Chapter. 6 LEARNER VARIABLES Ⅰ TEACHING ACROSS AGE LEVELS

TEACHING CHIDREN Children’s success in acquiring SL belies a subconscious effort. Adults are not necessarily less successful in their efforts. The popular claim fails to differentiate very young children from pre-pubescent children. Number of complex personal, social, and political factors

TEACHING CHIDREN Intellectual Development “Ain’t nobody got no pencils?” Centered on ‘here and now’, on the functional purpose of language Little appreciation for our adult notions of “correctness” Cannot grasp the meta-language we use to describe & explain linguistic concepts

TEACHING CHIDREN Rules of thumb Don’t explain grammar using terms. Rules in abstract terms should be avoided. Some grammatical concepts can be called to learners’ attention by showing them certain patterns and examples. Children must understand the meaning & relevance of repetitions.

TEACHING CHIDREN 2. Attention Span Make them interesting, lively, & fun Activities should be designed to capture their immediate interest. Variety of activities Animated, lively, & enthusiastic about the subject matter Sense of humor, put your self in their shoes curiosity

TEACHING CHIDREN 3. Sensory Input Physical activity Hands-on activities Sensory aids Your own nonverbal language

TEACHING CHIDREN 4. Affective Factors Children are innovative in language forms Extremely sensitive, especially to peers. Help your students to laugh at mistakes. Be patient & supportive to build self-esteem. Elicit as much oral participation as possible from students.

TEACHING CHIDREN 5. Authentic & Meaningful Language Canned or stilted language will likely be rejected. Language needs to be firmly context- embedded. A whole language approach is essential.

TEACHING ADULTS More able to handle abstract rules and concepts Too much abstract generation about usage & not enough real life language use can be deadly for adults The rule of keeping your activities short & sweet also to adult-age teaching Appeal to multiple senses

TEACHING ADULTS A modicum of general self-confidence The fragility of egos may not be quite as critical as those of children. Better able to understand a context-reduced segment of language Temporary digressions to dissect & examine isolated linguistic properties as long as students are returned to the original context

TEACHING ADULTS “Do’s” and “don’t” Intelligent adults with mature cognition & adult emotions Show respect for the deeper thoughts & feelings that may be “trapped” for the moment by a low proficiency level. Don’t treat adults in your class like children.: calling them “kids”, using “caretaker” talk, talking down to them

TEACHING ADULTS Do give your students too many choices in engaging in cooperative learning! Don’t discipline adults in the same way as children!

TEACHING TEENS The “terrible teens” are an age of transition, confusion, self-consciousness, growing, and changing bodies and minds. The success of any intellectual endeavor will be a factor of attention a learner places on the task Teens’ attention span shortened & intellectual task at hand may suffer due to many diversions present in life.

TEACHING TEENS Varieties of sensory input are important. Ego, self-image, and self-esteem are at their pinnacle. Teens are ultra-sensitive. Occasional diversions from the “here & now” nature of immediate communicative contexts to teach some grammar or voca. Not to insult them with stilted language or to bore them with over-analysis.