80s, you’ll be hard pressed to find a clearly defined pronunciation syllabus or a significant number of activities tackling pronunciation explicitly.
Thank God things have changed.
Very interesting article! Item 7, the paradoxical question “where to draw the line?”, is at the moment one of my main concerns. I have been teaching adults for quite some time and have the same feelings about their reactions whenever I use a more Dogme-like approach in class. I usually teach one-to-one, so I do think that focusing on emergent language rather than on a pre-established syllabus makes more sense in this case. But sometimes I end up giving in because of their reactions and add in some more, using your words, “more grown-up and analytical” activities involving grammar, otherwise they might feel they are wasting their time and money with me.. It’s a hard one!
Thanks for your kind and thoughtful comments, Marcos.
They made me wonder… How easily can DOGME accommodate the needs of more analytical, field-independent learners. This is NOT a rhetorical question – it’s a genuine one.
Hi, Luiz. I have something to add: they want it easy and fast, and when they see that they’re not learning by osmosis, rather than as a result of their own effort, they change institutes. It’s always someone else’s fault, not their own. Thus, they hop from ELT institute to ELT institute, most of the times believing in promises of learning English in a year, six months, 24 hours, who knows? You know what I say to my adult friends who say they want to learn English? Choose carefully where you want to do that and then stick to it. Everyone I know who’s done this, regardless of the institute, has been successful! I think it’s a matter of continuity.
Good point, Isabela.
I wonder what things will be like 5, 10 years from now. Will more and more people start learning in their teens and, therefore, embark on an adult course at B1 level onwards? Or should we expect the same sort of scenario, compounded by the ever-growing demands of the market place?
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi!
I followed a link from the TEFL page on facebook. Thanks for writing this super entry! Even though I work in Germany, where I think the students are a bit more open-minded about methodology, the basic question of motivation is still one that resonates, as does the dilemma of whether to give the students the grammar drills they think they want, or to take a more indirect approach. Thanks, again.
Hi, Fiona!
Thank you for your kind words.
I’ve only been to Germany once, but, you’re right, I get the sense that in your country teaching adult beginners wouldn’t be nearly as complicated – for a number of reasons.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by!
You make some great points. This are some of the big issues that hinder the learning process. Firstly, some background. I’m an American teaching here in Brazil. I have my own small school which focuses mainly on business & academic English. Most of our students are either university students or low-mid level management.
As regards points 3 & 4, I can relate to my own experience while in school. I hated when a teacher would use music in class, and I can understand why adult students would feel the same way… whether it be music or film. They are paying you for your expertise, if they are going to watch a video, or listen to music, why are they giving you money? They could do that at home. I am not saying there is no value to music in the adult classroom, I know there is. I’m just saying I think you really need to explain why, if they are going to be listening to English, they aren’t listening to you. You need to overcome the perception of laziness that this might display. I associated music in the classroom with laziness when I was in school. I think a better option would be to, in class if possible, get them to put the song on their phone. They can listen to it at a time when they are not paying for the teacher’s time. In general, I think that multimedia is best used outside of the class, although this brings us to your 6th point about no time for homework. While I have been experimenting, I don’t have a solution for this one yet.
As for the 1st point, I think that’s more a problem with us, not them. I think this is why people change schools so often. Although I am certainly willing to lay blame on some of the students 🙂 But, in general, we need to focus on the student. What do they need & why. Sure, it’s easier to learn something if you love it… But I have successfully learned many things I didn’t love in my life. What helped me was focusing only on what I needed to learn. I was very specific. If I need to learn about the color blue for my job, and I think colors are boring, I’m not going to learn about the color red too. If a teacher tries to teach me about red, I could imagine myself not going, and trying to learn on my own… and I’ll probably complain about the teacher. If my teacher does a great job with the color blue, maybe in the future I will come back to learn about red. Maybe not. But I am more likely to tell everyone that the teacher did a great job teaching me about blue.
Hi Bill,
Thanks for stopping by and for your very thoughtful reply.
GREAT text, Luiz Otávio, thank you for sharing your thoughts! They reflect my own perfectly. And these are pressing issues that, although may be really difficult to address, have to be addressed if we are to fulfill our mission as educators. Let’s keep trying to work towards finding a solution for them, and, hopefully, one day we will!