Basic Principles
of TEYL

This chapter will lay the foundation for the approaches the book supports for teaching young learners English as an international
language.

We explore:
■ Characteristics and learning styles of primary school students
■ Theoretical foundation for TEYL
■ Useful activities and teaching ideas specifically designed for teaching young learners English as an international language.

Theory, Planning and Application

Considerations for Teaching Young Learners

As an adult, it is important to know children in depth and be able to put ourselves in their shoes.

In order to find the right approach for teachiing young learners English, it is important to explore three things

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sensorimotor

■ 0–2 years old
■ They show intelligence through physical interactions and experience
■ They have limited use of symbols and language

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spatial-visual

Students learn through visuals and organize ideas spatially through graphic organizers

Bodily-kinesthetic

Students learn through gestures and manipulatives and enjoy activities that involve movement

Musical

Students learn through auditory rhythms and melodies

Linguistic

Students learn through writings, readings, discussions

Logical-mathematical

Students learn through reasoning (They are analytical)

Interpersonal

Students learn by interaction with people

Intrapersonal

Students have a tendency to be self- reflective and like to work alone

Naturalistic

Students have an affinity toward nature, including the environment, plants, and animals

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

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

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

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

■ 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

■ Title of lesson
■ Student profile
■ Skills to be emphasized
■ Language
■ Objectives
■ Materials
■ Warm-up
■ Presentation
■ Practice
■ Application
■ Assessment
■ Follow-up

■ Alina Gil, Primary - Uruguay
■ Tatiana Pak - Kyrgyzstan
■ Sholpan Alimova - Kazakhstan
■ Cecilia Ponce de Leon - Peru
■ Asma Al Dhahab - Oman
■ Eun Young Kim - South Korea
■ Anitah Aujayeb - Mauritius