Movement method

I believe, learning a language is very personal. Every individual has a different personality, motivation, character and learning skills. Age and environment play a huge role as well.

I had my first contact with English language when I was 6 years old. I have fond memories from these classes and I still remember my first words I learned: a cat, a fox and a dog. I didn’t attend many classes, but I never forgot these words.

I continued with English studies in my third grade at primary school and continued my studies for 9 years. Rote learning was widely used in our school and strong emphasis was on memorising facts, numbers and grammar. Being an extravert, interested in arts and learning trough practice, I was not motivated to master English. I found learning languages was easier for me than learning for example chemistry, therefore I put my emphasis on science subjects just to be able to graduate.

I truly mastered English language while living and working abroad because I was highly motivated as I had to use English, especially Business English, for work and in every day communication.

I am also a trained dancer and dance teacher. Thanks to my profession, I have travelled and lived in different countries and experienced firsthand learning a new language other than English and the struggles with it.

With these years of experience, I observed that I was able to learn a new language, especially dance methodology and vocabulary, much quicker by attending dance classes. I was listening to the teacher and following his/her moves. It helped me to learn the vocabulary and remember it.

On contrary, I was experiencing difficulties conducting a dance class in a foreign language, because I was not used to using the specific vocabulary and it was much harder to match sentences with moves and explain actions in detail.

Before moving to Barcelona, I was living 2 years in Poland. During my second year, I started teaching English as a foreign language in a middle school in Poland. This school hired me especially because I had very minimal knowledge of Polish and they wanted me to use only English language in the class. This school was recognized for having strong level of English and it wanted teachers to use Berlitz or Direct Method of teaching.

Though, I noticed that students were not used to and did not feel comfortable using and expressing in English. Their written skills were quite good, but they were struggling with oral skills such as understanding and answering questions.

I quickly realized that their previous teacher found it easier to communicate and explain vocabulary and grammar in Polish rather than English, and my students were finding it very difficult to express themselves. As time passed, students started using English language more at ease because they had the prior knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar, but they were lacking the practice of using it. They had also motivation and need to learn the language, otherwise they were not able to communicate with me or pass the lesson with a good grade.  

Taking my prior experience and knowledge into account, I believe humans learn best with high levels of need and motivation. My assumption is that people interested in arts, sports and movement, learn best trough practice. Taking this into account, I am confident that there is room for English for Specific Purposes methodology to teach English to professional instructors who need to teach practices related with movement, such as dance fitness, Yoga and Pilates.

Movement method

Movement method is targeted to movement practitioners who are teaching in their own language but are struggling to instruct and express themselves while teaching a class in English.

Movement method uses Cognitivism learning methodology as people need active participation in order to learn. Movement method is inspired also by other teaching methodologies such as Total Physical Response, Berlitz/Direct method, The Silent Way and Suggestopedia.

This method is aimed at movement professionals, regardless of their age. Most likely they are highly motivated adults, because for example trained dancers are aware of the discipline and commitment it takes to be a better dancer.

To master the language in most optimum speed, it is advisable for students to have prior knowledge of elementary or intermediate level of English. Berlitz method is being used, therefore classes are conducted only in English and it speeds up the progress if students are being able to communicate at least in elementary level. This method can be used also with beginner level students, although it will take longer for them to reach the target language as first focus needs to be teaching them English in a beginner level and keeping them motivated to reach to an elementary communicative level.

Group sizes can vary but ideally between 4 to 14 students. It’s better to work with a small group than with an individual student as it’s easier to create for example a fitness class atmosphere with more number of people. Students can relate to the language much more and have a feeling that they are conducting an actual fitness class.

In addition to teaching, the students will learn for example how to communicate in person and via email with their students and (future) employers. There will be also focus on English for marketing and advertisement. This will help them to market their classes and themselves as artist across various marketing channels like social media, email marketing and a website.

Affective factors

As mentioned earlier, this method is aimed at movement instructors who want to become better in leading a class in English. Being better teachers will ensure bigger satisfaction from their students and also increases their job opportunities, therefore students taking the course should have quite high motivation level.

Dance, Fitness and Yoga instructors are used to speaking in front of audience and are generally outgoing. Their personality is helpful learning a new language, as they are not afraid to express themselves and engage in different activities. Though, as a Movement Method teacher, one needs always take into account that there might be one or few introverted students and make sure that everyone has a chance to speak and engage.

Inspired by Suggestopedia, the learning environment should make students feel relaxed and inspired. If possible, on the walls should be pictures and vocabulary related to body parts, muscle groups and movement. Different seating options are welcomed, as long as students feel comfortable. Important factor is having plenty of space in the room which inspires freedom of movement and space for expression.

I believe that in this method, immediate correction of errors is necessary, as the students will remember and learn to speak correctly. I believe, most effective practice for the teacher to correct a student, is using primarily The Silent Way and Total Physical Response and if the student still is unable to correct themselves, the teacher can use lighter version of Callan method by repeating the correct sentence and asking the student to repeat after.

Example of Movement Method syllabus

Assessment

I believe that assessment is necessary as English will be used at a professional level. Continuous assessment and practice will help students to store information better and later use it in their work. Forms of continuous assessments are projects, writings tasks, role plays, mock teaching practices.

As mentioned before, strong emphasis is practicing the language trough physical movement, as it helps students to remember content much better and later use it in practice. End of the course, the final assessment is conducting a whole class by themselves.

Movement Method is a still a concept and constantly evolving. I am confident that many ideas from this method can be used in a regular English class where you have students from different professional backgrounds, as long as they are, or the teacher can make them, aware of their needs and motivation.