04
Nov
Ask a class why they are learning English and you may hear very different answers.
For my job.
For travelling.
I want to study abroad.
I need to pass an exam.
My children speak English better than I do.
I just like it.
We often talk about a learner’s level, but perhaps an equally important question is their purpose. Because knowing why someone is learning English can change what they need from us as teachers. The same level, but very different goals.
Imagine two B1 learners. One works for an international company and needs to participate more confidently in online meetings. The other loves travelling and wants to feel comfortable chatting to people she meets along the way.
Their grammatical knowledge may be similar. Their coursebook may even be the same. But successful English means something rather different to each of them. The first learner may need strategies for interrupting politely, asking for clarification and explaining an idea when the exact word won’t come to mind. The second may value spontaneous conversation, understanding different accents and dealing confidently with everyday situations.
If we know what learners want to do with their English, we can make better decisions about what happens in our lessons.
Motivation isn’t always as simple as it looks. It is tempting to divide learners into those who are motivated and those who aren’t. In reality, motivation is much more complicated.
A learner may desperately need English for work and still arrive tired after a ten-hour day. Someone who chose English purely as a hobby may be the most enthusiastic person in the room. Another learner may begin a course highly motivated and become discouraged when progress feels slower than expected.
And motivations change. Someone who originally wanted enough English for holidays may later need it for a job interview. A learner preparing for an exam may discover that she also enjoys being able to watch films without subtitles. So finding out why learners are learning English isn’t a question we ask once and then forget.
What difference does it make to the lesson?
Understanding learners’ purposes doesn’t mean designing a completely different course for every individual in the room. It means making informed choices.
If learners need English for real-world communication, are we giving them enough opportunities to communicate? If they need to write professionally, are they working with the kinds of texts they may actually need to produce? If an exam is their immediate goal, are we helping them develop the underlying language and skills as well as teaching them how the exam works?
Even small choices matter: the contexts we use to introduce language, the topics learners discuss, the texts they read and listen to, and the situations in which they practise new language. A textbook can provide the starting point. The learners give it relevance.
Purpose can be a powerful motivator
There is something satisfying about recognising the connection between what happens in class and what you want to achieve outside it. A speaking task stops being simply “Exercise 6 in pairs” when a learner can see how the language might help in tomorrow’s meeting. A listening activity becomes more meaningful when it develops a skill someone genuinely struggles with outside the classroom.
This doesn’t mean every activity has to imitate real life. Language learning also requires focused practice, repetition and work that may not have an obvious immediate application. But learners should gradually be able to see that the pieces are taking them somewhere.
How does CELTA help?
CELTA places considerable emphasis on understanding who learners are, why they are learning English and what their needs are. Trainees learn to consider learner motivation and needs when planning lessons and choosing activities. Through working with real learners during teaching practice, they also begin to see the difference between planning for an abstract “B1 class” and planning for actual people with different strengths, difficulties and reasons for learning.
It is an important shift: from asking “What shall I teach?” to also asking “Why might my learners need this?”
And at Shakespeare School CELTA Training?
At Shakespeare School CELTA Training, trainees are encouraged to make that connection throughout the course. Lesson preparation, teaching practice, observation and feedback all provide opportunities to consider not only whether an activity worked, but whether it worked for these learners and served a useful learning purpose. The aim is to develop teachers who don’t simply deliver material, but learn to make thoughtful choices based on the people they teach.
Because before deciding where a lesson should take your learners, it helps to know: Where are they hoping English will take them?