The age of neuroeducation Sasha Euler Reactive teaching Roger Hunt Who's in charge? Beth Davies Observation-related . professional development Deniz Kurtoglu Eken, Sharon Celtek and Andrew Bosson May 2015 Contents MAIN FEATURE THE AGE OF NEUROEDUCATION Sasha Euler puts in place a scientific perspective FEATURES REACTIVE TEACHING Roger Hunt goes with the flow MAKING CONNECTIONS Paul Burgess relates writing to speaking POST IT HERE, POST IT THERE ... Kateryna Protsenko presents the potential for sticky notes � KEY QUESTIONS Chris Payne believes asking is as important as answering OVER THE WALL Alan Maley reads about bereavement WHO'S IN CHARGE? Beth Davies promotes learner autonomy STRATEGIES FOR STUDENT MOTIVATION Katarzyna Wii9cek gets her students fired up WHAT, MORE VOCABULARY ACTIVITIES? Simon Mumford offers some innovative word games � TRUTH OR LIE? Mairi Anderson approaches the pronunciation of past tense endings MISSION IMPOSSIBLE? Simge O'Grady sources material for Middle Eastern students TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS STUFF AND NONSENSE Fran Sokel celebrates the poetry of the absurd 4 8 12 14 16 25 28 31 34 40 50 23 BUSINESS ENGLISH PROFESSIONAL FIND THE COLLEAGUE WHO ... Richard Janosy develops a well-known activity for the business class TEACHER DEVELOPMENT LAYERED TRAINING Adrian Tennant looks at 'mixed ability' teacher trainees OBSERVATION-RELATED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Deniz Kurtoglu Eken, Sharon c;eltek and Andrew Bosson observe some guidelines TECHNOLOGY THE MOBILE REVOLUTION David Bermingham reveals the realities of mobile use in Korea FIVE THINGS YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT: TEACHING SPEAKING ONLINE Nicky Hockly sets her sights on synchronous speaking WEBWATCHER Russell Stannard does some specific online searching REGULAR FEATURES IT WORKS IN PRACTICE REVIEWS � SCRAPBOOK 42 51 53 57 61 63 38 44 46 COMPETITIONS 43,64 lncludes materials designed to photocopy � • -.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • lssue 98 May 2015 • 1 �IN FE�TURE: Sasha Euler explores what science reveals about teaching and learning. M ost educators will, at some point in their professional lives, have experienced unmotivated students with no interest in the subject, or even in learning in general, students who resent school and who would rather be anywhere else but in dass. As a consequence, many teachers can be heard to complain at length about how unpleasant their job is and how diflicult it is to deal with students today never considering that they might just be the primary cause of the situation. Neuroscience, cognitive science and social and educational psychology are now able to greatly inform pedagogy and, as a result, teaching methodology and daily classroom management. In this article, I will discuss the role of the teacher in student motivation and learning. By doing so, I hope to pass on to the reader my enthusiasm for the greater transdisciplinary field of 'neuroeducation', an amalgamation of the scientific fields already mentioned, which has the explicit aim of improving classroom teaching and learning. While I, as an EFL teacher, am naturally thinking in the context of language pedagogy, the information in this article would apply to virtually any possible learning situation. Before going into the actual arguments, the reception of past publications in the field makes it necessary to establish an important fact in order to avoid possible misunderstandings: the findings of neuroscience and related disciplines have not revealed anything that would necessarily lead to completely new teaching methods, ones which have never been considered before. We may assume that great teachers already intuitively 4 • tssue 98 May 2015 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofesaional.com • know most of the factors unravelled by research. However, even for such people, the greater field of neuroeducation will still provide valuable insights into how and why things function the way they do. The nature of learning and teaching As a first step, let us discuss on a theoretical basis what makes teaching and learning so difficult. This will help establish how neuroscience and cognitive science can support the teaching-learning process. Tue dominant model in cognitive psychology, as reported by John Anderson, has been that of 'information processing'. According to this model, the teacher sends Iinguistically-structured elements of meaning , which are decoded by the student, linked to previous knowledge and, finally, processed. This image, however, is somewhat misleading in that it suggests a knowledge transfer, whereas knowledge is, more accurately, always a novel creation. In other words, instead of simply processing the message (eg an explanation or instructions given by a teacher, or something we read in a book), we link the raw content of the message to context information, our previous knowledge, subjective opinions and personal experiences and, based on all these factors, create a mental representation of the information we have received (which may resemble the original message more or less closely). This operation of knowledge creation, however, is not as automatic as it may seem and can only be carried out reasonably successfully if very particular conditions are met, these being: • that the receiver has sufficient previous knowledge to be able to decode the information presented; • that the receiver does not lack the necessary context to establish the meaning. These factors will allow the receiver to construct knowledge. A good �ay-to-day example is a situation when someone teils us something and we think (and possibly say) / see where you're going with this. With our background knowledge and our knowledge of the context, we are able to understand the information and perceive the direction in which the speaker is taking the conversation. These factors are the primary conditions of leaming and retention. lt does not take much to see how creating this 'effect' in our students' minds is necessary wheri teaching grammar, pronunciation or lexis. lt also explains the power of 'discovery learning' so important in language pedagogy. As Jeremy Harmer so eloquently puts it: ' ... if students have to make decisions about the words and grammar they are studyingthat is if their encounter with the language has some "cognitive depth" they are far more likely to understand and remember that language than if they meet the new language passively.' Discovering new information by sorting out the 'mess' that real L2 language poses to learners, ie actually being able to explore the new language, may well lead to genuine understanding and retention because in the process of doing so, knowledge is actively constructed by the students. Obviously, the question then becomes what we can do as teachers to facilitate this process. Four factors of successful teaching and learning I would now like to turn to four general factors that greatly determine the success of the leaming/teaching process. D The motivation and credibility of the teacher Without going too deeply into the field of neuroscience, it is important to know that several centres of the brain help us analyse facial expression, prosody and posture within seconds. Based on this analysis, the motivation and credibility of a person are subconsciously determined. lf the students' assessment of a teacher turns out negative (because the teacher is not sure about the subject matter and/or is not enthusiastic about their job), the teaching/learning process will probably be seriously impeded. That is why we need to be grammar and pronunciation specialists, in addition to being good 'moderators' and 'speaking facilitators' . Or the flip-side of the coin it is why we need a good repertoire of useful and attractive teaching strategies for skills teaching, in addition to a thorough knowledge of language structure. Students expect that from us. And we know that they do. Students will notice if we are insecure, which creates tension, and if they realise that we do not have the right explanations or notice that we use the same tedious techniques time and again, they may be seriously discouraged and might even revolt (depending on the LI culture). On the other hand, if we truly know our subject and can teach it well, we will be able to detect a satisfied light in our students' eyes. This is because they can sense our confidence, and they feel they are in good hands. EJ Individual cognitive and emotional learning conditions Every human being has certain innate qualities that differ from those of others, the three most important ones for the present analysis being the operational pattems of the brain (eg being good at remembering numbers, names, etc), giftedness/talent (eg having a facility for mathematics, Ianguages or history) and learning style (eg visual, aural, reflective). 'Difficult' learners are usually victims of a neglect of these personal, innate conditions. lt is a simple fact that some students leam languages more easily than others. More importantly, some learners are better able to accomplish 'chunk learning' and may be able to absorb language implicitly, while others need linguistic explanations, briefly and astutely presented. Even more importantly, not everybody benefits from writing (even if it greatly helped the teacher teaching a given dass), while others struggle to leam by lis tening ( even though this should be the ideal way, given the auraVoral quality of modern dassrooms). Also, some leamers prefer a global approach of 'let's learn things as they pop up, it will eventually all make sense' (as long as they see the big picture), while others prefer an analytical approach and need to go step by step, with everything carefully constructed in a 'logical' sequence (which may annoy global learners). And some learners especially benefit from a good combination of different approaches. Howard Gardner did some impressive work here with his theory of Multiple Intelligences. So, if students are so different, how can we teach them all in the same dass? First of all, rapport between the teacher and the students and the general * dassroom dimate may be more important than anything eise. lt is crucial to value the students as they are, to talk to them and give them the reassurance that not being as fast as someone eise is completely natural. As regards teaching strategies, it may be possible to offer different task options, or to address different learning styles at the same time. lf a class is given a diagram plus an oral explanation plus written examples, some students will immediately start thinking about the diagram, others will carefully follow the explanation, while yet others may ignore both and figure it out from reading the examples. In subsequent group tasks, these talents ( or 'intelligences' in Gardner's terms) will unite, and everybody will be able to share insights from their own perspective. El A positive and motivational classroom climate A good classroom atmosphere has tremendous motivational power. Student motivation which has both affective and cognitive dimensions is not some*mystical thing that it is up to the students themselves to create. lt is, to a large extent, determined by feedback, assessment and the atmosphere created by the teacher. As Zoltan Dömyei puts it, 'the motivational dimension of classrooms can offer teachers very powerful tools to combat a range of problems, from student lethargy to an unproductive classroom climate'. As a first step toward utilising this power, the leaming situation has to be � � � • www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professiona/ • lssue 98 May 2015 • 5 Theageof neuroeducation made attractive to the students. If the previous two factors are heeded, the students will feel that they are in good hands and that they are valued as individuals. Also, and as a result, they will have the perception they are actually making progress all potentially making the English classroom a very attractive place to be in. To further facilitate a good classroom climate, students need positive feedback. lt is not just that everyone likes to be praised. Learning a language is a very difficult business, and it has often been argued that we may subconsciously encounter some kind of identity conflict when communicating in a new tongue. In pedagogical psychology this is often linked to the concept of 'ego permeability', ie remaining open to new information and concepts and thus allowing new knowledge to pass the 'defences' of our personality. T he bottom line is that learning a foreign language is a highly personal matter, and students need the teacher to provide some genuine emotional support and guidance. On a more general basis, creating the feeling that something pleasant or useful is being learnt is very important, as is making sure that there is neither too much stress, nor no stress at all, both of which can kill motivation. lt is weil known in psychology of motivation that we need challenges. Without them, we will not put enough effort into the learning process. However, these challenges need to be achievable and should not lead to constant frustration. Another related factor is assessment, especially as regards schoolchildren. lt is imperative that assessment should be transparent and rule-based so that the students know precisely what they got a grade for and how they could have done bettet. lt is also necessary to use the füll spectrum of grades (many teachers are very reluctant to assign the highest possible marks). If the students feel that assessment is arbitrary, or if some marks seem impossible to get however hard they try, they will lose trust in their teacher. I have seen classes where the students rejected an otherwise good and enthusiastic teacher simply because they considered bis grading unfair. C Previous knowledge Information seems to be stored in the brain in modules (some researchers have used metaphors like drawers, networks or data highways). lf there are no modules that can be used in the construction of knowledge, ie if there is no information on the topic already there, new information will fall through the memory net. This is because no bridges can be built between the new information and existing knowledge. Learning by heart ( eg of grammar rules or LI = L2 vocabulary lists) bypasses this process and can be useful for exams, but it does not lead to long-term retention. lt is, further, important for teachers to ensure that all students are in the same boat and that new information is thoroughly introduced, ideally very illustratively, and with sufficient opportunities for exploration and discovery provided, as described above. Any students who are slightly more advanced than the others will still benefit from this way of introducing information as it may offer an interesting new perspective. However, if some students are clearly well above the level of the others, they will benefit from being given more challenging tasks to engage in, and if some students are weil below the rest of the dass, they would benefit from some self-study tasks that the teacher offers for support and spends a couple of minutes whenever needed to discuss with the students. In either case, a good deal of teacher sensitivity is called for, but the point I am trying to make here is that going the 'extra mile' for our students (from showing enthusiasm and preparing especially good explanations or materials, to having more challenging tasks at band or providing special help to weaker students) will be appreciated. This will not only be reflected in the students' leaming progress, but also in the overall 8 • lssue 98 May 2015 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • -.etprote-lonal.com • classroom climate, which will feed back into the learning process and allow our students to progress even more. Needless to say, these four factors must go band in band with a culture of acceptance and encouragement in the classroom, in which students feel free to explore and, in doing so, are able to build real competence. *** This article discusses the role that neuroeducation can play in understanding the nature of teaching and leaming and the problems that can occur in the classroom. An appreciation of the four factors listed here, which are all weil researched and neuro-psychologically explainable, can not only greatly enhance success in learning, but can also make day-to-day classroom interaction more pleasant, with the students significantly more motivated, happy and willing to leam. Neuroeducation is, of course, no rniracle eure, but it is my most profound hope that this article will encourage you to explore such neuro-psychological factors further, in order to work toward a new culture of truly humane teaching and leaming. Gi) Anderson, J R Cognitive Psychology and lts lmp/ications (7th ed) Worth Publishers 2009 Caine, R N, Caine, G, McClintic, C and Klimek, K J 12 Brain!Mind Learning Principles in Action: Developing Executive Functions of the Brain (2nd ed) Corwin Press 2009 Dörnyei, Z 'Motivation in second language learning' In Celce-Murcia, M, Brinton, D M and Ann-Snow, M (Eds) Teaching Eng/ish as a Second or Foreign Language (4th ed) Cengage Learning 2013 Harmer, J The Practice of Eng/ish Language Teaching (4th ed) Longman 2007 Herrmann, U (Ed) Neurodidaktik. Grundlagen und Vorschläge für Gehimgerechtes Lernen (2nd ed) Beltz 2009 ,--------, Sasha S Euler is a teacher of English and ethics, a teacher trainer and author. He has degrees and certificates in TEFL, English linguistics, phllosophical ethics and pedagogical psychology, and is particularly interested in classroom psychology and in optimising focus-on-form instruction.