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In order to find the right approach for teachiing young learners English, it is important to explore three things
Designing a Lesson for Young Learners
■ Title of lesson ■ Student profile ■ Skills to be emphasized ■ Language ■ Objectives ■ Materials ■ Warm-up ■ Presentation ■ Practice ■ Application ■ Assessment ■ Follow-up
Effective Language Teaching Practices for Young Learners
■ Use fun and engaging activities ■ Students are engaged in a variety of interactions ■ Cater to different learning styles and intelligences ■ Make language learning meaningful and relevant ■ Introduce learners to different cultures ■ Use various teaching strategies that set up learners for success
How children learn language
Do not learn language through explicit grammatical explanations
■ Learners need to experience the language through lots of exposure. ■ They will not learn through grammatical explanations ■ They will gain an understanding of the grammar implicitly through repetition and recycling of the language in different contexts
Learn language through lots of meaningful exposure and practice
■ In the L1 environment, children are surrounded by their native language ■ This constant source of meaningful exposure to language in authentic contexts helps children acquire language naturally and quickly ■ To create an optimal environment for learning English, the input in the classroom needs to be comprehensible and just above the students’ current level of English ■ Give students plenty of chances to practice using English in class
Need a learning environment similar to first language acquisition
■ Children may use similar processes to acquire a first or native language (L1) and a second or foreign language (L2) ■ The language used is always authentic and contextualize ■ Children will be motivated if there is a real purpose or reason to use the language
How children learn
Need support and scaffolding by the teacher
Children construct knowledge through other people, more specifically through interaction with adults or more competent peers, in this case the teacher
Scaffolding principles
Control children’s frustration during the task
■ Create tasks that have a real purpose ■ Remind students about the purpose or goal and point out important parts of the task. ■ Encourage a real communication
Model the task, including different ways to do the task
■ Model the task and show students what your expectations are ■ Consider that students learn in different ways ■ Consider and incorporate different learning styles and multiple intelligences
Naturalistic
Students have an affinity toward nature, including the environment, plants, and animals
Intrapersonal
Students have a tendency to be self- reflective and like to work alone
Interpersonal
Students learn by interaction with people
Logical-mathematical
Students learn through reasoning (They are analytical)
Linguistic
Students learn through writings, readings, discussions
Musical
Students learn through auditory rhythms and melodies
Bodily-kinesthetic
Students learn through gestures and manipulatives and enjoy activities that involve movement
Spatial-visual
Students learn through visuals and organize ideas spatially through graphic organizers
Control children’s frustration during the task
■ Take a closer look at what is upsetting the child ■ Check if students are having the same issue ■ Give them the hints they need to succeed without giving them all the answers
Simplify the task
■ Prepare the lessons by examining every task ■ Consider their level of English language proficiency and cognitive development ■ Break the task down into smaller steps
Create interest in the task
■ Choose tasks for young learners that cater to their sense of fun, curiosity, and imagination ■ Know learners and their preferences ■ Use of brightly colored visuals and use of audio-visual aids ■ Show a good attitude towards students
Learn by doing and interacting with their environment
Children are active learners and thinkers, they construct knowledge from interacting with the physical environment in developmental stages
Formal Operational
■ 11 years old and older ■ They show intelligence through logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts ■ Theycan hypothesize and use deductive reasoning
Concrete Operational
■ 7–11 years old ■ They show intelligence through logical and organized thought related to con- crete objects ■ They are less egocentric but still have a tendency to relate new ideas to them- selves and their immediate surroundings ■ They can reverse their thinking through reasoning
Preoperational
■ 2–7 years old ■ They show intelligence through strides they make in language development ■ They are extremely egocentric and have difficulty seeing things from another’s perspective ■ They develop memory and imagination ■ They do not think logically
Sensorimotor
■ 0–2 years old ■ They show intelligence through physical interactions and experience ■ They have limited use of symbols and language
Characteristics of Young Learners
Social and are learning to relate to others
■ Young learners are very social and like to talk to each other ■ Young learners are learning how to relate to others as part of their socialization process to their culture ■ Young learners love to play games with each other and can cooperate to do activities
■ Make learning interactive ■ Incorporate group games ■ Use a variety of different kinds of interactions
Egocentric and relate new ideas to themselves
■ Young learners are egocentric, centered on themselves and their immediate surroundings ■ They have difficulty perceiving things from another person’s perspective
■ Provide opportunities for young learners to personalize what they are learning ■ Relate cultural topics to their own native culture
Easily distracted and have short attention spans
■ Young learners are known for being easily distracted ■ Younglearners can concentrate on longer activities if they are fun and interesting to them
■ Use brightly colored pictures, photos, and posters to capture their attention ■ Use different kinds of audio-visual aids such as playing songs, TV or movie clips ■ Give students a break
Imaginative and enjoy make-believe
■ Young learners love activities that encourage them to use their imagination
■ Use role plays and drama games ■ Use stories or plays to create an imaginary world for students ■ Students can use their own material to retell a story
Curious and receptive to new ideas
■ Young learners have a natural curiosity ■ Teachers should prepare activities that arouse students’ curiosity
■ Use a Mystery Bag game ■ Teach new interesting topics ■ Introduce international cultures
Spontaneous and not afraid to speak out or participate
■ Young learners are not very inhibited ■ Young learners are not afraid to feel embarrassed ■ Young learners are good imitators of language
■ Use songs, rhymes, chants, and dialogs
Energetic and physically active
■ Teachers at need to consider how to harness the dynamic energy of young learners and use it toward effective learning. ■Teachers should utilize children’s natural tendency to be physically active and not get frustrated with the fact that young children cannot sit still for long periods of time.
■ Use Kinesthetic activities (Total Physical Response (TPR) or the game Simon Says.
