NEUROSCIENCE AND LANGUAGE TEACHING

TEACHER'S CORNER:

Though obvious, some facts are just needed to be refreshed and reconsidered once in a while, just not to lose the sight of what's really important in teaching a language (and teaching in general).

Without establishing a good rapport with students and helping them find their motivation to learn a language, all your effort and methods may turn out to be useless. Psychological factors are not less important, if not more of value, than explaining grammar and vocabulary or giving them jazzy materials.

What you're going to read in a few seconds (hopefully) is a summary of a short article by Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa in which she shares her observations on 

⏩"What Neuroscience Tells Us About How To Teach Foreign Languages". ⏪

And here comes what she offers:

1. Help students believe in their ability to learn.

2. Have credibility in the eyes of the student.

3. Be contagious in [students'] enthusiasm for their subject matter.

4. Improve the likelihood of opennness to intervention.

5. Build upon learner's past knowledge to teach new concepts.

6. Incorporate learning activities that also provide evaluation data.

7. Take the time to reflect on [your] practice.

8. Manage a thorough "gap analysis" and determine where [you] want your students to be.

9. Be clear in [your] communication with students.

10. Understand the importance of learning in groups.

11. Manage classrooms well by keeping all learners deeply engaged.

It's a challenge to include all the factors in your everyday practices and cater to individual needs of every student.

But ...