Copyright  ©  ITTO  –  International  Teacher  Training  Organization  

www.tefl-­‐online.com  |  info@tefl-­‐online.com      

 

ITTO’s   Online   TEYL   Certification   was   designed   specifically   to   meet   the   ever-­‐increasing  demand   for   qualified   ESL   teachers   of   young   learners   in   non-­‐English   speaking   countries  around  the  world.    

The  objective  of  this  25  Hour  Self-­‐Guided  Certificate  Course  is  to  help  familiarize  you  with  the   various   aspects   of   teaching   English   to   children,  whether   pre-­‐school,   primary   school  age,   or   teens   so   that   you   can   build   a   solid   foundation   and  have   confidence   in   teaching  TEYL.  Once  you  have  completed   the  course,   the  material  will  be  a  valuable   resource   for  you  for  years  to  come.    Let’s  get  started!  

 

Chapter  1  

Knowing  Your  Students  

1.1  The  challenge  of  teaching  English  to  young  learners  

There   must   be   dozens   of   reasons   why   teachers   want   to   work   with   young   learners.   A  common   one   is   because   teaching   young   learners   is   generally   perceived   as   a   fun   and  fulfilling   activity.   However,   aside   from   the   fact   that   this   might   be   true,   we   must   not  underestimate  the  complexity  of  this  challenging  task.  In  order  to  teach  them  effectively,  we  need  to  understand  how  they   learn.  Moreover,  we  need  to  understand  the  role  that  cognitive,  affective  and  psychological  differences  play  in  the  learning  process  of  this  target  group  of  students.  

Research  suggests  that  teachers  of  young   learners  should  have  the  ability  to  understand  their  students’  cognitive  and  psychological  needs.    As  William  James  (2001)  puts  it,  having  an   understanding   of   child   development   could   save   teachers   from   “selecting   ineffective  mistaken  methods”.    

But  how  do  children  learn  a   language?  Is  there  a  relationship  between  the  way  students  acquire   their   first   language   (L1)   and   the  way   they   acquire   a   second   (L2)   language?   Can  children   learn  multiple   languages   at  once?   Is   there   an   ideal   age   to   learn   languages?  Do  adults  learn  a  second  language  the  same  way  children  learn  their  first  or  second  language?    

All  of  these  captivating  questions  have  been  asked  by  thousands  of  linguists,  psychologists  and  educators  around  the  world.  Unfortunately,  even  after  many  years  of  research,  there  are  still  no  concrete  answers;  reasonably  because  language  learning/acquisition  has  been  analyzed   and   debated   from   different   points   of   view:   namely   linguistically,   cognitively,  psychologically  and  pedagogically.    

 

Copyright  ©  ITTO  –  International  Teacher  Training  Organization  

www.tefl-­‐online.com  |  info@tefl-­‐online.com      

Thus,  understanding  how  young  learners  learn  is  more  complex  than  it  seems.    Naturally,  a   short   course   like   this  will   not  be  enough   to   study  and  understand  all  of   these  varying  views  on  language  learning.    However,   in  this  chapter  we  will  briefly  summarize  some  of  the  most  important  findings  on  language  learning  and  acquisition  to  have  a  broader  view  of  the  processes  that  take  place  in  young  learners  when  exposed  to  the  target  language.  

 

Before  we  begin,  it  is  necessary  to  define  what  we  mean  by  young  learners.    Using  Piaget's  Development   Theory   as   a   basis   where   children   displayed   similar   peculiarities   between  certain  age  groups,  we  have  made  the  following  distinction:  

This  distinction  is  essential  due  to  the  cognitive  differences  among  the  different  groups.      

Our  main  focus  in  this  course  will  be  on  young  learners.