Bismillah (Module 1I TEYL)

“Who dares to teach must never cease to learn” – John Cotton Dana

We are all here because we dare to teach! And we are participating in this course
because we want to keep learning. Some of us have been teaching for many years. Some
of us might be new to teaching English to children. Either way, we have so much to learn
from one another, or everyone's perspective is valuable to our exploration of TEYL.
With that in mind, let's start Module 1!

"Joan Kang Shin with very young learners in Turkey" via Google by Murat Yilmaz is
licensed under CC BY 4.0”

Mam Tini with anak kutu, taken at TK Islam Kemaraya Kendari, Class B, 2009

The purpose of this module is to introduce you to the field of TEYL and the advantages
of an early start to foreign language learning. You will learn about the different
characteristics of young learners, how children learn, and how children learn language.
Finally, you will examine your own English teaching context, develop a profile of your
students, and analyze the textbooks and materials used in your classroom (if it is
possible till the end of this course), and some strategies use in synchronous and
asynchronous teaching.

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Objective:

By the end of the module, you will be able to

• develop a rationale for starting English as a foreign language instruction earlier in a
learner’s life
• describe the characteristics of young learners and distinguish ― young learner vs. ―
very young learner
• explain how children learn and how children learn language
• describe what kind of classroom environment and activities are appropriate for young
learners based on their characteristics and how they learn language.

The module should take hours to complete. Do the following tasks in this order by the end
of the week:
Task 1 – Video Lecture (30 minutes) The video lecture has been divided into 3 parts:

Video 1: Characteristics of Young Learners. This video will help you identify the
characteristics of young learners and show you how to apply that to your teaching.
Characteristics of Young Learners

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM9R47Svcwk&feature=youtu.be

Video 2: How Children Learn. This video will introduce you to how children learn. This
is based on the work of Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Jerome Bruner. You will learn
some tips for how to support your young learners in the English classroom.

How Children Learn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbCiw2TImCk

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Video 3: How Children Learn a Foreign Language. This video is about how children
learn language. It will introduce how children learn English as a foreign or additional
language. It will answer the question: How important is teaching grammar to young
learners of English?

How Children Learn a Foreign Language

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u2CsK_ub8g&feature=youtu.be

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 Video Script
Video 1 – Characteristics of Young Learners
Hello, English Teachers! Do you teach young learners? Then you know that teaching
children is a challenge. But it is also rewarding! Anyone who has children or teaches children
knows that it takes a lot of energy and patience. When I taught children, I was always
sweating at the end of class. I was moving around while singing songs or playing games. I
often used big gestures to keep students’ attention and to show the meaning of words.
What about you? Do you have the same experience?
Why does it take so much energy to teach children? Let’s think about the characteristics
of young learners. It’s time for a brainstorm! I am going to give you 15 seconds to
write down ideas on a piece of paper. Write down as many words as you can. Write
down words… that describe young learners.

I’m going to write mine down in a word web. Ready? Go! Now, if you need more time,
just pause the video. What words are on your paper? Here are some of the words I
wrote down in my web: active, energetic, spontaneous, can’t sit still, and touches things.
Young learners are what we called kinesthetic learners. They like to move and wiggle their
bodies. You can’t expect them to sit still in class all day. They also learn well through
movement and gestures. They are tactile in their learning style. They love to touch and
play with objects. So, if you want to teach students what a ball is, give them a ball to
bounce and throw.
As you can see, understanding children’s characteristics can help us make an effective
classroom. Your activities and approaches should be ―developmentally appropriate. ‖
This means your teaching is based on how children develop and learn. It should be
―appropriate‖ for their characteristics. The goal?

Effective learning in your classroom! For example, if my young learners are kinesthetic
learners, then
I should prepare activities that encourage them to get out of their seats and move around.
I could
play Simon Says. Let’s try it! Stand up. Ready? Simon says, Touch your head! Simon says,
Touch
your shoulders! Touch your nose! Did you do it? Simon didn’t
say!
Now look at your paper. Do you have other words? Maybe you think young learners are
imaginative and curious. Yes, they are! Use stories like fairytales for your imaginative
young learners. Or take a walk outside and look for bugs for your curious young learners.
Maybe you wrote easily distracted or short attention. That may be true! Then use
activities they like, such as games or videos and don’t stay too long on any activity.
Keep the pace of your class quick and exciting. Think about the characteristics of your
young learners and always make your activities and approaches match those
characteristics.
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 Video 2 – How Children Learn
Hello, English Teachers! Let’s talk about how children learn. It is helpful to know what
experts like Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Jerome Bruner say about how children learn.
First, let me start with a question. If you want to teach a child what scissors are, what
would you do? Read them a definition from the dictionary? Explain of the purpose of scissors
and how to hold them? No! You give them a pair of scissors and have them use them! But
be careful, scissors are sharp!
So how do children learn? They learn by doing! Jean Piaget helped us understand that
children are active learners and thinkers. Children learn by interacting with their environment.
So when you are teaching English, you should bring in realia, or real objects. It’s like the
scissors. If you are teaching your young learners about toys, bring in toys for them to
touch and play with. Even better, have your students bring in their favorite toy to share
and talk about.
Children also learn through social interaction. Vygotsky helped us understand that we
learn through interaction with others. For example, children learn to walk and talk with
guidance from their parents. For your students, the interaction with you, the teacher, is
extremely important. Your students need a guide to learn new things. The younger your
students are, the more they depend on you to help them learn. This brings us to the next
point.
Children learn effectively through scaffolding by adults. Bruner’s work showed us
some effective ways to scaffold instructions for young learners. But first, do you know
what the word scaffolding means? In this picture, you can see scaffolding. It is the frame
that construction workers stand on to repair or build something. In this picture, the men
are standing on the scaffolding to construct a big building.
As English teachers, we are the scaffolding for our students. You have to hold your
students up as they build their understanding of language.
How can we scaffold or support our learners in the classroom? We can apply some of
the practices that Bruner suggested in our classrooms.
Create interest in the task. On important note: If the task is not interesting to
children, you are going to have a difficult time making them interested in it. If the task is
to copy sentences from the board into a notebook, I am not sure you can create
interest in it! However, you can create interest in a storytelling activity, a song, or a
game. Use these types of activities to teach language, and you will have your
students’ attention.

Break the task down into smaller steps. This is so important. Remember when you plan
your activities: break the task down into achievable steps. For example, don’t start
class by asking your students to Show and Tell their favorite toy.

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First, review the names of all the toys. Doll. Ball. Car. Then teach students to answer the
question. ―What is it?‖ by saying ―It’s a…‖ and have them fill in the blank when you
hold up a toy. What is it? It’s a doll. What is it? It’s a ball. Great!
Then you can give students a model for their Show and Tell. ―This is my favorite toy.
It’s a doll.‖ Then help students during the Show and Tell. Remember, you are trying
to set your learners up for success—step by step.
Model your expectations. I cannot emphasize this enough. Model model model! You have to
show them what you expect them to do. As we just saw, if you give students a model
and show them what to say, they will be more successful.
Remember: Don’t just tell your young learners what to do, show them how to do it.
Remind students of the purpose of the activity. Make sure they know what they are doing
and why. Of course, this means your activity should actually have a purpose or goal for
communication. Maybe it is a short dialog about meeting someone for the first time or
making an invitation to a class party. Or sharing a toy with a friend. Be sure your activity
is meaningful and relevant to your young learners.

Control frustration during the task. Sometimes children become frustrated or stop working
on the task. To be honest, as a teacher I found that when my students were frustrated
and not behaving, it was usually because I did not scaffold my students’ learning
effectively. There was always less frustration when I created interest, broke it down into
smaller, achievable steps, modeled my expectations, and had a task with a real or relevant
purpose.

So to review: How do children learn? Let’s see if you remember: Children are
learners and thinkers. [Pause] Right! Children are active learners and thinkers.

Next, children learn through social . [Pause] Right! Children learn

through social interaction.

Last, children learn effectively through by adults. [Pause] Correct!

Children learn effectively though scaffolding by adults.

Great job! So based on how children learn, what can you do to be more successful
with young learners in the classroom?

You can promote active learning, encourage social interaction, and scaffold
students’ learning. Remember to bring in materials and activities that make
learning meaningful and interesting for children. Teach them step by step and
model, model, model to set them up for success. And most of all, make English fun!
If they love it, they learn it!

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 Video 3 – How Children Learn a Foreign Language

Hello, English Teachers! I know that teaching children English as a foreign or additional
language can be challenging. You may live in a country or context where English is not
spoken outside of the classroom. How can your young students learn English if it is
not used in their lives? Let’s look at how children can effectively learn a foreign language.

First, let me ask you a question: How important is teaching grammar to young learners
of English? Is it Very important, Somewhat important, Not very important, or Not
important at all. I’ll give you five second to think about it. (5-4-3-2-1). What do you
think?

Of course, grammar is important! Grammatical structures are the building blocks of

language, but the approach to teaching grammar should match the way students learn.
Your approach to teaching grammar should be “learning-centered,” which Lynne Cameron
(2003) describes as “… meaningful and interesting, require active participation from
learners, and will work with how children learn and what they are capable of learning”
(p. 110).

Children do not learn language as effectively through grammatical explanations. Young

learners gain an understanding of the grammar through repetition and recycling language
in different contexts. You need to provide a meaningful context to teach language.
Children will be able to see how grammar works within a story, song or cartoon. In
short, your approach to teaching grammar should be learning-centered and meaning-
focused, and it should avoid grammatical explanations.

For example, children won’t learn language when you explain what the imperative mode
is. They learn what it is when you give commands. You say, “Sit down” and students
sit down. You say, “Write your name” and they write their name on the paper. Through
the context and through meaningful repetition, they learn the grammar. You can help
them by creating an English-speaking environment in your classroom. You have to present
English in authentic and meaningful ways. Real communication puts language in action
and promotes interaction.

If you present language through communication and meaningful context, your students
will need some scaffolding. You should use different techniques to make the language
comprehensible. Children need concrete ways to understand language. You can use visuals
like pictures and flashcards to help make new words comprehensible. Gestures, body
movement, and realia can help teach language effectively to our young kinesthetic learners
and keep them engaged in class. You can also help young learners organize ideas by using
graphic organizers like Venn diagrams or tables. These techniques engage young learners
while helping them understand new language effectively.
Your young learners may not have many chances to hear English or use English in their
daily lives. They begin learning the language by listening to you. It is important to scaffold
their language learning through your own language. You may need to make some
adjustments. Be sure you pronounce words clearly and speak slowly. But be careful and
don’t speak unnaturally. Keep a natural flow to your speaking. If students do not
understand what you are saying, then you can repeat and even rephrase. Try to use
shorter and simpler sentences and phrases.

Don’t forget to be a model for your young learners. Before they speak, show them what
you want them to say. And sometimes, you may need to translate difficult words into
students’ native language. However, you want to provide plenty of opportunities for
your young learners to hear and practice English, so translating should happen only when
necessary.
You can use other techniques like visuals, gestures or realia instead!

Now, let ’s review what we learned. What kind of approach should we take to teach
young learners English as a foreign language? Which lesson would be more effective?

The storytelling lesson will be more effective with young learners because it takes
a learning- centered, meaning- focused approach to grammar. You can make it
more effective by using visuals, gestures, and adjusting your speaking to make the
language in the story comprehensible. This will help you build an English-speaking
environment in your classroom. Try it, and you’ll see!