Imagine a language classroom where every student is engaged, challenged and excited about learning. Wouldn’t that be great? Well, this scenario is particularly challenging for the most able students who need more than just the standard curriculum or teaching approach to keep them motivated and progressing.
These students consistently outperform their peers, quickly grasp new concepts and exhibit advanced speaking and writing skills. As a result, they usually need more challenging material, want to dive deeper into language / culture and learn at a pace that outstrips their classmates.
It can therefore be difficult for language teachers to effectively support and challenge such students, given available class time and resources. Many educators are also painfully aware of the need to develop everyone’s skills rather than just those of a select few.
So in this post, we’ll explore how language educators can most effectively stretch their most able language students. We’ll also highlight some practical classroom interventions for educators to ensure that their advanced language learners are being continuously challenged and supported.
Why should language educators challenge advanced learners?
If you have advanced learners in your class, then you’re probably well-aware of the challenges that can occur if they are not being pushed to progress. But if this is a new experience for you, here are some of the key problems that can result.
- Stagnating skills: Without appropriate challenge, advanced students may never develop their full potential. Their language skills can plateau, leading to a lack of growth in vocabulary, fluency and critical thinking skills.
- Loss of motivation: When tasks are too easy, advanced learners can lose interest in the subject. This disengagement can result in a decline in academic performance and a decreased enthusiasm for learning.
- Behavioural issues: Boredom and a lack of engagement can lead to behavioural problems. Advanced students who are not challenged may become disruptive or inattentive in class, seeking stimulation elsewhere.
- Reduced self-esteem: If advanced students are not recognized for their abilities and provided with opportunities to excel, their self-esteem and confidence may suffer. They might feel undervalued or overlooked, impacting their overall well-being.
By continuously stretching your most able students, educators can ensure that these learners remain engaged, motivated and prepared for future academic or professional success. Providing appropriate challenge plays a key role in helping advanced learners to get even better by further developing their skills and confidence.
But how can that be most effectively achieved in today’s language classroom?
Practical suggestions for stretching advanced language learners
There are a wide variety of techniques that educators and institutions can deploy to push their students to reach even greater heights. Of course, they might require some additional work, but most fall within what the very best teachers already do in a student-centred learning environment.
- Differentiated instruction: This approach involves tailoring teaching content and techniques to create different paths for students of varying abilities. This is essential for engaging advanced learners without leaving others behind. For example, while other students work on basic sentence structures, advanced learners might engage in writing complex essays or analysing literary texts.
- Accelerated learning opportunities are essential to keep advanced students engaged and challenged. They might include providing access to higher-level language courses or dual-enrollment options. It is, of course, essential to carefully assess students to ensure their readiness before moving them onto more difficult activities.
- Enrichment activities: These go beyond the standard curriculum, offering projects and research opportunities that dive deep into students’ L2. Students could be encouraged to undertake independent research projects on historical or literary topics, for example, and to incorporate / evaluate source material from the target language to deepen their understanding.
- Promoting self-directed study by helping students set personal learning goals and providing additional resources such as books, online courses and language apps can be very effective.
- Advanced students can benefit significantly from collaborative activities that promote peer learning. Try organising group activities that require teamwork, such as creating a group blog or conducting a research project. Pairing students with native speakers or more advanced peers for conversation practice and language exchange can also be highly beneficial.
- Why not leverage technology to provide advanced learners with additional challenges? In addition to the apps and online courses referenced above, participation in online forums or language exchange programmes stretch their abilities and provide invaluable practice opportunities.
- Engage advanced students with authentic materials such as news articles, podcasts, and videos to expose them to real-world language use. Such materials can be carefully chosen to match their interests and can get progressively more challenging as their skills develop.
- Regular and constructive feedback is crucial for advanced learners. Always find the time to provide detailed feedback on assignments to help them improve and use formative assessments tailored to their level to identify areas for further development.
Supporting student autonomy is the key
Of course, the above ideas don’t just happen – they all require preparation and organisation by teachers to run successfully. Some key principles to bear in mind therefore follow below.
At their heart, all of the ideas outlined above involve a clear move to a more student-centred learning environment. This involves a fundamental shift in the teacher’s role, away from being the sole source of knowledge to acting more as a facilitator and guide. In this, teachers try to encourage students to take ownership of their learning journey by providing them with choices in their learning activities and projects, helping them ask meaningful questions and guiding them to find the answers independently or collaboratively. Supporting autonomy is key, as is helping students set personal goals and monitor their progress.
But this doesn’t mean that students should be left to their own devices – providing the necessary support is essential. Regular check-ins are invaluable via one-on-one or small group discussions to help assess student progress and adjust learning plans as needed.
Support can also be provided through scaffolding. This involves gradually increasing the complexity of tasks while removing temporary support structures as students become more proficient.
While stretching advanced learners, it is equally important to maintain the motivation and progress of all students. Inclusive group activities, where each student has a specific role based on their ability level, ensure that everyone contributes and learns from the activity. Peer support systems, such as pairing advanced students with less able learners, can also help build core language skills and invaluable life skills.
By carefully incorporating these learning strategies, educators can build an engaging and inclusive classroom environment where advanced learners are appropriately challenged. This commitment to excellence not only enhances individual student growth but also enriches the learning experience for the entire class. Let’s commit to challenging our most able students and unlocking their full potential, ensuring every learner thrives!