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Flow as a source of motivation | ||
Tags: Motivation | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5946 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes  Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 17 of 27 25 September 2011 at 9:22pm | IP Logged | |||||
I said very mixed ability. And I'm thinking more about "prior knowledge" that inherent "intelligence". With language (in schools at least), you can generally assume that most people have the same prior knowledge: ie. nothing. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| HMS Senior Member England Joined 5042 days ago 143 posts - 256 votes Speaks: English* | Message 18 of 27 26 September 2011 at 3:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Nothing does not equal any prior knowledge though.
I disagree about mixed abilities in the same class preventing this as well. It depends on the actual person and what motivates them.If I try to 'put a finger on' what my motivation was when I experienced this "zone" I would have to say it was a combination of competetivness, desire to succeed and genuine interest. If I am honest, I think I was actually boosted by other people within the same group not performing as well as they should have. Not in a sense that their failings made me feel better but - it gave me a sense of achievment and that boosted my morale, and therefore my performance. I would go as far as saying it could be beneficial to have people of lesser ability in a classroom / learning environment. Human nature cannot be ignored, despite how much we try to appear to do. My example is not of a language learning environment though, although lots of what were essentially - alien voice procedures and those intertwined with various other drills. I do think it's a comparable situation. Edit: Thinking about it - is that not what Michel Thomas did? I find using his course I feel a boost of confidence when one of the other students has not grasped what I already have. Edited by HMS on 26 September 2011 at 3:54pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5316 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 19 of 27 26 September 2011 at 3:57pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I think Cainntear is talking about a teacher causing flow in a classroom (for all or most students), while HMS is talking about an individual achieving flow in classroom. The latter is certainly possible. The former is much harder.
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| HMS Senior Member England Joined 5042 days ago 143 posts - 256 votes Speaks: English* | Message 20 of 27 26 September 2011 at 4:42pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Ah, I never looked at it like that!
Perhaps if a teacher introduced an element of competetivness it would aid things? I find it hard to explain my own experience / example here but amongst the 'students' there was a definate desire to do better than the others. We were essentially two groups of the same, just one group worked in a different area than the other. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5316 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 21 of 27 26 September 2011 at 5:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
We all tend to focus on the things we do well and consider those things to be more important. Pretty girls who are good at attracting attention based on their looks think beauty matters more than brains. Guys who do well at sports tend to put more value on strength or physical ability than on brains. Conversely, in a classroom, while I'm sure the best students often reach a state of flow, I don't know how you could expect the weaker students, those with the least self-confidence, to be equally apt at getting enthoused with the learning material and reach flow. Edited by Arekkusu on 26 September 2011 at 5:02pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| HMS Senior Member England Joined 5042 days ago 143 posts - 256 votes Speaks: English* | Message 22 of 27 26 September 2011 at 5:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Encouragement maybe? Even if the tutor actually bullshits and tells the students they are doing well?
Anyone can tell when a tutor / instructor is being false: "C'mon yer doing brilliant"...etc but - there is an art, and it does exist, to giving someone false praise in order to aid motivation and achievment. Maslow's heirachy of needs can probably explain more than I can attempt to type and be well understood. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| HMS Senior Member England Joined 5042 days ago 143 posts - 256 votes Speaks: English* | Message 23 of 27 26 September 2011 at 5:16pm | IP Logged | |||||
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A link:
Maslows theory of motivation. http://www.envisionsoftware.com/articles/Maslows_Needs_Hiera rchy.html 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5946 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 24 of 27 26 September 2011 at 7:21pm | IP Logged | |||||
That's not going to do anything for flow. Flow is when the brain is working efficiently, and if the material doesn't promote efficient work, flow will never be achieved. The most encouraging thing to a learner is understanding the material, and telling someone they're doing well isn't worth a damn if they don't understand what they're doing or why. In particular, understanding with little or no effort -- and this is very closely linked with the idea of a "flow state". All you can do with meaningless praise is convince someone they're learning when they really aren't -- note the number of people who pass school language exams and genuinely believe they "know" a language... up until they meet a native speaker. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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