Language Coaching vs Teaching or Tutoring
I asked Langtwt this morning if they’ve ever considered working with a language coach, and if so, why or why not. It came to my attention that language coaching is a relatively new discipline and practice, and I realise that I don’t speak about its benefits outside of my circle and online community nearly as often as I should. I also don’t really know what people think about it. I started to question how people see language coaching altogether. What kind of people have considered it? Who is actively against it? Is there a group it may be more helpful for than others?
As a teacher and coach of almost 8 years, I’ve done internal research and have watched many students grow, excel and quit. I’ve also revived many abandoned skills and seen people cry with realisations at incorrect internalised conceptions and expectations of language acquisition. I take what I do very seriously, and I’m always on the lookout for ways to make what I do more valuable for my students.
Yet, I still struggle to communicate the use and importance of language coaching because of its personal nature in comparison to tutoring or teaching.
cause of its personal nature in comparison to tutoring or teaching.
Teaching Languages
Teaching and tutoring language takes on the role of explaining specific information regarding grammar, vocabulary, idiom and usage. A great teacher creates the right classroom environment to help their student feel confident enough to test things out, ask questions and make mistakes. Once creating that environment, the teacher is then able to (and expected to) guide the student to the right answers and a formal usage of specific language norms and capabilities. Depending on the setting of the teaching, this can be tailored to specific goals but is often in alignment with national standards or some greater guidelines for language literacy and fluency (like CEFR or standardised testing/certifications).
The aims of teaching a language:
- Teach you sufficient information for the reproduction of a specific language
- Build your confidence in a language
- Help you to pass tests and hit benchmarks
- Creating a curriculum that helps you to build upon knowledge in a layered way
- Keeping you accountable with your goals by providing a constant check in on your skills
- Help to keep you motivated by providing a space to practise and interact with the language in a no-judgement and fun environment
When is a teacher/tutor optimal for your studies?
→ When you have specific language questions you need to be answered
→ When you know there are things you’re too lazy to memorise on your own
→ When your resources overwhelm you, and you prefer to have someone shape a curriculum for you
→ When you have goals for language test certification or to engage in academics/technical work in your target language
→ When you feel your technical hard skills (grammar, vocab) are lacking significantly
Language teachers are most powerful when you’d like to take a hands-off role, but develop objectively measurable skills especially in reading, writing and presentation skills. I often recommend getting a powerful teacher or attending courses around the intermediate plateau or when you recognise that the next step is something you can’t keep yourself accountable for.
Coaching Languages
A language coach does not teach languages outright. Instead, they focus on the process of acquisition (methodology) and guide you to understand surrounding factors that affect your ability to communicate in cross-cultural spaces (language soft-skills). This process can grow your skills from several angles and is by nature a self-empowering process that places your intention at the centre. This means that from person to person, language coaching can look very different.
The aims of language coaching (at the very least, mine):
- Fostering an understanding of the direct outcomes to the efforts you are putting in (If I do X, I can expect X).
- Keeping you accountable throughout your personal language journey (assisting self-study learners)
- Pushing you to adapt methods that may take you out of your comfort zone but will in fact fill gaps in your language skill
- Guiding you to create a language skill that is personal and representative of who you are, building vocabulary and tone based on you and not a generic prescription
- Urging you to consider the way culture and socialisation informs the way you use and interact using a language (not in a novel way, but at the core of the way you use a language)
- Purging you of a learning mindset informed by overly conservative and often classist expectations and misconceptions of second-language acquisition to unlock greater more meaningful fluency
- Constantly helping you revise your methodology and game plan in order to fit your ever-evolving language skill, environment and stage in life.
When is a coach optimal for your language studies?
→ When you are studying on your own but want to make sure you are always aligned with your goals
→ When you have been studying for a long time (with or without teachers) and you do not see your efforts translating into the skills you expect
→ When you want to learn more naturally with the things you're interested in instead of generic resources
→ When you want to deepen your cultural framework and understanding to learn that new language ethically
→ When you notice you have the hard skills in place (vocabulary, grammar), but still feel insecure using the language
→ When you need guidance to know you’re on the right track, but don’t need someone to hold your hand through the process
The Benefits
In conclusion, both language teaching and coaching are powerful systems that help to grow your languages skills at different stages in your language acquisition journey. Here is a little table with my perceived benefits of both:
Have you considered language coaching or tutoring before? I’d love to hear more about your decisions as a language learner! Leave a comment or hit me up @raes_tea on Twitter/IG
Here’s a link to the threads that started this blog post:
This article can also be found in The Polyglot Magazine.
