1.1 Teaching children

Think of some key words that you associate with the subject of teaching children.

To make it a little more interesting, think of words according to the following word chain.

In the example below we started with the word 'interest'. We brainstormed words beginning with the final letter, 't', which relate to teaching children, and then words beginning with final letter 's', and so on.

 

Interest is key because as teachers we need to create interest in our lessons.

Using topics like 'animals', 'family', 'school', etc. is a common way of structuring what we teach to children.

Stories are important because children love them and they are a natural and authentic way of introducing language.

Security is crucial because children need to feel secure in their classroom environment.

Lastly, young learners, which is a common way of referring to children in a school or learning context.

Starting with the first word that you think of when you hear 'teaching children', try and make the longest word chain possible.

2.1 Teaching a second language to young learners

Many countries around the world are introducing English at a lower age and at an earlier stage of the curriculum. The teaching of English to young children has therefore become increasingly important and more and more teachers are finding themselves teaching English in primary classrooms.

But why are we introducing English at an earlier age? Does it really help? Are we really gaining an advantage by introducing English before secondary level?

A natural assumption about the teaching of English is 'the earlier you start the better'. The argument is simple. An increase in the total number of years spent learning English - and increased contact with the language - must be beneficial.

However, it is important to remember that it is the frequency and regularity of the lessons, and above all, thequality of those lessons, that will determine whether there is any overall improvement in English language ability.

Another point in the ‘the younger you start the better’ argument concerns the way that young learners learn, and specifically how they learn language. For example, younger children naturally copy the language that adults use. They also tend to enjoy classroom activities at face value; if the activities are well designed, the children practise language without feeling that they are actually 'studying' a language.

Children at these ages are learning so much and language is just another aspect of their whole development. In addition, young learners are not as self-conscious as teenagers or adults about making mistakes. All these are arguments which are often used to defend the idea of starting English at an earlier age.

Starting English early, though, brings us some challenges as teachers. Some coursebooks, for example, especially those designed for older children or adults, don’t address a child's whole development. Sticking rigidly to a coursebook may be easy and convenient for the teacher, but it is not necessarily very realistic or successful in the primary classroom. This is because of the wide range of abilities, interests and motivations that exist within the average primary classroom.

Teaching in primary school shouldn’t be structured in the same way as in a secondary school - there needs to be more flexibility in the techniques and pace.

Our ultimate aim is for the individual child to be put at the centre of the learning process and to do this we need to think of alternative ways of teaching English. We will deal with the subjects of what these are and how we can use them in our classrooms in this and the following modules.