Building rapport as a technique to motivate a young incarcerated to learn English

Abstract

Teaching prison inmates may seem very difficult as the context is quite unfamiliar to the majority of English as a foreign language teachers. There are even prejudices that can blind us. Being able to motivate this particular type of student to learn the language is, however, also part of our job and duty as educators. This study aims to analyse if building rapport with prisoners actually increases the motivation we try to encourage. It also aims to identify techniques that may be helpful for achieving the desired response from this type of student. In addition, I hope this work will motivate many other teachers to lose their fear of teaching a language beyond already familiar contexts, to dare to practice in contexts where prejudices abound. The data comprises 13 reflections, written after sixteen sessions. These were analysed for themes, and these were the grouped and coded under different labels or categories. The results suggest that establishing and building rapport with students whose learning and living context is a jail, can help to increase their attention and desire to learn more, and also to promote their active participation regarding to planning their learning.