Motivating ESL Students to learn English Through the 7 Habits of Highly Effective

PeopleSonya Freeze (Nash Elementary)Amanda Wood (Texas High)Texarkana ISD

Project Summary Motivation comes from the ability for students

and staff to feel empowered and create an atmosphere which fosters ownership in the culture and curriculum of the school.

An effective intervention to increase motivation in staff and students is incorporating Stephen Covey’s leadership principles.

The Leader in Me by Stephen R. Covey will help develop the essential life skills and characteristics students need in order to thrive.

Summary – New Research Ten Things Every School Leader Should Know

About ESL  By Crosson – Teachers, students, administrators, and community members need to work together to fully integrate the culture of the school.  ”ESL curriculum should consider how well the program contributes to the students' ability to guide their own learning outside of school (N.D.)”.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to Learn English by Snauwaert (2010) – The author uses the 7 habits to explain what an English learner can do to take ownership of his or her language learning.

Demotivation in SLA By Yan (2009) – ELLs cannot become motivated to learn English until the factors negatively affecting motivation have been eliminated. Once demotivation is no longer a factor, students will be more likely to take control of their learning.

Summary – Ellis, Fillmore & Snow, and Spada

Ellis (2008) suggests that social interaction can positively affect motivation to learn a second language.

Fillmore and Snow (2000) suggest different courses that may be beneficial to teachers of ELLs. A course in educational linguistics would help with the use of language in an educational setting.

Spada and Lightbown (2008) discuss integrated and isolated form-focused instruction. Integrated FFI has been discovered to have positive effects on motivation to learn a second language.

Summary – Saville-Troike & Zwiers “Social psychologists emphasize group-

related phenomena, such as identity and social motivation, and the interactional and larger social contexts of learning (Saville-Troike, 2012, p. 3)”.

Foundations of second language acquisition are psychological and social frameworks.   Psychological frameworks focus on

languages and the brain Social frameworks involve a

multidimensional approach.(Saville-Troike, 2012).

Summary – Saville-Troike & Zwiers There are various levels of competency in

one classroom along with all their learning styles (Zwiers, 2008).

Motivation (p. 91) determines the level of effort learners expend at various stages.  The motivation level is signified by neurological mechanisms as it relates to “stimulus appraisal (Saville-Troike, 2012)”.

The goal oriented mind set that the 7 Habits teaches could very well influence L2 in a positive direction.

Ten Things Every School Leader Should Know About ESL A collaborative effort should be established to

insure full integration of the school’s culture and curriculum. ELL students need a broader array of relationships with English-speaking students and staff members (Crosson, N.D.).

Success of an ELL cannot be measured easily by standardized tests. This is setting up many ELLs for failure, which results in a loss of self-confidence and motivation (Crosson, N.D.).

ESL curriculum should consider how well the program contributes to students’ ability to guide their own learning outside of school (Crosson, N.D).

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to Learn English The 7 Habits creates a nice push to gain more control

over your life and toward what you want (Snauwaert, 2010). 

If you are clearly open about taking responsibility (habit 1) and have built a vision for yourself (habit 2), then putting first things first (3) will be pretty obvious, as you have a clear idea of what it is you want and can do (Snauwaert, 2010).

Thinking Win/Win (4) works as a way to smoothen and enhance relationships.  Understanding others first, then to be understood (5) allows our ideas to become clearer and more precise, which reflects in our speech. This is a good first step to thinking in English.  Synergize (6) and sharpen the saw (7) apply to self-esteem, intimacy and trying new ways to learn and practice English (Snauwaert, 2010).

De-motivation in SLA De-motivation occurs when specific external factors

affect the learner’s willingness to learn the content (Yan, 2009).

Common causes of demotivation include unprepared/disorganized teachers, unjust grading, dislike of the content area, and unfriendly teachers (Yan, 2009).

In order to motivate students to learn an L2, teachers must eliminate de-motives.

Applying Covey’s 7 Habits with ESL students is a new and unique concept. All research on this subject is relatively new. The underlying concept of motivation is not new. Previous research in the area of motivation is constantly changing, but the 7 Habits supports the ultimate goal.

Task Oriented Activities and Clarity Social interaction is viewed as a primary source of

learning (Ellis, 2008). Krashen's comprehensible input is very clearly a component, but "pushed output", according to Swain (p 4), is more of a controlled practice exercise allowing the learner to be stretched to express messages clearly (As cited in Ellis, 2008).  

A combination of comprehensible input, pushed output, and social interaction is necessary in motivating students to set goals, and practice the "Seven Habits", as they are accomplishing higher achievement in subjects such as math and science (Ellis, 2008). 

Expectations for input and pushed output should be based on the individual differences of students.

Dornvei (2001, p. 26) states, "The best motivational intervention is simply to improve the quality of our teaching" (as cited in Ellis, 2008)).

Teacher Competence and Training Teachers must be better trained in educational

linguistics.  This knowledge is essential to reduce the frustration it causes teachers and students.  

"Teachers' expectations of how children should behave communicatively and how they actually do behave can affect teachers' ability to understand children, assess their abilities, and teach them effectively (Fillmore and Snow, 2000, p. 11)".

A teacher's lack of knowledge of linguistics could cause students to become de-motivated and counteract all of the motivation tactics used in the classroom. 

Integrated Form-Focus Instruction Integrated FFI is the practice of

reinforcing form in a second language while teaching content-area instruction (Spada & Lightbown, 2008).

Although arguments can be made for isolated FFI, integrated FFI has many benefits. Spada and Lightbown (2008) state, "feedback that comes during communicative interaction may have a positive effect on motivation (p. 189)".

Video Component 7 Habits - ELL Advocates Nash Elementary 7 Habits Music Video

Hand Signs for the 7 Habits “The seven habits is a means to teach

students to manage learning, behaviors and relationships, emotional intelligence, social skills, and life skills. The 7 Habits content is the foundation for building the leadership culture (Deal & Peterson, 2009, p. 44)”.

These hand signs were created by Stephen Covey (2008) in an effort to help all students to remember the 7 Habits, to become leaders, and take ownership of their school work.

7 Habits Hand Gestures

Hand Signs for the 7 Habits (Cont.) In 3rd-5th grade bilingual science and

technology classes, ESL students are sometimes distracted by being the minority. The 7 Habits hand signals (demonstrated on the previous slide) would be “common ground” for the teacher and students.

In the high school mathematics classroom, English language learners often struggle with communicating their thoughts and ideas with English speaking students.

Hand Signs for the 7 Habits (Cont.) Using the 7 Habits will allow students

effective two way communication as described by Zwiers (2008). Students will be more effective in clarifying and conveying meaning when given the opportunity to sign the 7 Habits. This will help students open up communication, listen to others and to promote a culture of common ground for ESL students no matter how limited their English is.

Elementary Implementation Teachers, administrators, and other

school employees will know and use the hand signs for the 7 Habits

STUCO will introduce hand signs to other students

STUCO will present the 7 Habits concept to parents and community members during the VIPS (volunteers in public schools) meeting.

The hallways will be decorated with 7 Habits reminders

High School Implementation Teachers, administrators, and other school

employees will know and use the hand signals for the 7 Habits

TigerVision, the morning news and announcement program will introduce hand signs with a rap and music video.

STUCO will present the 7 Habits concept to parents and community members during the VIPS (volunteers in public schools) meeting.

The hallways will be decorated with 7 Habits reminders

References Akojie, T. (2012, October 1). Gestures for 7 habits of happy

kids. Video retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeOp6UrXA2M

Covey, S. (2008). The Leader in Me. New York, NY. FranklinCovey Co.

Crosson, B. (N.D.). 10 things every school leader should know about ESL. Retrieved from http://www.nassp.org/Content.aspx?topic=10_Things_Every_School_Leader_Should_Know_About_ESL

Deal, T., Peterson, K. (2009). Shaping school culture: Pitfalls, paradoxes, and Promises. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Ellis, R. (2008). Principles of instructed second language acquisition. 

Fillmore, L. W., & Snow, C.E. (2000). "What teachers need to know about language." [On-line]. 

Robertson, K. (2011, April 15). 7 habits of highly effective ELL advocates. Slideshare.net. Presentation retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/gogirl1965/7habits-of-highly-effective-ell-advocates

References Saville‐Troike, M. (2012). Introducing second language

acquisition. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.  Snauwaert, F. (2010, Oct. 12). The 7 habits of highly

effective people to learn english. Retrieved from http://www.how-to-learn-english.com/articles/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people-to-learn-english

Spada, N., & Lightbown, P.M. (2008). Form-focused instruction: Isolated or Integrated? TESOL Quarterly, 42(2), 181-207.

THS Commercial Photography, Journalism, TigerVision Students. (TigerVision). (N.D.). Nash Elementary School “7 Habits” Campus Video. Texarkana ISD. Video retrieved from http://www.txkisd.net/campuses/nash.asp

Yan, H. (2009). Student and teacher de-motivation in SLA. Asian Social Science, 5(1), p. 109-112. Retrieved from www.ccsenet.org/journal.html

Zwiers, Jeff. (2008). Building academic language: Essential practices for content classrooms, Grades 5-12. San Franscisco, CA: Jossey Bass.