One of the constant things I hear from many students is; "I'm just so BAD at Indonesian", which they aren't at all, but they feel frustrated because they aren't able to communicate fluently in the language yet. Even with an enormous amount of encouragement from myself, they still believe they are not doing well. In turn they associate negative feelings towards learning a foreign language, and will not pick it, simply because they aren't "good at it". They associate their grades to how much they enjoy the subject, however that is the nature of the school system, and that is whole other box and issue to unpack.
What I have discovered so far this year is that it's not always the classroom activities that inspire the students.
Reading "Dare to be an Exceptional Teacher" by Maggie Dent (2008) affirmed to me that students need to be able to associate positive experiences with learning, so that they become more intrinsically motivated to learn.
"I won't remember what you said,
I won't remember what you did,
But I will remember how you made me feel."
So halfway through the year, I helped a group of particularly enthusiastic students to establish the "Semangat Indonesian Club". Originally I thought we would meet up to talk in Indonesian, but the students took it in a different direction...
It is mostly directed at what students feel like doing, and I am in the process of trying to hand over more ownership to the students, and getting students to organise activities or come up with their own ideas. Any idea they throw at me, we work on how to get there, and I might help them fine-tune it so that it becomes practical.
A pair of students who are interested in creating websites, is currently working on an idea for making an Indonesian website. What about in particular? WHO KNOWS. I know they're into roleplaying so maybe that! It's about capitalising the students are intrinsically motivated to do, and empowering them with the organisation skills to get it happening. It is engaging them by building positive experiences engaging with the culture of Indonesia, and learning heaps by chatting and sharing experiences.
Despite the exhaustion and stress of organising the paperwork, etc. for these activities, ultimately it has been worth it, because I had one of the students come into class today and say, "I think I'm going to pick Indonesian for next year."
I was so happy, I gave her a hug.
Click here to see my students' website: *http://semangatclub.jimdo.com/.