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7/28/2019 Parents Booklet How Children Learn
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How young children learnEnglish as another language
learning
togetherisfun!
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HowyoungchildrenlearnEnglishasanotherlanguageYoungchildrenarenaturallanguageacquirers;theyaresel-motivatedtopickuplanguagewithoutconsciouslearning,unlikeadolescentsandadults.Theyhavetheabilitytoimitatepronunciationandworkouttherulesorthemselves.AnyideathatlearningtotalkinEnglishisdifcultdoesnotoccurtothemunlessitssuggestedbyadults,whothemselvesprobablylearnedEnglish
academicallyatalateragethroughgrammar-basedtextbooks.
TheadvantagesofbeginningearlyYoungchildrenarestillusingtheirindividual,innate,language-learningstrategiestoacquiretheirhomelanguageandsoonfndtheycanalsousethesestrategiestopickupEnglish.Youngchildrenhavetimetolearnthroughplay-likeactivities.Theypickuplanguagebytakingpartinanactivitysharedwithanadult.Theyfrstlymakesense
otheactivityandthengetmeaningromtheadultssharedlanguage.
YoungchildrenhavemoretimetoftEnglishintotheirdailyprogramme.Schoolprogrammestendtobemoreinormalandchildrensmindsarenotyetclutteredwithactstobestoredandtested.Theymayhavelittleornohomeworkandarelessstressedbyhavingtoachievesetstandards.
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Childrenwhohavetheoppor
tunitytopickupasecond
languagewhiletheyarestill young appearto
usethe
sameinnate language-learning strategies th
roughout
lie whenlearningotherlanguages. Pickingu
p third,
ourth,orevenmorelanguagesiseasiertha
n
pickingupthesecond.
Youngchildrenwhoacquire
languageratherthan
consciouslylearnit, asolderchildrenand ad
ultshave
to,are more likelyto havebetterpronunciat
ionandeel
or thelanguageandculture.Whenmonolin
gual children
reachpuberty andbecomemoresel-
conscious,
theirabilitytopickuplanguagediminishesand they
eel theyhaveto consciouslystudy English
through
grammar-basedprogrammes.Theage at w
hichthis
changeoccursdependsgreatlyon theindivi
dualchilds
developmentallevels aswellasthe expectat
ions
otheir society.
Stagesinpickingup English
Spokenlanguagecomesnaturallybeforereadingand writin
g.
Silentperiod
Whenbabieslearntheirhomelanguage,thereisasilentperiod,
when theylookand listenandmaycommunicate through
facial
expression orgesturesbeforethey begin tospeak.When
young
childrenlearnEnglish,theremaybeasimilarsilentperiod w
hen
communication andunderstandingmaytakeplace beforet
hey
actuallyspeakanyEnglishwords
Duringthis timeparentsshould notforcechildrentotakep
art
inspokendialoguebymakingthemrepeat words. Spoken
dialoguesshould be one-sided, the adults talkproviding us
eful
opportunitiesforthechildtopickuplanguage.Wherethe
adultusesparentese(anadjustedformofspeech)to facilit
ate
learning,the childcanusemanyofthe samestrategies the
y
usedinlearningtheirhomelanguage.
Beginningtotalk
Aftersome time,depending on thefrequencyof English se
ssions,
each child(girls oftenmorequicklythanboys)beginsto sa
ysingle
words(cat, house)orready-madeshort phrases (Whats
that?,
Itsmybook, I cant, Thats acar, Timetogohome) india
logues
orasunexpectedstatements.The childhas memorisedthe
m,
imitating the pronunciationexactlywithoutrealising that so
memay
consistofmore thanone word. Thisstagecontinues forso
metime
asthe childpicks upmorelanguage, usingit asashortcut
todialoguebeforethey are readytocreatetheir ownphras
es.
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MistakesChildrenshouldnotbetoldtheyhavemadeamistakebecauseanycorrectionimmediatelydemotivates.MistakesmaybepartoftheprocessofworkingoutthegrammarrulesofEnglishortheymaybeafaultinpronunciation. Igoedsoonbecomeswentifthechildhearstheadultrepeatbackyes,youwent;oriftheadulthearszeebusandrepeatsbackthebus.Asinlearningtheirhomelanguage,ifchildrenhaveanopportunity
toheartheadultrepeatthesamepieceoflanguagecorrectly,theywillself-correctintheirowntime.
GenderdifferencesBoysbrainsdevelopdifferentlyfromgirlsandthisaffectshowboyspickuplanguageanduseit.Sometimesmixedclassesmakelittleprovisionforboys,whomaybeovershadowedbygirlsnaturalabilitytouselanguage.Ifyoungboysaretoreachtheirpotential,theyneedsomedifferentlanguageexperienceswithgirlsandtheirachievementsshouldnotbecomparedwiththoseofgirls.
BuildingupEnglishlanguage
Graduallychildrenbuildupphrasesconsistingofasinglememorisedwordtowhichtheyaddwordsfromtheirvocabulary(adog,abrowndog,abrownandblackdog)orasinglememorisedlanguagetowhichtheyaddtheirowninput(Thatsmychair.Time toplay).DependingonthefrequencyofexposuretoEnglishandthequalityoftheexperience,childrengraduallybegintocreatewholesentences.
UnderstandingUnderstandingisalwaysgreaterthanspeakingandyoungchildrensabilitytocomprehendshouldnotbeunderestimated,astheyareusedtounderstandingtheirhomelanguagefromavarietyofcontextclues.Thoughtheymaynotunderstandeverythingtheyhearintheirhomelanguage, childrengraspthegistthatistheyunderstandafewimportantwordsanddeciphertherestusingdifferentcluestointerpretthemeaning.WithencouragementtheysoontransfertheirgistunderstandingskillstointerpretmeaninginEnglish.
FrustrationAftertheinitialnoveltyofEnglishsessions,someyoungchildren, especiallyboys,becomefrustratedbytheirinabilitytoexpresstheirthoughtsinEnglish.OtherswanttospeakquicklyinEnglishastheycanintheirhomelanguage.FrustrationcanoftenbeovercomebyprovidingchildrenwithperformancepieceslikeIcancountto12inEnglishorverysimplerhymes, whichconsistofready-madephrases.
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Language-learning
environments
Youngchildrenfnditismoredifculttopic
k
up Englishitheyarenot providedwiththe
right typeoexperiences, accompanied by
adultsupport usingparentese techniques.
Youngchildrenneedto ee
l secure and
knowthatthereissomeobviousreason
orusingEnglish.
Activitiesneedtobelinked
to someinteresting
everydayactivityaboutwhichtheyalready
know, e.g. sharing anEnglishpicturebook,
sayingarhymeinEnglish,having an
Englishsnack.
Activities areaccompanied
byadult language
givingarunningcommentaryaboutwhat
isgoingon anddialoguesusingadjusted
parenteselanguage.
Eng
lishsessions areunandinteresting,
concentratingon conceptschildrenhave
alreadyunderstood intheirhome language.
Inthiswaychildrenarenotlearningtwo
things, anewconceptaswellasnewlangua
ge,
butmerelylearning theEnglish totalkabout
somethingtheyalreadyknow.
Activitiesare backedupby
specifc objects,
wherepossible, asthishelpsunderstanding
andincreases generalinterest.
Reading
Children whocan alreadyreadintheirhome
languagegenerallywanttofndouthow toread
in English.Theyalreadyknowhowtodecode
wordsintheirhomelanguage to get meaning
romtextand, i not helpedto decodeinEnglish
,
may transertheirhomelanguage-decoding
techniquesandendupreadingEnglishwith the
homelanguage accent.
BeoretheycandecodeEnglish,young children
needtoknow the 26alphabet letternamesand
sounds. AsEnglishhas 26letters but onaverage
44sounds(in standardEnglish), introducingthe
remainingsoundsis betterletuntil childrenhav
e
moreexperienceinusinglanguage andreading
.
Beginningreadingin English goeseasilyiyoung
childrenalreadyknow the language theyaretryin
g
toread. Manychildrenworkoutby themselves
howtoreadinEnglishitheyhavesharedpicture
bookswithadultsorlearnedrhymes, asthey are
likely to havememorisedthelanguage.Reading
whattheyknowbyheartis animportantstepin
learningtoreadasitgiveschildrenopportunities
towork out howto decodesimple wordsby
themselves, Once children have built upab
ank
owords theycan read,theyeelconfdentand
arethenreadyoramorestructured approach.
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ParentalsupportChildrenneedtoeelthattheyaremakingprogress.Theyneed
continualencouragementaswellaspraiseorgoodperormance,
asanysuccessmotivates.Parentsareinanidealpositionto
motivateandsohelptheirchildrenlearn,evenitheyhaveonly
basicEnglishthemselvesandarelearningalongsidetheir
youngchildren.
Bysharing,parentscannotonlybringtheirchildsEnglish
languageandactivitiesintoamilylie,butcanalsoinfuencetheir
youngchildrensattitudestolanguagelearningandothercultures.
Itisnowgenerallyacceptedthatmostlielongattitudesare
ormedbytheageoeightornine.Tondoutmore,visitwww.britishcouncil.org/parents
7/28/2019 Parents Booklet How Children Learn
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The United Kingdoms international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.
A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).
One of a series of booklets commissioned by the British Council to support parents.
Written by Opal Dunn, Author and Educational Consultant from the UK