How to set Goals to Study a Second Language

Goals must have some principles in order to motivate the individual who is setting those goals. The following are some principles that must be embedded in the goals; they are Clarity, Challenge, Commitment, Feedback and Task complexity. I will like us to study those principles in detail to help us learn a new language well. 

Clarity

Clear goals are measurable and unambiguous. When a goal is clear and specific, with a definite time set for completion, there is less misunderstanding about what behaviours will be rewarded. You know what's expected, and you can use the specific result as a source of motivation. When a goal is vague – or when it's expressed as a general instruction, like "Take initiative" – it has limited motivational value.  

When we apply the above principle to language learning, it means we have to determine that in a day, we set aside “30 minutes to learn the new language” example spanish language. This goal is clear, specific, measurable and time-bound. 

Challenge

One of the most important characteristics of goals is the level of challenge. People are often motivated by achievement, and they'll judge a goal based on the significance of the anticipated accomplishment. When you know that what you do will be well received, there's a natural motivation to do a good job.  

Rewards typically increase for more difficult goals. If you believe you'll be well compensated or otherwise rewarded for achieving a challenging goal that will boost your enthusiasm and your drive to get it done.

To apply the above principle, it means we have to ask ourselves, what we will gain in learning a new language like Chinese Language and what are the rewards. Some rewards for learning a new language are International Job Opportunity and Expand your scope of learning a new culture and History. 

Commitment

Goals must be understood and agreed upon if they are to be effective. Students are more likely to agree on a goal with their parents if they feel they were part of deciding on that goal. Parents should engage their children in decision making and setting of goals that concern their future to make the children feel part of the family.  

One version of SMART – for use when you are working with someone else to set their goals – has A and R stand for Agreed and Realistic instead of Attainable and Relevant. Agreed goals lead to commitment. When we use goal setting in our homes and even in our own lives, we must make an appropriate effort to include people in our own goal setting; this will help us set realistic goals.  

In applying this to language learning, we can involve our family and friends in deciding how they think we can learn a new language like German Language and we can agree with them and choose the most appropriate way to learn the new language. 

Feedback

In addition to selecting the right type of goal, an effective goal programme must also include feedback. Feedback provides opportunities to clarify expectations, adjust goal difficulty, and gain recognition. It's important to provide benchmark opportunities or targets, so individuals can determine for themselves how they're doing.  

We need to give regular progress reports to our family and friends, so that it can be a source of motivation for us to continue learning the new language example French Language. This means that we need to break down our language learning goals into smaller portions, and connect our feedback to these intermediate achievements.

Example we could set a language goal that we will learn French language 30 minutes a day, and so be able to speak basic sentences in a week. However, taking the time to sit down and discuss goal performance is a necessary factor in long-term performance improvement, so we must always sit down with our family and friends to review our language learning performance.   

Task Complexity

The last factor in goal setting theory introduces two more requirements for success. For goals that are highly complex, we must take special care to ensure that the work doesn't become too overwhelming for us.  

It is therefore important to do the following if the language learning task is highly difficult, example learning a new language like Arabic, needs a lot of time and determination:

• Give the person sufficient time to meet the goal or improve performance; and

• Provide enough time for the person to practice or learn what is expected and required for success.

The whole point of goal setting is to facilitate success. Therefore, we have to ensure that the conditions surrounding the goals don't frustrate or stop us from accomplishing language learning objectives. This reinforces the "Attainable" part of SMART.  

Pay Attention to This

Goal setting is something most of us recognize as necessary for our success. By understanding goal setting theory, we can effectively apply the principles to our language learning goals that we set for ourselves. The acronym “SMART” Goals stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic or Relevant and Time-Bound Goals. In order for our goal setting process in language to be more successful, we should follow these simple steps and our overall performance in language learning will improve.