One Step at A Time
BY TARA ARNTSEN
Young learners, those attending
preschool and kindergarten, will not have any personal reason for studying
English.
It is simply another subject that they have to study at school or that their
parents have told them they need to learn. At this point in their lives, they
may not know or comprehend how important these classes can be. They might view
your classes as simply another fun daily activity and that is just fine. Even
at this early age, you can encourage them to develop an interest
in learning English which
will stay with them long after they have finished your classes.
How
To Understand And Teach Young Learners Better
What Young Learners Want
Students at this level are just
starting their academic careers. School may be intimidating for some of the
students in your class so, in order to encourage everyone to participate, it is
important to make your lessons relaxed and fun.
YL Students will be learning very basic material but you can design creative
lessons that get students moving around and speaking with one another. Young
learners are generally very enthusiastic about songs, especially if
they can sing along, and active games. Be sure to provide lots of
encouragement and
positive feedback. You want to create a safe, stress-free environment that
everyone can enjoy learning in.
How Young Learners
Behave
Keep exercises fun and short
because these students have short attention spans and are easily
distracted. Overacting and projection will help keep the focus
on you. Teach students how to behave in a classroom by asking them to be quiet
while you are talking and raise their hands if they have questions or want to
answer a question. This may not be directly related to ESL but it is important
that students learn good behavior early on; it will make their transition to
primary school easier. Teach them to respond to basic
classroom English phrases such
as “Please sit down.”
because these are expressions that they will hear repeatedly throughout their
study of English. For students at this age, you are responsible not only for
starting to teach them English, but also for preparing them for their next
level of education. Students will perform better in their classes if they
behave well and have a good understanding of basic principles.
What To Focus On
The primary focus of these
lessons will be on communication and laying a solid foundation for further
English coursework. Students should practice the different sounds of the
English language and learn material such as the alphabet, numbers, colors and shapes. You will introduce vocabulary words
gradually and may choose to study some simple structures that relate to
everyday life too. It could be that reading and writing never enter into your
classes but a focus on speaking and listening will help students become more
comfortable and confident with English.
More YL Tips
There are many other things you
can do to ensure that students succeed in class. There is no need to assign
homework at this stage but be sure to track individual and class progress so that students can visually see what
they have learned and how they are doing. Encourage students to try their best
and create a constructive learning environment where students do not need to worry
about making mistakes. Create activities and
exercises that are entertaining. Help students learn how to interact with one
another as well as how to speak English. Students will also feel more
comfortable if you stick to a regular schedule so if you decide to make
changes, implement them over a period of time rather than all at once. Constantly
review and avoid
introducing too much new vocabulary at a time. Students may not remember
material from one day to the next so repetition is
important. The more students are exposed to certain material,
the faster they will learn it. This is how native speakers learn English, by
listening to people around them and expanding their range of vocabulary
gradually.
Here some power point about teaching young learners:
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