4 Characteristics of Successful EFL Students

By Rebecka Benedict 

Why are some students successful with learning languages and others struggle? Successful language learners tend to have four common characteristics.

• Makes their own opportunities for practice in using the language inside and outside the classroom. Practice is the most essential part of becoming a better language speaker. Students who practice unrehearsed language in the classroom are better prepared for speaking English outside of the classroom.


• Learns to live with uncertainty by not getting flustered and by continuing to talk or listen without understanding every word. Building confidence and not giving up is important for a language learner. Students need to understand they may not know every word being said. They should not focus on the words they do not know, but on the words they do know to understand the general meaning.


• Develops intrinsic motivation. It is important that students have a desire to learn a language, other than just to pass a test or fulfill a requirement. When students are intrinsically motivated, they enjoy the classes more and become better at the language.

Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension to EFL Students

Teaching Reading Comprehension to EFL Students

Applying effective strategies for teaching reading comprehension will go a long way in improving the reading skills of EFL students. All too often many people erroneously think that by only knowing all of the words in an article or story they will be able to completely understand its meaning. Nothing is farther from the truth. This hub suggests reading strategies that I have successfully used in my EFL classrooms.

Traditional Way of Teaching Reading

It's amazing how so many reading teachers today insist that students must know the meanings of all words in an article or story before they tackle it. I have seen so many reading textbooks in both Taiwan and Thailand which have long lists of English vocabulary followed by Chinese or Thai translations preceding each article or story in the books. What's more, there are examples of new grammar or sentence structure followed by lengthy Chinese or Thai explanations. Before students even begin to read, teachers are making sure that everyone understands the new words and grammar. Oddly, there isn't much discussion about the background of the subject matter which the students will read.

An Alternate Strategy for Teaching Reading Comprehension

When I was learning to read Chinese and Thai, my teachers often used the traditional strategy. I dreaded having to learn 60-100 words before starting to read a news story. Most of the time, I never had really internalized the meaning of the words, and hence could not understand how they were used and what they meant in the story.