Successful language learners — who are they? What is it that makes some students into fluent and confident users of English while others are struggling to wrap their heads around it? In my talk I am going to argue that while dedication, effort, and motivation are all very important, it is our learning habits that help us become successful language learners and achieve our learning goals. Moreover, together we will link good learning habits to learner autonomy. Finally, I will share some practical tips how to plant good learning habits in our students and help them grow into autonomous learners. Three takeaways Participants 1 will be able to define 'a good learning habit' and become aware of some examples of language learning habits; 2 will be able to describe an autonomous learner and bridge learner autonomy and learning habits; 3 will get some practical tips how to plant good learning habits in their students and promote learner autonomy.

1. Teachers' Conference "21 lessons for the 21st century"
Grade Education Center
October 26, 2019
The Power of Habit
Irene Sushko
irene.v.sushko@gmail.com
learn2teachblog.blogspot.com
1. Good language learners set achievable goals for themselves.
 TED Talk “How to gain control of your free time” by Laura Vanderkam
https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_vanderkam_how_to_gain_control_of_your_free_time?la
nguage=en
 A letter to yourself
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/app/uploads/2014/12/Letter-to-Self.pdf
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/
2. Good language learners have insights into their learning styles and
strategies.
Individual Learning Strategies Pair Work Questionnaire
How often do you do the following activities? Circle a number from 1-5.
5 Always 4 Often 3 Sometimes 2 Rarely 1 Never
How often do you ...
1. Watch English dramas, movies, or the news
2. Listen to English Radio or English music
3. Sing songs in English
4. Listen to other people speaking English
5. Practice speaking by yourself
6. Listen to English language lessons on CD and practice repeating
7. Read out loud
8. Try skimming an English reading
9. Try scanning an English reading
10. Read English books (or comic books)
11. Guess the meaning of something you read from the context
12. Practice free-writing in an English diary

2. Total Score
1-19 You don’t use very many strategies. It will take more time, but if you work hard
outside of class you can improve your English. Good luck!
20-39 You use some individual strategies, but you could practice a little more on your own.
40-60 You use many individual strategies. You are on your way to English Success!
Think of some advice for you partner. What could they do in their free time to improve
their English on their own? Give your partner your advice.
3. Good language learners have a strong drive to communicate, or to learn
from a communication.
 Talking Circles
The talking circle is a total group activity that generally takes place at the beginning of the
lesson. Teacher and students gather in the talking circle to share and discuss experiences,
anecdotes, news, special events, introduce the weekly theme, and the like. Although the teacher
might open the discussion by suggesting a general topic, the overriding assumption is that the
talking circle provides a place and an audience for students to discuss anything of interest to
them.
4. Good language learners practice.
 CNN 10
https://edition.cnn.com/cnn10
CNN 10 serves a growing audience interested in compact on-demand news broadcasts ideal for
explanation seekers on the go or in the classroom. The show's priority is to identify stories of
international significance and then clearly describe why they're making news, who is affected,
and how the events fit into a complex, international society.
 Did you read about…?
The stimulus is ‘something I read in the paper or heard on the news’.
5. Good language learners take responsibility for their own learning.
 Three before me
There is a rule in my class that when students come across a new word they either consult a
dictionary (never google translate) or ask three other students before they turn to me for help.
They ask me when they are not satisfied with the answers or explanations.

3.  Reflection cards
At the end of the lesson on a post-it note students answer 2-3 questions about the lesson. What
have I learned? What would I like to learn? What do I need to improve? How will I do it? Etc.
The questions may vary or be the same. The reflection is best done at the end of each lesson or
once a week.
6. Good language learners make good decisions and the right choice.
 The books I recommend:
1. George Orwell “Animal Farm”
2. Louis Sachar “Holes”
3. Louis Sachar “Sideways Stories From Wayside School”
4. Charles Dickens “Christmas Carol”
5. Ray Bradbury “Zero Hour”, “All Summer in a day”, “Last Night of the World”
6. Kate Chopin “The Story of an Hour”, “The Storm”
7. Linwood Barclay “No Time For Goodbye”
8. Roald Dahl “The Umbrella Man”
9. Alex Tizon “My Family’s Slave”
7. Good language learners are willing and accurate guessers.
 Pictures.
What do we usually do with pictures? Describe a picture to your partner. The most common
questions are ‘What can you see?’ ‘What are the people doing’?
How about asking questions, like these, ‘Why are they there?’, ‘In what ways are you similar
or different to them?’, ‘Choose 2 people. What are they saying?’, ‘If you could be one of
those people, who would you be and what would you say?’

4. 8. Good language learners monitor their own and the speech of others.
Peer feedback, learning to work in pairs, listening to each other and giving feedback.
 One of us/Some of us
The teacher writes the following sentence starters on the board.
One of use can…
Two of us can..
Three of us can..
All of us can…
None of us can…
(The grammar structure can be adapted).
The learners are organized into groups of four and asked to generate as many true sentences
about their group as possible in, say, 10 min, using the above sentence starters. A spokesperson
for each group reports some of the group’s sentences, and these can be used as the basis for an
open-class question-and-answer stage.
9. Good language learners are willing to appear foolish (if reasonable
communication results). They are willing to make mistakes in order to learn and
communicate.
 Scattegories
This is a great way to revise vocabulary and add a competitive element to an activity.
 First, put learners in groups with a piece of paper and pen and ask them to think of a team
name.
 Next, draw four columns on the board and write four categories for each column. For
example: country; adjective; food/drink; verb. You can add more columns if you like and
even ask the learners to decide on the categories.
 Then, write one letter of the alphabet on the board. Learners work in their teams to think
of and write one word that starts with that letter for each category. For example, B would
be Brazil, beautiful, broccoli, bring.
The first team to hold up their paper with the correct information wins a point. Continue this with
other letters of the alphabet.