The child as a learner

Isela Shipton, Alan S. Mackenzie and James Shipton, British Council

article which explores how young children learn languages and what we as teachers can do to help them and their parents to make this process more enjoyable and positive.

When to start language learning

What stops children from learning

How children learn languages

Getting parents involved

Get to know how your children learn

When to start language learning

Most experts believe that when a child is introduced to a second language at an early age their chances of becoming more proficient in the target language will be higher. However, it is not necessarily true to say "the earlier the better". It is suggested that the most efficient time to learn another language is between 6 and 13.

However, children who learn in pre-to-early teens often catch up very quickly with children who learn from an earlier age. Also this does not mean that languages cannot be learnt later in life. The experience and environment at school and how language is taught and practiced play a vital role in language acquisition, regardless of how young or old the child is.

Whatever the age, when children learn a second language they develop skills that will help to create opportunities in their future. They acquire the lifelong ability to communicate with others under diverse circumstances. Indeed, regardless of the level of proficiency, learning a second language and learning about different cultures generally broadens a child's outlook on life. It also opens up alternative educational and career opportunities.

What stops children from learning

Feeling uncomfortable, distracted or under pressure

Feeling confused by abstract concepts of grammar rules and their application which they cannot easily understand

Activities which require them to focus attention for a long time

Boredom

Being over-corrected

Reading the list above, you may be surprised at the number of items that remind you of traditional educational practices. In fact, research does suggest that traditional classroom teaching may have the effect of preventing rather than helping children to learn better. You cannot force a child to learn. You can only provide a conducive environment, useful resources, and carefully structured input and practice opportunities.

How children learn languages

Children learn by:

Having more opportunities to be exposed to the second language

Making associations between words, languages, or sentence patterns and putting things into clear, relatable contexts

Using all their senses and getting fully involved; by observing and copying, doing things, watching and listening

Exploring, experimenting, making mistakes and checking their understanding

Repetition and feeling a sense of confidence when they have established routines

Being motivated, particularly when their peers are also speaking/learning other languages

Getting parents involved

Children also like their parents to be involved and understand what and how they are learning. Here are some tips and advice you can give to parents to help them support their child as a learner.

How you can help your child to learn another language

Get involved with their learning

Be interested in what happens in your child's English lessons

Even if you do not know any English yourself, there are many things you can do to support your child's learning

Tips

1. Talk to the teacher to find out how English is taught at school:

Become familiar with the materials used at school.

Ask about your child's progress regularly and make sure you attend your child's parents' day / evening.

Check what they have to do for homework each day and set up a routine and regular time for doing homework.

2. Learn more about the language yourself:

Engage your child in conversations about what they learnt in school and learn along with them.

Study English with your child.

Have them teach you some new language.

3. Motivate them! Make learning fun and stress free.

Here are some language learning games you can play with your child:

Bingo - Use numbers, letters of the alphabet, or word families: furniture, fruits, sports, jobs, colours, actions

Memory - Put 10 everyday objects on a tray. Say what they are in English, cover them. Can your child remember what's there and tell you in English? You can also use photos from magazines or newspapers of different word families.

Alphabet Game - Say a letter of the alphabet. Can your child find an animal, something to eat, etc. beginning with that letter? Or ask your child to write five words beginning with one letter.

I-Spy - Say that you are thinking of something beginning with a letter. Your child has to guess what it is.

Example. "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with W." "Is it water?" "No." "Is it Window?" "Yes!"

Twenty Questions - Think of an object or animal. Your child has to ask questions to find out what it is.

Example: "Is it big?" "No." "Is it very small?" "No." etc…

Definition Game - Give your child a definition, they have to guess what you're defining.

Example: "It is very big and it has a long nose." "Is it an elephant?" "Yes!"

Treasure Hunt - Your child has to find the things, or follow the clues you've written in English.

Get to know how your children learn

Each child has their own way of learning. It is a complex mixture of a number of different personality factors, some of which are explained below. Research shows that all types of learners can be successful second language learners. Try to evaluate the methods your children are using, and introduce them to different ones if they're not working.

Using what you know about your child try to see which styles below would suit them best.

Dominant Senses

Some prefer using pictures and reading (Visual learners), some like listening to explanations and reading aloud (Auditory learners), others need some kind of physical activity to help them learn (Kinesthetic learners).

Interaction Preferences

Some children are outgoing and sociable and learn a second language quickly because they want to be able to communicate quickly (Interpersonal). They do not worry about mistakes, and are happy being creative with the limited resources they have acquired.

Other children are more reflective and quiet (Intrapersonal). They learn by listening and by observing what is happening and being said around them. They may be cautious about making mistakes but can be much more accurate.

Analytical processes

Some children need to have everything clearly explained to them piece by piece so that they can understand how things work (Deductive). These children like rules and patterns that are easy to apply to the world they live in. They need explicit explanations and often ask "Why?" a lot.

Others prefer to work out the rules of what they are learning for themselves based on their experience (Inductive). These children like asking questions and having their answers confirmed or corrected. They are more likely to tell you what they understand to be the truth and then ask you to agree with them.

we will look at techniques to help develop their language and how to deal with errors.

Involving the whole child

Tips to parents

Helping children with vocabulary

Dealing with mistakes

Top ten requests for parents

Conclusion

Involving the whole child

Children have highly inquisitive minds and enjoy learning through play and using their imagination by observing and copying, doing things, watching and listening.

Children also learn a lot of their first language by physically responding to their parents' instructions in real and meaningful contexts. The parent says, "Look at that dog" or "Give me the ball" and the child does so.

These interactions between parent and child always have a clear reason for the communication.

This is very a different learning situation from asking, "What is the past tense of 'give'?" The only reason for this question is to test the child's memory. It is not fun and it does not involve the child's senses.

Tips to parents

Parents can help by providing a rich learning environment and placing learning in context. They can help by making English fun to practice at home by using songs, games, drama and drawing. Here are some things you can suggest for them.

Create an 'English Corner' by providing materials in English at home such as comics and books, cable TV and Internet (with parental guidance!)

Play language-based games in English such as Scrabble and bingo, I-spy, 20 questions, Memory, Simon says etc.

Use sticky labels or 'post-it' notes to label objects at home in English. For example, in the kitchen you can label table, chairs, refrigerator, etc.

Collect music in English, get the lyrics from the Internet and sing along!

Do craft activities in English. Make puppets and invent a little show in English. Make posters (about their favourite star, sport, etc.); make picture dictionaries with drawings and cut-outs.

Take an 'English adventure outing'. Take your children to a park. Using English only they have to say what they see such as, "The children are riding their bikes", "The man is selling fruit", "There are some boats on the lake" and so on. Other locations where you can do this are: the supermarket, an office, a shopping centre.

Make reading a habit:

Read to your children in English. A short story or a few pages of a book daily creates a life-long habit.

You do not have to buy the books, you can join a library or download text from the Internet.

If you are concerned with your own pronunciation, there are plenty of materials on the Internet that have the text read to the viewer. Also, there are books that come with cassettes or CDs, so that children can read and listen at the same time. You could do this together.

Helping children with vocabulary

Encouraging children to memorise random vocabulary lists is not very helpful. The more associations you can make between different parts of the language the better. Methods that are likely to help the child are:

Grouping words in contexts (foods, occupations, animals) or by meaning (boiling, hot, warm, cool, cold) or opposites (open, closed).

Ask the child to say the word out loud, or read a story aloud that contains the new word

Have them write words down

Ask them to draw a picture of the word

Have them listen to new words in context on a tape

Ask them to tell you about other words it sounds like

Have them keep a vocabulary notebook, or word scrap-book. Review it regularly by:

Asking your child to tell you about the words in the book

Telling a story using the words

Reading the words without looking at their vocabulary book

Make a story yourself and have the child read or listen to it.

Dealing with mistakes

For children, making mistakes is part of the natural process of learning.

A five year old speaking his mother tongue may still make grammar mistakes.

They will frequently 'invent' their own rules and over generalisations like "my car breaks", or "my friend camed to the party yesterday". So, learning another language will also involve a lot of mistakes.

This is a natural part of learning. In fact, for effective communication it is a good idea to concentrate on learning words, not grammatical accuracy. If a foreigner comes up to you and asks, "Train station where please?" you can understand and help, even though the grammar is awful. Now, imagine if he says, "Can you please tell me where to find... uh... er...oh?"

There's plenty of time later for learning the grammar; but knowing the words will help your child communicate now, and help them in learning the grammar later.

Repeating, encouraging, praising and building confidence are what is needed to help a child to overcome mistakes. Avoid overtly correcting your child or you might discourage them. Some techniques that you can use are:

Don't correct, 'model' the correct form of the language. So if your child says "The boy wented home," you can say, "Yes. The boy went home. What did he do then?"

Encourage children to correct themselves, this will build confidence and deepen the learning process. Say "Almost right, try again…" or show the child where the mistake is but do not give them the answer.

Some correction is okay but be careful not to over-correct. A page full of crossing out and corrections can be very demotivating, as is always being told, "Wrong! Do it again!"

Particularly in speech it is much better to let the child develop their ideas and fluency than to keep interrupting with corrections. The ideas are more important than the grammar.

Keep their age and level of English in mind. Give lots of praise and encouragement for every effort - they can't know everything.

Top ten requests for parents

Here is a list of advice you can give to parents

Be involved. Parent involvement helps students learn and helps teachers work with your child to help them succeed.

Be positive. Encourage children to do their best, but don't pressure them by setting goals too high or by scheduling too many activities.

Be a good role model. Show your children by your own actions that you believe English is both enjoyable and useful. Read more and use television, videos and game systems creatively for education.

Accept your responsibility as parents. Don't expect the school and teachers to take over your obligations as parents. Teach children self-discipline and respect for others at home -- don't rely on teachers and schools to teach these basic behaviours and attitudes.

Encourage students to do their best in school. Show your children that you believe education is important. Ask about homework, check it has been done. Don't let them miss classes unnecessarily.

Find a balance between schoolwork and outside activities. Emphasise your children's progress in developing the knowledge and skills they need to be successful both in school and in life.

Be aware of things that affect classroom performance:.Try to limit the negative effects of late nights and long hours of extra activities.

Provide resources at home for learning. Make sure you have English language books, comics and magazines available in your home.

Understand and support school rules and goals. Take care not to undermine school rules, discipline, or goals.

Speak to the teacher! As soon as you think there's a problem, contact the school. Don't wait for the end of term or parents' day.

Conclusion

We hope that this article has given you some useful insights into how to make learning more effective and enjoyable for young children and some tools to help you encourage and engage parents in the learning processes of their children.

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Posted by Health Care , Published at 10:56 AM and have 1 comments