Ways children learn

Characteristics of a young learner

Young learners are children from 5 to 12. According to the researchers the key objectives of early foreign language learning are: linguistic, psychological, cultural, cognitive and social. Teaching the young learners requires different techniques as these children have different characteristics which can be categorized in two groups.

The first is the very young ones i.e. from aged 7 years and less. These children have a very limited vocabulary and have not even mastered the grammar of their mother tongue. They have shorter attention span, are very curious, lots of imagination, easily distracted, full of energy and want to do things themselves.

With this in mind, the techniques applied are lessons with short stories, rhymes, songs as well as lots of repetition.

The second group is the 8 to 12 years old. Some of the characteristics of this group are: fast growing children, interested in varied activities, and love to discover things. They are interested in facts - like history and geography, and are very creative. They also like to read, write, pretend, imitate and want adult approval and are in “age of activity”.

Hence since they respond well to being asked to use their imagination, they may well be involved in puzzle-like activities, making things, drawings things, in games, in physical movement and songs.

Table 1

Children: 4-6 year-olds

In this section, find out how 4-6 year-old children learn and develop.

*chunks of language = words that naturally come together e.g. ‘thank you very much’, ‘glass of water’, ‘have a nice day’ – that are easily learnt, repeated and do not need analysis.

Chants

Chants are great as children

· learn to work together

· pick up chunks

· get to listen to lots of meaningful language

· have a reason to use English

· find them funny

· move their body

· enjoy repeating them

Chants are easy to make up. This is an example of a chant for 5-6 year olds. They had already begun learning animals. Teacher and children can chant it together and do actions for the different animals. (pretend to splash water etc)

My name’s Fred and I’m a frog – jump, jump, jump

My name’s Kate and I’m a cat – miaow, miaow, miaow

My name’s Fergie and I’m a fish – splash, splash, splash

My name’s Micky and I’m a mouse – squeak, squeak, squeak

My name’s Benny and I’m a bird – flap, flap, flap

This is a lovely chant with a rhythm that children enjoy. They can stretch their arms out to show ‘big’ and bring their hands close together to show ‘little’. It also helps to develop:

Motor skills - children will enjoy coloring in the pictures that come with the chant. Coloring demands concentration, eye/hand coordination and hand control – all important pre-writing skills

Word recognition - when beginning word recognition they can draw a line between the animal words – cat, mouse etc and the pictures.

Table 2

Children: 7-9 year-olds

In this section, find out how 7-9 year-old children learn and develop.

Chants

Children at this age group still love chants, but can add their own verses too. This stimulates their creative skills and gives them a sense of achievement when they can produce their own).

World knowledge

The quiz requires not just linguistic knowledge, but also knowledge about animals.

Wall displays

By now many children are developing their writing skills and becoming proficient drawers. They also get a great sense of achievement from seeing what they have created.

A mini-project on animals is easy to set up. Each child chooses an animal they like. They draw a picture of the animal and write sentences based on a model* provided by the teacher. The pictures are neatly mounted on the classroom walls. Invite parents in too to see these lovely displays.

model:

…………… is a big/small animal

…………… lives in the jungle / on a farm / in my house

………….. eats leaves / other animals/ …………..

………….. can fly / run / swim etc etc

Fun

Games are popular with all ages and it is a shame to push children into formal book-based learning early. They will become de-motivated and maybe even stressed. A really fun game can wake them up and bring laughter back into the classroom.

In this game My animal's got.... children create funny composite animals e.g. one with a tiger’s head, a bear’s tummy and an elephant’s legs.

This fun game works on many levels. Children can enjoy it purely visually and can also practice their English through it. It is very good for the possessive’ s.

Table 3

Children: 10-12 year-olds

In this section, find out how 10-12 year-old children learn and develop.

Projects

By now it is clear that students have very different approaches to learning and have distinct preferences and interests. A project on animals can ensure all are satisfied.

Students can choose to work independently or with a partner(s)

· Get students to choose an animal, or the creative ones can create a new one!

· Students choose whether to create a wall display, a book or a presentation on their animal

Their work can include illustrations, their own or ones they find. Their project can be a factual description about the animal including information found in books, the internet etc or it can be a story about the animal. It could also be a poster calling for conservation of a particular species. Give a time limit – say 2 or 3 lessons for them to prepare their work and then it can either be displayed, shared or presented

Ways children learn

Children are different from adults in many aspects.

-Children from 5 to 12 are more acquirers than learners. What is acquisition? Language acquisition is universal, natural, doesn’t require instruction. Language acquisition occurs in response to a child’s environment and as a result of a biological predisposition. Acquisition takes place subconsciously. Learning takes place consciously. It is helped greatly by error correction and presentation of explicit rules.

-When a young child learns another language, he approaches it in the same way as when he learns the first language. Children who can already read in L1, learn reading English quite quickly.

-Children are able to understand the meaning without understanding particular words. If teachers speak only English in the lessons, pupils usually have no problems with understanding the meaning of the passage in general. Therefore it is extremely important for teachers to use gestures, intonation, facial expressions, etc. Children appreciate everything what is concrete, what they really can see and touch. If teachers speak about something it is advantageous to use visual aids.

-Children are creative. Although their vocabulary is quite limited, it is enough for them to be able to communicate. Pupils do not have problems to ask and answer set phrases but it is much more difficult for them to construct sentences in unpredictable situations. Therefore games are so important and useful. If a teacher prepares games (activities) where children are made to communicate, he/she creates such unpredictable moments when children have to use their vocabulary and grammar as much as it is possible. It does not matter at all that children make mistakes. What is important is the fact that they have to be creative in the foreign language they learn, which naturally leads to the development of their communicative skills.

-The imitative ability of young children is great. They experience fewer difficulties in the assimilation of English pronunciation than adults

-The length of time a child can concentrate on one activity varies from child to child. Some young children can concentrate for about 5 minutes, others for very much longer periods of up to 15 minutes. It is better to change an activity before children lose interest.

-Children find it easier to learn one concept at a time. When a page in a book presents children with a confusing amount of material, it is better to take one item from the page and deal with it.

-Children learn more easily when they know what to expect in a lesson and what the teacher expects of them. For this reason it is helpful to use the same lesson framework for each lesson. The end of the lesson the teacher uses to say some words of praise and comment on their participation.

-It is impossible for children to learn everything perfectly in each lesson. For this reason part of every lesson should consist of going over previous work to help children consolidate the language.

-Physical development affects a child’s ability to focus his eye on a page, hold a pencil or a brush. Around 7 or 8 tears children lose their top and bottom front teeth which is embarrassing for many and makes pronunciation difficult.

-The children are fond of talking. Nevertheless, some children do not want to talk in a foreign language because they find it too difficult. This is up to the teacher to choose such activities which are not too difficult, which are enjoyable and make children speak. Teachers have to center their attention on speaking as it is not sufficient if children know grammar and vocabulary but they are not able to speak and construct their own sentences. This idea brings to the main purpose of learning English as a foreign language and it is to reach the level of being able to communicate.

-If teachers want their students to communicate they should carefully prepare their syllabuses. There are three basic types of content goals and the syllabus should consist of the combination of the all three types.

The first type is focused on structures teachers want to teach. The structures include grammatical tenses and some concrete structures themselves (such as modal verbs, verbs plus-ing, etc.) the second type deals with topics and situations of a daily life. The topics are often used for the development of conversational skills but they can also be used for learning grammar. The third type tackles with functions. The term “functions” concerns expressing one’s preferences, asking and giving directions, etc.

.-No two learners will be alike in any class. Research has shown that not only do we all learn in different ways, we also have multiple intelligences (Gardiner). Studies that some of us are auditory learners who need to hear the language and listen, others are visual learners who have to see and visualize before understanding and feeling confident enough to try it out, while still others can only learn through doing, the kinesthetic learner.

Auditory learners like if new pieces of information and instructions are presented in a spoken way. For them it is much more important what their teachers say and what their teachers write on the board. If they want to understand a problem, they usually have to say the problem aloud. Although auditory types of people like listening to what other people say and speak, they need certain calm conditions to be able to communicate, otherwise they become nervous and sometimes aggressive. Approximately a quarter of population prefers auditory simulation.

Fifty percent of the population prefers the visual way of acquiring new information. Such students remember best everything what they can see. Teachers have to use enough texts, pictures, videos, etc. Visual types of people have to imagine the texts and pictures in their minds and therefore they need enough time and space for communicating their thoughts. They often move when they speak and they do not usually look directly at the person they are speaking to. It is caused by the fact that they need to avoid all the distracting elements in their surroundings. On the other hand, visual types of people are every good in creative thinking and they have many interesting ideas and opinions.

The last remarkable group of people are people preferring a kinesthetic type of simulation. For these people it is crucial to experience the feeling of motion. Not only motion is important for them, but also emotions in general. These people are very sensitive, although they can look like being completely insensitive as far as other people are concerned because they are focused on their own feelings and emotions. Teachers should offer these people enough opportunities to move as motion is what makes them relaxed and calm.

The Chinese expression “I hear- I know; I see- I understand; I do- I remember” shows that to meet the needs of all three is to make it a memorable experience for all. But it doesn’t end there.

Our intelligences profiles add another dimension. These consist of combinations of eight different primary intelligence types:

linguistic;

logical-mathematical;

spatial;

bodily kinesthetic;

musical;

interpersonal — the way we relate to each other;,

intrapersonal — our ability to self-evaluate, and the naturalist (Berman, 1995).

This should not be seen as a problem, but rather as a distinct advantage when thinking of activities to introduce to practice language and the four skills. For example; logical — mathematical intelligences like number and sequence, puzzles, problems to solve.