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    Teaching English to Young Learners
    Teaching English to Young Learners
    Teaching English to Young Learners
    Ebook248 pages4 hours

    Teaching English to Young Learners

    By Robert Taylor

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    In this book, you will learn a wide variety of teaching techniques and strategies for teaching children from ages 4-11. The book is full of lesson plans, games and activities for current or aspiring teachers who are teaching children at kindergarten and early primary grade levels and whose first language is other than English. It is the foundation of a second language instruction course and was developed to meet the ever-increasing demand for qualified ESL teachers of young children in non-English speaking countries around the world. It combines elements of Early Childhood Education (ECE) and teaching children a second language.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRobert Taylor
    Release dateSep 23, 2012
    ISBN9780991696512
    Teaching English to Young Learners
    Author

    Robert Taylor

    Robert Taylor was formerly Director of the Centre for Chinese Studies and Reader in Modern Chinese Studies at the University of Sheffield. He is the author of a number of studies and academic articles relating to Chinese business management and China’s foreign policy, including Greater China and Japan and the edited volume, International Business in China: Understanding the Global Economic Crisis. He also contributed a chapter on China to the volume, edited by H.Hasegawa and C.Noronha, Asian Business and Management: Theory, Practice and Perspectives.

    Read more from Robert Taylor

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    Reviews for Teaching English to Young Learners

    4.5/5

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    • 5/5
      Es excelente, el mejor libro que he leído en el tema.
    • 5/5
      Incredibly helpful, well-written book that I can easily recommend to friends and family.
    • 5/5
      I'll take a lot from this book into my lessons. Surely, an excellent book for those who are lost and don't know where to start with young learners.
    • 5/5
      excellent, practical ideas
      thanks very much!
    • 4/5
      GOOD

    Book preview

    Teaching English to Young Learners - Robert Taylor

    Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

    (TESOL)

    By Dr. Robert W. F. Taylor

    Copyright 2012 Dr. Robert W. F. Taylor

    Smashwords Edition, License Notes

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    ****~~~~****

    Table of Contents

    Chapter 1: Development of TEYL

    Chapter 2: Care of Young Children

    Chapter 3: How Young Children Learn

    Chapter 4: How Young Children Learn a new Language

    Chapter 5: Creating a good Learning Environment

    Chapter 6: Teaching the Sounds of English

    Chapter 7: Developing Spelling Skills

    Chapter 8: Reading for fun and Learning

    Chapter 9: Speaking activities

    Chapter 10: Writing activities

    Chapter 11: Building a Second Language Vocabulary

    Chapter 12: Applying Children's Natural Musical Ability

    Chapter 13: Learning through Games

    Chapter 14: Teaching through Story-telling

    Chapter 15: Art and Language

    Chapter 16: Using Video in the Classroom

    Chapter 17: Using Computers with Young Learners

    Chapter 18: Young Learners and the Internet

    Chapter 19: Seasonal Activities

    Chapter 20: Creating effective Lesson Plans

    Chapter 21: Extracurricular Language Activities

    Chapter 22: Developing Learning Outcomes and Measuring Results

    Chapter 23: Creating Confidence in Young Learners

    Chapter 24: Problem Solving

    References

    ****~~~~****

    Part 1: Introduction

    Part One covers five areas:

    a) Why teaching young learners has become so important over the past decade or two

    b) Care and control of young children

    c) How children learn

    d) How children learn a new language, and finally

    e) How to create a good learning environment

    These five chapters represent the fundamentals that you need to understand in order to be an effective teacher of young children

    ****~~~~****

    Chapter 1: Development of TEYL

    Childhood is the world of miracle or of magic: it is as if creation rose luminously out of the night, all new and fresh and astonishing. Childhood is over the moment things are no longer astonishing. When the world gives you a feeling of déjà vu, when you are used to existence, you become an adult.-EUGENE IONESCO

    For children growing up where two or more languages are spoken, and where their playmates speak a different language at home, it is natural for them to pick up words and phrases from those playmates. The more astute become bilingual by assimilation rather than through formal training. This is the ideal way for children to learn and is sometimes referred to as the natural or direct method.

    However, the vast majority children grow up in a unilingual environment. As a result, when they hear other languages spoken or see them in writing, the words or symbols, tones, will appear incomprehensible. Language rules fly in the face of what they have already been taught is the correct way, i.e., that of their own language. By that time, their minds have been conditioned and trained in the way their language works.

    Many of the Asian languages, for example, are syllabic. Chinese does not have an alphabet. Mandarin is written in traditional Chinese characters, a system that developed over 4,000 years ago. It utilizes a set of logographs of several types: pictographs, ideographs, compound ideographs, loan characters, and phonetic compounds. The last forms over 90 percent of the total set of as many as 40,000 characters (Li and Thompson 1979, 1987). Some 885 million people speak Mandarin Chinese.

    The Thai language does not have capitals or lower case. Neither is there cursive writing -only printing. There is no punctuation. Adjectives follow the noun, as in French, e.g., Thai has 44 consonants and 32 vowel sounds. Thus, quite a few challenges exist for a child whose schooling has been in Thai to convert his or her thinking into an English language format.

    Trying to teach anyone at an older age to speak, read and write a new language is a formidable task. At a younger age, the task is not quite so daunting. Younger children are less set in their ways, therefore are more open to new concepts. In language learning, this is vital since every language has its own structure, as noted above.

    It used to be that, unless children needed it because they lived in a bilingual community, learning a foreign language was viewed as an ‘elective course’ and generally not taught until the higher grades. Many students did not take English except in university as a language or humanities credit.

    A number of factors have come into play over the past 15-20 years that have had an impact on the need for younger children to learn a new language:

    1. English has become a global language and the language of international communications.

    2. Many foreign governments have recognized the value of learning English and are encouraging the teaching of English in schools – at younger ages. A number of foreign government has set up programs to bring in English native speakers on a contract basis. Japan was the early leader here. South Korea and Taiwan have such programs now. Others that do not have specific government programs, help with year-long renewable teachers’ visas (often paid for by the school).

    3. The Internet and its limitless resources have become an essential part of teaching in schools worldwide. It includes many exciting sites designed specifically for younger ages.

    4. Emigration of whole families to English-speaking countries has resulted in children of all ages being thrust into English-speaking schools. Governments have recognized this as a problem and have or are developing programs such as Canada’s LINC (Language Instruction for New Canadians).

    5. Many western businesses have also become global so that wherever one goes in the world, one is exposed to such global brands as McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Toys R Us …all of which target children with their products.

    6. Thanks to the development and expansion of satellites and home satellite dishes, telecommunications has also become global. Schools around the world can use such resources as The Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel. Also, MTV (Music Television), Cartoon Network and English movie channels are available everywhere. English VCDs and DVDs abound.

    7. The music industry has brought English songs and pop stars to the world through MP3, audio and video CDs and Karaoke CDs.

    In other words, children must become knowledgeable about ‘things English’ if they want to be part of what is happening all around them – and they do!

    Bilingual education is becoming more and more acceptable. It has come a long way since its ‘immersion’ beginnings in Quebec, Canada. International schools teaching all subjects in English are springing up faster than one can count them. Why? To fill the need.

    Parents are demanding more English training for their children – and are willing to pay for extra lessons if the schools are not providing these. In South Korea, the demand is so large that families willingly pay thousands of dollars a year for extra tutoring for their children.

    Publishers have responded to the demand for more English at younger ages with a proliferation of textbooks aimed at this market. Whereas 10-12 years ago, ESL teachers had to adapt material geared for native speakers or for older children, there is now a wealth of material available in print, video, on tape and CD, as well as interactive sites on the Internet.

    The advent of Internet-based bookstores such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indigo and Chapters means that even if local teachers cannot find the material they are looking for locally, they can generally purchase it through the Net.

    Recently, a number of educational theories and terms have been introduced into the YL field:

    - Academic: Describes those parts of the instruction received by young children to help them to achieve basic literacy and numeracy skills (Jacobsen 1996).

    - Instructivist approach: Certain skill sets are necessary for children to have in order to ensure good performance as they progress into higher grades. Proponents of this theory or approach believe that children must be taught these skills. They cannot be expected to learn them without the help of instructors including parents and teachers.

    - Constructivist approach: In this approach, a learning environment is provided in which children build or construct their own bank of knowledge. Under the instructivist model, children play a more active role in exploring the world around them, investigating, discovering, and adding continually to their own learning and development.

    - Intellectual Development: When a child experiences something, he or she will develop thoughts about that experience. Intellectual development is guidance that helps the child to develop correct understanding of what he/she sees, feels and experiences.

    - Multiple Intelligences (MI): Dr. Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences is now 20 years old yet many teachers are not familiar with it and many schools cling to traditional teaching methodologies. This theory breaks down our learning abilities and tendencies into linguistic, mathematic and logical, visual and spatial, musical, Interpersonal, intrapersonal and kinesthetic.

    - Learning Styles: People, including young children usually have one predominant learning style – auditory, visual or kinesthetic.

    - Left brain / Right brain: The left brain is our logical or practical side and the right brain is our artistic side.

    - Accelerated Learning: Accelerated learning is a catchall phrase applied to the use of any number of methods to improve the pace of learning. It means that a teacher is aware of and actively applies MI, uses varied teaching styles to ensure he/she is reaching auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners, and provides left brain/right brain activities.

    Montessori Approach to Learning

    The Montessori learning environment is much different than the traditional model. Instead of information passing from the teacher to the student, the teacher is skilled in putting the child in touch with the environment, and helping him learn to make intelligent choices and to carry out research in a prepared environment. The teacher then protects the student's concentration from interruption. This fosters a love of lifetime learning in the student.

    In a Montessori classroom, several ages are grouped together. The younger ages learn from the older ones – just as they would at home.

    There are many good books available which delve into these approaches to teaching young learners. A list of reference material is provided at the end of the book. A balance between instructivist and constructivist approaches is needed in order to provide the skills children will need later but to also allow ample time and situations for their own discovery. Together, and with the guidance of teachers who know about and apply accelerated learning techniques, this combination should provide continual intellectual development.

    Teacher training for language learning at the younger ages has not kept pace with this demand. It is only recently that new courses in TEYL have become available. This book addresses that need. By the time you have completed it, you will have a much better understanding of the specific needs of young learners. You will also be better able to respond confidently and effectively to them.

    Teachers in developing countries may find the introduction of methodologies other than age-old traditional ones to be an uphill battle. Rote learning still plays a large role.

    ****~~~~****

    Chapter 2: Care and Control of Young Children

    Only where children gather is there any real chance of fun.-Mignon McLaughlin, The Atlantic, 1960

    Pre-schoolers

    Children from Grade One up are not as dependent as preschoolers. This chapter will focus on those pre-elementary ages. Here is the scenario…

    It is the first day of school and you are the new teacher at Happy Flowers Kindergarten *. Your job is to teach the little ones to communicate in English. Never mind that they can hardly communicate in their own language…which you do not speak. Never mind that some of them feel their mother has abandoned them and that they are determined to cry or howl until she comes back later in the day.

    Your first problem is to get and keep their attention. At this age, children have an attention span countable in nanoseconds. They may listen for a minute but unless they can understand you and what you want them to do, you will lose them quickly. So what do you do?

    You make them laugh. You keep them busy in a light and fun way with activities that are varied, that make them giggle, that teach them something new and ideally where they do not even know that they are learning. You do this by making it seem natural – like story-telling, games and art. You try to get them all to join in – even the criers.

    These toddlers should get over their abandonment syndrome within a few days as they realize that mommy does come back and get them later. They will make new friends and begin to look forward to this new phase in their lives. What seems like an earth-shattering experience one minute can be completely forgotten in an instant when something more interesting comes along.

    What specific techniques can we use to get and keep children’s attention?

    I think we cannot stress too strongly the motto keep it simple.

    I frequently see teachers who rely too heavily on language for instruction, explanation and discipline become frustrated and disillusioned with their job. They just don’t listen! That’s right. They don’t.

    We need to use less language for better understanding, a faster pace and more learning.

    - Demonstrate rather than explain.

    - Over act. It’s also a great way to grab attention and get a giggle.

    - Exaggerate your body language.

    - Use your voice. Rather than shouting, make it interesting, scary, funny…try whispering.

    - Make explanations visual, with single words added to give meaning rather than full sentences.

    - Avoid telling them that they don’t listen. If you are not keeping their attention look to yourself for the solution – you are the one who must try out some new techniques and initiate the change.

    As children learn more vocabulary and tune in to you, they will be able to understand more complex instructions and explanations.. However, if they have already learnt that they can’t understand you, they most likely won’t even try.

    You may be lucky enough to have a native language assistant to help you to deal with the traumas or these pre-schoolers. If the school does not offer one, we suggest that you ask about the possibility. If they seem reluctant, ask about having one for the first few weeks until you get to know the children better. It is a reasonable request. In Japan, teaching assistants are automatically supplied. Many international schools provide assistants as well. It all depends on the resources that a school has available. Chances are that you are being paid a good deal more than a local teacher who in turn is receiving a higher salary than an assistant.

    A warning about using an assistant to translate into the students’ first language:

    This should be done with care, preferably only when necessary for administrative matters, when a child is sick or in urgent need, etc.

    If you use an assistant to explain language or instructions, the danger is that the children will look to the assistant, and not attempt to understand the teacher. Students will commonly just wait for the teacher to stop talking so that they may get on with the business of listening to the assistant to find out what is really going on. This greatly hinders the crossover that occurs when the student starts to think in English.

    It also bothers parents who are paying high fees for native English speaking teachers. Many language schools will drop teachers who use too much of the children’s first language in the classroom, either themselves, or through an assistant.

    If you cannot get your students’ attention, anarchy will reign and the classroom will resemble a cross between a racetrack, zoo and locker room after losing the big game. Not a pretty sight. You need to try to understand what makes each one of them tick…one at a time. With most students, this task should come easy.

    However, there will always be a few that will take longer to understand and some whom you may never figure out. Don’t worry. Keep trying. Do your best and you will survive. You may even come

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