The importance of building students' self-esteem in the language learning
The Importance of Building Students' Self-esteem in the Language Learning
Self-esteem has long been the subject of research among educators, psychologists, and sociologists. Educational resources are replete with titles in the area of self-esteem and other related areas such as self-perception, self-concept, and self-image. Many of these entries relate to self-esteem and language acquisition or second language learning.
According to Brown, second language acquisition is influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic affective factors that contribute to the success of language learning. The intrinsic factor of self-esteem has been reported as one of the personality factors present during any cognitive or affective activity in the second language classroom. Other intrinsic factors are the capability for risk-taking, inhibition, motivation, and anxiety. The extrinsic factors of affectivity include socio-cultural variables resulting from the second language learner’s experiences of learning two languages and two cultures. In other words, both personality and socio-cultural factors contribute greatly to the success of language learning (Schumann & Schumann, 1977).
According to Brown, global self-esteem derives from the accumulation of inter and intrapersonal experiences, and from assessments people make of the external world. Situational or specific self-esteem deals with one’s personal appraisals in certain life events. The degree of situational self-esteem may vary according to the situations a person confronts.
Task self-esteem refers to the evaluations one makes of specific situations. An example of task self-esteem in the language area is one’s self-evaluation of a particular aspect of the acquisition process such as speaking, writing, reading, a specific ESL class, or even a special kind of language drill.
High Self- esteem and Low Self- esteem
Self-esteem is always a significant factor in the level of accomplishment of all students . According to researchers, if students have high perceptions of themselves in the classroom, they will study harder to obtain high grades.
Students with high global self-esteem most likely believe themselves to be significant and worthy individuals as well as capable of learning another language. On the other hand, students who feel they do not have the ability to learn a second language usually have low global self-esteem (Heyde, 1977). If students have a low global self-esteem, they will probably get low grades, if not fail altogether in school.
High self-esteem can be associated with successful language acquisition while conversely; low self-esteem may be associated with students whose language acquisition is less successful.
In his studies , Reasoner found that students who feel good about themselves behave differently from those who have low self-esteem Student with high self-esteem view themselves realistically and accept themselves as being okay. They can identify their strengths and acknowledge their limitations. Their assessment of their abilities is based on accurate feedback rather than on distortion of what they’d like to believe about themselves.
Those with high self-esteem generally have a wide range of friends and find it easy to relate to others and get along with most students in the class. They often serve as positive leaders in the classroom, volunteer and are willing to help others.
By contrast, students with low self-esteem may have only one or two friends. They seem more concerned with preserving their sense of self-respect or “failing with honor” than with putting forth the extra effort needed to succeed. They typically engage in defensive behavior to prevent others from knowing how insecure and inadequate they feel.
These defensive mechanisms might include any of the following:
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Rebelling , resisting , defying or retaliating
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Discounting ,teasing , or belittling others
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Lying, cheating or copying
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Blaming others when things don’t go right
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Failing to take responsibilities for their actions
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Bullying or threatening others
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Withdrawing , being shy, or daydreaming
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Engaging in forms of escape , including tardiness, truancy , or drug or alcohol dependency
These are the students who are most difficult to work with. They are apt to procrastinate, demand extra attention, fabricate excuses, and blame others when things don’t go right. They are trapped in their self-image of failure and unable to meet the expectations others set for them or that they set for themselves, they feel unworthy , inadequate, and unlovable .
Yet , these students may really wish for nothing less than love acceptance , positive recognition and respect from others .
The Process of Building Self-esteem
According to Reasoner, five factors have been found to be critical in developing feelings of high self-esteem and motivation in children as well as in adults. These factors are:
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The sense of security
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The sense of identity or self- concept
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The sense of belonging
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The sense of purpose
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The sense of competence
Sample Worksheets taken from Reasoner’s “Building Self-esteem”
The following are sample sheets given to the English teachers who attended a workshop about self esteem. They were implemented in few Cycle 3 classes .
Worksheet 1 Focus: Sense of Purpose
(The following worksheet is appropriate for students of grade 5 up to 8 )
Skills I Need
Do you ever think why you are in school and what you can expect to get from the experience? The following questions may help you address your feelings about such issues.
Answer the following questions as best you can.
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Other than reading, math, and language skills what skills could you learn in school this year that might be valuable in the future ?
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What occupation would you like to prepare for?
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What important attitudes or skills would be important to have to do that job?
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Which of these skills are you working on now to improve ?
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Where do you think most jobs in this field will be?
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Where could you find out more information on this kind of work and the skills that might be required?
Worksheet 2 Focus : Sense of Competence
(The following worksheet is appropriate for students of grade 3 up to 10 )
Hypothetical Problems
Decide how you think you would solve each of the problems listed below.
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What would you do if someone said they were going to beat you up after school?
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Tell the teacher
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Ask some friends to walk home with you
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Fight with the person after school
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What would you do if someone kept calling you names?
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Call the person a name back
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Tell the teacher on the playground duty
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Ignore the person
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What would you do if someone kept interrupting your game?
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Tell the person to go away
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Invite the person to join the game
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Threaten to never play with them
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What would you do if someone challenged you to a fight ?
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Take them on
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Laugh at them
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Tell them that you don’t have t prove anything
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What would you do if someone asked you to give them the answers to the homework assignment ?
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Refuse to give them the answers
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Tell them that it would be cheating
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Give them the answers
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What would you do if someone shared their candy with your friends but not with you ?
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Tell them they are selfish
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Tell them you won’t share with them
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Tell them you feel hurt that they left you out
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A Sample Case Studies :
Based on what has been mentioned above, I found it would be of great help to give a workshop on “The Importance of Building Students' Self- esteem to enhance the learning.” Actually, I found that it is essential to draw the teachers’ attention to ways that may help students improve their self -image and their achievements in the English language classes.
The sample activities above could be used to initiate a discussion in the English classroom. The discussions are mainly about personal issues, feelings and interests. For example, the theme of future vocations intersects with career education. It serves both, the language class and triggers future perspectives of what the student would think of for planning for his / her future.
The teachers who attended this workshop were from different public schools in Beirut and the suburbs. Worksheets were assignments given to teachers to implement in their classes.
Findings:
More than twelve activities were given during the workshop.
The follow up activities revealed the likes and dislikes of teachers as well as students.
Here are the findings of one activity the teachers had done as trainees in the workshop
Activity : Skills I Need
Target group : Teachers of cycle three and four
Strategy : Think –pair – share , class discussion
Results :
Q1 : - computer skills
- surfing the internet
- problem – solving skills
- acting (drama )(theater)
Q2: - playwright
- TV announcer
- Interpreter / translator
- actor in bestseller
Q3. - having strong personality
- outspoken , easy going
- having wide imagination
- language skills
- bold , self confident , ambitious
Q4: - reading , vocabulary
- being daring
- fluency in Italian and Spanish languages
Q5: - TV , newspaper , cinema , magazines
Q6 : internet , magazines , TV, professional people , university courses
Analysis: From the teachers’ answers above, we can deduce that they explored their wants and needs regarding the given questions. They found what they like to do and skills needed for the profession they would like to work if they had not been teachers. They curious and interesting questions overwhelmed the class environment.
Activity : Hypothetical Problems
Target group : Teachers of cycle three and four
Strategy : Think –pair – share , group work , class discussion
Results :
Q. 1: a. 100%
Q. 2: a. 33%- b. 33% c. 33%
Q. 3: b.100%
Q. 4: c. 100%
Q. 5: b. 65% c. 35%
Q. 6: c. 65% a new answer was inserted ( I don’t care ) 35%
Activity: What I Value
Target : grade 8 no. of students : 32 Age group : between 13- 16
Students’ background : middle and lower social class. Some were forced t o move to other residential areas during the July 2006 war , others come from underprivileged society.
Teacher : Nada Sacre
School : Al Omara, (Choueifat Public School)
|
Item |
Most important |
Important |
Least Important |
|
|
. girls boys |
.girls boys |
girls boys |
|
1. Being popular |
3 7 |
13 9 |
|
|
2. Getting good grades |
11 15 |
5 1 |
|
|
3. spending time with my family |
12 10 |
4 6 |
|
|
4. Playing well in sports |
2 6 |
4 4 |
10 6 |
|
5.Feeling good about who I am |
15 8 |
2 8 |
|
|
6. Having one close friend |
14 5 |
3 8 |
|
|
7. Getting recognition from others |
5 3 |
6 10 |
5 3 |
|
8. Having a pet to play with |
2 2 |
7 8 |
9 6 |
|
9. Having a good time |
7 8 |
7 6 |
2 2 |
|
10 . Having money to spend |
1 5 |
9 5 |
6 6 |
|
11. Winning an award |
3 3 |
5 7 |
8 6 |
|
12. Being on a winning team |
1 6 |
8 3 |
9 7 |
|
13. Having my parents proud of me |
15 12 |
1 3 |
1 |
|
14. Being liked by the teacher |
7 10 |
9 5 |
|
|
15. Being elected to a position |
1 3 |
8 8 |
7 5 |
|
16. Being by myself/independent |
12 10 |
4 5 |
1 |
|
17. Wearing nice clothes |
5 6 |
10 8 |
2 |
|
18. being outside enjoying nature |
7 2 |
8 10 |
4 |
|
19 being needed by others |
3 7 |
13 7 |
2 |
|
20 Having time to do what’s important to me |
13 9 |
3 6 |
1 |
Question 16 : The students understood it as being independent.
The Teacher’s Remarks : ( Focus on Gender differences)
Item 5 : The girls give more importance to feeling good about who
they are.
Item 6: Girls prioritize having a close friend while boys don’t.
Items7 : Boys show that they value recognition more than girls.
Item 10 : Most of the boys and girls don’t pay much attention to
spending money on themselves.
Item 18 : Girls value nature more than boys.
Further analysis for the case study above could be done, and we would obtain more important facts about teenagers' self-images.
As a result, it is important to train teachers to help students improve their self-esteem .