Teacher Discussion Forums

Hi friends,

I am interested in Neuro Linguistic Programming and its applications in teaching English. I'm planning to do a research about it and would like to know if there is anybody who can share his/her experiences with me
Many thanks,
Sibs

I was interested in NLP out of sheer curiosity, but the more I got into it I realized that its basis in science is very sketchy. Any time something or someone tells me there is a miracle cure, easily solution, supremely powerful method or tool, I question the basis of it. And the basis of NLP has you take a lot of faith in the assumptions they make.

However, since this forum is NOT an NLP discussion forum, I do not intend to discuss the validity of NLP. I just wanted to give you my perspective because perhaps you might already be thinking the same.

Hi Joshua,

Thanks for your reply. Well, actually I also think NLP is based on belief so it works if you believe it. I was able to quit smoking with the help of NLP so I believe in this programme or science-whatever you call it. It is clear that NLP uses some psychological methods that works with people well.

I haven't had enough time to search for the NLP techniques or methods that are applicable in teaching English yet but I WANT to believe that they would work. Some of my students have blocks in their minds against learning English and I want to help them. That's why I would like to see if anyone applies NLP in his/her class?

I am an qualified NLP Practitioner and you are right there is a lot of nonsense attributed to NLP. There are also some strange people on the fringes, there are also people who want to make money.

NLP originates in therapy, and it is a veryversatile toolbox for dealing with a number of issues. Some of which are transferable to the classroom. There are loads of books on NLP and teaching in school and many of them are available at low/sale prices. I have even seen one or two on ELT.

The value of NLP in the classroom is helping students develop learning habits and learning skills. Especially good for when students convince themselves that they cannot do it. Other parts of NLP are 'applied common sense'. For example the use of different representational systems to assist learning (practical application of Gardner's multiple inteligences). i.e. using all five senses in learning, including kinestetic (running around, playing games, handling realia etc)

You can spend lots on books, some are good, other are almost a cut and paste of what has gone before. But a really good online resource is in the link below.

http://www.nlpuniversitypress.com/

You can only open so many pages and it tells you can see no more. Just close your browser and visit the site again for your next installment.

Some of the people involved in NLP genuinely want to help other reach thier potential, other like me investigated it and have drifted away

I took a look at the introduction. Imho, this looks like a scientifically based application of a self-help book or psychological talk-therapy. This is not a criticism, and is quite useful. I've used it myself for myself and my teaching, although with different names.

However, in the intro, it talks about Noam Chomsky. That, by itself, makes me doubt it's usability for ESL. Chomsky's theories have no place in the classroom, and attempts to form a pedagogy out of it have failed miserably. Mathematically, it's sound, or so I'm told. But in the ESL world, they (known as "UG'ers") border on the fanatical. They spend almost all their time defending UG based on 3 simplistic logical proofs that just aren't true to begin with.

Watch, I'm sure a UG'er will wander by and try to engage me in an argument that is 100% argumentum ad homenim ("You must be wrong because you aren't a UG'er") or argumentum ad ignorantum ("Because you don't know about UG, you must be wrong.")

Hi,

you've probably already got plenty of information on this topic. Have a look at Jane Revell's website: http://www.janerevell.com/ . She's a well-known NLP trainer from the UK who's written a couple of books on NLP and ELT with Sue Norman. They also regularly present at conferences - eg IATEFL and SEAL (Society for Effective Affective Learning). You'll also find several sympathetic articles in the Pilgrims online teaching magazine www.hltmag.co.uk and on the SEAL website www.seal.org.uk (where you can also read about exploring your psychic energies in the classroom and engendering spirituality across the curriculum!).

Dear martinmcmorrow,

Thank you very much. The info you've given is really very helpful.