Several summers ago I unexpectedly landed a summer job teaching ESL to adults at an intensive six week summer program at a nearby regional community college. They ranged in ages from eighteen to sixty-five and many were apprehensive about improving their level of English; some hadn't studied English in years and wanted to study ESL as an enrichment course not necessarily within an academic framework.
Teaching adults is very different than teaching students in a formal school setting. They are cognitively more mature and motivated. However during the first week of classes, I heard many 'I can't do it' voices in the first week especially from the older adults, who were certain that English was simply a maze of grammatical forms and verbiage that they still couldn't grasp thirty years earlier when they were in High School.
In this particular type of situation, it is important to lay the ground rules while easing your adult students into a routine while helping them all along the way.
How to Motivate Adult Students - A Few Ground Rules
1. Have a serious program and stick to it. The adult learners might complain, but stick to your reasoning about doing homework, coming to class on time, etc.
2. Bring in a lot of humor and a positive attitude into the classroom. It helps break the ice and adults really appreciate an instructor who is emotionally intelligent while imparting knowledge.
3. Supplement your instruction with various other side activities like worksheets or diversifying the curriculum with a computer program if you have a computer lab.
4. Bring a lot of love and care. Show them that you are on their side.
In the end, I had a fun time teaching this particular group of learners. Getting to know what ticks them is part of the success. I quickly learned that they enjoyed the frontal experiences as we went over exercises via transparencies on the overhead projector and they benefited from explanations.
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