Now that you’ve had your first lesson, the next step is to set SMART goals. By the end of today’s lesson, you’ll have a set of two or three SMART goals that you can work towards during your time at The English Farm.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is a big part of learning a language. Some students want to travel or be able to follow conversations in English. Other students need to learn English to get a promotion.
Discuss the following with your teacher:
- What will learning English enable you to do?
Intrinsic motivation: motivation based on the inherent (personal) satisfaction of doing an activity (e.g., I want to reach my full potential, I want to feel good when presenting, I want to feel mastery in my own abilities)
Extrinsic motivation: motivation based on external factors, such as rewards (e.g., I want the promotion, I want to make money, I want to be publicly recognized for my ability)
Research shows that extrinsic motivation is helpful in the short run, but becomes unstable in the long run. Intrinsic motivation is more efficient for long term studies.
A SMART goal is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. Decide which of the bolded phrases match the SMART goals:
| LEARNING GOALS | SMART GOALS |
|---|---|
| I aim to increase my TOEFL reading score by 25 points. | Attainable |
| I’m going to take at least 3 lessons per week. | Specific |
| Every Sunday night, I plan to set aside 30 minutes to write about my week in English. | Timely |
| By the end of the year, I’m looking forward to holding small talk in English for 10 minutes. | Measurable |
| My main goal is to read at least one English book every 6 months. | Realistic |
- I aim to increase my TOEFL reading score by 25 points. (Specific)
- I’m going to take at least 3 lessons per week. (Measurable)
- Every Sunday night, I plan to set aside 30 minutes to write about my week in English. (Attainable)
- By the end of the year, I’m looking forward to holding small talk in English for 10 minutes. (Realistic)
- My main goal is to read at least one English book every 6 months. (Timely)
The point of this exercise is not to have the right answer (some can overlap and a good goal should have all aspects). However, we want the student to notice what SMART goals should look like. If a student gives a different answer, use the opportunity as a chance for discussion - why did they choose that answer?
Read each SMART goal and find the verb that follows each bolded phrase.
- I aim … to review what I learned in every lesson by reading the lesson record I receive from my teacher.
- I plan … to come prepared to every lesson with 2 English-related questions for my teacher.
- I’m going to … read one English article in the New York Times per week.
- My main goal is … to learn how to write a professional sales email in English.
- I’m looking forward to… presenting my project findings to my team in English.
- I’m going to start… keeping a vocabulary notebook to record new vocabulary after every lesson at The English Farm.
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I aim … to review what I learned in every lesson by reading the lesson record I receive from my teacher. (infinitive)
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I plan … to come prepared to every lesson with 2 English-related questions for my teacher. (infinitive)
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I’m going to … read one English article in the New York Times per week. (base form)
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My main goal is … to learn how to write a professional sales email in English. (infinitive)
-
I’m looking forward to… presenting my project findings to my team in English. (gerund)
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I’m going to start… keeping a vocabulary notebook to record new vocabulary after every lesson at The English Farm. (gerund)
Draw your student’s attention to the forms of the verbs that follow each phrase, so they can use the phrases properly in the next section. Some of these goals target ways to learn actively, than passively. Continue to encourage students to actually do the work, not just “show up” to lessons.
Now set your own SMART goals using some of the following phrases.
- I aim …
- I plan …
- I’m going to…
- My main goal is…
- I’m looking forward to…
- I’m going to start…
Homework: Your teacher will suggest two or three courses that will help you reach the goals you set in this lesson. Which course will help you better reach your SMART goals? Why?