language learning – motivation, discipline

saw this post on fb that caught my eyes:

160415-violinist_motivation_discipline

ignore, or look beyond the first paragraph.

the writer of this little piece was talking about practising music/violin #ipresume. 我们当中有玩乐器的就会知道,“练习”这一回事可以是奇闷无比的,但是不练又难以达到所需的(成熟)技术,尤其是手指的灵活度、身体对节奏的敏感与反映。@PS 不知道打羽球是不是也这样?

语文学习何尝不是有这般成分?有吗?还是没有?应该有吧?有哪些呢?:P

motivation (cf. 兴趣) 是我们热衷的话题。这一小段文字不禁提醒了我——或许我们在维系学生的学习动机的当儿,不可忽略的是discipline——纪律这一块。纪律,从“教”的角度出发较常关联的是课室管理classroom mgmt “CM”. 若从“学习”的角度出发呢?语文学习可以培养哪些纪律呢?换句话说,学习的语文的当儿其实也在“学习”纪律。

写到这儿,不禁又联想到,“学习”一词,引起开始的“学”或许是motivation;接下来能不能持之以恒地“习”,discipline就占主导了?当然,这里我想的是主次的关系,不是二分; it’s not a dichotomy.

motivation – discipline is an inseparable duo. @斯安 Skilful Teacher 中是这样阐释的吗? 😛

confidence, where does it belong?

was discussing interpretation of data with yanni this morning, and we came upon a quote that touches on 信心 confidence. but where does it belong? a quick search placed it under beliefs, specifically self-beliefs.

and how is confidence related to learning? chanced upon Saga Briggs’ article, where she cited Kansas State U’s Professor Candice Shoemaker:

“Confidence is a measure of one’s belief in one’s own abilities and is considered a psychological trait that is related to, but distinct from, both personality and ability traits,” she says. “An interrelated construct is ‘self-efficacy,’ which refers to a person’s belief in one’s capabilities to learn or perform behaviors. Research shows that self-efficacy influences academic motivation, learning, and achievement. “

Briggs added, “Although confidence and self-efficacy are interrelated, she says, a defining aspect of self-efficacy, which distinguishes it from the more general construct of confidence, is its domain-specific nature.”

so in summary, confidence is a one’s belief in oneself without a specific domain, and self-efficacy treats confidence in the learning domain. and since self-efficacy may affect learner’s motivation, the act of learning, and achievement in learning, it shows how important a learner gains confidence 信心 while s/he learn. yes, a related qn would be how do we build/increase confidence of a learner? this is something important to explore, next (:

confidence photo(acknowledgement: geralt)