Young Learners Overview

Section 2: Behaviour Management

Background to teaching Young Learners Why do Young Learners Misbehave? Minimising bad behaviour Dealing with Behaviour Issues Behaviour Management Techniques

Section 2: Behaviour Management

Background to Behaviour Management in the EFL Classroom

Teaching EFL is generally a fun and inspiring job, although it is not always so. At times, and in certain situations, teachers will find themselves having trouble controlling their students. Students can be distracted, uninterested, distracting, and sometimes all-out unruly. While this can turn into a nightmare for teachers who share the same language as their students, it can be even worse for EFL teachers. For starters, linguistic and cultural barriers can often come into play. Secondly, young learners may have a harder time paying attention and can more easily go off course, especially when the entire lesson is conducted in a foreign language. A lack of listening comprehension can also be the cause when students act out because they cannot clearly understand the teachers directions or discipline. This section will examine the causes of behavioural issues in general, and explain their relationship to the EFL classroom, as well as giving you, the EFL teacher, some specific methods to try to reel-in your classes and get the most out of your teaching experience.

What is behaviour?

In order to start the discussion of behaviour management, it is important to define the term behaviour. Behaviour is how people or things function or act in a given context. The key to understanding young learner behaviour is to understand why students behave in a certain manner in the classroom. Leading experts in the field suggest that life positions are the basis for all behaviour. They have identified four distinct life positions, which influence the behaviour of all people. Whether or not you agree with the positions laid out below, they can be useful as a context for understanding certain behaviours. Simply put, they are as follows:

1) People believe in their own capabilities and the capabilities of others.

2) People believe in their own capabilities, but doubt others.

3) People believe in others capabilities, but doubt their own.

4) People doubt their own capabilities and the capabilities of others.

By examining these four life positions, it is clear that behaviour can be influenced by a range of factors, and can take various forms. Learning difficulties, either naturally occurring, or exacerbated by poor quality teaching, can have a tremendous influence on behaviour in the classroom. Learning difficulties manifest themselves in varying degrees. On the overt end of the spectrum, students can act out, be disruptive, or even violent. On the inverse end of the spectrum, students might feel anxious in class, or lack of self-confidence.

Section 2: Behaviour Management

Students who do not enjoy school, either because of their life position or because they are unhappy with their education, will often direct their anger at their teacher. When this happens, different factors come into play, including class size, the subject, and the type of school they are

learning at. The life position of the teacher will in turn affect how they receive and interpret a students behaviour in class. The best kind of teacher is an authority figure that adopts the first life position above. This means that he/she is able to analyse how young learners react to what is expected of them in the classroom, and he/she feels comfortable and confident carrying out the appropriate consequences based on the learners reacting behaviour. A less ideal teacher expects the learners to be able to analyse what they are doing and monitor themselves accordingly.

Behaviour, and the manipulation thereof, relies on a chain of events that starts with our beliefs, or life positions. Behaviour is a response to a belief. Attitude is a reflection of behaviour. And our beliefs explain why we exert certain behaviour. An example of this might be a teacher deciding to do less choral drilling in class. This behaviour change is a result of a change in attitudemaybe the teacher has found that drilling is not as effective as they once thought. That change in attitude is based on a change in belief; in this example, the belief that drilling is not effective. In order to manipulate and influence the behaviour of young learners, the teacher must tap into the students belief systems. In most cases, he/she must influence the students desires to learn, thereby changing how they go about doing it. This accounts for students entering subjects they thought they did not like, becoming inspired by good teaching, and then trying hard and usually succeeding in the course.