Teaching English To Young Learners

Teaching English To Young Learners

KORAYAKCA

1-Discuss how stories and storybooks in the young learner language class provide an ideal way to introduce, practice and consolidate language learning.

“Children enjoy listening to stories in their mother tongue and understand the conventions of narrative. As soon as they hear the formula “Once upon a time…” they know what to expect next. Storybooks can provide an ideal introduction to the foreign language presented  in a context that is familiar to the child.”(Ellis and Browster 1991,1) “Once Upon a Time…” magic words which open the door into new worlds where anything is possible because the normal rules of logic do not apply; worlds of children of all ages can let their imaginations loose in a framework of safe familiarity. And, once those words have been spoken , there must be few people who can resist the fascination as they are drawn deeper into the web of the story.”(Alan Maley)

In every culture, there are stories known by grown-up to the child. There is no doubt that stories are important to teach something new and also stories are long life teaching metarial for every language or every society. Why the stories are important; They are motivating and fun. They help develop positive attitudes towards the foreign language and language learning. They exercise imagination. They can link fantasy and creativity with the child’s real world. Listening to stories is a shared social experience. Stories allow students to express feelings in a natural relaxed atmosphere. They build up self-confidence and self-esteem. Vocabulary in stories is used in context. They expose the learners to several tenses and grammatical structures and functions at the same time as in real life (authenticity). They are a good resource to integrate different communicative skills. Market designed books have divided the real language into levels. They allow cross curricular activities like arts, history, science, music, drama, geography, math etc. Stories and storybooks can be used as extra practice-supplementary or complementary activities.

“For young children is not easy to know what is fact and what is fiction, the dividing line between the real world and the imaginary world is not clear, they believe fantastic things” (Scott and Ytreberg, 2).

When we turn to the discussion how the stories and storybooks affect the language of learning on students and create advantages for teachers and learners; Working with stories in the classroom is not an easy task for most teachers because of lack of experience in the field.Using story books demands the teacher to be very creative, resourceful and dynamic. Teachers need to integrate different skills. “If the teacher uses stories merely to introduce and practice grammar or particular lexical areas or functions, children may lose interest”. Andrew Wright.Teachers can use some of the strategies or activities available to use this tool and make the necessary adjustments according to his/her learners and context. Stories provide teachers with powerful tools and key aspects to involve children in an enjoyable way in the learning process. That is why; they need to be implemented more frequently by teachers in the English classroom. Teachers can take advantage of children’s characteristics such as imagination, curiosity and fantasy in order to improve the teaching learning language process. Using stories in the classroom are a high-quality source for teachers to help children develop not merely the language itself but also holistic human beings. Being exposed to listening to stories is a vehicle for promoting the language acquisition in a natural way. A story provides the starting point and rich environment for developing a wide variety of related language and learning activities involving learners personally and actively in the educational context. 

McKay (2001: 322) and Rivers (1968: 230) point out that students read and enjoy a text if the subject-matter of the text is relevant to their life experience and interests.

2-Discuss how to use songs, rhymes, chants and poems in a language class as important language-learning activities.

Boring classes never give students permanent knowledge as we know. If the teachers want student to memorize the information taken from the class, they should make the classes more fun for students glad to be a part of it. Songs, rhymes and chants have benefits for language learners. There are two main factors to develop learners’ skills. First one is linguistic factors: Songs, rhymes and chants enlarge the vocabulary background of children and also they develop pupils' listening and speaking skills. They help to introduce and familiarize children with the target language culture. Songs, rhymes and chants improve children's pronunciation, teach various language functions, recall grammatical points, and develop auditory discrimination. Second one is affective factors; with the help of materials, songs, rhymes and chant add fun to learning, motivate children to participate -- even shy ones, help teachers get closer to their children, stimulate children's interest in the new language and also they help to create a lively atmosphere in the language classroom. The reasons for using poetry are similar to those for using songs and many activities that you do with songs can be adapted to poetry. Any authentic material exposes students to some ‘real English’ and can be very motivating for your students, provided they are supported throughout the task. The other great thing about poems is for students to have the opportunity to see the language work creatively and freely.

They create advantages to teach a language but how should we use them in a class? Ways of teaching is as important as the materials. Because of that reason, first of all we must set the context. What is the song about? We should make a decision When necessary pre-teach vocabulary with visual aids, actions, focus questions, realia, etc. also we should make copies of the lyrics, cut lines or verses and distribute the cut-outs to the pairs or groups, asking them to order the song. Teacher should play the song and stop every second line or so, for students to check their versions and guess what comes next and then listen to the whole song. Teacher can give each student a line of the song to listen for. As they listen they have to arrange themselves physically in the order they hear their line. With more advance students this can be done asking them to arrange themselves before listening to the song. There is a permanent part which is to encourage students to use actions, drama when singing the song. Gaps filling activities should be used. Teacher let perform as a whole class or in small groups: boys and girls, half class one line and the other half the second line. Also rhymes are words and phrases that have a memorable rhythm and end in the same sound to add a musical effect. They can be helpful for learning English as a foreign language, as well, and they have the added benefit of introducing students to important aspects of the cultures of English-speaking countries.

3-Discuss how to successfully learn and teach through games.

Games can make anything fun so students won’t even realise they’re learning.

Using games is one of the most important ways to teach efficiently in a language class. Games mean the world to children. Nothing is more fun than playing games for them because they feel happy and free while playing. Remember when you were a child; you will remember the games you played and the happiest moments of your life. It does not matter indoor or outdoor; we cannot deny the importance of games. If students learn with games, have fun, feel happy and free, it means that you have reached your goals. Games strengthen language skills, besides; learners develop social skills and good relationships while they interact with each other’s. Whatever your goal is (speaking, grammar points, vocabulary) you must believe that every game you have students play, is much more useful than tons of exercises and worksheets and you get more positive results than anything else.

How often should teachers use games? I think there might be no limit about it. Teachers should always have a ready-to-use game in your pocket. When you feel that children are bored and tired, games might be used. According to me; games are always helpful for teaching something new. Students can learn unconsciously through games. Generally group games are more useful. They are competitive and children come closer with each other. With the feeling of coming first they often have a look at their books or notebooks before a game. Why should we prefer games to teach? Because young learners are more energetic and active they enjoy exciting games. But teenagers do not like childish games. They prefer more challenging ones such as word games. We should consider that there is a game to teach some skills about a topic for every student.

While teaching through games, you should think rewarding sides of games. You should not neglect this point. Everyone who succeeds a hard task would like some praise or a gift. Giving small presents motivates them. However, sometimes teachers can feel lazy and they can complain that they do not enough time to prepare the games. But if we want fully success, we should devote ourselves for teaching.

In conclusion, using games is an efficient way to teach English in the classroom. This way you get the best results in the classroom. It arises students’ motivation. Games prepare young learners for life and they acquire positive social attitudes. Games teach sharing, helping each other and working as a team. A child learns by doing, living, trying and imitating. So this kind of learning is lasting. During games some feelings such as the pleasure of winning and the ambition of losing may arise. This gives to the teacher an idea about student’s character. So games are must-have activities for hardworking teachers.

4- How student presentations, puppetry, video watching/making, taking part in role-play and the delivery of formal drama productions in English can extend and enrich young language learners’ opportunities to use English? Explain.

In target language, firstly teachers introduce the language which will be learned by students. Teachers give the structures, details, all grammar rules and etc. however, to understand how much the students learn from the topic which is presented by teacher is important factor for teachers. There are ways of learning this matter. Presentations, puppetry, video watching/making, role playing and drama which are being performed by students give teachers important feedback. The ideas mentioned below are about the contributions of classroom activities for young language learners. In which ways they influence from these activities and how they enrich their skills.

            Firstly, I want to discuss about the importance of the presentation for students about language learning. Presentations are a great way to have students practise all language systems areas (vocabulary, grammar, discourse and phonology) and skills (speaking, reading, writing and listening). They also build confidence, and presenting is a skill that most people will need in the world of work. According to me, good presenters are better communicators all round, since they are able to structure and express their ideas clearly. Presentation skills are extremely useful both in and outside the classroom. After completing a project, a presentation is a channel for students to share with others what they have learned. It is also a chance to challenge and expand on their understanding of the topic by having others ask questions.

            Secondly, Puppetry is the one of teaching activities for young language learners. The language of puppetry is a good language for teachers. A teacher works with other human beings in order to facilitate their acquisition of knowledge. Puppetry provides a safe shelter for communication. If the student does not feel safe expressing his feelings, his experiences or his questions, his curiosity may be suppressed. Curiosity is the basic element for learning. If it is not present, learning cannot happen. Puppetry provides an alternative, safe form of expression as it transfers ownership of what is said to the puppet. The puppet can say whatever needs to be said without implicating the puppeteer in the eyes of the audience. In 450 B.C., Confucius said, “Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.” Puppetry requires involvement, and it makes the experience fun. Planning, designing, and performing a puppet show require a community effort. It requires group cooperation and the building of a sense of “we”.

            Thirdly, the other activity I want to mention about is video watching/making. A great advantage of video is that it provides authentic language input. With the help of videos in language learning, learners can concentrate on the language in detail and interpret what has been said, repeat it, predict the reply and so on. The learners can also concentrate in detail on visual clues to meaning such as facial expression, dress, gesture, posture and on details of the environment. Even without hearing the language spoken clues to meaning can be picked up from the vision alone. Also listeners concentrate themselves on the verbal message, not the visual clues to meaning. Video gives the students practice in concluding attitudes. The rhythmic hand and arm movements, head nods, head gestures are related to the structure of the message. Moreover, the students have a general idea of the culture of the target language. It may be enjoyable for the learners to have something different for language learning apart from the course books and cassettes for listening.

            Fourthly, Role-play is any speaking activity when you either put yourself into somebody else's shoes, or when you stay in your own shoes but put yourself into an imaginary situation. Incorporating role-play into the classroom adds variety, a change of pace and opportunities for a lot of language production and also a lot of fun! Imaginary people - The joy of role-play is that students can 'become' anyone they like for a short time! The President, the Queen, a millionaire, a pop star …….. The choice is endless! Students can also take on the opinions of someone else. 'For and against' debates can be used and the class can be split into those who are expressing views in favour and those who are against the theme. It is seen that learning takes place when activities are engaging and memorable. We can offer the use of role-play for the following reasons: It's fun and motivating. Even quieter students get the chance to express themselves in a more sincere way. The world of the classroom is broadened to include the outside world - thus offering a much wider range of language opportunities.

            Fifthly, the last activity I want to mention about is drama. One of the main aims of using drama in a language course is to provide an active, stimulating, fun and creative environment in which to develop the student’s language learning potential. Students are encouraged to explore English through their imagination and creativity and to express this through language, and other forms of communication, that may include: movement, action, dance, and role-play. These activities aim to develop confidence, motivation, trust and participation. Drama improves oral and written communication skills and it helps to be aware of interpersonal and sociocultural communication skills. Moreover, using drama in language teaching develop accuracy and fluency of expression, rhythm and pronunciation, linguistic intelligence and social interactive skills.

           

            Consequently, it is seen that activities which is being used in language classrooms add a lot for not only natives but also non-natives. Presentations are used to improve students’ skills (speaking, reading, writing and listening) and they give feedbacks from students whether they understand the course of class or not. Puppetry provides a safe shelter for communication and also it improves the skills of students. Video watching/making is for authentic input and awareness of different cultures. And the other activities which are similar to these are offered for teaching and learning both constructive and enjoyable.