Getting to Know Students

Main Takeaways

Knowing how to address your students and their language interests can improve interactions and learning outcomes

When students are able to get to know their instructors, they better understand what it means to be a linguist and have context for what they’re learning and why

Learning in what ways your students are themselves experts in various languages and skills will facilitate better experiences for everyone

Quick Wins

Changes you can easily implement to make a difference in your teaching and in the learning and experiences of your students

  • Learn and use the correct name (including pronunciation) and pronouns for students: Be clear that addressing and referring to students correctly is a priority and try to learn their names and pronouns early on (see the information about a welcome survey below for a way to ask about names and pronouns that does not single students out in class)
  • Encourage students to come to office hours: Explain what office hours are and ask students to come to office hours during the first few weeks of the course to introduce themselves
  • Share about yourself and your background: Recognize that building a classroom community also involves students getting to know you and take opportunities during introductions and other relevant points in the course to share information about yourself, especially when you are asking students to share information about themselves
  • Learn to recognize the various types of strengths and knowledge students bring: In your interactions with students, learn to recognize them as experts in various ways and seek to leverage their expertise as much as possible
  • Respect student privacy: Recognize that some students may not feel comfortable sharing personal information with the class and don’t require this or single students out

Bigger Impact

What more can be done to have a long-term, positive impact in your teaching and on your students’ learning and experiences in linguistics?

Suggestion #1: Administer a welcome survey for the course

Use an opening survey as a chance to collect information about students and their hopes and concerns for the course and use the information from the survey to shape aspects of the course and to guide your interactions with students.

Why?

  • Using an online survey rather than relying solely on in-class introductions can provide students with an opportunity to share information that they may not feel comfortable sharing with the whole class
  • Learning about students’ background can help you to make the course more relevant to students’ experiences and needs
  • Checking in with students at the very beginning of the quarter can help to foster an environment of support early on and can help to identify student needs and concerns so that they can be addressed early

How?

  • Use an online form, such as a Canvas quiz, to collect responses and ask students to complete the form during the first week of the course (note that a Canvas assignment like this can serve to certify commencement of academic activity)
  • Make each response optional so that students do not feel pressure to share information that they do not feel comfortable sharing
  • Consider the following ideas for types of questions
    • Name and pronouns
      • “What name would you like me to call you in class?” (You can also provide a field for an IPA transcription or for an audio recording for pronunciation.)
      • “What pronouns would you like me to use for you in class?”
      • Asking questions this way gives students a chance to indicate how they’d like to be referred to in this context, which may be different from other settings. Asking these questions privately online rather than synchronously in front of other students also avoids putting students on the spot and gives them a chance to decide what information they feel comfortable sharing in this context.
    • Language background
      • “What languages do you know or have you studied?”
      • “What languages were used in your home or family?”
      • You may also consider asking about level or context of experience with the language. In doing this, it is important to model ways of discussing linguistic experience that validate various ways that one might know or have a connection to a language.
    • Goals for the course
      • “Why did you decide to take this course?”
      • “What are you hoping to learn in this course?”
      • “What is one thing you hope to get out of this course?”
      • Understanding the goals and objectives your students are bringing to the table can help you to be more responsive to their needs.
    • Potential obstacles
      • “Is there anything that you are nervous or hesitant about in this course?”
      • “Are there any personal factors or external realities that you are concerned may impact your learning in this course that you would like me to be aware of?”
      • Make space to acknowledge the challenges that students may face. Giving students a chance to share things up front can help you to identify students that should be connected to resources and accommodations right away and can encourage students to come to you quickly should they experience difficulties during the quarter.
  • Respond to students individually and find ways to incorporate information or insights from the survey into the class, such as through highlighting the languages spoken by the class in a slide, incorporating languages used by students in assignments or lecture, and devoting time to topics that students noted an interest in

Suggestion #2: Create a linguistic autobiography assignment

Invite students to reflect on their own linguistic experience and how this affects their perspective on language.

Why?

  • Sharing linguistic histories between students and instructors helps to establish common ground and a foundation to build from through the rest of the course
  • When students feel their history and experiences are valued, they feel more welcome to contribute to discussions, participate in assignments, and overall be a part of the learning process
  • Future linguists should be comfortable reflecting on their experiences and understanding their positionality in their studies and their work

How?

  • Provide students with a series of prompts that they can respond to that ask about various aspects of their background and experience and how it relates to language
  • Invite students to create a response in the form of a short essay or video
  • Create your own linguistic autobiography and share it with students as an example
  • Devote time to discussing the autobiographies in class, inviting students to share their perspectives from the assignment while not requiring any students to disclose any information they don’t wish to share with the class

Resources

My linguistic autobiography. Charity Hudley, Anne H. 2009.

Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Yosso, Tara J. 2005. Race Ethnicity and Education 8(1): 69-91.

Get to know and engage your students. Deakin University Inclusive Education.

The problem with pronoun practices. Conrod, Kirby. 2019.

Icebreakers for Online Community Building. UCSD Teaching & Learning Commons Engaged Teaching Hub.

The Five-Minute Poem. University of Michigan Inclusive Teaching.