TeachingVeryYoungLearners.pdf

Teaching English To Very Young Learners

By Audrey McIlvain

In this paper, we shall explore some of the key characteristics, needs and strengths of the very young

English learner (hereafter referred to as VYL). We shall then go on to examine the practical

implications as these relate to our planning and teaching methodologies.

a) AMAZING!!

Yes - the VYL certainly is amazing!! Every day brings surprises and delight.

Reflection:

Why do you think the VYL is so amazing, so unique and so rewarding to teach? Even if you haven't

taught this age range, just draw on your general knowledge of the 3 - 5 year olds you know. Think of

them as learners, as first language learners and then as learners of English

Your ideas may have included:

• They learn very quickly

• They have so much fun with learning

• They have incredible energy

• Everything is new to them

• Theyaresuch active learners, processing new experiences, asking questions, trying things

out, experimenting, practising over and over until they master new skills (just watch them

learning to ride a bicycle) (Donaldson. 1978. Tizard and Hughes, 1984, Montessori, 1983)

• They acquire their first language so easily ( The average British child knows 2000 English

words at 4 and an amazing 4 – 5,000 at 5.)

• They are active language learners too (We see evidence for this in the virtuous errors they

make. Garvey (1982) provides some lovely examples such as: "I am blocking" [ building a

tower with block ]; "Look! A sweep!" [ a toy broom ] page 62)

• They do not merely repeat what they hear; rather, they are actively involved in formulating

rules and trying out their hypotheses to 'puzzle it out' for themselves (Wells, 1999)

• Theyhave fun with language (Those of you who are parents will probably recall your child

playing with the sounds words make and vocalising before going to sleep.) As Weir (1972),

Garvey (1982), Chukovsky (1963) and others have pointed out, these solitary vocalizations

may be viewed as 'practice play' and are enjoyed by the child for the inherent play potential

of sounds, rhythms, rhymes, word structures and meanings.

For example, "Now it's done un un

Done un un un un", and.

"Let bono bink. Bink ben bink. Blue ink." (Garvey, pages 64,67)

With their friends this often manifests as 'talking funny', and, as Garvey says, this can be a

real source of hilarity, but it serves a more serious function too as they try out different

combinations of sounds, rhymes, structures and rules.

• They ask questions all the time (Tizard and Hughes, 1984, discovered that the number of

questions the pre-schoolers asked at home far exceeded the number asked at Nursery, a

point we will return to later)

• When conditions are optimal (and we shall examine this in detail), they can acquire a

second language easily too

• If they learn when they are very young they can become bilingual with ease (again only in

certain contexts)

• Most lack self consciousness when they speak a new language

What other ideas did you have?

b) VERY YOUNG MINDS

Reflection:

What do you think are some of the general characteristics and needs of the VYL (in an holistic sense)

that we need to consider?

You may think:

• They are still settling into nursery or kindergarten: therefore, they need to feel safe and

secure

• They have a short concentration span

• They need hands-on, concrete experiences in order to learn effectively (Donaldson, 1978,

Hughes, 1986)

• They also need practical contexts and concrete references in order to understand new

learning as the following extract from Hughes' research (1986) illustrates:

Hughes: How many is two and one more?

Patrick aged 4: Four

Well, how many is two lollipops and one more?

Three

How many is two elephants and one more?

Three

And two giraffes and one more?

Three

So, how many is two and one more?

(Looking Hughes straight in the eye) Six (page 47)

• They need multi-sensory experiences (see ALPS, 1999)

• Their first language is still developing rapidly

• Little boys tend to be somewhat less advanced in linguistic skills, fine motor skills and

concentration (Indeed, some studies suggest that they may lag behind by up to one year in

these specific aspects: Khan. 1998; Biddulph, 1998; McIlvain, 2003)

• Most are in the first stages of learning to read and write (We refer to this stage as 'Emerging

Literacy' in the U.K.)

• They may not be ready for co-operative play or pair/group work, preferring to engage in

'parallel play' or side-by-side activity

• They find it difficult to sit still (Boys, especially, find this problematic. Biddulph (1998) points

out, that this is partly because of a massive upsurge in testosterone levels around the age of

four which lasts for approximately one year, resulting in high energy, sometimes aggressive

behaviour and a real need to 'career around'.)

• They need and enjoy lots of repetition (We see this particularly at story time, song time and

when they are in the process of mastering new skills.)

• Much language development in both first and second languages is inner (i.e. they understand

more than they say)

• They may not be ready for certain structures and complexities in either first or second

language; the folly of trying to 'force the pace' before they are ready is illustrated below:

Child: Want other one spoon daddy

Father: You mean you want the other spoon

Yes, I want the other one spoon

Can you say, the other spoon

Other - one - spoon

Say ‘the’ (now becoming slightly exasperated!)

the

"other"

other

'spoon'

spoon- now give me other one spoon daddy

Which other points do you think are important?

Now we need to consider the IMPLICATIONS which follow on from a) and b).

c) WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS?

Reflection:

Using the word, IMPLICATIONS as an 'acrostic' framework, this paper will look at some of the

key issues and details we need to consider when we plan our lessons and activities with the

VYL? How will we ensure that our teaching matches their needs and strengths?

I INTERESTS

- We usually find that very young children are interested in themselves, their families, food,

pets, toys and the immediate environment. These interests can help us to plan topics to

motivate and engage them. An example is provided to demonstrate how an interest in food

emerged from the well-loved story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (1970). I seized

the opportunity to create a 'Fruit Shop’ that resulted in 'hands-on' experiences and activities

within which my class of 5 year olds could see, feel, touch, smell and taste key language in an

immediate way. (fig. 1)

www.english-adventure.net

Talking

Reading

• Roleplay

• Question making games

• New vocabulary – fruit

• ‘Chunks’ of language

(e.g. Hello, how are you?

What would you like?

Please. Thank you.

I would like, etc)

• Kim’s Game (WHAT IS

MISSING?)

• Sorting into sets

(VEGETABLES, FRUIT, RED,

YELLOW, etc)

• Surveys

• Signs

• Open/closed

• Times of opening

• ’Specialoffers’

• Labels to match to fruit

• A map (how to get there)

• Songs

• Storiestogether

• BigBooks

• Games (e.g. BINGO)

• ’Recipes’ (e.g. Fruit salad)

Fruit Shop

Listening

Writing

• Games (what’s in the bag?)

(I went shopping…)

• Rhymes, stories, songs

• Spot the mistake

• Emergingwriting

• Shopping‘list’

• Making posters &

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