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Imagine a time where you had travelled to another country and couldn’t speak the native language. Think about how you may have tried to communicate a basic need and were not understood. How did this make you feel? Scared, intimidated, frustrated are a few of the feelings that come to mind. This may be how a student feels when they first decide they want to learn a new language and these feelings if not addressed can impact immensely on how a student learns, cooperates and is motivated in the classroom. This is why it is imperative that teachers who decide to go down the path of teaching English should place a large emphasis on increasing confidence in the classroom. The first way a teacher can increase confidence in the classroom is by simply looking at how they approach their learning. For example, teachers who have confidence in themselves already are going to have a positive effect on their student’s confidence in the classroom. This may be simply being dedicated and eager to teach English, being prepared for the lesson ahead and always having an enthusiastic and energetic attitude to learning. Once students are able to see a confident teacher in turn their confidence may increase. Other ways confidence in the classroom may be achieved, beyond the personality traits of the teachers may be the teaching strategies that they use. For example, offering praise and encouragement to all students can give them a sense of achievement while also building positive rapport. Creating opportunities in the classroom for students to build on their strengths and succeed can also increase confidence in the classroom. This may be achieved by setting realistic and attainable goals for students at the correct level to the class you are teaching. For example, this is where teachers need to think about adapting all lessons to suit the needs of the class they are teaching. Knowing what the student’s strengths and weaknesses are and building and supporting these to increase their confidence in the classroom. When building confidence in the classroom teachers must understand the differing ages and levels of the students and how this may impact confidence in different ways. For example, when working with an adult group their confidence may be impacted by previous experiences when learning language and awareness of their language level. Therefore, teachers need to be aware of these factors which may be impacting students confidence and target these differently for different age groups. In conjunction with this idea, differing teaching strategies are going to be used for different ages and the way in which a teacher conducts themselves to build confidence may also differ. When increasing confidence in the classroom I believe that if a teacher understands their students’ strengths and weaknesses and how they can best support these, is motivated and enthusiastic to help people learn the English language and conducts themselves in a positive and patient manner then all students will have the best tools to be confident in the classroom. Understanding that this experience may be new and daunting to people who do not speak English and always thinking back to a time when you were unable to communicate can help any teacher to employ positive and nurturing strategies that will in turn help increase student confidence within their classroom.
