I have just returned from Transylvania, which is a region in the central part of Romania. I didn’t meet Dracula or come across any vampires, but I did meet lots of great teachers of English at the fantastic RATE (Romanian Association of Teachers of English) conference in Cluj- Napoca.
I gave a plenary on the first day sponsored by Helbling Languages entitled – Mental Imagery – and I’d like to briefly share with you some ideas I presented there.
Students often complain they have no one to practise speaking with, but they can always talk to themselves! We do this all the time anyway, and we also have lots of down time with nothing special to do, like waiting for a bus or travelling to and from school or work, when we could silently imagine speaking. Here are some specific suggestions of what learners could try to say to themselves in English. Ask your students for other suggestions. I’m sure they’ll have many more.
- Imagine yourself speaking fluently with people – see, hear, and feel as many details as possible and repeat this often. This is also good for specific situations like interviews, meetings, oral exams etc.
- Describe things you can see. Remember the popular children’s game – ‘I spy with my little eye something beginning with T’ etc.?
- Translate your self-talk. Make sure you keep it positive and de-toxify the negative self-talk. Say new, helpful things to yourself again and again.
- At the end of the day comment to yourself on the best, most important things in your day, and also talk to yourself about your positive plans for the next day.
- At night, just before you go to sleep, imagine (see, hear and feel) all the things you want to achieve and tell yourself about them.
In his book – The Psychology of the Language Learner (2005) – Zoltan Dörnyei writes about motivation and self-motivation, and the concept of the ‘Ideal L2 Self’ as a powerful motivator. This is more effective if students experience success in inner images. As teachers we can encourage our students to create and enhance a motivating vision of themselves as successful future L2 speakers, and help them to reduce the gap between their actual and ideal L2 selves.
And you? Why not try envisioning your Ideal Future Teacher Self? Happy and fulfilled. Imagine all the details – see them, hear them, feel them.
Your mental images can take you wherever you want to go!