The turn of the year prompts everyone to reflect on the past and anticipate the future. We assess our accomplishments and areas for growth, then set our sights on the year ahead.
Language learners can leverage this juncture to evaluate their progress over the past year. By reviewing their achievements, they can springboard into the upcoming year with well-defined goals. Their Rubilan instructors can transform this process into a lesson—a New Year's Learning Resolution. Teachers can craft a lesson plan that encourages discussions and writing, focusing on reflection and goal-setting.
Imagine a student, Alex, eager to embark on a year of lessons with their preferred Rubilan teacher, Jamie. Jamie has devised a lesson plan to assist Alex in formulating their English learning resolutions for the new year. At Jamie's direction, Alex begins jotting down brief notes regarding their successes from the previous year and aspirations for the next.
This New Year's resolution lesson commences with a warm-up discussion activity. Jamie prompts Alex with a series of questions designed to encourage reflection on their initial language goals for the prior year. The first question might be, "How would you assess your language proficiency at the year's start?" or "How comfortable were you with verb tenses?" These queries guide Alex in recognizing areas of linguistic growth from the past year, fostering a sense of accomplishment.
Subsequently, Jamie shifts the focus to areas where Alex might not have made significant progress, though not framing them as "failures." Instead, they're labeled "missed opportunities." Alex might share, "I aimed to enhance my pronunciation, but I still struggle with words ending in -ed." In this moment, Jamie and Alex pinpoint a prime learning goal for the forthcoming year.
Alex and Jamie then collaboratively determine the appropriate overall language proficiency goal for the year's end. They consider aiming for middle intermediate, upper intermediate, or advanced levels, striking a balance between ambition and realism. This lays the foundation for identifying specific areas to address in pursuit of "leveling up." They brainstorm strategies to accomplish these goals together. Does Alex possess a solid grasp of the vocabulary for the next level? Or should they concentrate on elevated grammar and speaking skills? This strategic planning forms the basis for success in the year ahead.
During the writing phase, Jamie aids Alex in putting their goals for the next year into writing. Jamie might suggest that Alex draft a letter to themselves or to the teacher. Given that Alex is one of Jamie's business students, the writing takes on a business letter structure. This aligns with the business English aspect they worked on in the previous year. Alex crafts the memo as if they were a CEO delivering an annual performance review summary to their employee—themselves. This approach emphasizes formal business English and structure.
Within the letter, Alex initiates by assessing progress from the preceding year. They review their objectives from the past year, detailing accomplishments and areas for growth. Jamie encourages Alex to incorporate softening phrases and constructive language, ensuring an honest yet positive tone. For instance, Alex might write, "You dedicated significant effort last year, achieving considerable progress in mastering verb tenses. In the forthcoming year, enhancing your conversational accuracy with these tenses could be a valuable target. Furthermore, refining pronunciation, especially in words ending in -ed and -s, is another priority."
The subsequent section of the letter sees Alex outlining five measurable and realistic goals for the upcoming year. Jamie encourages Alex to present these goals in numbered or bullet-point format. This enables periodic evaluation of progress, perhaps quarterly, aligning with a trackable approach that ensures clarity and measurement of goals.
—Teacher Rebecca