A slightly late (my fault!) Valentine’s Day guest piece by Carmela Chateau on the always perplexing question of teaching teens:
“Can teenagers be taught languages? That is the question. On Valentine’s Day, English teachers will recall that Shakespeare’s most famous teenagers were more interested in love than in language: as Juliet pointed out to Romeo, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. And anyone who has faced a group of twenty to thirty fourteen-year-olds of whatever nationality knows how little interest they show in other names, in other languages.
In 2004, the British government made language learning optional after the age of fourteen. Many teenagers, given the option, abandoned language learning, possibly because of the harsh grading of language exams in comparison with other subjects. Check out the CILT site for more details.
The case in France is slightly different. Native English speakers can still just about get away with the idea that people worldwide speak English: after all, how many TEFL teachers are fluent in the language of the country where they are working? But France is officially aware that English is necessary. It is impossible to get an engineering diploma without a certificate in at least one modern foreign language, and English is generally the language of choice, or the default option. The problem is to decide what level of language learning is necessary, when language learning should be programmed on the syllabus and how language acquisition should be evaluated.
A great deal of research has been done on language levels, and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF or CEFR) is the end result. Language skills are described by “can do” levels. Check out the Council of Europe website
In the United States, the FSI (Foreign Service Institute) Rating Scale is used. The lowest level can be reached after 240 hours of training.
The main problem is how to evaluate with accuracy and consistency what lies behind the descriptors. Written tests are much easier and less costly to grade, and MCQs are the easiest tests of all from that point of view. Teenagers can of course be taught languages by rote, or trained to the test, but the end result of all the time and energy poured into language learning is often an adult who says “I don’t speak _______”. Fill in the blank with the language studied, generally for at least seven years, with an estimated average of at least fifty hours a year. That makes a total of 350 hours training, for an end result which for most of the participants is disappointing to say the least.
Most language teachers agree that motivation is often the key to success. Teenagers are probably the least easily motivated group of learners. Young children are generally eager to learn, unembarrassed about sounding silly and willing to live language rather than just learn it. As they get older, they grow more and more sensitive to peer pressure, and less and less interested in the outside world. And when they are in their own country, teenagers have no real language needs apart from their own language.
One solution to that problem could be to replace the grading system with positive task-based evaluation. Student A knows the alphabet well enough to spell most words. Student B can count up to a hundred. Student C can do sums in the target language. Student D can order food. Student E can write a postcard. The Language Portfolio is an excellent tool for this type of evaluation.
It might even be a good idea to abandon formal language training in the classroom at the onset of puberty and then go back to it later on when language needs become more specific. Perhaps young people at this age should be encouraged to explore languages via the internet, or language-learning software programs, which would remove some of the impediments to learning that the classroom setup encourages. And perhaps students might be more interested in learning languages when the name of the rose gets them through to the next level.”
Anyone else think we should give up on teens? I, for one, danced with joy when they told me on my phone interview for this job that it was just under 11s and over 18s. The theory seems to suggest that teens are the perfect age to learn languages- but I ain’t had none of them teens in my classes!
TEFLtastic 
I confess I recoil in horror at any blog post that guides me to the Council of Europe website, which is a shame because the rest of this post is great. Thank you, Carmela.
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Hi Alex and Carmela,
In my experience (admittedly not that vast) I’ve found teenagers one of the hardest groups to teach but also one of the funnest as well.
I have taught teens as a language assistant in A Coruña and EFL teacher in Pamplona is Spain, and as an ESOL teacher in the UK. I had by far the most difficult challenge with those teens in Spain. I think in Spain it was more difficult as I was teaching monolingual groups, and the amount of time they actually speak English in their main English lessons was very minimal. I also found it tricky to engage with them by trying to talk about their weekends and free time activities. It seemed like every weekend or holiday they just ‘went to their village’ (really the place where their parents or grandparents were originally from). However, I don’t think this last point was limited to Spanish teens, as I often asked what my Business learners had been up to at the weekend and they would say ‘I went to my parents for lunch’.
I managed to deal with the teens by using a lot of music and video, and games in my lessons. I didn’t really think about what they ‘can do’ just what they might be ‘interested in doing’. I think that’s the key. And I really like the point above about using a ‘can do’ system, but relating it to life rather than simply language usage or grammar.
Conversely, I’ve had the most interesting experience this year teaching an ESOL class of 16-18 year old learners. That’s not to say it’s been easy or unchallenging. I think it’s a very interesting time of life being a teen. Let’s not give up on them, because without the teens interested in language learning, where are you going to get your 18+ students??
Thanks, Carmela, for a great post!
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Good article that raises some good points.
From my experience, there does appear to be an age at which teaching foreign languages can be a thankless task. I taught a group of teenagers last year and it was quite clear that my group of 15-16 year old would have preffered to do anything other than sit in a classroom with me.
However, I’m currently teaching 4 groups of 12 to 14 year olds and, I have to admit, teaching them is the best thing about my job. I admit that here, in Italy, childhood differs from other cultures (they don’t become sulky brats till they attend the Liceo at 14 and their maturity remains a couple of years behind that of their peers in other countries well into their 20’s) but with the kids I’m currently teaching, their enthusiasm and their sense of fun encourages me to become more enthusiastic about the job and to play with my creativity. I can’t wait to make dream catchers next week in order to teach ‘going to’!
The truth is that teenagers can be both the most enjoyable experience in teaching and the worst. Unfortunately, the experience depends on the group being taught and the teacher retains little power over this aspect. I think that at 14 the importance of languages should be stressed to pupils but the uptake of lessons shouldn’t be compulsory. This would encourage people to take them but would also prevent their destruction at the hands of an unrully pupil who’d prefer to be smoking cigarettes in the bike sheds than listening to you explain the 3rd conditional.
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Oh interesting Carmella.
I have little experience of teaching teens, but enough to identify with the thoughts that you and others have expressed here.
I like your idea of exploring languages. Rather than a specific language (till its need becomes more apparent and pressing) might a more general course in how languages work be better foundation – lots of languages – – cross cultural differences- collocation – language change – politeness universals – metaphors – connotation…?
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please advise me how to mannage a misbehave child in a class?
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