TEACHING ENGLISH FOR

YOUNG LEARNERS
 WHO ARE YOUNG
LEARNERS?

Children from the first

year of formal schooling
(five or six years old) to
eleven or twelve years
old
HOW CHILDREN LEARN
Children are active learners
and thinkers. (Piaget,1970)
Children construct
knowledge from actively
interacting with the
physical environment in
developmental stages.
They learn through their
own individual actions and
exploration.
 Children learn through social
interaction.
(Vygotsky, 1962)
• Children construct knowledge through other
people, through interaction with adults.
Adults/teachers work actively with children
in the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).
• Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
=
difference between the child's capacity to
solve problems on his own and his capacity
to solve them with assistance
 Children learn effectively
through scaffolding by adults.
(Bruner, 1983)
The adult’s role is very important in a
child’s learning process. Like
Vygotsky, Bruner focused on the
importance of language in a child’s
cognitive development. He shows how
the adult uses “scaffolding” to guide a
child’s language learning through
finely-tuned talk. (Cameron, 2001)
Characteristics of Yls (7-12)
• are learning to read and write in L1
• are developing as thinkers
• understand the difference between the real and the
imaginary
• can plan and organize how best to carry out an activity
• can be reliable and take responsibility for class activities and
routines
• respond the language well through concrete things (visual
things) rather than abstract things,
• need physical movements and real activities to stimulate
their thinking,
• will be enthusiastic if they are taught using fun activities or
being involved in activities,
• love to play, and learn best when they are enjoying
themselves,
• learn well through something that is close to their culture,
• like to work together.
 Ho
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Supplement activities with
visuals, realia, and
movement.
Young learners tend to
have short attention • Use brightly colored
spans and a lot of visuals, toys, puppets
physical energy. In or objects
addition, children are • Community donations
very much linked to for toys and objects
their surroundings and • Create a“Visuals and
are more interested in Realia Bank”
the physical and the
• Use Total Physical
tangible.
Response (TPR)
Involve students in making
visuals and realia.
Having children involved
in creating the visuals that
are related to the lesson
helps engage students in
the learning process by
introducing them to the
context as well as to
relevant vocabulary items.
Students are more likely
to feel interested and
invested in the lesson and
will probably take better
care of the materials
(Moon 2000).
• Students draw different
characters for a story or
make puppets, masks,
play-do sculptures
• Collaborate with the art
teacher to make the
visuals you need for
your activities
• Students contribute
their own toys for the
lesson (“Show and tell”)
 Move from activity to
activity.
Young learners
have short • Quiet/noisy exercises
attention spans. • Different skills:
For ages 5–7, Keep listening/speaking/read
activities around 5 ing/writing
and 10 minutes • Individual/ pairwork/
long. For ages 8– groupwork/ whole class
10, keep activities activities
10 to 15 minutes • Teacher-pupil/ pupil-
pupil activities
long.
 Teach in themes.

A thematic unit, a
series of lessons on the • Common themes for YLs:
same topic or subject, animals, friends, family,
can create broader environment, citizenship,
contexts in which to shopping, or units
teach language, revolving around a
recycle language from storybooks, websites,
lesson to lesson, and celebrities, or movies
allow students to focus students like
more on content and • Themes based on
communication than curricula from students’
on language structure. other subjects are also
effective (Haas 2000)
Use stories and contexts
familiar to students.
Use of stories and
contexts in home • Take a favorite story
country or culture in the L1 and translate
can help YLs connect it into English
English with their • Allow students a
background chance to personalize
knowledge, which is content every lesson
limited because of
their young age and
inexperience.
 Establish classroom
routines in English.
YLs function well within
a structured
• Clap short rhythms
environment and enjoy
repetition of certain for students to
routines and activities. repeat.
Having basic routines • Start the lesson
in the classroom can with song or chant
help to manage young
learners.
• Add classroom
language to the
routines as well
Use L1 as a resource when
necessary.
Use L1 in the classroom as
a resource for forwarding
the learning process • Quickly make a
without becoming too difficult expression
reliant on it. Concentrate on
building communicative comprehensible by
skills. Save your time for translating into L1
the target language
actually within students’ • Use L1 for
reach. complicated
directions for
activities
THANK YOU