Professional Development Activity

REFLECTION ON KEN WILSON’S SPEECH

            Motivation is one of the most significant issues to be considered in language classes because it opens the way to students’ world. Ken Wilson made his speech about motivation, and how teachers can make use of it by presenting several crucial points about the topic. I loved his speech because I was also motivated very much as a prospective teacher while listening to him.

            Ken Wilson started talking about the six motivational factors, and he emphasized that the most important factor is the enthusiasm of the teacher. I certainly agree with him in that teachers’ attitudes towards the students and the lesson really affect students. I always think about this issue, and come to the conclusion that if a teacher lacks enthusiasm, that teacher should give up teaching because he/she will be of no use to not only himself/herself, but also to his/her students. Students want to see enthusiastic and active teachers; in addition, it is of high importance for the students to be activated by their teachers.

            Secondly, what Ken Wilson made us consider is the strategies which can be used to in order to motivate students. According to Wilson’s speech, the first thing we should do before we start the lesson is to make our students curious about the topic. Making students curious about the subject matter can be realized with the use of visuals, asking them questions, and choosing the topic from students’ interest areas. I think if students are interested in the topic, teachers can do whatever they want in order to meet the objectives of the lesson. Therefore, teachers should be very careful when they are deciding on a topic.

            Some of the other significant points Wilson stated are that students should be challenged, given responsibility and allowed to use technology. The task we give students should be not too difficult and not too easy, but it should be challenging so that the students will make an effort and use their higher order thinking skills in order to achieve that task. Moreover, students will feel success and their self confidence will enhance when they are successful; thus, challenge is one of the indispensable things in language classes.

As for the use of technology, nowadays the life is difficult without it. I think we will not be able to use technology in every part of Turkey; especially southern and eastern of it, but the people living in the developed parts of Turkey are used to making use of it, so it may be very beneficial to use technology for the students living there. When those students are allowed to use technology, motivation will be provided for them.

All in all, Ken Wilson reminded us of the necessity of motivation and the ways of achieving it in our classes. As prospective teachers, we should always think about the students and empathize with them. The more motivation our students have, the more fruitful our lessons will be.