David Kehe

For decades, I relied on an intuition that I recently discovered was flawed. In my ESL writing courses, I often had one or two truly outstanding writers each term. At the end of the course, I wanted to compliment these students with the hope of motivating them and fostering a positive attitude for their future studies, so I frequently wrote, ‘You are a talented writer’ on their final essays. However, I’ve recently discovered that this was not the most effective approach. Since then, I have come to understand why this type of talent-oriented praise can be counterproductive and, more importantly,...