Proven tips on motivating others

July 24, 2010

Those in leadership positions often need to motivate others to take on a new challenge, perform a task or simply behave in a certain way. There are a number of ways to motivate people around you. The two broadest categories of motivation are extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.

First, let’s look at extrinsic motivation. This type of motivation is based on some external reward or punishment. An example of an extrinsic reward would be, “If you get me that document by lunch time, I’ll give you a piece of cake.” This attempts to lure the other person with the promise of something desirable, providing that they do what you want them to do.

Then there’s the opposite, the treat of punishment, if the other person doesn’t do what you want them to do. An example is, “If you don’t get me that document by the end of the day, I’ll punch you in the nose.”

You can see how that might be ineffective. While negative extrinsic motivation may result in the other person doing what you want them to do, it also breaks down respect and trust. You can’t build a solid, long-lasting relationship based on the threats, or the feeling that you’re going to be subject to punishment if you don’t do what someone else wants you to do. Negative motivation that is predicated on the threat of violence is particularly damaging.

Let’s look at intrinsic motivation. This calls upon people to take action for themselves because they themselves choose to do so. Intrinsic motivate wells up from deep inside a person and does not depend on any external reward or punishment.

Naturally, this type of motivation is much more powerful. And it’s also much harder to achieve. It requires time to build a relationship of trust and respect. Even then, there are no guarantees that others will be mobilized to do what you want. That’s the whole point. The other person has choice and control. How do you motivate people intrinsically? Give them more choice and control!

Here are a few tips to help motivate others intrinsically:

  • Make them feel good about what you need them to do.
  • Give clear, explicit instructions. Don’t assume that they will know what to do.
  • Give them a manageable challenge.
  • Give them some control and a choice.
  • Create an environment of trust and respect.
  • Take a cooperative attitude. Help, but don’t do it for them. Let them know they are helping you by doing what you need them to do (on time).
  • Do not compare them to others.
  • Minimize extrinsic motivation. There is no reward other than doing the right thing.
  • Offer praise when it is due.
  • Point out their strengths, abilities and talents.

To motivate others in this way involves a focus on them, not you. Stop thinking about what you want or need and start thinking about what the other person wants and needs.  Allowing the other person to maintain some autonomy will help you build an excellent relationship over the long term.

Accept that sometimes, the other person may not do what you want, regardless of the tactics you use. When that happens you will need to decide if you’re going to resort to extrinsic motivation or if it’s worth it to let this one go and try again next time.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Gandhi empowered others in 11 different languages

July 15, 2010

I have long been a student of Mohandas K. Gandhi and his work. For him, learning languages was a way to better understand the world around him and ultimately, to change it for the better. Gandhi learned 11 different languages in order to extend his reach and empower others:

  1. Gujarati
  2. English
  3. Sanscrit
  4. Latin
  5. Hindi
  6. Urdu
  7. Tamil
  8. Telugu
  9. Arabic
  10. Persian
  11. French

Gandhi saw learning languages as a way of communicating better with others and understanding the world more profoundly. These weren’t just noble intentions. They became part of the foundation of his work.

Aren’t these, at least in part, some of the same reason we are drawn to teaching and learning other languages?

Related posts:

Check out my conference paper on this topic:

Eaton, S. E. (2010). Leading Through Language Learning and Teaching: The Case of Gandhi. Paper presented at the Interdisciplinary Language Research: Relevance and Application Series, Language Research Centre, University of Calgary. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED508664

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Update – November, 2017 – This blog has had over 1.7 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Global Trends in Language Learning in the 21st Century

July 13, 2010

If you liked the post I did a while back called Trends in Language Learning: What’s hot, what’s not , you’ll like this even better. At the urging of a few trusted colleagues and readers, I conducted more in-depth research into current and emerging trends in language education. The result is this full-fledged report, with three-pages of references.

Here’s an overview:

Global Trends in Language Learning the Twenty-First Century
Author: Eaton, Sarah Elaine
Date: June 2010
ISBN: 978-0-9733594-6-6
Publication Type: monograph
Total number of pages: 21

Abstract

Today’s language classroom is vastly different from that of the mid- to late 20th century. The study is a meta-analysis of recent research which provided the means to identify current and emerging trends in the field. Informed by this research, some identified trends that are shaping the 21st century language classroom are:

What’s out:
1. Vague, hollow promises that can’t be proven.
2. Saying that learning languages is easy.
3. Authoritative teacher attitudes.
4. Complaining about cutbacks and lack of funding.
5. Language labs.

What’s in:
1. Clear, provable demonstrations of learning.
2. Frameworks, benchmarks and other asset-based approaches to assessment.
3. Individualized, customizable, learner-centred approaches.
4. Proving the value of language learning through stories and speech.
5. Using technology for language learning.
6. Linking language learning to leadership skills.
7. Showing funders the impact their investment has on students and communities.

In short, the focus in language education in the twenty-first century is no longer on grammar, memorization and learning from rote, but rather using language and cultural knowledge as a means to communicate and connect to others around the globe. Geographical and physical boundaries are being transcended by technology as students learn to reach out to the world around them, using their language and cultural skills to facilitate the connections they are eager to make.

The full report is available free of charge. It has been archived by:

Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) (Accession number ED510276)

European Association of Education for Adults (EAEA)

Library and Archives Canada’s Electronic Collection

I will also be hosting a free webinar on this new research on July 27 at 10:00 Mountain time. For more information on the webinar click here.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

6 Comments | education, ESL, languages, leadership, research, second languages, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Interview with Martha Urquhart: Leading by Example Series

July 5, 2010

Monday Inspiration Series: Literacy and Language Professionals who Lead by Example

This new series is dedicated to highlighting the impact made by exemplary literacy and language professionals who lead by example. The series features interviews with each of our leaders, sharing their inspirations, stories and tips. This week I’m delighted to showcase a literacy and language leader in Alberta who impacts the lives of many people in amazing ways through her work.

What is your name, affiliation, and connection to language learning?
Martha Urquhart
ESL Consultant with Rural Routes Initiative, NorQuest College
Literacy Specialist with the Community Reading Program, Slave Lake Adult Education Committee

As an ESL Consultant with Rural Routes, I train and mentor ESL Instructors and Tutors across Northern Alberta.  I consult with the ESL providers in small, rural communities, who are often the literacy coordinators or the adult education coordinators for the local community learning councils, regarding the training needs of their instructors and volunteer tutors, resources to use in their programs, ESL support available for their community, and any other topics on which the ESL providers require input.

As a Literacy Specialist with the Community Reading Program, a local volunteer tutor adult literacy service operating under the umbrella of the Slave Lake Adult Education Committee, I assess ESL learners, train the volunteer tutors, and provide resources and support for the tutors as they help their learners acquire the English language.

What are your thoughts about leadership and language learning?

To me, a leader is someone who helps others to rise up to their fullest potentials. All of the volunteer tutors who work one-on-one with their learners and ESL instructors who teach ESL classes are leaders in the field of language learning.  Even the volunteer tutors who work one-on-one with literacy learners are leaders as they are helping someone develop their literacy skills, part of language learning even if that language is their own.

These are perhaps the greatest leaders of all because they do so quietly, most often without rewards of any kind, other than pats on the back and yearly appreciation dinners.  They attend training without any compensation, donating their own time to improve their own skills in order to help others rise up to their fullest potentials.

Truly, the greatest leaders of all time are the ones at the grass-roots level.

In your opinion, what’s the most important aspect of a language teacher’s job?

It’s critical for language teachers to connect the classroom to the outside world.  Learners have to be able to use the language outside of the classroom. The purpose of language is not to be able to communicate within the halls of an institution, but to take that learning out into the world and apply it to one’s own life.

This requires the teaching of skills that allow learners to complete activities that require interacting with their communities (such as interviewing business owners), providing a safe place for the learners to develop the required skills, and creating opportunities to build bridges between the classrooms and the communities.

I believe this is important regardless of whether you are working with children or with adults.  It is especially important when working with adults, as adult learners have to see the relevance in what they are learning and how that applies to their own lives.

What are some of the projects you’ve been involved with that you would like to share?

I seem to always be involved in some project.  I believe in lifelong learning and being a part of a variety of projects allows me to live that belief.

My most recent project involved working with the iCCAN project and utilizing video conferencing equipment to increase training opportunities for small ESL and literacy community based programs.

Most of the 13 communities involved in this project had little to no video conferencing experience.  Eight sessions were offered (two of three different topics; one topic having two parts) with a total of 160 tutors, instructors, facilitators, coordinators, and board members participating.

I facilitated the first topic from a desk top videoconferencing unit while the next two topics were conducted from a classroom unit. These experimental sessions showed grassroots in action as some community programs are now partnering with other rural programs in utilizing video conferencing to increase the professional development opportunities for their tutors and instructors.

What do you see as three new directions in language learning?

I think that ESL programming in small rural communities will become more systematic.  Although it will be a challenge to ensure that community based programs remain personally relevant for their particular learners, I believe this will increase the quality of ESL programming.

This, in turn, will increase the professionalism within the field.  As more communities become comfortable with using video conferencing, and more training opportunities become available (via video conferencing or traditional formats), small rural community based programs will be able to increase the professionalism within their ESL programming.

And I believe computers will become an “additional language” that everyone, regardless of their roles within their communities, will need to add to their database of knowledge.  Already, literacy programs are seeing an increase in requests for what is being termed “computer literacy”.  I think incorporating the use of computers within the ESL programming will also be important, both as a tool for language learning itself and as a required skill for future opportunities.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Interview with Brent Novodvorski: Leading by Example Series

June 28, 2010

Monday Inspiration Series: Literacy and Language Professionals who Lead by Example

Brent David Novodvorski, a Deaf teacher of ASL and ESL to local immigrants.

This new series is dedicated to highlighting the impact made by exemplary literacy and language professionals who lead by example. The series features interviews with each of our leaders, sharing their inspirations, stories and tips. Today, I’m pleased to share an interview with Brent David Novodvorski.

I worked with Brent in 2009. Together we worked on “Literacy for Deaf Immigrant Adults: A Symposium for Collaboration and Learning”, the first event of its kind in Western Canada. The symposium brought together members of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community, as well as those from immigrant-service agencies in Calgary to talk about the needs of Deaf and Hard of Hearing immigrants in our city. The final report for the symposium was published by the National Adult Literacy Database (NALD). You can find it here.

From working side-by-side with Brent at that amazing event, I can say that he is truly a leader in his field. He is Deaf and works with local immigrants, teaching them American Sign Language (ASL) and English as a Second Language (ESL).

1. What is your name, affiliation, and connection to language learning?

My name is Brent David Novodvorski.  I work in a community college in Western Canada with an excellent reputation for innovative work and sustainability in literacy and languages.  I also work as an independent scholar.  I offer an array of connections to language learning: research, curriculum development, building instructional strategies and methods to reflect teachings.  The outcome of my work advances language learning on three levels: teacher, student and environment.  My specialities are: sign language, English, English as a second language and bilingualism.

2.  What are your thoughts about leadership and language learning?

Leadership is a delicate term, especially in communities not valued for their uniqueness and indigenous and linguistic knowledge.  Leaders have a presence. I have taught sign language poetry and the students shared poems about their experience.  These students are from other countries where sign language is considered primitive and subordinate to vocal languages.  The teacher as leader was present when I taught poetry but when I brought the students to the community to share their work – my leadership was taken to a new level – students formed new connections with other members of the community and created new poems!

3.  In your opinion, what’s the most important aspect of a language teacher’s job?

Language teachers need to recognize and appreciate what knowledge and skills are valued, celebrated and carried in communities – workplace, ethnic cultures, and linguistic.  Although, it is varied; the curriculum has the unique position to be evolutionary and reflective of the changing world.  The curriculum is the site, or a workbench, for language teachers to weld the values of membership in communities.  I do not visualize this work in isolation; teachers share their craft in a community of practice.  Therefore, I am an advocate of literacy and languages as an accessible medium for social, democratic and economic participation.

4.  What are some of the projects you’ve been involved with that you would like to share?

There are several projects I have been involved with:

  1. “Effective teaching approaches and materials for Deaf and hard of hearing immigrant adults in bilingual education.”
  2. “Bridging classroom experience to community: a literature review of sign language in learning contexts.”
  3. “Small Gestures: Improving access to education for Deaf and hard of hearing adult immigrants during the settlement process.”

5.  What do you see as three new directions in language learning?

1.     What Mother Tongue?

With the rapid development of technology and communication connections, the world is becoming, metaphorically, flat.  This means there are more linguistic contacts with different parts of the world. People learn languages other than your mother tongue! I see many language teachers with knowledge of more than two or three languages.

2.     Deaf Professionals

Leaders are increasingly focused on assets of the people they work with.  This is good news for Deaf workers who often struggle to move beyond tokenship towards equal opportunities that capitalizes on assets. I see Deaf professionals as an extraordinary asset to the fabric of leadership.

3.     Framework based on Knowledge of the Community

Research framework has evolved from a researcher-centered way of thinking to include the learner’s knowledge and ‘life’ of the community.  This has an impact on the ways of doing research, as well as how research results are shared and disseminated.  Hands-on workshops are slowly replacing the traditional ‘stand and talk’. I see a framework based on individuals and meaningful connections in communities.

As a side note from me, I wanted to add that Brent is also the brains behind Calgary’s first International Sign Language Celebration Day (ISLCD), which will be held in on September 24. This day is chock-a-block with performances and opportunities for everyone in the community to experience the richness of international sign language and Deaf culture.

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Update – June 2018 – This blog has had over 2 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

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