You are here:
Examples of learner goal setting
Personal goal setting is useful for language learners because it is motivating and makes learning more relevant for the student. Students will be more likely to put in the work and achieve success if they have set the goal themselves and the goal is important or interesting for them. It is one of the key strategies that research has found to be helpful for effective language learning.
It is important that goals be SMART:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Agreed (for example, in a ‘contract’ between teacher and student)
- Realistic
- Time bound.
Part of goal setting involves self-assessment because you need to know what you can do in order to work out what you would like to learn. Refer to Learner and teacher assessment checklists.
The following examples cover a range of curriculum levels and and complexity. The language and format might not suit all students. Your role as teacher is to help your students to set relevant goals that are appropriate to their age, level of proficiency, and communication needs.
For young children, you might like to use words like “Two stars and a wish” where the stars are two things they can currently do, and the wish is their goal. (Fredrickson, 2002)
The language learning strategies that are relevant to each item in the checklists are indicated in square brackets.
Fredrickson, T. (2002). “Child’s Play”. Bangkok Post (an article about Concordian International School in Thailand)
Examples
1. Goal: I want to know colour words and say them clearly. (AO 1.7, 2.5)
Checklist:
- I will get a list of colours (from my teacher or from a book) this week.
- I will learn three colours each week. [Set goals and plan]
- I will label things at home with the colours they are. [Use imagery]
- I will practise saying the names of the colours on the way to school. [Practise]
- I will count how many colour words I know in four weeks.
2. Goal: I want to be able to introduce myself using an appropriate mihi by the end of this month. (AO 1.2 and 1.4)
Checklist:
- I will find out the basic parts of a mihi.
- I will practise saying my name using “Ko [Mere] ahau.” [Practise]
- I will learn to say “Ko [Taranaki] te [maunga].”
- I will learn the words for mountain, river, canoe, sea, tribe. [Any of the vocabulary strategies]
- I will find out which is my mountain, river, canoe, sea, tribe.
- I will introduce myself using an appropriate mihi and pepeha.
(See Reo Māori – Learn your mihi for a simple description and examples of mihi / mihimihi.)
3. Goal: I want to be able to ask questions when I don’t understand something. (AO 1.7)
Checklist:
- I will find out how to ask “What does [something] mean?”, “Can you repeat that?”, “What did you say?” (this week). [Ask for clarification]
- I will practise saying them on my own (this week and next week). [Practise]
- I will try to have a short conversation in Māori every day with a classmate or teacher and try out each of these questions (next week and the following week). [Seek out conversation partners] [Be prepared to make mistakes]
4. Goal: I want to write a birthday card to my nana. Her birthday is next week. (AO 1.6 and Tuhituhi objective for level 2, that is, write simple messages in te reo Māori)
Checklist:
- I will find out how to write ‘Happy Birthday’ in Māori. [Plan and prepare]
- I will find out how to write the Māori for ‘to’ and ‘love from’. [Plan and prepare]
- I will find a good whakataukī to put in the card too. [Plan and prepare]
5. Goal: People do not understand me when I say the word for ‘new’ – ‘hou’. They think I’m saying ‘wind’ – ‘hau’. I want to be able to say words with ‘au’ and ‘ou’ in them correctly, by the end of two weeks. (Kōrero objective for level 2: begin to use pronunciation … to clarify meaning.)
Checklist:
- I will ask my teacher and any other fluent speakers I know to demonstrate the pronunciation of these two sounds and imitate them.
- I will make a list of words with these sounds.
- I will practise words with these sounds in. [Practise]
- I will listen for words with these sounds when I hear Māori. [Look for patterns]
- I will record myself and listen carefully.
6. Goal: I want to read and understand a simple book in Māori without looking up a dictionary by the end of this term. (Pānui objectives for level 2, 3 or 4)
Checklist:
- I will ask my teacher for some easy books to read at my level.
- I will read at least a page every day. [Read a lot]
- I will only look up words that seem really important. [Read for keywords]
- I will try to guess words I don’t know and just keep reading. [Guess or ignore unknown words] [Make predictions]
- I will ask a friend to read the same book and ask me questions about it. [Check your understanding] [Seek out conversation partners]
- I will read a whole book without referring to a glossary or using a dictionary.
7. Goal: I want to understand the teacher when he/she gives us instructions in Māori, by the end of August. (AO 1.7)
Checklist:
- I will ask the teacher for a list of common instructions.
- I will ask her/him to say them for me.
- I will memorise the keywords in them. [Any of the vocabulary strategies]
- I will notice when the teacher says the keywords. [Listen for keywords]
8. Goal: I want to be able to give a two minute talk to my class without being nervous and hesitating a lot, by the end of term. (AO 6.4; Kōrero objectives for levels 3, 4, 5, and 6 – give short (prepared) talks)
Checklist:
- I will prepare any short talk by planning what to say, and finding the words I need. [Plan and prepare]
- I will give a short talk at home to my mum every Sunday. [Practise]
- I will give the same talk to each member of my family individually. [Practise]
- I will give a short talk to a small group of friends on three different occasions. [Practise] [Seek out conversation partners]
9. Goal: I want to understand the different ways of talking about the past and be able to use them in sentences by the end of this term. (AO 3.5, 5.1)
Checklist:
- I will make a list of the different ways to talk about the past.
- I will copy an example sentence for each different way.
- I will ask my teacher if I don’t understand the different ways. [Ask for clarification]
- I will write my own sentence for each way.
- I will look out for these ways to talk about the past when reading, or listening to, Māori. [Look for patterns]
- I will try to use these in conversations. [Seek out conversation partners] [Be prepared to make mistakes]
10. Goal: I want to be able to write an invitation to a party in Māori by the end of next month. (Tuhituhi objective for Level 3, write simple personal letters)
Checklist:
- I will find out the word for ‘invitation’ and ‘you are invited to…’.
- I will find out the word for ‘party’.
- I will find out how to write dates.
11. Goal: I want to be able to sing and do all the actions to “[an action song]” off by heart, by the end of this week. (Whakaatu objectives for level 3 and 4)
Checklist:
- I will find a video or audio tape of someone singing and doing the actions and listen to it over and over again (if possible). [Listen to the same thing over again]
- I will get the words written down.
- I will sing it on the way to school every day, starting with the first verse and adding a verse each day. [Practise] [Set goals and plan]
- I will practise the actions with my friends after I’ve learned the words.
12. Goal: I want to know words used in sports so I can talk and read about sports, by the end of the second term. (AO 3.2, 3.5; suggested topic for level 3; AO 5.1)
Checklist:
- I will make a list of the words to learn from a dictionary (a picture dictionary if possible, such as First 1000 Words in Māori, p. 50). [Set goals and plan]
- I will make flash cards with translations or pictures on the other side. [Use flash cards]
- I will divide the cards into sets of seven and study one set each day. [Set goals and plan]
- I will test myself at the end of each week on all the words I’ve studied. [Review regularly]
- I will take out the ones I’ve learned and keep practising the others. [Practise]
- I will find books or stories about sports at my level to read. [Read lots on the same topic]
- I will find people to talk to about sports in Māori. [Seek out conversation partners]
13. Goal: I want to understand the main points of a speech in a pōwhiri by the end of April when we go to visit a marae. (Whakarongo objective for level 4: understand specific details in contexts that may contain some unfamiliar language)
Checklist:
- I will find out the kind of things that these speeches are usually about by asking my teacher, or looking up a book or website. [Make predictions]
- I will find out how a speech at a pōwhiri is usually organised. [Make predictions]
- I will find out the words for typical things talked about in speeches and learn them. [Set goals and plan] [Any of the vocabulary strategies]
- I will practise listening to recordings of speeches and try to hear the keywords. [Listen for keywords] [Listen a lot]
14. Goal: I want to be able to understand a karanga. (Whakarongo objectives for level 4 –“ … understand specific details in contexts that may contain some unfamiliar language”)
Checklist:
- I will listen to a tape of karanga every day for two weeks. [Listen a lot] [Listen to the same thing over again]
- I will transcribe the words of a karanga. [Listen to the same thing over again]
- I will ask someone about the parts of a karanga. [Ask for clarification/help]
- I will listen carefully whenever I hear the karanga being performed. [Listen for keywords]
15. Goal: I want to be able to understand the television news better, by the middle of the year. (Whakarongo objectives for levels 6, 7 and 8)
Checklist:
- I will record and listen to Te Karere or Te Kāea three times a week. [Listen a lot] [Set goals and plan]
- I will listen to one news bulletin several times. [Listen to the same thing over again]
- I will transcribe two news items each week. [Set goals and plan]
- I will make a list of words I don’t know from my transcription, look them up and study them. [Set goals and plan] [Any of the vocabulary strategies]
- I will make notes of formulaic phrases that are used frequently at the beginning and end of bulletins and items. [Set goals and plan] [Make predictions]
- I will practise focusing on understanding the gist from keywords and not worry about words I don’t know. [Listen for keywords] [Guess or ignore unknown words] [Make predictions]
16. Goal: I want to be able to comfortably have a conversation in Māori about a TV programme. (Kōrero objective for level 6: initiate and sustain more extended conversations …)
Checklist:
- I will choose a Māori TV programme to watch with a friend each week. [Set goals and plan]
- I will discuss it with my friend each week in Māori. [Seek out conversation partners] [Be prepared to make mistakes] [Use gestures and paraphrase]
- I will note down any words I find I don’t know that I need for this and look them up and learn them. [Set goals and plan]
17. Goal: I want to be able to read an unsimplified short story in Māori, by October. (Pānui objectives for levels 7 and 8)
Checklist:
- I will read a short story in Māori that I have the English translation for each week. [Read a lot] (Note for teachers: the Ngā Kōrero series presents translations of items originally written in English.)
- I will read the English translation too.
- I will keep a notebook of useful or frequent new words to learn that I find in these stories. [Set goals and plan]
- When I feel more confident, I will try reading and rereading one short story in Māori only. [Read the same thing over again]
- I will read easier Māori texts every day. [Read a lot]
18. Goal: I want to be able to give a 10-minute speech to the school at the end of term. (Kōrero and Whakaatu objectives for level 7 and 8)
Checklist:
- I will practise giving shorter formal talks on my own at home twice a week. [Practise]
- I will learn formulaic phrases used in formal talks. [Set goals and plan]
- I will prepare my talk well: [Plan and prepare]plan what to say and what order to say it, in Māori [Think in Māori] check that I know the vocabulary I need and how to pronounce it.
- I will find a relative or friend to practise my talk with. [Practise] [Seek out conversation partners]
- I will prepare some PowerPoint slides to go with my talk.
19. Goal: I want to be able to write a newspaper article in Māori, by the end of the year. (AO 8.2, 8.3)
Checklist:
- I will read three newspaper articles in Māori every week. [Read a lot]
- I will write words that I see often in the articles in a notebook and look up any words I don’t know. [Set goals and plan]
- I will write common grammar patterns I notice in my notebook and study them. [Look for patterns]
- I will plan three newspaper articles and write them in September, October, and November. [Set goals and plan]
20. Goal: I want to have a wider vocabulary – I want to learn 200 words this term. (This could be a goal at any level)
Checklist:
- I will learn 20 words a week for 10 weeks. [Set goals and plan]
- I will make a list of words to learn from class and from reading.
- I will check with my teacher that they are useful words to learn (high frequency).
- I will use many different strategies to learn them. [All vocabulary strategies]