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If there’s one thing I have learned since teaching Spanish at the college level it’s that students have become less and less accepting of and willing to make mistakes - and not just in a language class, but overall. There is so much to unpack in this phrase with regards to the reasons for and cause of this phenomenon, but frankly, it is above my pay grade. Besides, it really doesn’t help to know the reasons if there is no easy fix, and there’s not. However, I do think there are ways that we, as language teachers, can help our students change the way they think about their learning - in the second language classroom and elsewhere.
In thinking about language as a skill to be acquired and not necessarily something to be mastered, we must allow room for errors for ourselves and our students, for even those who are native speakers err when speaking once in a while (I do in English frequently, much to the consternation of my late grammarian father 🤪).
Since turning 50 (which coincided with my starting at the college), I have been able to let go of some of the “be perfect” pressures that I had once put on myself and which I had projected onto my students. It’s not that IDGAF, but I have begun to realize the Fs that are most important, and perfection isn’t one of them. Allowing for grace - on my part and those of the students - has changed my approach to teaching so much for the better. I know that I enjoy myself more, and I’m learning that my students are thankful too. Below are just a couple of messages from students that they wrote to me at the end of the semester.
I learned to be okay being wrong because I like to be right… If I get things wrong I am so hard on myself. Thanks to you I learned a lot, but I learned this the most this semester.
(Text from above if it's tough to read. Copied as written):
Professor Jenniffer has taught me and my classmates alot this semester. I personally learned to start being okay with not knowing how to say certain words or know what every word means. She taught me and others that it's alright to be wrong. No one in our class is perfect we all help one another out and create good moments off of hard times. She brought our class together and allowed for more improvement and teamwork with our classmates. Thank you for allowing me to be OK with not being correct and to learn from that.
Listen, for a host of reasons, critical thinking is at a premium. Language teachers have the perfect opportunity to help students develop this “it’s okay to be wrong” feeling, especially since communication - and not mastery - is the goal.
Here’s hoping that your classroom is a space for errors and learning from them.
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