EARLY TEACHING OF A SECOND LANGUAGE Foreign language learning in the Nursery Education period. Profesora: Dr. Jelena Bobkina

OUTLINE [2.1] Objectives in the Nursery Education period [2.2] Basic aspects of very young children’s learning [2.3] How do children learn English? [2.4] Teaching methods: Total Physical Response

2.1. Objectives in the Nursery Education period Traditionally, the teaching of English in Spain has started much later than in other European countries. That is why students who had finished their Secondary period and even Bachillerato could not speak English at all and forgot grammar and vocabulary quite easily. Fortunately, things have changed a lot recently and learning English is considered one of the main objectives at every level and from an early age. Although a lot of effort has been made in order to establish English at Nursery and Primary periods, there are many schools which offer English from the first year of kindergarten.

2.1. Objectives in the Nursery Education period There is a big problem concerning teaching English to very young children: in Spain pre-school teachers are not required to have a good command of English and English teachers do not have training in very young children. This is also changing nowadays. It is changing right now, while you read this. Education of pre-school teachers should be continuous.

2.1. Objectives in the Nursery Education period When talking about Pre-school period objectives, we must bear in mind three areas:

2.1. Objectives in the Nursery Education period

2.1. Objectives in the Nursery Education period

2.1. Objectives in the Nursery Education period

2.2. Basic aspects of very young children’s learning Children at this age are in the period of playing, discovering the world, learning to express themselves, observing the near environment and yes, they are getting ready to learn many things, also foreign languages. Things to take into consideration when planning a lesson with very young learners: Children can not concentrate for a long period of time. Children are very enthusiastic if they like what they do, and give up quickly if they don´t. They are sensitive and need to show their emotions. They have good capacity for imitation (intonation and pronunciation). They learn quickly but have a short-term memory. Multi-sensorial approach is much recommended.

2.3. How do children learn English? CHILDREN LEARN BY IMITATION. ROUTINES ARE VERY IMPORTANT.

2.3. How do children learn English? WE NEED TO LEARN IN A STRUCTURED WAY, SO LESSON PLANNING IS ESSENTIAL!

2.3. How do children learn English? CHILDREN MIGHT PASS THROUGH THE SILENT PERIOD. The Silent Period https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHXWlf3S-f4

2.3. How do children learn English? DO NOT FORCE KIDS TO SPEAK UP UNLESS THEY FEEL READY!

2.3. How do children learn English? ABSORBING BEFORE PRODUCING!

2.3. How do children learn English? CHILDREN DECODE SPOKEN MESSAGES BEFORE DEVELOPING THE PRODUCTION SKILLS.

2.3. How do children learn English? LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE MEANS ALSO LEARNING A NEW CULTURE.

2.3. How do children learn English?

2.3. How do children learn English? AFFECTION: Children need to feel they are important, that is where personalized education starts. INDIVIDUALITY: Children might have different abilities and capacities and might need to work and learn in different ways. FAMILIAR: All the activities to crry out must be familiar to them in their mother tongue

NEW ACTIVITIES: When introducing new activities, show children what they are expected to do. PARTICIPATION: should be varied. Kids should learn to work in different ways MEANING AND COMMUNICATION: is of outmost importance. MULTI-SENSORIAL APPROACH: is very useful for teaching infants. Include activities where kids have to use different senses.

2.4. Teaching methods:Total Physical Response. This is one of the most recommended teaching methods for young learners. It was developed by J.Asher It can be considered as a form of communicative language teaching (CLT). It consists of learning though actions. The Natural Approach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTVbdstastI Total Physical Response (TPR) - Teacher Training film no. 8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkMQXFOqyQA Teaching English to preschool children https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY1l10BH3ww

2.4. Teaching methods:Total Physical Response. Communicative approaches (including TPR) appeared as reaction against the Grammar-Translation Method. These methods are supposed to resemble first language acquisition: a language learning without any explicit teaching. When a teacher uses a TPR method, he/she plays three roles: An order taker A model provider An action monitor

2.4. Teaching methods:Total Physical Response.

2.4. Teaching methods:Total Physical Response. In TPR approach kids listen and follow teachers’ instruction. The difficulty of the input increases gradually. TPR can involve listening and doing actions with a song or just responding to the teacher´s command. Teachers must use clear pronunciation and easy instructions and help students to understand what they want through gestures. TPR is especially valuable for infants because they are not ready to deal with abstract concepts and relay on their senses to learn new things.

2.4. Teaching methods:Total Physical Response. TPR IS PARTICULARLY GOOD TO WORK WITH BEGINNERS. There are some limits to what children can learn by using this method since there are many structures that cannot be learnt without paying direct attention to output and grammar.

Bibliography

Exercises