Annie Hughes talking about how young learners learn (videoscript)

"In this lesson, we will take a look at how young learners develop and learn, how they learn language, and then how they learn a new language. We will particularly be looking at the needs of young learners and what we must keep in mind if we want to teach them. Additionally, we will be thinking about different types of young learners and considering that we all learn in very different ways."

An Overview of Teaching English to Young LearnersTeaching English to young learners (TEYL), including children within the 3-12 age range, in a meaningful and memorable way requires a person to understand how children learn and how they learn languages. In this lesson, we will look at some theories of how children learn and develop and how they might learn an additional, foreign or second language. In the next lesson, we will consider the implications these theories about learning have for teaching English to young learners.

An approach to TEYLTo begin, we will briefly consider important issues we need to be aware of so that we can get a clear overview of what is involved in TEYL. To illustrate this, I shall use a diagram (see Figure 1.1) to show how a number of building blocks (each representing a different part of language learning and teaching) can be placed together to create a structure that can represent our approach to TEYL. By stacking these blocks one on top of the other, we can consider how each is crucial for the support and development of the next in this tower of understanding.

Figure 1.1 Building blocks of understanding in teaching English to young learners

As you can see from Figure 1.1, the foundation block, which supports all the other blocks and is crucial to the strength of this tower of understanding, is How young learners develop and learn and learn languages. After looking at how learning takes place, we can examine more carefully what is involved in teaching with Implications for teaching English to young learners. Then, we can consider the various teaching techniques which can be implemented to help children develop different skills with How we can teach language to young learners (looking at areas such as teaching vocabulary,

pronunciation and grammar as well as topic-based teaching), A focus on the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) in TEYL, and Use of stories, songs, rhymes, games and role-plays in TEYL. Finally, on the top of the tower is Evaluation, assessment and research in TEYL, which allows us to look more closely at the outcomes of teaching and learning in our classrooms.

Providing supportWithout the foundation block and, in fact, all these blocks in place, this tower would not be supported and would collapse. Similarly, our provision for teaching English to young learners would also collapse, and be unsuccessful somewhere along the way, if we missed any of these blocks of understanding in planning and carrying out our lessons for our young language learners.

During the 12 lessons of this course, we will examine more closely the blocks illustrated above. I hope you will come to understand more about each of them, and will also recognize that they are inseparable and dependent on each other and should always be kept in mind during your language teaching.

"Hello, my name is Annie Hughes and welcome to the ELT Advantage course An Introduction to Teaching English to Young Learners. In this course you will learn about teaching English as a foreign or additional language to young learners from three to 12 years old. You will consider how young learners develop cognitively, how they learn languages, and how your understanding of these two areas can help guide you in your role as a teacher of young learners and a teacher of language. Whenever possible, this course will combine theory with practice in providing examples that will help illustrate how you can teach language to young learners in your classroom. In the 12 lessons, you will be introduced to ways of teaching the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), as well as techniques for using stories, songs and rhymes, games and role-play in your classroom. You will also consider the role of assessment and evaluation in teaching English to young learners.

You may be working in an English as an Additional, Foreign or Second Language (EAL, EFL or ESL) situation. To teach English in any of these settings we need to consider the same overall issues about teaching and learning and so this course will be useful to you in any of these teaching environments, whether you are an experienced teacher wanting to refresh and reflect on your understanding of teaching English to young learners or a new teacher."

A Brief Historical Understanding of How Children Learn and Develop

We do not have room in this course to consider all the studies that have involved children's learning, or their learning of foreign or second languages. However, we will take a brief look at those that have particular relevance and interest to us as TEYL practitioners today.

Views of PiagetWe will go back in history to look at the work of Jean Piaget, a well-known theorist in developmental psychology, who tried to work out how children thought and developed cognitively. In the 1960s and 1970s, Piaget set up various experiments to ascertain how children thought in and about different situations so that he could determine how they cognitively developed. He was particularly keen to understand how a child, as a 'lone scientist' or thinker, would solve problems during his or her life experiences, and how approaches to problem-solving might change as that individual got older and had more learning experiences.

Piaget's assumption was that children actively constructed knowledge from their experiences. From birth, he saw them as trying to make sense of the world through their actions. This made children central to their own learning. Piaget wanted to try to establish how children made sense of their world and how they tried to work things out for themselves. (Piaget 1967, Cameron 2001)

Developmental stages of children Based on the results from his work and research with children, carried out under rather strict conditions in research laboratories, Piaget suggested that children developed through specific stages. These stages were:

Sensori-Motor Stage (from 0 - 18 months) in which children seemed to learn through interaction with the world around them, largely through the use of their senses. This was a stage where Piaget felt children were particularly egocentric and were only able to think about things in terms of how they interacted and linked with themselves.

Pre-operational stage (from 18 months - 7 years) in which children were developing towards the next stage. They were starting to use some aspects of the concrete world around them and were also beginning to internalize information in a very basic way through the use of their imagination and memory.

Concrete Operational Stage (from 7 - 11 years) in which children were able to operate and learn through their interactions with the concrete world around them and were moving towards the final stage which would involve more abstract thinking.

Formal Operational Stage (from approximately 11 years of age to adulthood) in which children were able to develop more abstract thought and understanding

in this final stage of cognitive development. Usually this stage coincided with puberty and the development into adulthood.

Influential findings in Piaget's workPiaget's work particularly tried to identify how children could assimilate (add new knowledge to support old knowledge already established by them) and accommodate (change their present understanding of something based on the new experience they have had), and how they might develop their cognition and understanding using both.

Piaget believed the stages, outlined above, were fairly fixed in age and that children went through them in this particular sequential order. He believed that children could only move onto the next stage when they had completed the stage before and were ready to do so.

Piaget's work was highly influential and his findings were linked to classroom teaching and methodology. This was done by basing teaching on the 'readiness' of children to move onto the next stage of development. Many of us may remember the terms 'readiness' and 'reading readiness' when thinking about the influence his work has had on the teaching of children over the last 40 or so years. (Cameron 2001)

Another influential finding of Piaget's was his belief that it was very important that children be given thinking time when faced with an experience or problem that they tried to solve.

Issues with Piaget's workHowever, through the years, there has been discussion about some of Piaget's findings. Through the work of Margaret Donaldson (1978), many of Piaget's experiments were recreated and she found that his observations and measurements did not really reflect the way children were actually able to think. Through her research she felt that children were able to achieve and understand more than Piaget believed they could. She found Piaget had not, for example, take into account what sense children were making of the type of adult questioning that was used in the experiments he carried out, or the fact that the experiments were taking place in very unnatural and child-unfriendly settings, such as science laboratories. (Cameron 2001, Donaldson 1978)

Piaget's work has also come under quite heavy criticism because he did not consider the role of language to be an important catalyst in the cognitive development of the child, whereas many other people believe language is central to a child's development.

Lasting importance of Piaget's workDespite these concerns, Piaget's work was very important for us all because he established the idea of the child as a lone scientist who was actively seeking answers. He was also one of the first to suggest that children had the need for thinking time.

Though Piaget's findings are no longer thought to illustrate exactly the way we understand children's learning, he was the first person to try to establish exactly what was going on in the child's head. He also thought about the child as an

individual who developed and thought as an individual rather than a small version of an adult or a passive and empty vessel waiting for adults to fill his or her mind with information. Piaget's work was thus very important as a first step in gaining understanding of the cognitive development of children.

Language is Central to Child Development

Lev Vygotsky (1978) and Jerome Bruner (1983, 1990, Bruner and Haste 1987) believed, in contrast to Piaget, that language was central to the cognitive development of children. In particular, they thought it was instruction (provided by an adult, a teacher, or a more able peer) that helped children to learn and develop.

Guiding the 'thinking' processVygotsky and Bruner believed that the act of internalization for children (moving thought from something that was spoken out loud to thought that was in their heads) was helped and supported when another more knowledgeable person talked the 'thinking' process through with children and instructed or guided them along as they did so. For example, an adult might guide a child through putting together a puzzle by saying: Let's take all the pieces out of the box and turn them over. Now let's find all the pieces with the straight edges and put them over here. And where are the four corner pieces? Oh, yes. Here they are…

While Piaget talked of children working through different stages of learning on their own, Vygotsky (1978) described the difference between what children could achieve (and how they could develop) on their own and what children could achieve (and how they could develop) when an adult was able to work with them as the zone of proximal development.

Encouraging development and growthBruner (1983,1990, Bruner and Haste 1987) developed this idea further and described the cognitive support that could be given to children by a more knowledgeable other as scaffolding. With

scaffolding, children could develop and grow because the adult would give support to their thinking and encourage them to think in ways that would develop their own ability to think through situations.

Scaffolding is often seen when parents or teachers ask children what they are experiencing. For example, in a situation where an adult is playing with a child at the beach, the adult might encourage the child to develop in his or her thinking by asking questions such as: How does the stone feel? Is it heavy? Do you think it would sink if you put it in water? How could we put the stones together so that they would make a wall? Do you think the big ones should be at the top or the bottom? …

Figure 1.2 A view of scaffolding: Just as scaffolding can provide support to a building in its initial stages of development, a more knowledgeable other can provide support to a child and encourage him or her on to higher stages of development.

Making sense of experiencesReturning again to Donaldson's work (1978), she believed that children were able to cognitively develop by trying to make sense of the experiences that they had, and by asking questions and trying things out, or hypothesizing.

To some extent, this idea of the child as hypothesizer links back to what Piaget set out to explain with his experiments. But, perhaps, Piaget approached his investigation too clinically and not in a child-friendly enough way to gain clear insights into what children really were able to do in their minds. Donaldson felt that Piaget's view of the child as very egocentric was not necessarily the case. Donaldson's work, in contrast, showed how young children were able to think in ways that Piaget felt they could not.

Figure 1.3 The child as hypothesizer.

In considering the child as hypothesizer, Donaldson felt the child continues to hypothesize until the original hypothesis becomes changed or adapted by the feedback that continues to be received. The child then changes internalized rules to new ones or adapts the ones previously held.

How Do We Think Children Learn Language?Learning a language is a complex process. However, we can see in all corners of the world, that children somehow learn to speak their native language without formal training. How does this happen? There are theories about this, and there is continued research in the search for answers. We will touch on a few theories below.

Language learning – innate and universal?If we move on to think about the learning and development of language in children, particularly their mother tongue, we find that Noam Chomsky (1959) believed that learning was innate. This idea was developed by the group called the Innatists, so called because they felt that learning (and therefore language learning) happened to all individuals, and therefore, must be innate and universal.

Chomsky felt that there was an innate language capacity in all of us which he called the Language Acquisition Device (LAD). This ability to acquire language was later referred to as Universal Grammar (UG).

Critical period for language learning?This idea of Chomsky's linked neatly with the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) suggested by Eric Lenneberg around the same time (1967). Lenneberg thought that there was a critical period, up to about the age of eleven, in which children were able to learn language. He believed that if language

was introduced to children after this age (or this critical period) then it was extremely difficult for them to learn it. This hypothesis has often been cited as one of the main reasons for starting the teaching of foreign or second languages early in a child's schooling.

Bruner (1983, 1990, Bruner and Haste 1987) feels that there is a Language Acquisition Support System (LASS) supplied by adults, or more able mentors, that helps children to develop such a language acquisition device and that this input and support is crucial to the success of language acquisition in children.

Children's Preferred Learning Styles

Children are constantly learning, inside and outside the classroom. By watching them in the classroom and on the playground, we can see that individual children have different interests and that they learn about their world in different ways.

Visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning stylesMore recently, there have been some very interesting suggestions that children (and adults, too) do not all learn in the same way and that there are probably many different types of learners. This understanding focuses on the preferred learning style(s) that individuals seem to have and how these influence what and how they learn. In essence, these are known as Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic (VAK) learning styles.

If you are a visual learner, you will need to see what is happening and link this to your understanding. For example, you may need to see an example of a picture before you can draw one. If you are an auditory learner, you will need to hear the input. For example, you may need to hear verbal instructions as you carry out a mathematical sum. Kinesthetic learners are those who prefer to learn by physical involvement. For example, you may need to touch and manipulate a puzzle or game before you can understand how it works.

Multiple intelligencesLinked closely with this understanding of the three types of learning styles is the work of Howard Gardner (1993) who suggested that there are actually a lot of different learning styles or intelligences, as he called them, that we all have at our disposal. He believed that we individually favor and use some more than others, and some to a greater or lesser extent than others, too.

Initially Gardner suggested there were seven such Multiple Intelligences, but in his later work he suggests there may be many more. The initial seven are noted below.

Linguistic Intelligence

Reading, as well as the creative use of words (such as doing crossword puzzles) is usually enjoyed by those favoring this intelligence. We would probably see a journalist using this intelligence more than other people.

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

Sorting and ordering are favored by this intelligence, which also includes classifying, ranking and sequencing. People who enjoy research and organization of research results would likely show high tendencies to use this intelligence more.

Spatial Intelligence:

This intelligence links well with the use of diagrams, maps, charts, plans, pictures and seeing how things fit together. Cartographers and designers are likely to show strong signs of this intelligence.

Kinesthetic Intelligence

This intelligence leans toward the physical. Interaction with and manipulation of themselves and objects is important to this intelligence. Dancers, acrobats, gymnasts and sportspeople use this intelligence a great deal.

Musical Intelligence

The use of rhythm, music and song is particularly important to this intelligence. Songwriters, singers and musicians would use this intelligence much more than others.

Interpersonal Intelligence This intelligence links well with personal interaction with others and

people favoring this intelligence usually relate well to others. People who enjoy counseling, teaching, training and demonstrating use this intelligence a lot.

Intrapersonal Intelligence

This intelligence favors reflection and personal thought about what is happening to individuals and the world around them. Often religious leaders have a strong tendency to use this intelligence more than others.

Gardner has also developed the idea that there are other intelligences such as emotional and naturalist intelligences. Emotional intelligence is when you are so attuned to your emotions and the emotions of others that you learn through these feelings. Naturalist intelligence is where you learn through being involved in the natural world.

Considering your learning styleDo you feel you use some of these intelligences more than others? We all do, though it is interesting and very revealing to be aware of the intelligences you favor.

With reference to language learning in particular, Berman (1998 in Ellis and Brewster 2002) felt that there was a clear link between success in language learning and preferred learning styles, so he

carried out some research in an average adult class of learners. He found that 29% were visual learners, 34% were auditory learners and a surprising 37% were kinesthetic learners. This seems to be a very interesting result and as such, we cannot underestimate what the implications might be for our own classroom teaching. Do we teach to each of these learning styles in the same way or not?

The research of one of my own MA in TEYL students, Rosemary Smeets in Switzerland in 2004, looked at young language learners and VAK learning styles and investigated whether learners acquired vocabulary easier when using their preferred learning style. She found that the students did seem to be able to learn more words when using their preferred learning style (visual, auditory or kinesthetic).

How Do We Think Children Learn a Foreign or Second Language?

Keeping everything from the first chapters of this lesson in mind, then, we will now focus on foreign or additional language learning among young learners. If we were to observe language classrooms today, we might see many different approaches to teaching and learning underway from class to class (and from learner to learner and from teacher to teacher). In this chapter, we are going to take a look at some of the ways we think young learners learn language.

Two types of language (BICS and CALP)Some really interesting work has been carried out by Jim Cummins (1979) who suggests that there are two types of language that can be acquired. These are Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). As the names suggest, BICS-type language is the everyday social interactive language that we all use when interacting from a very early age. We will hear that type of language when we listen to ten-year-olds playing together on the playground. Meanwhile, CALP-type language is the type of language we use when learning about and discussing content in an academic class. Ten-year-

olds will use that language when studying about the characteristics of the sun in a science class. We need to prepare our students to use and understand both types of language.

In planning language lessons for our new language learners (whether they are in an EAL, EFL or ESL setting), we should ensure they have been exposed to and have acquired the language to communicate socially (BICS), so that they are able to interact comfortably and meaningfully in the target language. For example, we can encourage young learners to understand and use social language by playing a game, singing a song, asking questions and giving information in an activity, role-playing an everyday scene, and so on.

At the same time, we should be encouraging our young learners to progress in their academic studies as well as their language learning, and can begin to teach them the type of language (CALP) that they'll need to learn skills and concepts in other subject areas (such as language arts, mathematics, social studies and science) and to share their understanding of that new content in the target language. We can guide them to understand and use academic language to carry out such activities as describing a type of animal, writing about a famous person, or figuring out a math problem. They can learn content while also learning a new language.

Of course we need to consider many factors when planning lessons, including our students' age, interests, cognitive level, proficiency in the target language, immediate and longterm needs (as ESL or EFL students), as well as the requirements of our school system. However, in recognizing the value of introducing our students to BICS and CALP-type language instruction, we can guide them to accomplish tasks that will help them progress in their language learning and overall studies.

For more details about the type of social and academic language teachers can help their students acquire (by language proficiency level and grade level), refer to the guidelines released by the international association of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages). Check the Supplementary Materials to find out more about TESOL's PreK-12 English Language Proficiency Standards.

Relating Overall Learning Theories to TEYLIf a foreign or second language is introduced to our young learners, then it would seem wise to do so in the same way as any other subjects are introduced to them. It is worth pausing for a moment here and reflecting on why young learners are taught anything, whether it is science, history, music, or any other of the subjects they study in their early education.

We introduce a range of subjects to young learners, not as pure and abstract subjects, but as an introduction to the interesting things that are all around them and are relevant to their lives. We initially build the foundations of understanding in each subject in a very practical, hands-on way so that the children can interact with the actual, physical and here and now or concrete aspects of each subject at the appropriate stage of their cognitive development. We also do this through scaffolding their learning in each and every subject and in helping support their overall cognitive development.

The most important aspect of teaching young learners is that we should recognize how we can develop their thinking and learning skills in each and every subject with a full understanding of what each age group of learner is cognitively able to do and understand, and can physically relate to and carry out.

Linking language learning with everyday lifeBefore embarking on teaching a foreign or second language to younger learners, then, we need to remember that we are trying to provide opportunities for these learners to find out about and use this other language. Teachers need to show them how the new language can have a link with their everyday lives and be fun. Teachers can also, depending on the age of the learners, introduce the idea that it is positive to speak another language and communicate more easily in a world that is becoming smaller. Language teachers, also need to act as mentors and modelers of this target language. As mentors, they must support and scaffold the learning, and as modelers, they must provide good examples of the language in use. They must also help young learners share their ideas about everyday things around them and expand their general knowledge while learning a new language.

SummarySo, to review this first lesson, our present understanding of how children learn is that they learn to think, question and try to make sense of things around them best when they have the guidance of someone who is scaffolding their learning. They also learn best when they have intellectual and emotional support given by an adult.

This is likely to be the same when learning an additional, foreign or second language, too. The mentor (or teacher) should be able to model the target learning, questioning and thinking so that the learner will be able to understand, use and acquire the target language more successfully. (Bruner and Haste 1987, Vygotsky 1978, Donaldson 1978) The mentor (or teacher) also needs to recognize that children have different learning styles and thus will respond in various ways to different approaches. If, additionally, we believe that we should actively involve our young learners in real communication in the classroom, we need to ensure we teach BICS-type language as well as CALP-type so that interaction in the target language becomes possible and children are able to learn about and discuss new ideas through the language.

Next Steps

After you have finished this lesson, test your knowledge by taking a short, multiple-choice quiz. To access the quiz, click quizzes at the top or bottom of any page in this classroom. Select the quiz that corresponds to the lesson you have just completed. Then click submit. Good luck!

After the quiz, please complete the short assignment that follows. This will allow you to practice what you have just learned. To access it, click assignments at the top or bottom of any page. Choose the appropriate lesson and follow the directions listed there.

Also, visit the discussion area to converse with your colleagues about the topics covered in this lesson. To access it, click discussion at the top or bottom of any page. Choose the appropriate lesson and follow the directions. You will be able to post on the discussion board until the 'close date' listed. After that date, you can read the discussions but not post.

Considering the Needs of Young LearnersIn reviewing how children learn and learn languages from the previous lesson, we must always remember that teaching children is not just a case of passing on knowledge. Teaching young learners is not like filling containers with information, or allowing them to soak things up like sponges. Neither of these descriptions support what we know about how children learn and think and how they learn language.

We know that we need to create a rich language teaching environment in which children are interacting with each other and using the target language as much as possible. They need to be involved in language learning activities that are stimulating, relevant to them and varied enough to cater to all learner types. Above all, the language class should offer a supportive learning environment in which the teacher scaffolds the children's learning and emerging thinking in the target language.

We also know that learning and acquiring language is not linear, especially for young language learners. Rather, it involves the input of meaningful language recycled in a variety of activities, so that children are able to acquire and use the new language themselves at their own pace.

Understanding our students' levelsAdditionally, we recognize that young learners are still developing cognitively. As teachers, we need to understand where our students are in their cognitive development when determining what they can be taught and what and how they are able to learn. We need to provide lots of opportunities for them to progress in their social and academic use of English. In planning our lessons, it is important that the target language we use is suitable for our young learners' age group and language level and that it involves lots of basic interpersonal communicative language and links to things that interest and motivate them. In helping them progress in their overall learning as well as their language learning, we also need to help our students learn the academic language that allows them to learn about and discuss topics they might be studying in other subject areas at school.

As an example the, TESOL PreK-12 English Language Proficiency Standards outlines the language (by grade and proficiency level) that students should be learning so that they can interact with each other socially and also move ahead in their discussion of such subject areas as language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. See the Supplementary Materials section at the end of this lesson for a reference.

Changing views of the worldIn Figure 2.1, we can view the sort of interests children tend to have at different times in their lives. We can see that they start off by being most interested in themselves, their family and home surroundings. As they get older, their sphere of interest grows to include friends and school, and

gradually, to include their town, country, world and beyond. As we look at the concentric circles (representing approximate ages) in the figure below, we can get a view of this move in their interests to include a wider world.

Figure 2.1 - Children's interests and views of the world, according to their age groups

Reflecting our students' interestsDepending on our specific teaching situation, we will have varying degrees of control over what we present students in our classrooms. The content we teach will often be determined by our school system (local, regional or national). A lot of care and attention is generally given to planning material that is appropriate for our students based on their age and language level – and also their interests.

As teachers, we can help bring that content to life for our students by planning lessons that reflect their interests. If we look through a curriculum for teaching language learners, we may find that similar themes are touched upon again and again, but that the planned outcomes differ based on the ages and language levels of the students.

For example, in Figure 2.2, take a look at how the topics of Animals or Food might be presented to language learners in various age groups. You can see how their interests as well as their cognitive levels are addressed, within the focus of these different headings.

3-5 year olds 5-7 year olds 7-9 year olds9-11 year

olds11-16 year

olds

PetsCreepy crawlies

AnimalsZoos and animals

Ecology and the environment

Food Food and Being sick A balanced Keeping fit

shoppingand going to the hospital

diet

Figure 2.2 - A list of possible topics of interest for young language learners

We need to remember that at different ages our learners will be interested in very different things. This will be important when planning our lessons for the language class as it is vital that our language activities reflect these interests of the learners.

Setting Up Criteria for Language TeachingWhen looking at how and what we teach our young learners in a language classroom, we could consider the following criteria based on our understanding of how children learn. (We will continue to elaborate on these criteria throughout the course.)

We should make language activities for our young learners concrete.

It is difficult for our young learners to think abstractly about learning a language. So if we put children in a situation in which they have to use the language in a concrete way, we can reach them more successfully. For example, there is a need for them to use the language when they play a game, sing a song, or carry out a survey. Language will make more sense to children and will be more easily acquired when they are encouraged to communicate while involved in activities that are real and in the here and now.

Social interaction between children should be at the core of language learning and teaching.

Again, we need to try and create meaningful activities that are real to the learners and allow them to exchange ideas or information. They may be required to get or give information, share a game, sing a song or listen to a story.

For example, when planning an activity we need to have children involved in asking each other questions about things that interest them, such as, When do you go to bed? rather than Do you go to bed every night? The second question is what I call empty. It has been created by the teacher and is not a natural question for children to ask. Because it has no relevance to them, they will not be motivated to ask it or listen for the answer. However, the first question is a question they will naturally want to ask each other. Subsequently, they will be highly motivated to ask and answer this sort of question and will be able to interact meaningfully in the target language.

Activities should be meaningful and purposeful.

Young learners should be encouraged to use the language in a way that is actually very meaningful to them rather than just to do what the teacher has asked them to do. For example, if learners are asked to use the question, What's your name? with friends in class, this exercise will be meaningless as they already know their friends' names. However, if the children create simple puppets, they can (as the puppet characters) ask each other, What's your name? and then answer with the puppets' names. This makes the language in use really meaningful to them and they will be motivated to want to ask the question and answer it.

Language teaching should be appropriate to the cognitive, linguistic and interest levels of young learners.

We must constantly check what the children in our classes are

capable of doing, cognitively as well as linguistically. Then we can make sure we are not expecting them to do more than is appropriate for their level in our language classroom.

For example, if children are nine years old when they enter our language classroom, we can assume that they understand the concept of time and are capable of learning how to tell time in English. Only the target language will be different because the overall concept (learned in their first language) will already be understood.

However, if children are four years old when they enter our language classroom, they will not be prepared to look at a clock and tell the time. This concept is too advanced for them. However, with the use of illustrations and gestures, they will be prepared to learn the greetings, Good morning and Good night.

Building on what students already know, and are capable of learning, will help them in the acquisition of the target language.

We should be teaching learners both verbal and non-verbal language.

For sighted people, it is very difficult to understand what people are saying when you cannot see the whole of them. This is because we use lots of different non-verbal cues to hear others such as hand gestures, facial expression, eye contact and body language. These cues are all read and interpreted by listeners and they add to the understanding of any actual words that are spoken. Also verbal cues, such as the use of expression and intonation, contribute a great deal to the listeners' understanding.

As language teachers we need to overemphasize and model these aspects of the target language for our learners to help support their understanding of the target language. For example, we can gesture to textbooks on the desk and, in the target language, ask a student to pick them up and distribute them to the students in the class. Learners' listening skills and confidence in understanding the target language will develop more successfully through such interactions.

We must support all target language teaching and learning activities with pictures, resources and realia.We need to support the understanding of language in other ways, too, such as using realia to quickly show learners what we are talking about. We can also use support materials such as worksheets, books, posters, and examples of the things we are discussing to help make the new language clear for our learners.

For example, when we are introducing the word car, we can bring in a flashcard of a car, a toy car, a photo of our own car, a car magazine, and so on. Reaching our students through different support materials can be motivational and can also help children use and acquire language through different learning styles.

The target language must be recycled regularly in different situations so that learners can see how and when it can be used and trial this use themselves.

If we remember how we all learned our native language, we can understand that it was through lots of repetition of the language and using it in real situations in which we, the language learners, were central.

For example, our parents, or carers, may have used the word breakfast over and over again in a lot of different situations and settings until we had acquired the word and our understanding of it. The word breakfast was linked to real situations and made meaningful because of this. Thus, in introducing language in our classrooms, we need to think about continually recycling the target language in meaningful situations that relate directly to the learners.

Young learners must be given thinking time, choice and an opportunity to use the target language.

If you reflect on how you learn something new you might find, as most of us do, that we need a little time to think it through before we can understand it or can take it in. Sometimes we also need some time to move from saying a statement out loud to moving it inside our heads (internalization).

So, if we are asking our young language learners to take on new things in the target language we must allow them some thinking time in which they can process this new information for themselves. Also, it is worth remembering

that input needs processing constantly and we need to regularly allow our learners time to carry out this processing. For example, when we tell them a story we need to give them pauses, in between telling each part of it, so that they can process what they are hearing and, perhaps, visualize what is in the story and what may be coming next.

Additionally, our young learners need to be given language activities in which they have to choose what language they need to use, for example answering questions with their own answers, rather than saying what the teacher has directed them to say. They also need to use the target language themselves in each activity in the language classroom. As mentioned earlier, this may involve guiding students through a variety of activities (songs, games or role-plays) that encourage successful outcomes via the target language and are challenging and motivating for young learners.

We should try to create a stress-free environment in the language classroom. As we have probably all found out, learning a new language is not always very easy, especially at first, and so, for optimum success, our young learners need to feel comfortable in the classroom. They need to trust their teacher and classmates not to make fun of them if they get things wrong when they try to use the language. They also need to

be encouraged to share ideas and laugh together in the new language with the shared understanding that it is difficult to say things right when first using a new language.

Young learners need a patient and supportive environment. To help encourage this environment, teachers could work with each class to create a set of rules. These rules could be posted in the classroom in both the native language and the target language(s), if the children are old enough to read (or in pictorial form if they are not) to support their full understanding and to serve as a constant reminder of them. The rules could include such statements as:

Wait for everyone to finish what they are saying. Do not laugh at someone who gets things wrong. Help each other in the language classroom.

You, as the teacher, must make sure that your students are adhering to these rules.

We have looked at a long list of criteria teachers can try to adhere to in planning lessons for their language classroom. As teachers, we need to be constantly checking what we are doing in class to ensure we are meeting the needs of our students in the best possible way.

Creating the Right Environment in the ClassroomNow that we have looked at the various criteria for teaching young learners, we will consider how to create the right environment in our language classroom.

Consider the following checklist when trying to establish the right environment in your language classroom for young learners. The key points in the checklist link back to our understanding of how young learners learn.

✓ Try to create everyday, real situations for language use within the classroom so that the language itself is one of the only new aspects of the interaction. If the young learners are relatively familiar with the situation in the class activities, they can concentrate mainly on using the new language as the tool of communication. (Tough 1976) This can be as simple as setting up a routine at the start of each class that involves checking the date on the calendar, charting the weather, and doing the roll-call in the target language.

✓ Have a continued exchange of meaning in the classroom through communicative activities that encourage young learners to get involved and interact with each other. (Wells 1986)By exchanging ideas (with the teacher and also with each other), young learners will use the target language more and more as a form of communication and will recognize their ability to share their ideas in English. By using more and more target language in a clear and understandable way in the classroom, our learners will be satisfied with and motivated by exchanging meaning in that target language.

✓ Create activities through topics that are relevant to our learners' everyday situations and routines and reflect their interests and views of the world. (Donaldson 1978; Tough 1976; Bruner 1983, 1990) As noted earlier, children relate to different topics depending on their stage of development and age. By planning lessons that are appropriate (based on the students' age, level and outside interests), we can encourage them to discuss ideas and topics that hold meaning for them and will motivate them to use the target language more. For example, talking about their favorite things (food, color, and so on) brings their interests from outside the classroom and school into the English class.

✓ Support and extend children's language learning as 'caretakers' or 'carers'. (Bruner & Haste 1987; Bruner 1983, 1990; Vygotsky 1978)Teachers can provide the guidance and support (cognitively and emotionally) that allow students to develop and succeed. They can use praise to encourage children and also extend any target language utterances so that children hear more detailed models. For example, if the child says, It's a car in the target language, the teacher can then try to encourage and extend the child's use of the target language by saying, Yes. Good. It's a big blue car.

✓ Create a stress-free, interesting and supportive environment for our learners in which they will feel encouraged to try out new things. (Donaldson 1978; Tough 1976)Keep the classroom positive by encouraging students to listen to each other, learn from each other and take risks. At the same time, allow for fun and interesting activities that make the children want to take part because the activities focus on their interests, needs and abilities.

✓ Recycle input in a variety of different contexts that will create a highly meaningful, purposeful and motivating learning environment. (Hughes 2006)Challenge students to build up their confidence and their enthusiasm by participating in activities that allow them to review and recycle the language they have learned in new ways. This can be done by using the language in a variety of activities (such as songs, games, surveys and listening to stories) to show that it can be used in many situations.

Creating a positive environment in our classroom can help our students build their confidence, feel motivated to learn, enjoy themselves and experience success as language learners.

Implications for Materials and Resources in the ClassroomWhen looking at a young learner classroom, we should look beyond the learner and the teacher to also take note of the role played by materials and resources. Materials should also match the cognitive stages of the learners, reflect their interests and environment, and build on their established knowledge.

A syllabus needs to meet these needs and also provide new and suitable challenges for the learners, so that more than language is developed and acquired. Activities and materials should develop the learners' further knowledge in other areas of the curriculum, too, by way of a cross-curricular approach to the activities. As mentioned earlier, activities also need to encourage

real language use, as opposed to providing empty language activities.

For example, children can be given a worksheet that allows them to carry out a survey of their favorite fruit and their friends' favorite fruit (in the target language). They will have the chance to repeatedly say and hear the names of the target language within the context of a meaningful activity. Such an activity not only encourages real interaction, but also gives the learners a wonderful activity in which they can talk about themselves, which is always a great motivator for learning.

As noted in Chapter 1, the materials and resources teachers use will often be provided by their school system (at the local, regional or national level). While teachers may have a prescribed syllabus or textbook to follow, it is often possible for teachers to adapt or expand lessons to help make every activity meaningful and appropriate for their particular group of students.

Planning the syllabusOften the language syllabus will be topic-centered and activity-based, with activities linking the topic with the age and interest levels of the learners. A topic-centered and activity-based approach can be particularly appropriate for young language learners because it allows the teacher to:

create a more natural language environment that the learners can relate to; cater for different ability levels; provide a wide variety of activities that can recycle the focus language; provide activities that use different intelligences to allow for different types of learners in the

class; create an opportunity for lots of practice and repetition without boredom; promote group, pair and individual work; make the language learning process more meaningful and purposeful for learners; encourage learners to develop natural language skills, alongside learning in general; increase the relevance of the target language for learners.

Today, many school systems also emphasize instruction that encourages students to learn language and content together, so that the students can progress in their overall learning as well as their language learning. Sometimes this is known as Content-Based Learning and in some parts of the world is now often being referred as Content and Language Integrated Learning or ‘CLIL'. Content-based learning is often used (see Supplementary Materials at the end of this lesson for a reference to an article on CLIL) in ESL situations where students need to prepare for their entry into mainstream academic classes. As noted earlier, bringing together language and content is central to TESOL's PreK-12 English Language Proficiency Standards. (See the section Supplementary Materials at the end of this lesson for a reference.)

Research into this type of content-based instruction looks at the types of learning strategies that can be used to help language learners move ahead in their academic studies and the approaches teachers can take in scaffolding their students' learning in the various content areas. See Follow-Up Reading at the end of this lesson for references relating to content-based instruction and learning strategies.

Meaningful and purposeful activitiesIn planning activities and deciding if they are meaningful, purposeful and suitable for the learners, the teacher should be able to answer Yes to the following questions:

Is the activity relevant for the age of the learners and interesting? Is the activity suitably challenging? (Is it neither too hard nor too easy?) Is the activity purposeful? (Can the learners understand why they are doing it? Are they

motivated? Do they want to do it and complete it, and has the teacher helped them understand why they are doing this activity?)

Is there real language in the activity? (Would these learners use this type of language naturally in their first language outside of the classroom?)

Is there a real product at the end of the activity? (Is a song sung, a survey finished, a quiz completed, a story listened to, a game played, or a role-play engaged in?)

If the answer to some of these questions is No, then perhaps the teacher needs to adapt the activity to make it more meaningful, purposeful and therefore more valuable for the language class. We will look at meaningful and purposeful activities later on in this course.

Implications for Teaching Different Groups of Young LearnersWe started to think about the different interests we can find in our young learners at different ages in Chapter 1 of this lesson. In this chapter, we are going to look more closely at their needs and skills so that we can think about how to adapt our language teaching approach, depending on the age group of learners. We will consider three groups of young learners (3-6 year olds, 6-9 year olds and 9-12 year olds).

Aspects of learning for 3-6 year oldsChildren are learning a lot at this age. A new language is just another thing for

them to take on, seemingly with little effort, as long as we make it relevant to their age and interest level. We need to remember that children at this age are still acquiring the final aspects of their native language. However, they are good language users who understand how people interact and are getting more and more able to do this themselves.

We also need to remember that a lot of concept development is still going on for young learners (such as the concept of time), so we need to know what concepts they are able to deal with before we use them in the language class.

Most children at this stage are not able to read and write in their native language or target language, but they are beginning to 'read' labels and things around them, like street names and shop signs. Although we may not ask them to read and write in the target language at this point, we should support them in their development by labeling as many things as possible in the classroom, in the target language, and prepare them for reading in English with left – right activities, using surveys involving pictures, and so on.

The younger children in this age group may not find it easy to work in social groups and doing so in the language class will require careful management by the teacher. The teacher can encourage this social development by asking children to share classroom items, having them talk about things that have gone on in their lives to the class, and asking them to work together in groups. We know children at this age will mainly be focused on their own world and family and that attending school is the beginning of their arrival into the wider local world and, as teachers, we need to help this transition.

Aspects of learning for 6-9 year olds Children at this stage are developing reading and writing skills in their native language and so this can be used to aid them with their learning of the target language. They are also starting to understand a lot about the concrete world around them and should be able to work together in social groups.

Children in this age group are beginning to take responsibility as learners. We can help them develop this by showing them how to learn and reflect on their learning and by giving them different responsibilities in group activities by assigning such group roles as note taker, timekeeper, activity manager, and so on. They are starting to understand and learn more about the world around them, beyond their family and school, and the topics and type of activities introduced in class can help reflect and develop this knowledge.

Aspects of learning for 9-12 year olds Reading and writing is very well-developed for most children by this age, and they can use these skills to aid and focus their learning in the language class. Some of these children are starting to develop a more mature approach to learning and thinking by starting to think in abstract terms. They are also becoming more connected with the world at large through links with such things as music, films, hobbies and travel. The topics introduced in class can reflect their expanding interests and the activities can encourage their exchange of ideas. Increasingly, they may also be more aware of the benefits of learning the target language.

Concluding thoughts about learning stagesIn considering how learners learn at different ages, and in deciding how we can best meet their needs as teachers, we need to consider numerous factors involving the students' development (social, emotional, physical, cognitive) as well their circumstances (individually and on a larger scale) and interests. We need to recognize that while the motivation and interest level for our young learners tends to be high, they will not yet take full responsibility for their own learning. This could

suggest that in planning activities that capture the young learners' interests, teachers need to ensure they are monitoring their learning and guiding students to reflect on this learning process so that they will develop a positive attitude to learning to learn.

SummaryIn this lesson, we have recognized that our young language learners are still developing (cognitively, socially, emotionally and physically) and that their stage of development will also influence their interests and ways of viewing the world. As language teachers, we need to be aware of what is meaningful, interesting and appropriate for our students and thus plan activities that will motivate them to learn and interact with others in the target language.

Next Steps

After you have finished this lesson, test your knowledge by taking a short, multiple-choice quiz. To access the quiz, click quizzes at the top or bottom of any page in this classroom. Select the quiz that corresponds to the lesson you have just completed. Then click submit. Good luck!

After the quiz, please complete the short assignment that follows. This will allow you to practice what you have just learned. To access it, click assignments at the top or bottom of any page. Choose the appropriate lesson and follow the directions listed there.

Also, visit the discussion area to converse with your colleagues about the topics covered in this lesson. To access it, click discussion at the top or bottom of any page. Choose the appropriate lesson and follow the directions. You will be able to post on the discussion board until the 'close date' listed. After that date, you can read the discussions but not post.