8/11 - TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS

Hello everyone! Today the main topic was who to teach English to young learners. We were studying the characteristics that the students have and how we as teachers can help them. I was surprised by the difference between the youngest children in primary school and the older ones, since, for example, between the ages of 6 and 10, children are more curious, creative, etc. However, what 10-12 year old children have is a sense of justice and are more independent. In the age under seven children learn through doing things and playing and they acquire through hearing and experiencing lots of English. In contrast, teaching children from 7 to 12 years we have to take into account that we have to encourage them to read in English, to work meanings out for themselves, encourage creative writing and help them to experiment with language.

We were also debating in pairs questions such as what is the best age for reading another language? We believe that the best thing is that the earlier a child starts learning a new language the better. Another question was if can only children acquire perfect pronunciation in a second language? Which I think they are not the only ones since adults can also have more complications than children who have it easier.

Lastly, we were looking at the different ways of starting a lesson from the different cycles, like a song or a chant, or a signal the start of the class.