Methods of Teaching English to Young Learners PDF

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PRACA DYPLOMOWA LICENCJACKA Methods of Teaching English to Young Learners Karolina Witek Nr albumu: 035099 Kierunek: Filologia angielska Specjalność: nauczycielska PROMOTOR: Dr Barbara Loranc-Paszylk Bielsko-Biała, 2011 Table of contents Introduction.....................................................

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PRACA DYPLOMOWA LICENCJACKA

Methods of Teaching English to Young Learners

Karolina Witek Nr albumu: 035099 Kierunek: Filologia angielska Specjalność: nauczycielska

PROMOTOR: Dr Barbara Loranc-Paszylk

Bielsko-Biała, 2011

Table of contents Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. 2 Chapter I Theoretical introduction into the terms and methods ................................................................... 4 1 Describing Young Learners .................................................................................................................. 4 1.1 General features of YL ........................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Individual differences ............................................................................................................................ 6 1.2.1 Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) ...................................................................................... 6 1.2.2 Multiple Intelligences theory (MI theory) ................................................................................ 7 1.3 Motivation .............................................................................................................................................. 8 1.3.1 Motivation in general ............................................................................................................... 8 1.3.2 YL motivation ........................................................................................................................ 10 2. Methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 11 2.1 What is methodology and why is it useful? .......................................................................................... 11 2.1.1 Approach ................................................................................................................................ 11 2.1.2 Method ................................................................................................................................... 11 2.1.3 Procedure ............................................................................................................................... 12 2.1.4 Technique ............................................................................................................................... 12 2.2 Methods of teaching English to YL ...................................................................................................... 13 2.2.1 Audio-lingualism.................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.2 Total Physical Response (TPR) .............................................................................................. 14 2.2.3 The Natural Approach ............................................................................................................ 15 2.2.4 Songs ...................................................................................................................................... 16 2.2.5 Chants .................................................................................................................................... 17 2.2.6 Puppets ................................................................................................................................... 18 2.2.7 Flashcards .............................................................................................................................. 18 2.2.8 Games .................................................................................................................................... 19 3 Syllabus design ...................................................................................................................................20 3.1 Syllabus criteria .................................................................................................................................... 20 3.2 Types of lesson syllabus ....................................................................................................................... 21 4 Conclusions .........................................................................................................................................23 Chapter II Empirical Research ....................................................................................................................24 2.1 The purpose of the research .............................................................................................................24 2.2 Procedures and methods ...................................................................................................................24 2.3 Data collection .................................................................................................................................26 2.4 Discussing the data ...........................................................................................................................26 2.4.1 QUESTIONNAIRE ........................................................................................................................... 26 2.4.1.1 Quantitative analysis ........................................................................................................... 26 2.4.1.1.1. The most commonly used methods ...................................................................... 27 2.4.1.1.2. Effectiveness of the methods used ........................................................................ 28 2.4.1.1.3 Parents' opinions .................................................................................................... 30 2.4.1.1.4. Teachers assessing their students' progress ........................................................... 30 2.4.1.2. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 31 2.4.2 SYLLABUS ...................................................................................................................................... 31 2.4.2.1 General information about the syllabus .......................................................................................... 32 2.4.2.2. Comparison of the syllabus charts ................................................................................................. 32 2.4.2.1. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 34 2.4.3 OBSERVATIONS .............................................................................................................................. 35 2.4.3.1 Observation charts – quantitative analysis .......................................................................... 35 2.4.3.1.1. Types of interaction occurring on the lessons ....................................................... 36 2.4.3.1.2. Acivities ................................................................................................................ 36 2.4.3.1.3. Level o students' satisfaction with the methods used based on the observation charts .................................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter III - Conclusions ............................................................................................................................38 Summary in English ................................................................................................................................... 41 Summary in Polish ..................................................................................................................................... 42 Bibliography ...............................................................................................................................................43 Appendix ....................................................................................................................................................46

Introduction The topic of this thesis concerns the methods used in teaching English to young learners, specifically young learners in kindergartens. What makes the topic worth considering is the fact that there is not an official syllabus for children leaning English in kindergartens in Poland for learning English in kindergartens in not compulsory yet. However, it might be in the future. That is why it is worth checking what has already been done in this field and what may be needed to be done in the future. All the useful terms will be explained and described in the first chapter which serves as the introduction to the empirical part of the thesis. In the chapter Young Learners (YL) will be described in detail along with all their features and motivation. The methods and techniques which are commonly used in teaching English to YL such as the Total Physical Response, The Natural Approach and PPP will be described next. The most common techniques used in teaching English in kindergarten such as songs, chants, puppets, flashcards and games will be described in greater detail. The chapter will end with the subchapter “Syllabus design” where the term syllabus along with the types of lesson syllabus and the criteria of creating one will be described. “Conclusions” chapter is going to close the whole theoretical part leading to the second part of the thesis. The empirical part of the thesis is based on a descriptive research and focuses on the effectiveness of the methods used in teaching English in kindergartens, the effectiveness of the existing syllabus and the engagement of the teachers in providing English lessons to their students. All of the focal points are put in a form of research questions which will be answered further on in the empirical part. The chapter describes and analyzes the research tools as follows: the questionnaire, the syllabus charts and the observation charts. The third chapter serves as the final conclusion of the thesis. It contains all the conclusions that were made in the empirical part, all grouped in form of answers to the research questions asked in the beginning of chapter two.

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Chapter I Theoretical introduction into the terms and methods This chapter is the theoretical part of the thesis. It discusses the terms that are going to be used in the thesis along with the description of methods and some psychological terms that refer to Young Learners – the main subject of the thesis. The theory included here will most probably be helpful in the research that is to be demonstrated.

1 Describing Young Learners The term „young learner‟ in this thesis relates to children under the age of 7 learning English as their second language in kindergarten and can be replaced with an acronym YL.1

1.1 General features of YL Learner's age is an important factor in establishing suitable methods of teaching for each age group has its individual features and characteristics. In this subchapter we are going to describe general features of YL – definition as described above . Children come to the classroom with well-established set of instincts and skills which should not be disregarded (Halliwell 1992:3). According to Halliwell (1992:3-8) and Brown (2007) young children, especially those under the age of 10, learn in the following ways:  They understand the overall meaning of information they receive even if they do not understand individual words. That is the ability they use also in learning their mother tongue.  They learn with all their senses at once. The best way to know and understand something is by touching, smelling and exploring it. They learn from what they can see and hear and, above everything else, by having a chance to touch it and interact with it.  They establish the meaning of the messages conveyed to them mostly from the 1

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gestures, intonation and facial expression of the person speaking to them.  They have a limited attention span. Performing activities lasting longer than 10 minutes bores them that is why the lesson must be engaging and full of different tasks and activities.  They are generally enthusiastic about learning and exploring the world around them.  They have a need to be noticed and treated as individual and also to be praised.  They are creative in using their limited language resources. Halliwell (1992:4) sets here an example of a four-year-old boy saying “Switch off the dark” which is an example of children's creativity in using the forms they already know to communicate. It is the urge of communication that makes them invent new words for their personal use.  They learn indirectly most of the time i.e. they are not concentrating on learning a phrase, they just want to guess the right one. They are not concentrating on the language but still they remember the phrases.  They love to have fun and their imagination is ready for every game and activity for they love imagining things and fantasizing. They also love playing with language sounds, imitating, and making funny noises.  They like talking and sharing their ideas with others. The teachers goal is to encourage them to do it in English.  They are very good imitators. Echoing is an important strategy used by children when learning a foreign language.

It is impossible to describe every single feature of every child because they are all individuals. Listed above are the relevant for language teaching characteristics of an average child. These generalizations are common for the majority of children under the age of 10 and they are crucial in choosing the most effective teaching methods, forming a perfect classroom interior and atmosphere, creating suitable teaching aids and establishing the best way of interaction with young learners.

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To sum up, YL are eager to learn about the world that surrounds them and they easily adopt foreign languages by imitation, echoing and repetition. As it was mentioned before they have a short attention span but, on the other hand, they fully engage in the games and exercises in the classroom.

1.2 Individual differences It is important to remember that every age group, even though they are different in many ways, has one fundamental linking „feature‟, they all are sets of people and people are all individuals. That means they all think a little differently, they perceive the world in many different ways and they have different techniques of learning as well as different aptitudes. Some people are better at learning languages, others like mathematics and physics more. This indicates that every brain works differently and that people respond differently to different stimuli. There are many approaches describing the differences between learners, but this paper will focus specifically on young children so only the relevant approaches such as Neuro-linguistic programming and the MI theory will be presented.

1.2.1 Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) According to this approach “we use a number of „primary representational systems‟ to experience the world” (Harmer 2003:46) and they are all described in the acronym VAKOG which stands for: Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic, Olfactory (concerning the sense of smell), and Gustatory (concerning taste). It is said that we all use all these systems to experience the world but we tend to have one „preferred primary system‟ (Ravell and Norman 1997:31). The idea is that people whose preferred primary system is Visual react powerfully to images and those preferring Auditory react stronger to sounds. The approach shows that every child the teacher is dealing with has its individual needs and for example may not learn as good as others simply because the teacher used images and the child is a Kinaesthetic and needs another way of interaction 6

with the subject. What NLP shows the teachers is that they should provide their students with various materials. It suggests the teacher should establish a „healthy diet‟ of flashcards, listening materials, games and activities for all representational systems. 1.2.2 Multiple Intelligences theory (MI theory) MI theory is a concept introduced by a Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner (1993) who suggests that people do not possess a single intelligence but a number of intelligences. He listed seven: Musical/Rhythmic, Verbal/Linguistic, Visual/Spatial, Bodily/Kinaesthetic, Logical/Mathematical, Intrapersonal and Interpersonal. So for example a typical end state of a person with Bodily/Kinaesthetic intelligence would be of PE teacher or a sportsman, for a person with Logical/Mathematical intelligence the end state would probably be a scientist or IT specialist. For Musical/Rhythmic intelligence the end state might be a musician and so on. Gardner has added an eighth intelligence called the Naturalistic intelligence which is the ability to recognize and classify the patterns in nature and after that Daniel Goleman (1997) has added the ninth „Emotional intelligence‟ which includes the ability to empathize and to self-motivate. Again, just like with NLP, if the teacher accepts the MI theory it means he or she realizes that a task good for a student with Verbal/Linguistic intelligences will not be suitable for the one with Bodily/Kineasthetic ones. Gray (2006) from the University of Yale has presented a following table containing the most suitable activities according to the intelligences.

Intelligence Strength: Verbal-Linguistic Logical Mathematical Visual-Spatial Bodily-Kinesthetic Musical

Students May Enjoy: Writing, speaking, publishing, vocabulary, Word puzzles Math games, logic puzzles, experiments, codes, analogies, numbers, mysteries Maps, charts, diagrams, drawing, sculpture, graphic organizers, models, puppets, photographs Movement, dance, manipulatives, drama, building, role-playing, sports Musical instruments, listening, recording, rhythmic language, poetry, songs, clapping

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Interpersonal Intrapersonal Naturalistic

Board games, cooperative groups, collective problem solving, interviewing, peer tutoring, think-pair-share, discussions Journaling, scrapbooks, reflection, goalsetting, self-directed projects, debates, memoir Outdoor experiences, plants, pets, bugs, classifying natural objects, environmental topics

Table 1 Activities for different intelligencies - Gray (2006)2

According to these information the teacher might be able to work with the students in small kindergarten groups of 5 to 8 students more effectively than teachers at school. Furthermore, the MI theory just like the NLP reminds the teacher about the individuality of his or her students.

In conclusion, as we found out in this chapter, students are all individuals with different needs concerning the teaching-learning process. For example, the visual learners – learners with the Visual Intelligence - prefer drawings, model and photographs to listening or speaking activities. Furthermore, the chapter shows that it is difficult to provide a lesson which would be the most effective for all the students in the classroom.

1.3 Motivation It is generally known that motivation is a key to success. Majority of people admits that if they are not trying at all there is a big chance of failure. Motivation is also a key in the process of learning. If the student is not motivated to learn he will simply not learn. Since motivation plays an important role in education there is a need to define what it means and how to define it. (Brown 2007)

1.3.1 Motivation in general Generally, motivation is a force that drives people to do things in order to 2

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achieve something. Brown (2007:168-9) highlights three p...