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Building Rapport

Establishing strong foundations for teaching and learning

By Stephanie Hirchman

September 2, 2025

How do teachers build rapport with students? I can’t think of a more important question; after all, learning is all about relationships. In fact, I hope the word “rapport” runs through all the blogs I’ve written, like the letters in a stick of rock. However, as the summer holidays draw to a close and with new beginnings in sight, I’m going to focus exclusively on building rapport.

Fostering rapport

Let’s get out the metaphors! If learning is a house, then rapport is the foundation, but because it needs constant maintenance, rapport is also a garden, tended with care on a daily basis. When there is a good rapport, students feel:

• seen – each student is greeted individually, and the teacher makes an eff ort to interact with each one during the lesson.

• confident in the teacher, the course, and themselves - the teacher knows what each student needs and how to deliver it so students make progress. Classroom routines are predictable, fair, and make sense.

• safe – they know the teacher will not embarrass them or expose their sensitivities or weaknesses. Mistakes are dealt with sensitively and treated as learning opportunities.

• accepted – the teacher meets each individual student exactly where they are, without judgment, academically and personally. If someone is called out on their behaviour, this is done in private, and an explanation is given about why this behaviour is unproductive or unacceptable.

Student profiles – the basis for rapport

Whatever your teaching context, you’ve got to get to know each student as an individual. This can be considered as an initial information gathering phase, with several possible pathways.

A good starting point is to test students either before they start the course or in the first few days, making it clear that this is a process that produces information that will help you to plan and them to learn. Try to generate as full a picture as possible, so you have an idea about their abilities in all four skills.

Secondly, you need to conduct a needs analysis, either privately or publicly. You can read more about this process, but bear in mind that a public needs analysis can also serve to make everyone in the class aware of each other’s interests and thus of the rationale for including certain topics, language points, or skills work in the course syllabus.

Finally, use whatever resources you have to identify students with specific learning differences or traumas/triggers. This information may be disclosed at registration, self-disclosed (perhaps at interview) or in a private needs analysis, or tentatively identified through your own observations. Obviously, this information is private, between you and the student (and their parents, if they are under 18).

Classroom activities to build rapport at the start of a course

These rapport-building activities aim to generate information in such a way that students feel well-supported.

In a first lesson, the top priority is to make sure you know everybody’s preferred names and how to pronounce them. I’ve always found it helpful to have small desktop cards with this information on display – at least for a couple of sessions. Why not ask the students to make these themselves, or at least to personalize them? The back of the card could have some classroom language phrases to help prompt students, and there’s also the option of including this useful functional language as an introductory lesson – note that this generates a lot of information about student performance in areas like listening (including following instructions), speaking (including pronunciation) and studentship (including note-taking), facility with vocabulary, grammar and functional language. It can also serve as an introduction to pair and group work and to questioning and correction techniques, and, of course, builds confidence for students to take an active part in lessons.

Rapport thrives on praise

Teachers must remember that students are putting themselves on the line every time they come to class. Every effort carries a risk of failure, and not everyone is robust enough to bounce back easily when this occurs. Praise is the magic ingredient here – individualized, sincere and specific. Even when things have gone a bit wrong, find something that went well. It may be that you’re praising eff ort (“Good try, Haruka, I like that idea, but it isn’t what I’m looking for right now.”) or scaffolding achievement (“That’s a pretty good sentence, Juan, the verb tense is correct. But think again about the subject – should it be singular or plural?”). It may be delivered in written form (“This essay makes some relevant points. You used a lot of new vocabulary and improved your accuracy with punctuation. Next time, put the information into paragraphs.”). And when you make a mistake, as you inevitably will, model a positive reaction – check the information, put it right and thank the person who pointed it out.

Finally, make plenty of space for laughter and smiles, as they not only reduce stress, but have a positive effect on engagement, learning and recall. Rapport really does serve learning.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/blog/post/building-rapport Acesso em 18/10/2025

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Mother Goose and Grimm cartoon, by Mike Peters

Mother Goose and Grimm cartoon, by Mike Peters

Mother Goose and Grimm cartoon, by Mike Peters

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Jobs and Professions

    As has been the case for many years, jobs, or forms of employment wherein employees perform a service or duty in exchange for financial compensation, play a prominent role in society. Furthermore, all jobs — even those of seemingly little significance — are important, as they simply wouldn't exist if their specific responsibilities weren't of value to employers (companies or persons that pay others for their work), customers (individuals who pay money for a product or service), and the economy generally.

    Teachers, or educational professionals tasked with helping students understand certain subjects and topics, are especially crucial today. In short, teachers help their students to become qualified for their future careers.

    Doctors, or medical professionals who specialize in providing health-related assistance to patients, are some of the most respected individuals in America and the world. It's the responsibility of doctors to help those who feel less-than-stellar to determine the underlying health issue(s) and recommend an effective treatment (or remedy to a disease, disorder, or condition).

    There are quite a few types of specialty doctors in America (besides MD, which simply means "medical doctor"), all of whom can be referred to simply as "Doctor (Name)." Dentists (mouth/ teeth doctors), dermatologists (skin doctors), and psychiatrists (mental-health doctors) are just a few examples of the many different types of doctors.

    Additionally, nurses are medical professionals who help to administer doctor-ordered treatments to patients.

    Police officers are law enforcement professionals whose job it is to protect citizens, solve crimes, and assure that rules and regulations are followed. Similarly, firefighters serve the public by responding to fires (and other emergency situations) and using high-tech equipment to extinguish these fires, while bringing any individuals who're in danger to safety.

    Farmers maintain fields of crops (or vegetable/fruit plants) and/ or collections of animals with the intention of selling these products as food.

    Chefs/cooks prepare meals in professional settings, including restaurants, cafeterias, and other venues wherein food and drink are sold, for customers. Chefs are generally experienced in cooking and managing kitchens.

    Waiters bring menus, beverages, meals, and ultimately, the check (or a bill of the foods and drinks purchased in a transaction) to tables in restaurants and other establishments that serve food.

    Artists produce art, or works of creative significance, including music, paintings, drawings, poetry, writing, and more.

Fonte: https://pdfcoffee.com/meeting-5-basic-english-for-academic-porposes-pdffree.html. Acessado em 25/08/2025