However, once I started learning verbs (which is a bit more challenging because there are different groups and levels of politeness), and putting more complex sentences together it becomes way more interesting again. Sometimes it does get boring because the words are too basic, like airplane, train, months and days of the week. The Goldilocks Rule is a term I found in the book Atomic Habits, and I started implementing it on my habit of studying Japanese everyday. Maximum motivation happens when were are challenged with manageable level of difficulty. Just right.Īccording to James Clear, the author of the book Atomic Habits, the ideal difficulty level is roughly 4% beyond your current abilities.ĭoing so will put you in “ flow state,” which is the experience of being “ in the zone” and fully immersed in an activity. One way I use to add “Novelty” to my routines or habits is by following the Goldilocks Rule Goldilocks Rule Humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. One solution to overcome this issue is to introduce a novelty aspect.Īs Machiavelli said, “Men desire novelty to such an extent that those who are doing well wish for a change as much as those who are doing badly.” Whether an activity is too easy or too hard, we start loosing motivation. The main reason isn’t really because we fail at it, but because we get bored. Next time you design your language learning task, make sure that it is of desirable difficulty so that students’ struggles result in productive learning gains.It is normal that we loose motivation whenever we’re trying to build a habit like learning a new skill, or going to the gym. From a theoretical perspective, rich, interesting and comprehensible input is necessary for students to acquire the target language. Students may experience difficulty in comprehending the contents of the TED talk, but their struggles are well worth their efforts. Viewing an authentically interesting TED talk with the help of subtitles or captions (or other forms of support) on the other hand is a more productive way of learning a second language. Students do experience difficulty and frustration completing these exercises, but the learning gains are, more often than not, negligible. ![]() Examples of meaningful, age-appropriate project works can be found here.Īn example of undesirable and unproductive struggles in language learning would be those discrete vocabulary and grammar exercises commonly found in traditional language classes. In such a project, students are guided to ask questions, to learn how to collaborate with their peers to present, explain, elaborate on their ideas, to think more critically and to come up with innovative and creative solutions to an authentic problem. When students are presented with a real world project framed as a meaningful problem that requires authentic solutions, they are likely to sustain their interest, motivation and determination to complete the project. Thus the terms Desirable Difficulty and Productive Struggle mean that for optimal language learning purposes, students need to meet with the kind of difficulty or struggle that is both desirable (affective dimension) and productive (cognitive dimension).Īn example of a language learning task that can engage students in productive struggles is project work. This is particularly so when they know that their efforts in completing the task can lead to clear and visible learning gains. However, when a difficult task is nicely packaged so that they spark students’ interest and curiosity, students become more willing and motivated to do their level best to complete the tasks. Students tend to avoid difficult tasks that require endless (and pointless) struggles. I like these two terms as they are more illuminating.Īs we all know, the words difficulty and struggle often have negative connotations. More recently, people have used less technical and more teacher friendly terms to describe the same principle, i.e., Desirable Difficulty and Productive Struggle. ![]() The just-right or Goldilocks principle is similar to Vygotsky’s concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), i.e., learning is optimal when our lesson is pitched at the students’ ZPD where they can acquire new knowledge using their own cognitive resources and/or in collaboration with their more capable peers. When you pitch your lesson at the right level, you can expect your students to be more engaged and as a result, learn a lot more. The materials are neither too easy nor too difficult, too simple nor too complex or too little nor too much. When you are presenting new materials that are ‘just right’ for your students, you are in essence applying the Goldilocks principle. The Goldilocks Principle: Not Too Hot, Not Too Cold
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