{"id":8119,"date":"2018-05-31T11:18:06","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T10:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltchat.org\/wordpress\/?p=8119"},"modified":"2018-05-31T11:18:06","modified_gmt":"2018-05-31T10:18:06","slug":"good-language-learners-and-their-characteristics-eltchat-summary-23-05-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/2018\/05\/31\/good-language-learners-and-their-characteristics-eltchat-summary-23-05-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Language Learners and their Characteristics #ELTchat Summary 23\/05\/2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

This #ELTchat was created to review the knowledge gained from ‘good learner studies’ in the 80’s. From the word go, all the participants expressed objections as to the use of the term ‘good’ and suggested we use ‘effective’ – for the purposes of this summary, I shall leave the original title in place.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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This summary was contributed by one of the participants, \u00a0\u00a0@ELTC_TD<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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It is posted on our blog with their permission.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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We all recognise a good student but what makes them different to other students and can these things be taught or do they just come naturally?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This was the topic of the #ELTchat on Wednesday 23rdMay, with @SueAnnan,@angelos_bollas, @ELTC_TD, @fionaljp, \u00a0@ELTJayney, @e_d_driscoll, @elkdell, @Shujaat_English, @tesolmatthew and @Marisa_C<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The right characteristics<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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These are the things that are probably hardest to teach if learners aren\u2019t naturally this way. Self-motivation and some sort of linguistic talent were mentioned several times plus, as @e_d_driscoll suggested, an ability to wonder about a language and constantly hypothesise, which is probably a natural disposition rather than something you can train learners to do.<\/p>\n

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The importance of a goal was also mentioned. This could be professional (I want to improve my English because I want to do an MA) or personal (I want to learn English because I really like a boy who speaks English). This seems to be particularly important when students reach a plateau in their learning, at which point those without a goal might start to lose enthusiasm if they can\u2019t continue to see improvements.<\/p>\n

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@ELTC_TD added that patience also helps and students should understand that they won\u2019t become fluent in a couple of weeks or even a couple of months. @angelos_bollas pointed out that although this is true, some language schools advertise courses that will get students to certain levels in unrealistic periods of time (from beginner to FCE in two months etc.) and this can have a negative effect on intrinsic motivation levels if students don\u2019t see results.<\/p>\n

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A final point was an acceptance of the fact that learning can\u2019t always be fun and sometimes you have to sit down and do the hard work, which also came up in an article provided by @fionaljp called The Seven Characteristics of Good Learners<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Special Content Two<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n