Enhancing Lifelong Learning
by Using NLP in the ELT
Classroom
International Language Symposium, Brno, Check
Republic. 1- 3 June, 2017
Nazan Özçınar Sırel
ÖZYEĞIN UNIVERSITY, ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Session Outline
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Background Info about me and you
What is NLP?
Background Information about NLP
Class Activities
Some guidelines for using NLP in class
Background Info about me:
 Graduated in 1987/ Master’s and DELTA and
Teacher Training Courses
Looking for something new in 2000. (no children,
no husband...)
Longman opened a summer course
 Attended NLP certificate programmes for 2
Summers (each 36 Hours) in 2001 & 2002.
Trainer: Judith Baker
 RESULT: My life changed
What about you? Do you....
• Click your fingers when the answer is YES
• When the answer is NO wave your hands
What about you? Do you....
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teach at a primary or secondary school?
teach at university level?
try out new things in class?
reveal some info about yourself in class?
use music in class?
have good relationship with students?
give a VAK test at the beginning of a
class?
• use NLP activities in class?
• I have been using some NLP for about 17
years in my classes.
WHAT IS NLP then???
What does NLP stand for:
Neuro
Your Thinking
Process: the way you
use your senses (VAKOG) to
understand what is
happening around you
Linguistic
Your Words: the way
you use language and how it
influences you and those
around you
Programming
Your Behaviour:
the way you organise your
ideas and actions in order to
reach positive achievements
History of NLP:
• In the early 1970s, an American Professor of
linguistics, John Grinder and a psychology
student, Richard Bandler wanted to find «the
difference that makes the difference»
between losers and people who excel. They
studied amazingly successful therapists (like
Virginia Satir, Erickson and Perls). They all:
 followed similar patterns with their clients
 used the same kind of language
 all had similar beliefs
NLP in the Past and Now:
• It originated in the field of psychotherapy.
• NOW: its ideas are incorporated into approaches
to COMMUNICATION, LEARNING, and
CHANGE : personal development,
management, sales and marketing and finally
education. ( many famous people took NLP
courses, such as Britney Spears, Kevin Kostner
and Fatih Terim)
Let’s play UP, UP, UP
WHAT IS NLP? Background
Information about NLP
NLP is an attitude to life. It is also a collection of
techniques, patterns, and strategies for assisting effective
growth
communication, personal g_____________and
change,
and learning. It is based on a on a series of underlying
assessment
ass____________about how the mind works and how
people act and interact. The aim of NLP is to enhance the
quality of people’s lives and ac____________their
achieve
outcomes and to interact moreeffectively
eff___________with others.
It is a means of intra-personal and inter-personal
excellence.
(Revell, J & Norman, S. 1997. In Your Hands. NLP in ELT)
NLP.....
• is the science of excellence to get
outstanding results.
• can be helpful in every aspect of personal
and interpersonal relations to become
better communicators.
• enables better empathy and cooperation.
• is an enabling tool of Emotional
Intelligence which is an aspect of MI.
• enables flexibility of behaviour.
• is about THINKING, OBSERVING and
DOING to get what you want out of life.
WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK
ABOUT NLP?
Our Instructors’ Views on NLP:
Yes, but.....what do I actually do with NLP
in the classroom?
Affective
filters,
relaxation
and flow.
Fuzzy, kind of
up in the air,
insufficiently
practised. Not
related to ELT
all the time.
Theraphy and
connectionism
From negative
waters towards
positive waters
A prestigious word. Many
people talk about it in
academic environment but I
haven’t seen many people
using it. Can it be a part of
learning to learn?
I agree with Selçuk.
Let me start with a question:
• What does USB stand for?
Unidentified Sleeping Beings:
• Are they self-motivated?
30 years ago it was like this: Students
were hungry for knowledge.
NO NO NO !
• Teaching has never become that
DIFFICULT
• What is the cause of this?
• Information technology:
• Knowledge is being produced at an increasingly
rapid rate and it has become more difficult to
motivate students.
NLP is one of the SOLUTIONS !!!!
So, how can we make use of
NLP in our classes, then?
Four Pillars of NLP: NLP is
based on these 4 pillars:
NLP = THE STORY OF EXCELLENCE
OUTCOMES
RAPPORT
SENSORY
ACUITY
FLEXIBILITY
• Outcomes: is similar to goals / objectives. NLP is
an achievement oriented technology. Knowing
precisely what you want helps you to get it.
• Rapport: is the heart of successful
communication. It is a way of maximising
similarities and minimising differences. Without
this, communication will fail. Having a good rapport
with people will make you reach your goals better.
• Sensory Acuity: using your senses in order to
make accurate observations about what other
people are doing and not making quick
assumptions.
• Flexibility: doing something different if what you
are doing is not working.
NOW, I WOULD LIKE TO
SHARE SOME OF MY NLP
ACTIVITIES WITH YOU
THE FIRST PILLAR of NLP:
OUTCOME
If you know exactly what you want, it is
easier to get it.
OUTCOME ACTIVITY:
A: What do you want?
B: I want to be happy
B: And if you are happy, what would that do
for you?
A: I would feel good about myself.
B: And if you feel good about yourself,
what would that do for you?
A: I would .......
Goal Setting Activity that I use with my
classes at OZU:
• After the first week, I buy some «Pencils» for my
students.
• I also distribute some fancy letter papers to them and
ask them to write a MIRROR LETTER to themselves:
Dear me,
This is me.
Today I feel... Because...
• Answer the following questions while writing the paper:
1. What are your ideas about the 1st week?
2. What would you like to achieve this semester?
3. What do you want to achieve in life?
THE SECOND PILLAR of NLP:
RAPPORT
We cannot change others, we can only
change ourselves.
The meaning of your communication is the
response that you get
• MIRRORING ACTIVITY
• MASSAGE ACTIVITY
We all do some kind of NLP activities in
our classes.
Students will remember HOW you reacted
towards them, WHAT you did in class, HOW
you affected them.
We can only achieve these by PAYING
attention to each and every student and
NOT by only COVERING SOME PAGES
FROM OUR COURSE BOOKS.
THE THIRD PILLAR of NLP:
SENSORY ACUITY
Any kind of VISUAL, AUDITORY and
KINEASTHETIC activity
GUESSING ACTIVITY
• Now the teacher will show you something.
Look at it and guess what it is and make
sentences:
• It might be ......
• It could be....
• It must be....
No, no, it can’t be.....
Finger technique:
• Look at the following words and memorize
them: GROUP A: Open your eyes
Group A: rapport / flexibility / outcome /
Finger technique:
• Look at the following words and memorize
them: GROUP B: Open your eyes
Group B: confidence / curiosity / relationship /
When / How can you make use of this
activity in your classes?
BACKWARDS SPELLING
• Two volunteers on the board.
• The teacher spells words from the back
and they write it.
• Their groups have the chance to make
guesses as well.
• The group that shouts out the words first,
gets 1 point.
Spelling Activities:
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Activate both parts of the brain
Create fun time for students
Make kineasthetic students active
Good for visual learners
Revise words from previous day rather
than starting the with «open your
books....»
NLP means:
• Getting to know your students better.
• Paying attention to VISUAL, AUDITORY
and KINEASTHETIC students.
• Understanding students better.
• Touching students’ hearts.
• Focusing on their learning more.
THE FOURTH PILLAR of NLP:
FLEXIBILITY
If you continue to do the same things, you
will get the same results.
HOW TO USE NLP in CLASS:
• Create a good rap_______ with your students
starting from the 1st day of class. GET TO KNOW
YOUR STUDENTS BETTER FIRST.
• Focus on their family backgrounds and try to
understand them.
• Make use of mus______ in class.
• Try to use more sto_________ in class.
• Try to use guided fantasy more.
• Try to create a positive atm_________.
• Try to use the finger technique / spelling
technique for VOCAB PRACTICE.
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Do not gen____________ students
Focus on each ind___________ student.
Pra_____ students more often.
Focus on students’ succ___________ rather
than failures
• MODEL other teachers in order to reach
excellence
• Pay attention to VAKOG students and va______
your activities.
«The resources we need are within us»
«If you do anything with love and passion,
you will get different and hopefully better
results»
«How a teacher teaches is more important
than what he teaches»
NLP BOOKS
• In Your Hands. NLP for Teaching and Learning. 1997.
Jane Revell & Susan Norman. Sapphire Press.
• Handing Over. NLP-Based Activities for Language
Learning. 1999. Jane Revell & Susan Norman. Sapphire
Press
• Whose Life are you Living? 2003. Tony Humphreys. Gill
& MacMillan
• Myself, My Partner. 2005. Tony Humphreys. Gill &
MacMillan
• A Different Kind of Teacher, Self-esteem the Key to your
Child's Future. 1995. Tony Humphreys. Gill & MacMillan