“Your Pronunciation is Good”

This morning’s meditation ended with an offering to the Buddha during which we chanted a variety of texts in Pali.1 When we finished, the woman sitting next to me commented, “Your pronunciation is good.”

I have worked hard to learn proper pronunciation of Pali; a task that has not been easy for me. This morning, I know that I found myself tongue tied during sections of the Metta Sutta and there were huge gaps when I did not chant anything because I had either lost my place or had become too overwhelmed by some of the long Pali words. Yet, when I am able to form the proper words, my pronunciation is getting pretty good.

Too often in education, faculty members view our job as pointing out errors for the student to correct. In the process, we can forget what the woman who sat next to me this morning knows all too well—that encouragement is a powerful tool.

Earlier this week, one of my students made a big mistake and I was very tempted to explain to him how he could better handle the situation in the future. Fortunately, I was able to realize that the error was based on a misunderstanding and that it was unlikely to happen again. Had I pointed out his error, I would have embarrassed him, caused him to lose face, and made it difficult to establish a comfortable student/faculty relationship. Building his confidence by pointing out real accomplishments did more to help him succeed in my class this semester than anything I might have attempted to accomplish by pointing out his mistake.

There are times when it is appropriate to correct a student’s error. Yet, if I am going to be the best teacher possible, I need to remember my reaction to the woman who complimented my pronunciation. By building my confidence, I am more willing to continue to take the risks necessary to continue improving. I need to remember that her compliment did more to improve my Pali than had she focused her comment on teaching me to properly say “Byārosanā patighasaññā, nāññamaññassa dukkhamiccheyya.”2

    –Steven L. Berg, PhD

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1Pali is an ancient Indian language in which the canonical texts for Theravada Buddhists is written.

2Translation: “Let him not wish any harm to another out of anger or ill-will.”

Posted on by Steven L. Berg
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18 Responses

  1. Correcting Students and Colleagues « Teaching Blog says:
    20 September 2008 at 11:40 am

    […] was talking to me, I immediately thought of Alix Ahlengren’s insightful response to my blog entry “Your Pronunciation is Good.” After agreeing with me about the benefits of encouragement, Ahlengren argues that a professor […]

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  2. Ian McCracken says:
    18 September 2008 at 9:29 am

    Encouragement is a very useful tool indeed. Instead of the anxiety that comes with embarassment, which also makes for an awkward relationship, alot less open. By using encouragement as a tool teachers are able to boost confidence levels. Really easy to relate to this post, everyone has had this type of experience.

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  3. Tim Glodek says:
    18 September 2008 at 7:15 am

    I agree with pretty much everyone on this topic. That encouragement is a lot more successful than humilating someone. It is a good thing to know when to encourage somone instead of embarrasing them. This is definatly a great technique for teachers to have, because they are dealing with kids.

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  4. Corey Robinson says:
    17 September 2008 at 9:57 pm

    I would say that encouragement is a powerful tool. Many of the youth today lack a strong role model. For a lot of people going to college is a big step and if you so happened to be publicly humiliated that would be a major hit to their confidence. I can remember a time when it seemed like a new story was on the news about a child being picked on at school being turned from a child, that shouldn’t have a care in the world, to a predator out to kill those who persecuted them. I believe if more people took the time to help people rather than belittle people the world would be a better place.

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  5. Mike Kiefer says:
    17 September 2008 at 9:04 pm

    Everyone has seemed to say the same thing about encouragment, and I have to agree with them. Encouragment always seems to push people to do more and improve what they are doing.

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  6. Madeleine McDuff says:
    17 September 2008 at 9:00 pm

    I also agree with pretty much all the other comments. Encouragement is probably the best thing you can give to a student. It will help them to succeed in the class because you’re boosting their self-esteem which will make them want to come to class and want to learn. Completely staying away from pointing out errors is not always good though. If the error is something that shouldn’t happen again, the person needs to know so they don’t make that mistake once more. As another student posted, it would be best to take the student aside either before or after class to let them be aware of the mistake, but offer some encouragement so it’s not just something they did wrong, but here’s what you did right.

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  7. Engjell Semsedini says:
    17 September 2008 at 8:43 pm

    I agree with everyone as well that encouragment is the best way to help students learn. For example if a student makes a mistake and a teacher calls him/her out in the classroom they will be afraid to ever say anything again so this will prevent them from being invlolved in classroom discussion. Then when a student is complimented for there works this will make them happy and work harder for next time. When someone is encouraged or recognized it gives them more selfestiem and motivation for next time.

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  8. Chelsea Hewitt says:
    17 September 2008 at 6:58 pm

    I along with everyone else feel that encouragement is the best way to boost a students confidence in their work. It also makes all the difference in a students work ethic. If a student keeps being told they are wrong and are never doing it right they will most likely just give up instead of working at it and trying to correct the problem.

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  9. Eng101 Stacey Richardson says:
    17 September 2008 at 6:50 pm

    This blog reminds me of myself. When i was younger i had a very hard time with my speech. I would always feel embarrased when the teacher would call on me to read. One of my teachers told me to read more and i did and before i knew it i became a fairly good reader. My teacher even commented me once and said she was very imprest.

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  10. Sarah King says:
    17 September 2008 at 6:35 pm

    My life is evolves going to school in the morning, going to work at night, and doing homework at midnight, getting about 5 hours of sleep each night. if i did not have any encouragement from my loved ones, i don’t know how i would ever work as hard as i am now. People need to realize that encouraging others helps them grow.

    Sarah king

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  11. Peter Ehlert says:
    17 September 2008 at 5:08 pm

    I agree with you to a an extent. I’m not saying that embarrassing the student is right, but I feel that the teacher should acknowledge when a mistake is made. I volunteer at a BSA climbing tower in my off time. I have also seen a lot of mistakes that people have made that have been a bit embarrassing, but it is also important for the other students to learn from their mistakes of there peers. I am not saying that this is right all of the time, but I have seen at least in my volunteering. I want all my students to learn from their peers mistakes. I still believe that encouragement is the best option, but “You must always learn from you mistakes”.

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  12. Sean Falkenberg says:
    17 September 2008 at 5:05 pm

    Every respose that I see is exactly what I feel, so it would be hard to give it in my own words. If im feeling down about a bad grade that I had recieved I could usually go to one of my teachers that could help me by encourage me to work at the problem a little harder and I will suceed. This encouragement gives me more drive to learn.

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  13. Vidhi patel says:
    17 September 2008 at 4:43 pm

    I know how much it takes to speak a different language. As I was born an brought up in India, I could read and write in English, but I always had problem with speaking English because I never used to have conversation in English. I think this entry works best because it relates something to me and I completely agree with Alix J. Ahlgren’s comment that a perfect teacher should not embarrass students for their mistake instead he/she should talk to them before or after class so that they will never feel embarrassed and they would try to work on their English.

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  14. Alyssa Sinclair says:
    17 September 2008 at 4:15 pm

    I have to agree with everyone here. Encouragement is the only way to go. It gives us more strength as students to learn more. Good job Dr. Berg!!

    Reply
  15. Keith Roberts says:
    17 September 2008 at 11:57 am

    Encouragment is a very usful tool. Even thoguh some kids may get a question wrong, the teacher should encourage them to search for the right answer. Compliments boost up a persons self esteem also.

    Reply
  16. Markku Esperame says:
    17 September 2008 at 10:20 am

    I also agree that Encouragement is a best way to boost up someones confidence. I am new to this place, I spent most of my time in the Philippines and when I started to come to class here I was so worried about the way I speak english, for days I kept silent, I had so many questions which I wanted to ask but I cant because of my self consciousness. And then a classmate told me that I should not worry as long as theres the sense in the message I wish to imply then there should be no reason to be embarassed, so this blog is nice because it made me relate with some of my first day experience here.

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  17. Carly Abramas says:
    16 September 2008 at 5:01 pm

    I can relate to how you were feeling when you lost your place during the chants, this has happened to me many times during practices and even at school. I felt at times that i just wanted to give up and leave and that hopefully tomorrow would be a better day. Sometimes all it takes is a little encouragement from family, a friend, or even a complete stranger to make you feel better about yourself and push you to keep going. That is what I really liked about this entry.

    Reply
  18. alix j. ahlgren says:
    16 September 2008 at 1:30 pm

    i agree that encouragment works better, but what i think a teacher should always do, is talk to the student after class about a mistake that could potentially be repeated and show him/her the error of there way but to also encourage them during and while privately talking to them to do better because even though the encouragement almost always works, we need to know what was wrong in order to fix it or if we are wrong in the first place. i have had many times when someone has said keep going and do better and the sort, knowing the person i could tell i did something wrong, but i didn’t know what. it is just as important to show someone what the mistake is as it is to encourage and not embaress them.

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