Characteristic Of Young
Learners
Teaching English to young
learners is not the same as teaching English to adults or even teenagers.
That's the mistake a lot of teachers make when faced with a daunting class of 3
to 5 year olds. Here are some problems that many teachers have when teaching
English to children:
- Children have short attention spans.
- Children forget things quickly.
- Very small children may not speak their own language correctly yet.
- Children can be shy and hesitant to participate in activities.
- Children develop at different rates so there may be mixed ability levels in one class even though all the children are of the same age.
- Children learn through repitition which can be boring.
Children have a great need to be
motivated in order to learn effectively, and a teacher will often be faced with
the question,"What do we win?" Children love prizes and rewards even
if the prize is a key ring or box of Smarties. A smart teacher can make badges
and pin them on winners if prize-giving becomes too pricey. Even though
children love prizes they shouldn't be the focus for every task. Intrinsic
motivation or interest in doing the learning activity is what counts so a
teacher should use the 3 important sources of interest for children: pictures,
stories and games. Pictures or posters should be colourful, clear and
professionally drawn. Photographs or the children's own drawings can be used
too. For children, the dominant sense is the visual channel. If young learners
are not given something to look at that is relevant to the learning task, they
will get distracted by something else that is of more interest to them. Children
love being read stories, and most of the vocabulary for a story can be
pre-learnt through games before the story is read. Telling a story in a foreign
language is one of the simplest and richest sources of input for children as
long as there are lots of colourful pictures the children can look at while
listening. Games put the fun back into learning, and playing is what children
do naturally, so a smart teacher should capitalize on what children want to do.
A teacher should have a selection of games and
songs ready so that activities can be changed every 5 to 15 minutes
depending on the age group of the children. Games can be used to teach
vocabulary and expressions and develop listening and comprehension skills.
Characteristic
of Young Learners
Some young learners have their own characteristic.
There are some of their generally characteristic that teachers and parents
should know :
1.
They have
short attention span. So teachers should vary their techniques to break the
boredom. they should give varied activities as handwriting , songs , games etc.
2.
They are
very active. Try to ask them to play games , role play dialogues and involve
them in competitions.
3.
They respond
well to praising. Always encourage them and praise their work.
4.
They differ
in their experience of language. Treat them as a unit , don't favour those who
know some English at the expense of those who do not know.
5.
They are
less shy than older learners. Ask them to repeat utterances , resort to mechanical
drills.
6.
They are
imaginative. Use pictures to teach new vocabulary related to concrete meanings,
but may have some difficulties distinguishing between imagination and real
world.
7.
They enjoy
learning through playing. Young learners learn best when they learn through
games. Let games be an essential part of your teaching.
8.
They are
less shy than older learners.
9.
They enjoy
imitating and skilfull in listening accurately and mimicking what they have
heard.
10. They respond
well to rewards from the teacher.
11. They have
limited writing and reading skills even in their first language.
12. Generally
they are more concerned about themselves then others.
13. They have
limited knowledge about the world.
14. They enjoy
fantasy, imagination, and movement.
There are some children’s special characteristics in
learning the language. They are as the following:
1.
Children
respond the language well through concrete things (visual things) rather than
abstract things.
2.
Children
need physical movements and real activities to stimulate their thinking.
3.
Children
will be enthusiastic if they are taught using fun activities or being involved
in activities.
4.
Children
love to play, and learn best when they are enjoying themselves.
5.
Children
learn well through something that is close to their culture.
6.
Children
like to work together.
Beside the characters above, there are some unique
characters that children have :
1. Hyperactive children, these children tend not to sit
still. He tends to move continuously, sometimes like running, like jumping up
and down, screaming and even in the classroom. This child is difficult to
control. It performs activities in accordance with his own will. He also likes
to annoy his friends and even his teachers.
2. Distractibility child is a child
who tends to get bored quickly. He often turned his attention to a variety of
other objects in the class. Children are can not focus on the activities that
take place in the classroom.
3. Poor self concept tends to quiet kids in class,
passive, or hypersensitive so easily offended. Characteristics of these
children tend not to dare to ask or answer, and felt he was not capable. As
such, it is less likely to get along as well as bold aloof.
4. Impulsive child is a child
who quickly reacted every teacher gives kelas.Namun question, the answer given
is often not demonstrated the ability to think logically. Such a child wanted
to show that he is a smart kid, but he answered the way it reflects the
inability.
5. Children destructive behavior of
students who like to destroy things around him. Negative aggression in the form
of slamming and throwing indicates that this child is a child with problems
(trouble maker). Such a child irritable. He have high tempramental, which leads
to aggressive behavior.
6. Distruptive behavior is the
children who often get the words rude and disrespectful. With an ironic tone,
the child is likely to oppose the teacher. Profanity form of harsh words were
often thrown disrespectful.
7. Dependency young child is always
dependent on their parents. These children often feel frightened and unable to
brave it alone. He is very dependent on the people around him. The attitude of
the parents are too over protective or very protective of the child depends.
8. Withdrawal, the children had a very low
socio-economic, so feel himself stupid and unwilling to try to make the tasks
assigned by the teacher because he was not able to.
9. Learning disabilities are children
who do not have the mental capacity equivalent to kids his own age. Children
are hard to analyze, capture the course content, and apply what is learned.
10. Learning
disorder is a child who has a congenital defect either physical or nerve damage. Such
a child is likely to be difficult to learn normally like children his own age.
Children like this need to be addressed by experts specialized agencies, such
as children who suffer from Autism Sectrum Disorder / ASD).
11. Underachiever, is children
who have intellectual potential above average, but their academic achievement
in the classroom is very low. The spirit of learning is also very low. Such a
child often underestimate the tasks given, and homework is often overlooked.
12. Overachiever is a child who has a
learning spirit is very high, he responded in a quick way. Such a child can not
accept failure. He does not easily accept critics from anyone, including the
teacher.
13. Slow learner is
difficult to capture the child in class and take a long time to answer and
doing his work.
14. Social interseption child
is a boy are less sensitive and are not concerned with the environment.
Children are less perceptive in reading expressions and difficult to hang out
with friends in the class.
Teaching
Strategy
Teaching
English to Young Learners (TEYL) is a rapidly
growing field around the world, and English education is increasingly found at
the primary levels. However, starting earlier is not necessarily the solution for producing better English
speakers. Therefore, what can EFL teachers of young learners do to take advantage of the flexibility of young minds and the malleability of young tongues to grow better speakers of English?
1.
Supplement activities with vi suals, realia, and movement. Young
learners tend to have short attention spans and a lot of physical energy. In addition,
children are very much linked to their
surroundings and are more interested in
the physical and the tangible. As Scott and Ytreberg (1990) describe, “Their
own understanding comes through hands and eyes and ears. The physical world is
dominant at all times.”
• Use brightly colored visuals, toys, puppets or
objects
• Community donations for toys and objects
• Create a“Visuals and Realia Bank”
• Use Total Physical Response (TPR) by James Asher
(1977)
• Use TPR Storytelling by Blaine Ray http://www.blaineraytprs.com/
2. Involve
students in making visuals and realia.
Having children involved in creating the visuals that
are related to the lesson helps engage students in the learning process by
introducing them to the context as well as to relevant vocabulary items.
Students are more likely to feel interested and invested in the lesson and will
probably take better care of the materials (Moon 2000).
• Students draw different characters for a story or
make puppets, masks, play-do sculptures
• Collaborate with the art teacher to make the visuals
you need for you activities
• Students contribute their own toys for the lesson (“Show and tell”)
3. Move from
activity to activity.
Young learners have short attention spans. For ages
5–7, Keep activities around 5 and 10 minutes long. For ages 8–10, keep
activities 10 to 15 minutes long. Scott and Ytreberg (1990) suggest creating a
balance between the activities in the column on the right side.
• Quiet/noisy exercises
• Different skills: listening/talking/reading/writing
• Individual/ pairwork/ groupwork/ whole class
activities
• Teacher-pupil/ pupil-pupil activities
4. Teach in
themes.
A thematic unit, a series of lessons on the same topic
or subject, can create broader contexts in which to teach language, recycle language from
lesson to lesson, and allow students to focus more on content and communication
than on language structure.
• Common themes for YLs: animals, friends, family,
environment, citizenship, shopping, or units revolving around a storybooks, e
websites, celebrities, or movies students lik Themes based on curricula from
students’ other subjects are also effective (Haas 2000)
5. Use
stories and contexts familiar to students.
Use of stories and contexts in home country or culture
can help YLs connect English with their background knowledge, which is limited
because of their young age and inexperience.
• Take a favorite story in the L1 and translate it
into English
• Allow students a chance to personalize content every
lesson
6. Establish
classroom routines in English.
YLs function well within a structured environment and
enjoy repetition of certain routines and activities. Having basic routines in
the classroom can help to manage young learners.
• Clap short rhythms for students to repeat.
• Start the lesson with song or chant
• Add classroom language to the routines as well
7. Use L1 as
a resource when necessary.
Use L1 in the classroom as a resource for forwarding
the learning process without becoming
too reliant on it. Concentrate on building
communicative skills. Save your time for the target language actually within
students’ reach.
• Quickly make a difficult expression
comprehensible by translating into L1
• Use L1 for complicated directions for activities
8. Bring in
helpers from the community
9.
Collaborate with other teachers in your school.
10.
Communicate with other TEYL professionals.
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