What is "Confidence-First English"?

Before I was a teacher, I worked in Animal Behaviour. I worked with animals struggling with fears and phobias, whose lives were being impeded by their issues. Training these animals was near impossible, as they were often fixed in a state of "fight-flight-freeze-faff around," and the areas of the brain responsible for learning during this emotional state were pretty much shut down and unresponsive.

 

Imagine trying to study for a maths test while jumping out of an airplane - it just ain't gonna happen. We needed to solve the fearfulness before we could teach the animals anything.

Shortly after I became an ESL tutor, I realised something. Humans, being animals, react the same way when worried in class. 

New students are often very nervous, and anxious students are often terrified. Students with a neurodiversity struggle with this problem too. The fear of messing up in front of other students or a new tutor means that the student can't learn properly, and therefore their ability to grow their language skills is hindered.

• Grammar is often complicated, and even more so when it's being taught in a different language from your own. 
• Pronunciation sometimes causes sleepless nights for native speakers, let alone non-speakers of the language. 
• Understanding regional accents, dialects and variations is a skill all on its own. 
• Kids can find lessons long and boring if they are too difficult or too easy. 

There are so many ways that feeling uncomfortable and nervous can impact the learning environment. 

It doesn't matter if you are the most conscientious student in the world or the most diligent teacher; if the learning environment is not set up to build confidence first, understanding will be adversely affected.

So, I began thinking about how to help the student feel confident BEFORE attempting to use the language too much. Many teaching methods centre on what is being taught, how something is being taught, why something is being taught, and the result of being taught. But not many methods cover how to help a student BEFORE teaching them.

I hope to explore that and develop it further with Confidence-First English™️. I'd also love to hear from YOU! What helps you to feel confident? What makes it easier for you to speak? Drop a comment and let me know!

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