Several of my books agree: success motivates. Beginners see progress easily; intermediates hit a plateau where progress becomes invisible; advanced learners need clear evidence of what is still to learn. The teacher’s job changes from creating success to making it visible.
Across the books
- Dunn (via Bruner): we become interested in what we’re good at; children want immediate results.
- Muciaccia: success breeds success; students need to see results.
- Harmer (my notes): beginner success is easy to arrange (and so is failure); intermediates plateau, so show them what they still need to learn; advanced learners need a culture of clear progress evidence.
Theory (Claude)
Bandura’s mastery experiences are the strongest source of self-efficacy; Dörnyei’s motivational strategies include “make progress visible”. The plateau is partly real (the long tail of lower-frequency vocabulary) and partly perceptual.
Make it visible
- Before/after samples of the same task (writing, a recorded speaking turn) every term.
- Can-do checklists tied to the next CEFR level.
- Vocabulary counts by frequency band, not just “words learned”.
Connections
Improvement rubrics - describe what writers do, not what they lack · Design peak moments in a course · CEFR vocabulary labels - prioritise, don’t restrict · Self-regulated learning - goals, triggers, self-talk