Intensive Courses: do they work?

This piece looks at some pros and cons of intensive courses and whether they are worthwhile doing.

Make it work

As long as the students have the right attitude and they are able to retain information reasonably well. Then, with a huge amount of effort in a short amount of time and the most relevant material chosen, such a course can pay dividends for learners. There must be at least a little revision each day to get the most out of the experience. The older learners get, the more difficult it becomes to absorb and activate new vocabulary, for example. Fossilisation can be combatted by way of repetition and even more revision.

Students need to be motivated, behave in a grown-up fashion (i.e. not chatting to other students, playing with phones or speaking in the L1), and do homework; which is a good start. On their part, the ‘effort’ mentioned above involves paying attention, being disciplined, taking notes, asking questions when necessary and looking up unfamiliar words; these are all good signs. Maximum exposure to the target language is imperative and should be enforced without any exceptions. This kind of 'brain washing' coupled with a certain level of intensity, which is when a number of hours of lessons all take place within a short amount of time put pressure on the learners to stay motivated, to keep paying attention and not allow themselves to get distracted.

On the contrary

On the other side of the coin, you may be faced with those who seem to think that they will improve without putting in any work and depend on the teacher to work his/ her magic. The attitude of the learners is probably the most important factor in order to have a recipe for success. In the following case studies, four courses have been analysed in relation to their advantages and disadvantages.

1. F2F intensive with a Civil Servant at the Minister of Agriculture. The learner’s attitude was excellent and there was ample revision to combat fossilisation as the student was 60 years old. The amount of hours each day was too much though.

2. Group Intensive teacher training course with instructors from the hospitality industry. The motivation levels were too low. Partly because they were asked against their will to take part during a holiday week. Nevertheless, the level of instruction was high thanks to a team of experienced teachers.

3. F2F intensive with a Russian entrepreneur. Motivation was high, retention was good, relevance and practical aspects chosen were apt by a team of teachers. No negative aspects to report.

4. Group Intensive with university students – although discipline was an issue, attitudes were generally positive and 8 out of 10 gave highly positive evaluations. Behavioural issues included not taking notes, playing with phones, speaking in the L1 after countless reminders not to do so and whispering repeatedly to one another.

To conclude

It is vital that learners have realistic expectations and realise that they need to work their socks off within a short period of time, so that they can make the most out of this opportunity. Covering large amounts of information and ticking all the boxes re topics covered in an intensive week, for example, should come with a disclaimer. Without active participation, refreshing, note-taking, a positive attitude and the right levels of energy (so not getting exhausted between lessons), they are not likely to benefit in the slightest. What they put in equates to what they get out of it; you can see it as a kind of karma. If age is an issue, then there needs to be much more revision and repetition to aid retention and combat fossilisation. Thus, intensive courses are only worth the effort when they are taken seriously enough, and, as long as the content is as relevant as possible to the goals and objectives of the participants.