Self- Esteem in Young Learners

Gabriela N. Tavella

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There are a number of individual factors which directly affect language learning: self- esteem, motivation, anxiety, learning styles. This article intends to describe an experience connected to the systematic use of activities to enhance students' self- esteem and thus, promote language learning.

We will start by trying to define self- esteem. There are a wide number of definitions but I will adopt the following ones:

- Discrepancy between one's ideal self and one's perceived self. William James (1890)

- The disposition to experience oneself as competent to cope with the challenges of life and as deserving of success and happiness. Nathaniel Branden (1983)

Robert Reasoner's programme on building self- esteem in the classroom fosters five basic attitudes which influence the level of self- esteem: the sense of security, the sense of identity, the sense of belonging, the sense of purpose and the sense of competence. I decided to systematically try some of the activities he describes with my own groups of young learners (from 5 to 10 years old).

I will describe three activities which were aimed at building self- esteem and at further developing their language.

This activity has been adapted from Murray White's "Special Child for the day". I have carried out this experience for two years.

During the first year, a student was chosen to be the protagonist during a whole "English" week, this meant four days a week. Protagonists had to carry out specific activities during each day. Parents received a note in which they were told about the activity and they were asked to help the children prepare what they had to bring or what they could say.

1^st day: The protagonist talked about his/ her family. He/ she brought pictures and personal belongings to show his/her classmates.
2 ^nd day: The protagonist talked about the food he/ she liked and the activities he/ she liked doing.
3^rd day: The protagonist talked about his/ her routines.
4^th day: The protagonist was asked to leave the class and each student thought of a good quality to tell his/ her classmate. The teacher wrote all the adjectives on a paper which was to be displayed on a notice board.
Students were asked to be solemn when addressing the class protagonist, a ceremonial atmosphere was created.

These were some of the positive things that were analysed after implementing the activity

- Students felt more accepted by their classmates as some of their good qualities and individual strengths were openly revealed.

"It is important for students not only to realize their own uniqueness but also feel accepted by their peers" (Reasoner, 1992, p. 46).

- Some more introverted, less vocal students were integrated to the group because their classmates had been able to detect their personal qualities and strengths.

"Some children may be naturally shy and introverted, yet have high self- esteem… But the child with low self- esteem is apt to exhibit high degrees of anxiety, be fearful of taking risks, and not relate positively with other children" (Reasoner, 1992, p. 4).

- Students were able to detect common likes; this helped to further develop group bonds.

"In order for children to feel good about themselves, they need to feel accepted by others" (Reasoner, 1992, p. 43).

- Some parents got really involved with the activity, they sent letters to be read during the class, they shared with their children this very important moment of preparing themselves to be "the class protagonist". It was really a very special moment for each of the students.

"Studies indicate that children who lack attention or feedback are apt to have poorer self- concepts than those who receive either positive or negative feedback on a regular basis" (Reasoner, 1992, pp. 4-5).

For the second year some reformulations were planned:

- The activity was to last two days instead of four as it resulted to be rather long and students sometimes felt the need to repeat information already shared.

Parents were informed. Students took home a kind of profile (Figure 1) which they had to fill in at home with the help of their parents, if possible.

Figure 1

On the 1st day, the protagonist talked about the profile with the help of the teacher.
On the 2nd day, the protagonist was asked questions that the whole class had previously prepared. After this, the protagonist left the class and "the ceremony" was organized: special music marked the entrance of the protagonist, sometimes connected to the learner's preference, and good qualities were expressed by each student in the class

These are some of the adjectives students used to describe the protagonist: "positive, quick, friendly, unique, good- humoured, sweet, intelligent, peaceful, kind, enthusiastic, funny, witty, brave, calm, responsible, polite, angelic."

This moment resulted to be a very special one. Some five- year olds were able to express how moved they felt and they could thank their friends for what they have shared.

This activity helped to honour their uniqueness, it focused on their good qualities contributing to develop a positive self- image.

I could say that the gradual incorporation of the target language was openly manifested. It is worth mentioning the fact that all of them were first year students when this activity started.

Dring the first year the activity was mostly carried out in the students' mother tongue with the teacher translating to the L2 so that, at least, they could listen to the foreign language. They could only use the target language to refer to the protagonist's good qualities. Through this activity they started to organize a word bank connected to this specific vocabulary area.

The use of the foreign language during this second year noticeably increased both receptively and productively. Some of them naturally use the L2 to talk about their profiles; others, responded to the teacher's questions in Spanish, and the teacher translated most of the responses; and some others, tried to use the target language to answer.

As regards the questions they had to write in order to know more about the protagonist's life: the five year- old students asked spontaneous questions in English using the following patterns: "Do you like …? Have you got …?" and the seven to ten year- old students produced the questions beforehand. Questions were understood by all students, some learners answered them in Spanish and some others in English.

An evident increase in the use of the foreign language as a means to communicate personal matters was shown in most of the students of both groups.

"It should be remembered that from a humanistic point of view self- esteem is not increased by empty praise but by ensuring learner achievement in the language" (Arnold, 2001), "as the level of self- esteem increases, so do achievement scores; and as self- esteem decreases, so does achievement" (Reasoner, 1992, p. 8).

Following de Andrés' ideas, I decided to use literature both as a means to enhance language and as a means to enhance their self- esteem. Each of the stories was the springboard to talk about "children's most common difficulties: anger, isolation, lies and rejection" (1999, p. 92). To choose the stories, I tried to use texts which were "linguistically simple but cognitively and emotionally complex" (Tomlinson, 2003).

We worked on topics such as:
Shyness, Isolation and friendship in Tiny Tiger by Barbara deRubertis
Perseveranc e in Lucky Duck by Barbara deRubertis
Feelings and emotions in L is for Loving- An ABC for the Way You Feel by Ken Wilson- Max and The Way I Feel by Janan Cain
Isolation and friendship - A Colour of its Own by Leo Lionni
Change - I'm a Caterpillar by Jean Marzollo
Limits - Saying No by Joy Berry
Autonomy and doing unwanted tasks - Being Helpful by Joy Berry

The use of literature was the starting point to talk about personal matters but in the context set by the book itself. Students analysed the characters' conflicts and then they were able to take them to their own personal lives.

Language was first used receptively, students had to understand the story the teacher was telling them. They responded to the text through their senses. After this first contact, students were asked to produce role- plays or carry out some kind of follow- up exercises in which they had to use the language more productively. "If the initial focus is on a potentially engaging text it's much more likely that the writer will keep the learners in mind than if the initial focus is on a language item or skill" (Tomlinson, 2003).

This could be a reformulated version of the Magic Circles described by Murray White. This activity was generally carried out at the beginning of each class.

Five to six year- old students sat in a circle and it was the moment for them to express their feelings of happiness, sadness or anger. All the children in the circle clapped their hands and sang: "Are you happy, are you happy… (name of the child)? Yes or no and why?" Only one student was addressed and the rest of the students in the circle had to listen carefully. Students were asked to speak only when it was their turn.

This activity was part of the classroom routine; students knew that it marked the class beginning. Children were aware of what was expected from them. This activity reduced anxiety and helped foster a feeling of security in each of the members of the group.

To introduce a bit of variation in turn taking, music was sometimes used. Students passed a ball and when music stopped, the student who had the ball had to say "I am sad/ angry/ happy because …, "I feel angelic/ brave/ jealous when …" or had to answer questions such as "What makes you happy/ sad/ jealous …?" These feelings had been first presented through the books L is for Loving and The Way I Feel - quoted above.

Another activity carried out during circle time was the following: children chose a feeling and an action to mime it, this helped them recall the words. These same feelings were the ones actively used to characterize the protagonist.

Use of the Target Language

Students were allowed to express themselves in their mother tongue as the main aim of the activity was to aid them be aware of their uniqueness and of our real interest in their feelings and worries. The teacher tried to reinforce what they said by using the foreign language. After having used this activity for two years, we can now say that they have started to use the target language almost naturally.

I can say that these activities have been of utmost important in helping each student feel unique in front of his/her classmates and to develop group bonds. Students were able to understand what the other was feeling. Quoting White (1997), "For a short time the academic curriculum is set aside and affective education, i.e. education of the emotions, is dealt with in a structured way." "When harmony reigns, learning flourishes".

Arnold, J. (2001) The Jackendoff "Skeptic" on Humanistic Language Teaching. Humanising Language Teaching [Internet], Year3, Issue 3, May. Available from: http:// old.hltmag.co.uk
de Andrés, V. (1999) Self- esteem in the classroom or the metamorphosis of the butterflies. In: Arnold, J. (Ed.) Affect in Language Learning, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 87- 102.
Reasoner, R. (1992) Building Self- Esteem in the Elementary Schools. California: Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc.
Tomlinson, B. (2001) Humanising the Coursebook. Humanising Language Teaching [Internet], Year 3, Issue 5, September. Available from: http:// old.hltmag.co.uk
Tomlinson, B. (2003) Humanising the Language Class. In press RELC Guidelines.
White, M.(1997) The Benefits of Circle Time. [Internet] Available from: www.globalideasbank.org
White, M. Magic Circle to enhance children's self- esteem. [Internet] Available from: www.globalideasbank.org

Please check the Creative Methodology For The Classroom course at Pilgrims website.