In terms of teaching teens and young adults, we live in a bi-polar EFL world: Digital Immigrants teaching Digital Natives. We need to adapt our approach to today's realities (and expanded possibilities) if these learners are to reach their full potential. See more English Attack! presentations at http://www.slideshare.net/EnglishAttack

1. Unlocking Learner Mo/va/on In The Age Of The
Digital Na/ve
Paul Maglione
Co‐founder
TESOL France
27 November 2010

2. The internet
is now
20 years old

6. 1910 2010

10. “A subordina,ng conjunc,on always comes at
the beginning of a subordinate clause. It
"introduces" a subordinate clause. However, a
subordinate clause can some,mes come a>er
and some,mes before a main clause….”

12. It’s high Fme we put these four things
together and came up with a more effecFve
way of moFvaFng learning and teaching
English to teens and young adults.

15. Who Are Teens?
 What’s going on with their lives?
- hormones / sexual development
- independence / autonomy
- quesFoning of authority / rebellion
- social hyperacFvity / peer pressure
 What’s going on with their future?
- pressure over educaFon, career
prospects, type of friends, values
 What are their cultural references?
 What is their relaFonship with
educaFon?
 English: how do they see it as
relevant to them?

16. What else do we know about teens?
Their brains
are in a very
specific
state of
development.

17. last
1st
Prefrontal
Cortex
Limbic
System
• Physical
Coordina/on
• Emo/on
• Mo/va/on
• Reasoning
• Organizing,
priori/zing
informa/on
• Control of
Impulses
Not fully mature
un.l age 25!
Teen Brain
Development
Phenomenon #1

18. Maturing of brain as
Grey MaUer is lost
Adolescent Pruning Of Brain Cells
The brain selecFvely strengthens or
prunes neurons based on acFvity.
Synapses conFnually used will flourish;
those that are not used will wither away.
Teen Brain
Development
Phenomenon #2

19. Teen Brain
Development
Phenomenon #3
Mylena/on (increase in White MaTer)
Speeds the
brain’s
informaFon‐
processing
capacity
equivalent to
3,000 X
increase in
computer
bandwidth

20. The Teen Brain: UNDER CONSTRUCTION
A framework, not an empty structure wai/ng to be filled

21. EFL teaching implica/ons
Phased teenage brain development

23.
video, music,
movement, news,
games, anecdotes
worksheets, lectures,
objecFve texts
+
‐
Use teen craving for
NOVELTY and EXCITEMENT
to get their ATTENTION

24. Break large, long‐term
assignments down into
short‐term objec/ves
Remind them of
concepts, objec/ves
and deadlines
frequently.

25. Teens can only focus
on someone talking for
15 minutes at a Fme
 they need a change
in state of mind every
20 minutes.
Use short formats

26. For young
(13 – 16)
teens, don’t
make topics
too abstract
Keep It Real

27.
INTEGRATE THIS
into Communica/ve
Task Work
The teenage brain
NEEDS to CONNECT

28. EFL teaching implica/ons
“Use it or lose it” brain cell pruning

29. Focus material on what
they see as relevant and
useful to them
• RelaFonships
• The environment
• Racism / Diversity
• JusFce
• Jobs / Careers
• Independence

30. Get them to not just read a vocabulary item,
but also…
use it in a sentence use it in a story
see a photo of it
play a game based on it
hear it in a song unjumble it
hear it spoken by a famous actor
Repe//on with varia/on

31. EFL teaching implica/ons
Explosion in brain processing power

32. Exposure 
Input 
Intake

33. MulFple exposures
to language items in
different but similar
contexts reinforces
retenFon.
Manageable chunks,
always in a context

34. Ask :
How
What
Why
Provide ANALYTICAL
CHALLENGES that s/mulate
higher‐order thinking

35. Don’t forget: male and female
adolescents mature at different rates
Grey cell
pruning
starts at age
10 – 12
Grey cell pruning
starts at age 14 – 16
Boys and girls may
be ready to absorb
challenging material
at different stages.

36. …also don’t forget: the average teen is
SLEEP DEPRIVED
Physiologically,
teens require
9.25 hours of
sleep.
Most teens
report sleeping
5 hours or less
per 24‐hour
period.
Sleep
deprivaFon
makes it more
difficult for most
students to
learn, remember
and think
crea/vely.

37. WHAT ABOUT EFL PEDAGOGY?
What have we learned these past 20 years?

38. MOST of these match up with Cogni/ve Neuroscience‐based
principles for engaging teens and young adults
NEW EFL
Approaches

39. One of the things they really enjoy, even
seem addicted to, is VIDEOGAMES. Why?
What else do we know about teens?

40. What can we learn (and adopt) from
Video Games?
• Failure is part of the game
• Try and try again without sFgma
• RepeFFon breeds competence
• PosiFve reinforcement all the ,me
• PosiFve vs. negaFve stress
• Level design: progress to next level is
always a challenge, but achievable
• Progress = status enhancement
• Social (mulFplayer gaming; leader boards;
in‐game chat; challenge‐a‐friend)

41. Where it all comes together for teens:
MOTIVATION

42. Understanding Learner MoFvaFon
• The “neglected heart” of our understanding of
how to design instrucFon.
• ParFcularly an issue for teens, due to:
ZZZZZZZ

44. Learner MoFvaFon For Teens
Exploit learners’ natural curiosity to explore the
world, which is at its most powerful during
teenage and young adult years

45. Learner MoFvaFon For Teens
Make the
input material
relevant to
them.
Do they
believe that
what they are
learning will
be useful to
them soon?

46. Learner MoFvaFon
for Teens
“The simplest
way to ensure
that people
value what
they are doing
is to maximise
their free
choice and
autonomy”
‐ Good & Brophy, 2004

47. Learner MoFvaFon for Teens
Three strategies* to encourage posiFve
self‐evaluaFon:
Promote / Reward
Effort
rather than
Ability
Provide
Mo/va/onal
Feedback
Increase
MoFvaFon
via
Rewards,
not Grades
*Dornyei, 2001

48. A word about
technology…

49. Class Time Is Precious Time:
Technology Can Op/mize It
• Exposure / input and repeFFon:
outside the classroom as much
as possible.
• Use precious class Fme for:
• discussion
• interac/on
• group work
• tasks requiring teacher
supervision
• face‐to‐face intelligent error
correc/on

51. The Web allows learners to go beyond
learning: to create

52. #efl #esl #elt #edtech #iatefl #tesol #eltchat
Some Ed‐Tech Gurus

53. Some final points about teens and EFL

54. Language is part of one’s iden/ty and is used to
convey this idenFty to others.

55. Teens’ idenFty is in
full‐swing evoluFon,
so both L1
sophisFcaFon and L2
learning have a
significant impact on
the social being of
the learner.
*Thanasoulas, 2007

56. If we can integrate
English into teens’
idea of self, we
turbo‐charge their
learning, retenFon,
and enjoyment of the
process.
*Thanasoulas, 2007

57. Unlocking Learner Mo/va/on
In The Age Of The Digital Na/ve
TwiTer: @paulmaglione
@englishaTack
Web: www.english‐aTack.com
Blog: hTp://blog.english‐aTack.com
E‐mail: paul.maglione@english‐aTack.com
LinkedIn: Paul Maglione