I am currently working with an exceptional learner. M.S. shows a genuine motivation to speak French “like a Francophone”. To achieve her goal, she is very active in the sessions. In between sessions, she seeks all opportunities to be in contact with the language and regularly monitors her learning. A model learner!

One might think that M.S. constantly experiences joy through her seemingly perfect learning process.  Who would believe that she regularly experiences negative emotions, even though she does “everything possible” to learn? She often tells me: “I know I make a lot of mistakes.”  As I wish to encourage her, I introduce her to the theory of conscious competence.

The stages of conscious competence

Anyone undertaking learning goes through four psychological stages before becoming competent according to the “conscious competence” learning model developed by Noël Birch for Gordon Training International*. The first stage the learner will go through is unconscious incompetence where she or he doesn’t know she or he is incompetent.  For example, before M.S.  came across the idea of learning French, she wasn’t aware that she was incompetent.

However, M.S. decided to enroll in an online French course during the pandemic, and then she continued her coaching learning process with me. She then moved on to the stage of conscious incompetence. “I know I make a lot of mistakes.” These words illustrate that my hard-working learner is fully aware that she has not yet reached perfection.  Being aware that you don’t know can be difficult sometimes, but it’s also very stimulating.  I know this because every time M.S.  says she makes mistakes; she spontaneously asks a question to better understand what she has doubts about. This is essential.  How do you learn if you’re not aware of what you don’t know?

Eventually, and if she perseveres, M.S.  will finally reach the stage of conscious competence.  At this stage, she will be able to speak French well by concentrating to mobilize all her knowledge.

And if she continues her efforts, she will succeed in reaching the unconscious competence where, like a Francophone, she will speak “as a francophone”, without having to think too much. I hope she achieves this stage in a near future.

Model of conscious competence: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_quatre_%C3%A9tapes_de_la_comp%C3%A9tence