Language is something that people can learn but there is a need for attitude and dedication. Such an attitude along with commitment helps anyone learning any language to be more effective. People learning English also require some assistance. In this guide, we’ll introduce you the systematic sequential processes which are necessary to form and facilitate a supportive community that enables learners to practice their English and develop relationships.
Creating community implies a systematic approach-oriented construction, and thus it requires first of all clear goals. Some questions you should ask yourself are:
What is this community meant to achieve in the end?
Who is targeted by this community?
What level of English proficiency will the community cater to (beginners, intermediate, advanced)?
What sort of help or resources will the community provide?
Having a purpose that is specific to the interest of the target members makes it easy to draw in the relevant members. So, if your focus is helping the recent English learners (beginners herein) to make use of talking English, then from your activities and content: that is practiced through the use of E-Learning(audiovisual means).
In every community, the platform selected will determine whether the community will flourish or not. Look for platforms that are easy to use. Here are some popular options:
Facebook Groups: Outstanding for the development of either private or public communities where members post, comment, and share.
WhatsApp or Telegram: Best suited for this activity are smaller groups and interactions which focus on conversations taking place at the moment.
Discord: It has text, audio and video communication functionalities and is best suited for large, highly structured communities.
Slack: More appropriate for formal/professional communities, that permits of orderly discourse and sharing of materials.
With regard to the selection of a platform, you should assess the tastes of your audience as well as the form of the communication that you would like to promote.
Content is the lifeblood of the community. To ensure that members keep participating, and coming back, ensure to provide them with regular, useful, and relevant information. For example:
Weekly Engagements: Request your members to submit weekly language challenges, for example writing an essay, recording themselves giving a speech, or learning a set of new words.
Live Activities: Conduct live question and answer sessions, webinars, or workshops with proficient native teachers and/or English professionals.
Resource Sharing: Use articles, videos, podcasts, applications, and other tools which could add to the improvement of everyone’s English proficiency; for example, by making useful resource pages.
Discussion Topics: Bring up some topics on which members should communicate, reason out, and in the process hone their writing and speaking skills.
There can be no community without interaction which is why there is the saying “concerns encourage”. Push members into massive concern by:
Asking Open-Ended Questions: Ask questions that require more than a yes or no answer, to encourage more discussion.
Encouraging Member Participation: Inform people’s participation who are posting useful information or helping others.
Coordinating Group Events: Organise group events such as language games or role plays, or even group stories.
Encouraging New Members: Ensure that every new member who joins the site feels at home. You may want to assign a place to introduce new members, and let current ones welcome them.
A community is said to be safe and participative if members feel valued and supported. In order to build such an environment:
Set Clear Guidelines: Define certain communication or behavior rules based on mutual respect, such as no harassment or discrimination or negativity of any sort in any member’s way.
Moderate Effectively: Have enough power users and/or social managers who can join the conversation, intervene, troubleshoot, and make sure the rules are being followed.
Foster Compassion and Patience: Suggest that members try to be accommodating, especially for those foreigners who might have difficulties communicating in English. Explain that everyone is at a different level of learning and therefore no one should be attacked.
Prepare for the better learning experience of the community through technology as follows:
Language Learning Apps: Propose relevant apps which are complementary to the community activities, e.g. Duolingo, Memrise, Babbel.
Voice and Video Tools: Schedule or conduct live speaking practice sessions using zoom, Skype or Google Meet.
Interactive Tools: Use quizlet application for vocabulary practice or kahoot for fun short quizzes.
For the purpose of improving the community and showing its effectiveness, it is necessary to evaluate burning issues on a regular basis and gather feedback:
Surveys and Polls: Use survey instruments to assess what members enjoy, what they do not enjoy, and what they want more of. Use limited polls for quick feedback on single issues or activities.
Track Engagement: Use measures such as how active the users are, how active they are in posting, or taking part in events to assess the health of the community.
Celebrate Milestones: Enjoyable games should help boost the morale by celebrating achievement of certain targets, for instance 100 plus members or an accomplishment of a series of challenges.
One of the core benefits of employing language experts or influencers is that they can provide a new perspective to your community and improve membership. Think of:
Inviting Guest Speakers: Schedule experts on various topics to give lectures or workshops on some aspects of language learning.
Partnering with Influencers: Engage affiliates who operate within the domain of language learning. They will be beneficial in advertisement of your community and acquiring new members.
Guest Content Creators: Give content creation or session leadership opportunities to experts or more advanced students and change things a bit in the way you treat your members.
In order to expand your community, you will need to seek out potential members. Community outreach includes the following:
Social Media: This includes, but is not limited to, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn where valuable content is posted for the members and the people invited to become members.
Blogging: Prepare and post articles that are related to learning English and make an appeal for the audience to join your community.
Email Marketing: If you do have an email list, provide activity updates of the community to your subscribers and motivate them to join.
Collaborations: Work with other communities websites and blogs on language learning for the purpose of promoting one another’s activities.
Establishing a nurturing community is a process that requires most of your time and effort. Ensure that you continue giving value, developing interaction as well as healthy atmosphere. Consistency matters – do not go off the grid for too long; don’t forget to post new content and interact with the members in the community.
Conclusion
It is enjoyable and enriching to undertake the task of creating a community of English language learners who are supportive of one another as well as to oneself. When you take these steps, you will be able to design a place where learners can always be pleased, inspired and supported on the path of acquiring a new language. It comes as no surprise that the strength of a community lies within its members and the relations formed among them. Hence, aim at creating interactions, providing resources, and building a community. Learners will not only be able to learn English within the community, but they will also make new friends and share experiences that will make their lives more fulfilling.
So, how about taking a step forward and commencing the process of building your English language learning community? It would be a pleasure having you with us as we embark on a journey to a better and an advanced leaning experience.
