Foreign Language Learning

Introduction:

Study of foreign languages is undertaken by students with a variety of motivations, commitment levels, and skill sets. All of these factors affect the outcome of each individual student's language learning process. Through the use of research into different teaching methods and techniques, as well as understanding the individual capabilities and requirements of each student, teachers can better tailor their approaches to effectively maximise the learning of the students. Through the use of research, this essay will explore ways in which to maximise student learning based on the student's personal situation and characteristics.

Student background:

Roger Vazquez (hereafter referred to as “the student”) is a 22-year-old lawyer living

Nonetheless, the desire for career advancement represents a second, extrinsic motivation for the student to improve his English.

The combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations combine simultaneously as factors in the student's motivation to learn English.(1)

Learning style of student:

The results of the Multiple Intelligence questionnaire indicate that the student has a varied skill set. The only category in which the student achieved a low score was spatial. The student's scores were especially strong in intra-personal, musical, and logical-mathematical, of which the latter demonstrates congruence with his desire to pursue a career in accounting. The student also achieved moderately high scores in the kinesthetic, inter-personal and linguistic categories. Given this spread of abilities, the student has the potential to respond positively to a variety of teaching methods; while his particularly strong scores in intra-personal, musical and logical-mathematical indicate that the student can achieve success through self-teaching and self-reflection, actively listening to English-language music, and problem solving activities, such as

The student has also cited nerves and anxiety when speaking English, although he appeared to conduct himself with a considerable degree of confidence during the interview. Given these assertions, the one to one class will focus on speaking as the principal method of information exchange.

During the observation of the student's regular class, the teacher encouraged significant student talk time. However, this was mostly in the form of global class activities, with the student talk time divided between the four students in the class. In these conditions, the student was only able to speak in English for 5-10 minutes of the classroom time. In a one to one setting, an open ended conversation between student and teacher can allow a student talk time of 25 minutes or more during the allotted 50 minutes.

Goals of the one to one class:

The student's broad range of learning styles, as ascertained in the Multiple Intelligence questionnaire, allow him to benefit from a variety of activities. The student's current progress in