Young learners

3. YOUNG LEARNERS PEDAGOGY.

There have been a number of books in recent years recommending good practice in teaching YLs in the light of available research findings, mainly about L1 and L2 child language acquisition, informing and guiding both teaching and teacher education , but research-based publications into effective practices for teaching YLs continue to be quite rare. Database searches, including in the archives of this Journal, still yield very few examples of empirical studies about the effect of pedagogies on early language learning. For example a search for articles with young learner and primary school in the title or abstract published in ELT Journal since 2000 had just eight hits that could be considered to have a focus on YL pedagogy, covering areas as diverse as stories, posters, the interactive whiteboard, and reading. There are some exceptions. Collection contains chapters focusing on how YLs acquire particular systems, such as vocabulary, or skills, such as reading, while summarizes a number of pedagogic research studies. ⁶Furthermore, there has been some research into the effects of particular approaches such as the work , who has investigated the use of TBLT with YLs. However, it is clear that there remains a lack of classroom based studies and young learners in general remains an under-researched area. For these reasons, studies on using songs on child-initiated play have an important role to play in developing our understanding of appropriate YL pedagogy. What does it mean to demand high in the classroom? What implications does this have for learners, and most importantly for teachers? This article will explore these questions with regard to Young Learner YL pedagogy. Foreign Language Teaching has changed over the past 10 years, not only in methodology but also in terms of student demographic profiles. It is recognised that the style and methods of language learning for YLs is significantly different to adults, even though current research does not sufficiently explore these differences. With the increase of YL foreign language programs, teachers must have an intimate knowledge of how children learn languages and what activities foster language development. In the YL classroom, teachers choose relevant topics and select activities that require learners to be active participants, such as songs, task-based activities, and role plays. YL teachers need to provide children with activities that allow them to experience language, facilitating the construction of meaning. Unlike adults, who have developed strategies to clarify new language, children are cognitively unable to process new language independently, and therefore, rely on the teacher. Teachers successfully identify their learners’ developmental stages and then scaffold lessons so that learners are able to build their linguistic knowledge in a controlled manner to maximize the learning process.