Motivating ESL
Students to learn
English Through
the 7 Habits of
Highly Effective
People
Sonya Freeze (Nash Elementary)
Amanda Wood (Texas High)
Texarkana ISD
Project Summary
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Motivation comes from the ability for students
and staff to feel empowered and create an
atmosphere which fosters ownership in the
culture and curriculum of the school.
An effective intervention to increase
motivation in staff and students is
incorporating Stephen Covey’s leadership
principles.
The Leader in Me by Stephen R. Covey will
help develop the essential life skills and
characteristics students need in order to
thrive.
Summary – New Research
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Ten Things Every School Leader Should Know About
ESL By Crosson – Teachers, students, administrators, and
community members need to work together to fully
integrate the culture of the school. ”ESL curriculum
should consider how well the program contributes to
the students' ability to guide their own learning outside
of school (N.D.)”.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to Learn English
by Snauwaert (2010) – The author uses the 7 habits to
explain what an English learner can do to take
ownership of his or her language learning.
Demotivation in SLA By Yan (2009) – ELLs cannot
become motivated to learn English until the factors
negatively affecting motivation have been eliminated.
Once demotivation is no longer a factor, students will
be more likely to take control of their learning.
Summary – Ellis, Fillmore &
Snow, and Spada
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Ellis (2008) suggests that social interaction can
positively affect motivation to learn a second
language.
Fillmore and Snow (2000) suggest different
courses that may be beneficial to teachers of
ELLs. A course in educational linguistics would
help with the use of language in an
educational setting.
Spada and Lightbown (2008) discuss
integrated and isolated form-focused
instruction. Integrated FFI has been
discovered to have positive effects on
motivation to learn a second language.
Summary – Saville-Troike &
Zwiers
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“Social psychologists emphasize grouprelated phenomena, such as identity and
social motivation, and the interactional and
larger social contexts of learning (SavilleTroike, 2012, p. 3)”.
Foundations of second language acquisition
are psychological and social frameworks.
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Psychological frameworks focus on languages
and the brain
Social frameworks involve a multidimensional
approach.(Saville-Troike, 2012).
Summary – Saville-Troike &
Zwiers
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There are various levels of competency in one
classroom along with all their learning
styles (Zwiers, 2008).
Motivation (p. 91) determines the level of
effort learners expend at various stages. The
motivation level is signified by neurological
mechanisms as it relates to “stimulus appraisal
(Saville-Troike, 2012)”.
The goal oriented mind set that the 7 Habits
teaches could very well influence L2 in a
positive direction.
Ten Things Every School
Leader Should Know About
ESL
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A collaborative effort should be established to
insure full integration of the school’s culture and
curriculum. ELL students need a broader array of
relationships with English-speaking students and
staff members (Crosson, N.D.).
Success of an ELL cannot be measured easily by
standardized tests. This is setting up many ELLs for
failure, which results in a loss of self-confidence
and motivation (Crosson, N.D.).
ESL curriculum should consider how well the
program contributes to students’ ability to guide
their own learning outside of school (Crosson, N.D).
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People to Learn English
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The 7 Habits creates a nice push to gain more control
over your life and toward what you want (Snauwaert,
2010).
If you are clearly open about taking responsibility (habit
1) and have built a vision for yourself (habit 2), then
putting first things first (3) will be pretty obvious, as you
have a clear idea of what it is you want and can do
(Snauwaert, 2010).
Thinking Win/Win (4) works as a way to smoothen and
enhance relationships. Understanding others first, then
to be understood (5) allows our ideas to become
clearer and more precise, which reflects in our speech.
This is a good first step to thinking in English. Synergize
(6) and sharpen the saw (7) apply to self-esteem,
intimacy and trying new ways to learn and practice
English (Snauwaert, 2010).
De-motivation in SLA
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De-motivation occurs when specific external
factors affect the learner’s willingness to learn the
content (Yan, 2009).
Common causes of demotivation include
unprepared/disorganized teachers, unjust
grading, dislike of the content area, and unfriendly
teachers (Yan, 2009).
In order to motivate students to learn an L2,
teachers must eliminate de-motives.
Applying Covey’s 7 Habits with ESL students is a
new and unique concept. All research on this
subject is relatively new. The underlying concept
of motivation is not new. Previous research in the
area of motivation is constantly changing, but the
7 Habits supports the ultimate goal.
Task Oriented Activities and
Clarity
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Social interaction is viewed as a primary source of
learning (Ellis, 2008). Krashen's comprehensible input
is very clearly a component, but "pushed output",
according to Swain (p 4), is more of a controlled
practice exercise allowing the learner to be
stretched to express messages clearly (As cited in
Ellis, 2008).
A combination of comprehensible input, pushed
output, and social interaction is necessary in
motivating students to set goals, and practice the
"Seven Habits", as they are accomplishing higher
achievement in subjects such as math and science
(Ellis, 2008).
Expectations for input and pushed output should be
based on the individual differences of students.
Dornvei (2001, p. 26) states, "The best motivational
intervention is simply to improve the quality of our
teaching" (as cited in Ellis, 2008)).
Teacher Competence and
Training
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Teachers must be better trained in
educational linguistics. This knowledge is
essential to reduce the frustration it causes
teachers and students.
"Teachers' expectations of how children
should behave communicatively and how
they actually do behave can affect teachers'
ability to understand children, assess their
abilities, and teach them effectively (Fillmore
and Snow, 2000, p. 11)".
A teacher's lack of knowledge of linguistics
could cause students to become demotivated and counteract all of the
motivation tactics used in the classroom.
Integrated Form-Focus
Instruction
 Integrated
FFI is the practice of reinforcing
form in a second language while
teaching content-area instruction (Spada
& Lightbown, 2008).
 Although arguments can be made for
isolated FFI, integrated FFI has many
benefits. Spada and Lightbown (2008)
state, "feedback that comes during
communicative interaction may have a
positive effect on motivation (p. 189)".
Video Component
7
Habits - ELL Advocates
 Nash Elementary 7 Habits Music Video
Hand Signs for the 7 Habits
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“The seven habits is a means to teach
students to manage learning, behaviors and
relationships, emotional intelligence, social
skills, and life skills. The 7 Habits content is the
foundation for building the leadership culture
(Deal & Peterson, 2009, p. 44)”.
These hand signs were created by Stephen
Covey (2008) in an effort to help all students
to remember the 7 Habits, to become
leaders, and take ownership of their school
work.
7 Habits Hand Gestures
Hand Signs for the 7 Habits
(Cont.)
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In 3rd-5th grade bilingual science and
technology classes, ESL students are
sometimes distracted by being the minority.
The 7 Habits hand signals (demonstrated on
the previous slide) would be “common
ground” for the teacher and students.
In the high school mathematics classroom,
English language learners often struggle with
communicating their thoughts and ideas with
English speaking students.
Hand Signs for the 7 Habits
(Cont.)
 Using
the 7 Habits will allow students
effective two way communication as
described by Zwiers (2008). Students will
be more effective in clarifying and
conveying meaning when given the
opportunity to sign the 7 Habits. This will
help students open up communication,
listen to others and to promote a culture
of common ground for ESL students no
matter how limited their English is.
Elementary Implementation
 Teachers,
administrators, and other school
employees will know and use the hand
signs for the 7 Habits
 STUCO will introduce hand signs to other
students
 STUCO will present the 7 Habits concept
to parents and community members
during the VIPS (volunteers in public
schools) meeting.
 The hallways will be decorated with 7
Habits reminders
High School Implementation
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Teachers, administrators, and other school
employees will know and use the hand signals
for the 7 Habits
TigerVision, the morning news and
announcement program will introduce hand
signs with a rap and music video.
STUCO will present the 7 Habits concept to
parents and community members during the
VIPS (volunteers in public schools) meeting.
The hallways will be decorated with 7 Habits
reminders
References
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Akojie, T. (2012, October 1). Gestures for 7 habits of
happy kids. Video retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeOp6UrXA2M
Covey, S. (2008). The Leader in Me. New York, NY.
FranklinCovey Co.
Crosson, B. (N.D.). 10 things every school leader
should know about ESL. Retrieved from
http://www.nassp.org/Content.aspx?topic=10_Things
_Every_School_Leader_Should_Know_About_ESL
Deal, T., Peterson, K. (2009). Shaping school culture:
Pitfalls, paradoxes, and Promises. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey Bass.
Ellis, R. (2008). Principles of instructed second
language acquisition.
Fillmore, L. W., & Snow, C.E. (2000). "What teachers
need to know about language." [On-line].
Robertson, K. (2011, April 15). 7 habits of highly
effective ELL advocates. Slideshare.net. Presentation
retrieved from
http://www.slideshare.net/gogirl1965/7habits-ofhighly-effective-ell-advocates
References
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Saville‐Troike, M. (2012). Introducing second
language acquisition. New York, NY: Cambridge
University Press.
Snauwaert, F. (2010, Oct. 12). The 7 habits of highly
effective people to learn english. Retrieved from
http://www.how-to-learn-english.com/articles/the-7habits-of-highly-effective-people-to-learn-english
Spada, N., & Lightbown, P.M. (2008). Form-focused
instruction: Isolated or Integrated? TESOL Quarterly,
42(2), 181-207.
THS Commercial Photography, Journalism, TigerVision
Students. (TigerVision). (N.D.). Nash Elementary
School “7 Habits” Campus Video. Texarkana ISD.
Video retrieved from
http://www.txkisd.net/campuses/nash.asp
Yan, H. (2009). Student and teacher de-motivation in
SLA. Asian Social Science, 5(1), p. 109-112. Retrieved
from www.ccsenet.org/journal.html
Zwiers, Jeff. (2008). Building academic language:
Essential practices for content classrooms, Grades 512. San Franscisco, CA: Jossey Bass.