Something that we teachers sometimes forget is that our students have lives! Lives other than their English-learning ones!

Students may be reluctant to do their homework for a number of reasons. It may simply be that they really are very busy and that it's difficult for them to find the time to do your tasks as well as their extra French, aerobics, piano, swimming etc. It is worth trying to find out right at the beginning of a term or course, what other commitments your students have and to establish with them what is practical and feasible. You may then be able to negotiate a homework 'contract' with, for example, one shorter, simpler task such as a workbook exercise and one extended task - for example, a composition, per week. You might also find that if you offer the students some flexibility about when they actually do the homework, they will then be able to fit it in around their other commitments.

Something that is also very frustrating for me as a student is when I have spent ages doing a piece of work, I give it in on time and then wait weeks before I get it back again! By that time I've forgotten all about it, why I did what I did, why I said what I said. The next time I am set some homework, I make less effort.

As teachers, it is important to return homework as quickly as possible and to recognise the effort that may have gone into constructing even a simple sentence or two. Giving a few words of encouragement about both the language and the content of what is written in a composition for example can be very motivating. e.g. 'You've used the new language very well here. What an interesting man your uncle is!'

Homework charts can also be motivating, especially for younger students. These can be pinned up on a board and ticks placed in the appropriate column when the relevant piece of homework is handed in. This can be extended to include an example piece of a particular homework task, selected by either yourself or the students themselves and pinned up on display.

Sometimes it can be motivating for students to have other readers of their work, not only you their teacher. If the task is appropriate, you can get the students to give their work to other students to read, either before or after you have read it and corrected it.

And of course, one of the other things about encouraging students to do their homework and enjoy it, is to set tasks that are enjoyable! Or if they are boring but necessary e.g. learning the past irregular verbs by heart, then perhaps you can think of a more interesting way of 'marking' it, e.g. through a game, or by giving points for neatness of presentation, etc.