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TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND OR FOREIGN LANGUAGE FOR YOUNG LEARNERS By Melania Wiannastiti, M.Pd For teachers in Yayasan Seraphine Bhakti Utama

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TEACHING LANGUAGES FOR YOUNG LEARNERS A. The fact about young learners: Positive things: - They often more enthusiastic and lively than adult - They want to please the teacher than their peer group - They will have a go at an activity even they dont quite understand why and how - They seem less embarrassed to talk about new language (so the accent will be better like the native speaker) - They are likely more visual than verbal (The child tries to make sense of the world by asking question wants to know) Negative things: - They lose interest quickly - They are less able to keep themselves motivated on tasks they find difficult - They do not find it easy to use language to talk about language Language and classroom for young learners It needs specific goal of the learning It needs to provide specific tasks It needs routines which can provide opportunities for meaningful language development. - It need to allow the children to actively make sense of new language from familiar experience - It needs to provide a space for language growth. B. C. Learning a Second or Foreign Language - The native-like proficiency in second language is the goal as well as communicative ability in a foreign language. - First language (L1) will influence more in learning the second or foreign language. (L2) - Age also influence more in learning L2, that they lose attention easily. It means that teachers can help learners by focusing their attention on useful sources of information on the new language.

- Since L1 influence a lot in learning L2, it needs to remember the learning foreign language means that students are learning the whole and the parts. The parts are tiny aspects of grammar or phonology that are crucial in reaching a whole interpretation. - Children language learning depends on what they experience. D. The division of Language Teaching The four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing Then add Grammar, Vocabulary and Phonology More it needs Topics and Functions It needs to remember that they must be taught in terms of how it is used in communication not seeing as a set of linguistic system or a set of skill

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BILINGUAL EDUCATION A. Definition of bilingual a. Using or able to use two languages, especially with equal or nearly equal fluency. b. Using two languages in some proportion in order to facilitate learning by students who have a native proficiency in one language and are acquiring proficiency in the other: bilingual training; bilingual education B. alternatives to Bilingual Education:  submersion Language minority students are placed in an ordinary classroom where English is spoken. There is no special program to help them overcome the language problem. Submersion is described as sink or swim'. The minority home language (L1) is not used at all in the classroom.  English as a second language (ESL) ESL students are placed in regular submersion instruction for most of the day. During part of the day, however, these students receive extra instruction in English. This extra help is based on a special curriculum designed to teach English as a second language. L1 [the native language] may or may not be used in conjunction with ESL instruction.  structured immersion Instruction is in the second language (L2), as in the case of submersion, but there are important differences. The immersion teachers understand L1, and students can address the teacher in L1; the immersion teacher, however, generally replies only L2. Furthermore, the curriculum is structured so that prior knowledge of L2 is not assumed as [material] is taught. Content is introduced in a way that can be understood by students

 A two-way bilingual immersion. Students are taught in two languages; both their native language and English. "Two-way bilingual immersion programs that follow the 9010 models begin by immersing students in instruction through the non-English language. As children progress through the program, the amount of English language instruction is increased until the two languages attain parity in the delivery of instruction."90-10" denotes that 90% of teaching in Kindergarten and first grade are done in the native language and the other 10% of the day is taught in English. E. one other method It has been found one method to be completely detrimental to language development and it is called "Concurrent Translation." This method is implemented in a fashion where the instructor will say something in English and then immediately translate it into the native language or vice versa. This has been shown to be counter-productive because the child will tune out what they do not understand because they know that an immediate translation will soon follow. III. PRACTICAL COMMUNICATION A. Communication 1. Communication means: - Having conversation - Sharing ideas/thought - Asking and giving Information 2. Communication DOES NOT mean - doing an interview - doing an investigation B. Instruction for Children must - Be simple - Be routine - Be better not a translation but giving example by using gesture, repletion, act. C. Meaning - Interpersonal meaning (mostly in speaking) Example: Teacher : Good morning, kids. Students : Good morning, Miss / Sir/Mr. Budi Teacher : How are you? Students : Fine thank you. And UUUU?? Teacher : Great thank you.

Teacher Stella

: You look pretty today, Stella : Thank you Miss.

Teacher Stella Teacher

: Today is hot, isnt it? : It is, Miss. I feel hot : You do. You are sweaty.

- Ideational meaning (the intention of the conversation) Example Teacher : What time is it now, Bony? Bony : 11 oclock, Miss. Teacher : Well, thank you. Bony : You are welcome. - Textual meaning (mostly in writing) Spoken: It is an apple. Well, the color is red. And you know it is juicy. It is juicy. I like it very much. Written: It is a red juicy apple that I like very much

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TIPS AND TRICKS

Help!!! I am teaching four and five year olds. What do I do?"

Have you searched the internet? There is a wealth of information on early childhood or preschool teaching. Search also under "home schooling" and "daycare." These sites are designed to teach basic concepts to native English speakers but lessons can be adapted for ELLs. What do you need to do to effectively teach the ELLs in your preschool class? 1. Three and four year olds seem to be constantly in motion and have boundless energy. Action-based activities will grab their attention and keep their interest. Children of this age group enjoy movement play. Emphasize acting out stories, repeating predictable text, puppetry, chants, rhymes, finger plays, songs, and roleplaying. Have students make believe by playing house or pretending to be firefighters. Teach them to play games. Let them run jump, skip, dance and hop. These activities can be utilized to encourage verbal expression and language development. Use what these children love to do in order to help them learn. 2. Develop oral language skills. Teach young ELLs to speak and understand English first.

They need to learn vocabulary dealing with greetings, families, body parts, school and classroom items, days of the week, zoo and farm animals, numbers, shapes, seasons, colors, clothing, and fruit. Teach them commands such as "line up, raise your hand, and go to the circle." Use songs and chants to make learning fun. 3. Use visuals, including graphs, posters, videos, picture books, and educational computer games to help students acquire language. Bring in a bag of old clothing when teaching the names of clothes; share banana slices or use Cheerios for counting and M&Ms for color. 4. It is great to use seasonal themes because they are meaningful to the children. One example would be teaching about autumn by collecting fallen leaves, decorating pumpkins, creating your own costumes or masks, making butter from whipped cream, dressing up as Pilgrims and Indians, and having a simple Thanksgiving Feast. These activities make the vocabulary more relevant to the children and, therefore, it will be more memorable. 6. You will also want to build on the prior knowledge of your students. Make sure the theme is appropriate for the culture of the country you are teaching in. A Halloween theme will not mean very much to students in Indonesia. 7. Activate prior knowledge. Choose themes that can be linked to what your students already know. Pre-teach vocabulary and concepts that your ELLs will probably not know such as nursery rhymes.