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Building Confidence in StudentsFor my independent research I will focus on the topic of 'Building Confidence in students'.I believe that this can be one of the harder sides of teaching a class. It may be easy to get students involved in a class with persuasion, good teaching techniques and a friendly atmosphere, However getting the students to have confidence in their abilities as an English student or even more getting them to have confidence as an English speaker can create many difficulties for teachers. The teacher must observe and be aware of what level the student is at, as it would not be too suprising for a beginner to have less confidence than an elementary student. This could also be a guide for teachers that if for example an intermediate student was less confident than the less educated in the class then this may cause the teacher to use new techniques to build confidence. Confidence can be built in many ways. A teacher first needs to get the class to be confident in his or her teaching methods and in their ability to teach they how to use English as a foreign language. I know from my own experience that if a teacher comes into a class unprepared and not confident in the lesson they are about to give then I did not have confidence that I would be able to complete the lesson as the person who was meant to know the language was unprepared. As was learned through the course a teacher needs to present himself appropriately by giving sufficient eye contact. Also teacher student interaction can help to build confidence and a good relationship between student and teacher. A teacher should also ask the student questions that he/she will likely be able to answer and give encouragement and praise when the correct answer is given, this is a very simple tool but can immensely improve confidence. The student should also become involved in the running of the class, the teacher should allow for free speaking and the student should not be put down for giving an incorrect answer but should be praised for their involvement in the class. Some students lack a lot of self-confidence and may wish just to sit quietly and not to participate in the operations of the class. The teacher should be vigilant of this and should encourage input from all students. How the teacher speaks and the way they interact with the students causes effects on the confidence levels of the students. This should be well known to the teacher before preparing a class. In my opinion building confidence is one of the most important parts in teaching for a student. When a teacher begins to teach they are sent on teaching practice this allows for them to become familiar with and to build confidence in teaching a class. The same must be done for students. As was learned in unit 1 of this course it can be seen that adult learners can have a lot less confidence then younger learners as they have gone about learning this new skill so they have more of a fear of failure. In closing it can be seen that building confidence in students is a long process that cannot be instilled in the students overnight. Patience and perseverance are needed on behalf of both the teacher and student, also a willingness to become an English speaker. If the student does not want to learn then it will be inevitable that confidence in the English language will not be built.
