Feature deletion (ii)

In February I suggested that BE trainers court obsolescence.

Our functions as trainers will gradually be replaced by computer programmes, by internet modules, and by online meeting points for  professionals to practise their business English with each other.

What we do will still be there, but we won't be needed to do it, like an automated factory.

However, I think I may have been short-sighted, behind-the-times, and a little bit optimistic in my assessment.

This is because not only will we disappear, but what we do too.

Anchoring (ii): time management tools

Last week I suggested we need to anchor our learners' expectations with appropriate numbers.

One of those numbers is 80%.

That's not the number of students who fail to use the present perfect correctly, but a reference to Woody Allen's oft-quoted suggestion that 80% of success is showing up.

This number applies to language learning too.

It takes discipline and effort, showing up day in and day out.

But how do we help our learners meet that  requirement?

Anchoring

We may teach language, but numbers play an important role in our profession.

'How long will it take to learn this skill/lexical set/language?' is a key question, but the figures used to answer this will vary enormously.

And they will vary not just because of objective reasons, but because of subjective ones too.

Such subjectivity arises due to a concept which in behavioural economics is called anchoring.

Anchoring refers to the cognitive bias which underpins our decision-making.

For example, when people buy computers, they often compare them in terms of memory capacity because it is a figure with which they are familiar - 250GB is better than 200GB.

However, this may skew our understanding of computers and lead us to ignore more pertinent factors, such as RAM size and processing power, when making our purchasing choice.

Such skewing is also at work in the classroom.

Augmenting online proprioception

Back in April, I wrote about how we need to develop a substitute for the paralinguistic cues we get face-to-face for when we are teaching online.

I referred to this as a kind of online proprioception.

Bob Dignen, who has been leading the way in this area for some time, outlined a handy list of skills required for teleconferencing last week, mentioning the difficulties of speaking as a group without seeing each other.

He notes that in teleconferences 'silence is not an option' as participants have to show that they are engaged, assenting or otherwise, and wanting to take some kind of action, such as speak themselves.

In the traditional teleconferencing scenario, those cues which are usually intuitive, both in their display and interpretation, have to become explicit.

The rules have to be clear to everyone and everyone has to show overtly that they are following them, much as some autists have to negotiate interaction with others explicitly.

But what of online conferencing?

Code red

Do your learners take tests?

If so, what colour will they see in the room where they take the tests?

And how high will the ceiling be?

Perhaps, like me, you've never thought about it.

However, it turns out these apparently incidental details can have an effect.