Collins Introducing English to Young Children: Reading and Writing

If teachers themselves were introduced to English as an academic, grammar-based subject, they may feel inclined to introduce it to young children this way, too: through an abstract, grammar-analysis method with little chance for interaction or dialogue in spoken English. Although teacher-led instruction can often feel more fulfilling for the teacher (because progress is easier to observe and assess) teacher-imposed methods not involving interaction may not be as lasting or motivating for the child. Many young children also find imposed grammatical content difficult to understand, and thus absorb, as they have not yet been made aware of the grammar they are using naturally in L1.

Non-native-speaker adults need to be careful not to let how they were taught English influence their teaching or support methods, since young children need to self-acquire English using their finely tuned language-learning strategies. Research continues to confirm that language acquisition is linked to a form of physical self-discovery related to the cognitive maturity of the young child, whose brain is still developing. This seems to be the case in some situations throughout adult life, too. For example, many people find it easier to learn how to change a car tyre by watching someone who knows, rather than reading a manual!

2.2.2 The teacher’s role

The teacher’s main role is to enable the child to use and develop his or her self-acquisition language-learning strategies, whilst also allowing autonomy to grow. The teacher’s role expands as the use of English becomes more advanced; they become involved in delegating responsibilities, organising more complex activities and in the introduction of formal literacy.

The teacher still remains the main source and model of spoken English. The teacher also now becomes responsible for the spoken and written English used in the introduction of formal English literacy skills. Through teacher-talk and tutor-talks, children have opportunities to absorb different styles of English and later to use the language. However, the child’s acquisition of English is limited to the language the teacher uses and to the content of picture books. In lessons where teachers use only the textbook without talking around it or including extra activities, the child’s acquisition is hindered by the low quality or quantity of input.

Textbook language plus some general management and game language is really not sufficient. Nor is it the right type of English input to enable the developing child to start talking about his or her interests or emotions, or to begin socialising and cooperating with other children. Children may need short periods of silence for self-reflection, but long periods of silence when there is no opportunity to listen and learn any English from the teacher (their main source of English input in the classroom) is a waste of children’s learning time.

The use of different voices, intonation and language styles (descriptive, reported speech, etc.) is important as a teacher responds to changes within the classroom, or sees a need to remotivate. A sudden, whispered Listen, children. Let’s think about … can surprise and interest the class and quickly get their attention!

Once children have got used to picking up English, they appear to have refined how to use their self-language-learning strategies. Teachers should not underestimate children’s ability to pick up English, and shouldn’t let learning preconceptions limit the amount of input they given the children. Children are innate language learners and always understand much more than they can say. If they feel an overload they know how to switch off and wait to be remotivated.

The art of a skilled teacher is getting the right balance by providing structure whilst supporting autonomy.

(Stewart)

The teacher’s main role is that of:

Motivator: using the Playful Approach to stimulate and restimulate positive interest in activities and formal literacy.

Modeller: using teacher-talk to aid understanding of emotional, social and classroom behaviour, as well as modelling new activities.

Mediator: introducing new challenges including tutor-talks to explain formal literacy.

Manager: planning lesson programmes, guided by the hidden syllabus and assessment but also following children’s interests; indicating revision needs.

Monitor: assessing children within lessons and weekly to check progress and the need to revisit learning (this includes the summing-up sessions at the end of each lesson in which achievements and future plans are discussed).

Within all these categories there is more advanced use of language to ensure acquisition, formal literacy learning and progress in speaking.

Encircling all five roles described above are Materials, the base for enabling activities and formal literacy experiences. Many extra materials have to be collected by the teacher or sometimes, at the teacher’s request, by the family.

2.3 The child’s expectations of the teacher

A young child expects a teacher to be:

 friendly

 reliable

 caring

 full of enthusiasm and positivity

 a source of knowledge (or to know where to obtain information)

 an example of fair play in games (not accepting any form of cheating)

 just and fair in all personal comments and assessments

 respectful of any work in which effort and improvement has been made

 ready to co-share when a child or pair cannot manage alone.

The teacher–child relationship continues to evolve as the child develops and as the teacher gradually changes from leader to sharer or co-partner, using language and management routines in cooperation with the child until he or she is ready to lead alone. The degree of teacher support changes to match the child’s progress, well-being (physical and emotional) and desire to do things autonomously. Within a single lesson language support can range from teacher-initiated and teacher-led, to shared-support, to child-led and child-initiated.

Teacher-initiated

Teacher-led

Shared-support

Child-led

Child-initiated

Children have their own views on teachers and they openly tell parents who is their favourite teacher and why. Good relationships with the teacher and with their peers contribute to the intrinsic enjoyment that motivates children to learn English. A supportive relationship shows that the teacher values the children’s ideas. It also encourages children to initiate sometimes, using phrases like I have an idea. Can I tell you? Children need to be confident that initiating is allowed in the English classroom, since, in some cultures, it’s not always encouraged in L1 lessons.

It’s also important to remember that children learn more from each other than from the teacher, as, from a child’s point of view, peers are easier to copy than an adult.

Children learn strategies from watching each other, and are more likely to imitate what someone quite like themselves does rather than an adult.

(Stewart)

Teachers need to constantly review:

 the changing teacher–child and teacher–class relationship and how it develops within the year

 how interesting they themselves seem to children – are they holistically ‘switched on’ to the children’s world (including ‘screen world’)?

 how they present new content to children and develop their desired independence (autonomy)

 how they structure content to help make learning easier

 how they manage activities so that children have opportunities to work together and learn from each other (for example, with one child ‘teaching’ and peers learning)

 how they make children and families aware of progress.

The best motivation to learn a language is not an abstract liking of its beauty or utility, but a liking for the person who speaks it.

(Taeschner)

2.4 Enabling learning

… prepared input that alters according to the child’s needs and interests.

(Whitehead)

Planning language input within a programme and lesson is paramount for progress. Thought has to be given to which language to reuse and where, as well as when and how to introduce new language. In addition, some language input needs to be structured very precisely so that children can absorb it easily and later use it themselves. However, ‘planned language’ also has to be adaptable to include impromptu language, as the teacher tunes in to the immediate interests and needs of the children during a lesson.

Children need quality, planned English input (and repetition of this input) if they are to pick up English to their full potential. This potential is often underestimated in comparison to that of children who learn languages outside the classroom effectively, rarely making mistakes. A child does not find learning language difficult like an adult; if he or she says it is difficult, it is generally a reflection of what adults have said!

Throughout the language learning process, the ‘feel-good factor’ is vital for motivation and new learning. Children live in the present and their well-being can change from lesson to lesson. Teachers need to tune in to their emotional state at the beginning of each lesson and adapt to it. Sometimes, if children are moving into a new developmental stage, teachers need to adapt quickly to satisfy their eager curiosity to absorb new information and ideas.

Focus (Attention) is a skill. Attention is embedded in well-being.

(Goleman)

Holistic learning for young children of 6 to 9 years is innate, rapid and continuous, following recognisable, common developmental patterns. By the age of 8 or 9 the child has matured considerably and has gradually begun to feel and portray his or her own identity. The child is more knowledgeable and can do more things alone, confidently repeating and consolidating known skills or discovering and trying out new ones. A child of this age is an unconscious self-educator and likes to be treated with patience and understanding.

2.4.1 Modelling language

Modelling the use of new language, or re-modelling known language and extending it to match new content, is important for learning. Acquiring language through structured modelling involves:

 teacher modelling (child watches and listens)

 co-share modelling (teacher and child work together)

 child modelling (leading the speaking, with teacher encouragement and support).

Modelling can be consolidated through playing quick games. Consider the 'Pass it on’ game:

‘Pass it on’ game

Start the game ‘Pass it on’ by passing a packet or object to one child, saying This is for you. Please take it.

The child takes it and gives it to another child repeating This is for you. Please take it.

The other child takes it as quickly as possible and says Oh! Thank you very much.

He or she then goes up to anyone in the class and says This is for you. Please take it.

The new child takes it as quickly as possible and says Oh! Thank you very much.

He or she then goes up to anyone in the class and says This is for you. Please take it.

This continues until the teacher says Stop.

The child who has the packet when the teacher says Stop is out of the game for one minute.

To begin with, the teacher has to support each child as he or she speaks to make sure the English is correct, but once the game is known it can be played with two or three different packets being passed round the room at once!

2.4.2 The inclusion of enabling activities

Enabling activities need to be closely linked to assessment if teachers are to take children to the next level and work within the child’s latest ‘zone of proximal development’ (‘ZPD’). Vygotsky defined ZPD as the gap between what children can do on their own without help, and what they can achieve with assistance from an adult or more able peer:

Teachers must plan effective, structured enabling activities to match the developing child’s need for new motivation and consolidation. Children have the ability to comment on their own work and are often aware of how well they and others have performed. Motivation plays an important role in achievement and to assess effectively teachers need to know how to react to growth and development of learners.

To achieve progressive learning, the teacher has to plan a programme which includes enabling activities as well as natural opportunities for repetition and reflective free play (or free-flow play). Teachers need to find ways to arouse curiosity in both girls and boys, whose interests can sometimes become markedly different as they mature.

2.4.3 The parents’ role

Teachers have to be wary of how parents describe their children, particularly parents’ perceptions of their children’s qualities and faults. Sometimes parents may say, in front of their children, She’s very shy. He’s not a good at studying. Even though some children ‘perform’ in front of their parents, to please them, the teacher should not automatically accept the parents’ description or the child’s behaviour in this situation. Instead, teachers should find out for themselves – it could be that the child may want to act quite differently in the environment of the English lesson.

Although the lower-primary child is now more independent, the same basic triangle of influence and support (parent, teacher, child) remains important in English acquisition. New discoveries innately motivate children to try and express their thoughts, imagination and feelings with others in English. Discovering the world at this age is exciting, and both parents and teachers need to arouse curiosity and enable, as well as inspire, the desire to explore.

2.5 Motivation and emotional literacy

Motivation is the most important factor in determining whether you succeed in the long run. What I mean by motivation is not only the desire to achieve, but also the love of learning, the love of challenge and the ability to thrive on obstacles. These are the greatest gifts we can give our students.

(Dweck)

Children need to be motivated if they are to continue to self-educate at their own pace and find meaning through self-discovery. They now understands new concepts, with adults mediating less and less, but need to be stimulated to use their self-language-learning strategies to acquire, understand and eventually use a wider range of spoken English.

To motivate we need to arouse curiosity in children. Curiosity is aroused by seeing something new, or something different from what they expected. This arouses their interest to find more out about it. Children have an internal need for consistency, and they look for things to fit into their cognitive map of understanding. When something does not fit in, it causes tension or ‘cognitive dissonance’, which innately drives them to find out more so they can resolve the inconsistency and fit the new information into their thinking. During this process children are focusing, exploring and learning at a deep level, which researchers liken to a ‘flow’ experience (see 1.5). Highly curious people show openness to new ideas, as well as an innate drive to examine and learn, and therefore expand their own cognitive map.

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.

(Einstein)

Motivation and ‘emotional literacy’ are closely linked, and together help to create the ‘feel-good factor’ which is vital for self-learning. Goleman talks about emotional literacy as being the ability to experience and manage emotions positively, as well as recognise emotions in others and show empathy. If children of this age are not yet emotionally literate, it can be difficult to motivate them – and if they are not motivated, little or no self-acquisition of English can occur.

A child with little emotional literacy still finds the following activities difficult: working in pairs, group discussions, persuading, leading. Young children want and need to feel liked by other children in the class if they are to feel good.

Motivation can be thought of as ‘intrinsic’, where children motivate themselves, and ‘extrinsic’ where motivation comes from outside (with the teacher igniting it by setting the scene for an enabling activity).

It is accepted that the emotional mind can override the rational mind.

(Anon)

To start to manage their emotions, children need to:

 feel physically secure and safe within the classroom

 feel the teacher understands and recognises their emotions

 know the classroom routine, so they can predict the next activity

 know some basic English to talk about their emotions

 know how to read emotions in others (children and adults).

Children need to be able to describe their emotions and thoughts in English if they are to develop a sense of well-being. If they have no simple vocabulary in English to express their emotions and thoughts, they may hide them or resort to talking about them in L1. If the teacher is not bilingual, he or she may not be able to understand unless another child is able to translate, or a parent tells the teacher. Words for feelings and thoughts can be picked up from teacher-talk – this can be in the form of teacher modelling, or from a planned game that introduces basic feelings in a context which children understand.

Children are constantly watching behaviour and learning how to show and handle their emotions through modelling and mirroring the teacher and other adults, as well as other children close to them. Consider this example:

Discussing feelings

 The teacher introduces words for describing emotions by cutting out cardboard face shapes and sticking them onto short sticks. Each cardboard face shape has a different facial expression drawn on it: a sad face, a happy face, a surprised face, an angry face, etc.

 The teacher shows the faces and asks the children to say how each face feels. The children learn to say He’s happy. or She’s angry. etc. They also learn to answer the question Are you happy? with Yes, I’m happy. or No, I’m sad.

 The teacher then plays a game with the children, calling out words to do with feelings and children have to choose the cardboard face that matches the word.

Good relationships with teachers and peers contribute to enjoyment. The teacher needs to include enabling activities in which children can work together. Children learn more from other children than from adults, since they are similar to themselves and easier to copy. However, they are constantly watching adults’ behaviour and learning from it how to manage their emotions.

Emotions, and the way we show them to those around us, are culturally linked. Teachers should be aware, for example, that in some cultures a smile or laughter can cover up embarrassment or may be thought of as rude or inappropriate behaviour in class. In some L1 classrooms teachers may not expect children to show their emotions, so children have to be reassured that talking about feelings is normal and acceptable in the English classroom.

Within different cultures the use of silence, facial expressions, laughter and body language varies, and this should be carefully considered by teachers if they are to teach holistically – that is, to help the whole child mature.

When thinking about the emotional development of children, teachers need to include activities that help them begin to balance their emotions, such as using co-reading picture books that can be discussed together as a class. Free play, including book browsing, also helps children to self-manage their emotions. This is evident in the case of children (often boys) who like to learn to read through science books or books about their favourite imaginary superheroes.

Children need a rich language environment if they are to acquire language to their full potential and feel motivated. Motivation depends on the teacher’s choice of structured enabling activities, appropriate to the interests and maturity of the children.

2.6 Monitoring and assessing

Regular assessing analyses the efficacy of activities and the teaching programme, as well as recording progress and highlighting the need for repetition and review. It is through regular assessment that teachers remain closely tuned-in to each child.

Children need to know that the teacher wants them to respond in English. To be responsive, they need to have no fear of making mistakes and need to be aware that mistakes can be used as an opportunity for learning. Children also need to know that the teacher understands risk-taking, and that he or she welcomes new suggestions and gives praise for effort. If children know that the teacher’s response will always be positive, welcoming and encouraging, they will feel secure and begin to be responsive and show initiative. This is the best way for children to achieve their full potential in English.

As the child becomes more independent and confident, and more capable of taking responsibility in the classroom, the child–teacher relationship evolves into one of friendly, mutual respect. The child feels he or she can rely on the teacher to show personal understanding, listen to interests, welcome creative ideas and encourage efforts.

The only good kind of instruction is that which marches ahead of development and leads it.

(Vygotsky)

The teacher’s role in helping learners reach their potential depends on the relationship with each child. For children to begin to develop their self-educating strategies, they needs to feel secure when taking risks and know that their opinions and efforts to learn are valued – by peers as well as the teacher.

The right kind of experience and support can help children to become confident, creative, motivated doers and thinkers so that the early years build a strong foundation for all they will encounter in the future.

(Stewart)

2.7 Teacher input

Interaction with adults through talk involves children in the adult’s ways of thinking, and children’s efforts to understand lead them to attempt to express similar meaning.

(Tough)

The child’s innate aim is to speak as much English as possible and be able to read and write quickly. The child will, if motivated, be keen to use all the English they know and will find it frustrating when he or she is unable to convey thoughts, emotions and creative ideas.

The tuned-in teacher’s role is to support children in achieving their goals by showing how and when to use English – bearing in mind this might be different from when and how their L1 is used. For example, in some societies please and thank you are used differently from how they are used in English. Teachers cannot expect children to know that speaking in the lower-primary English classroom is welcomed, when in L1 classrooms the teacher might be the only person who ever talks.