8/8/2019 Parents Booklet Speaking English

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Speaking English with your child

8/8/2019 Parents Booklet Speaking English

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SpeakingEnglishtosupportyourchildForthemostpart,itisparentswhoteachtheiryoung

childrentospeaktheirhomelanguage.Throughout

thefrsttwoyearsolie,itisotenthemothersvoiceand

herspecialwayotalking,calledparentese,thatteaches

youngchildrenaboutlanguageandhowtotalk.Parents,evenwithabasicknowledgeoEnglish,

cansuccessullysupporttheiryoungchildlearning

Englishbyre-usingandadjustingmanyothesesame

parentesetechniques.ParentsmayworryabouttheiraccentinEnglish.Young

childrenhavearemarkableabilitytoaltertheiraccent

tomatchtheEnglishotheirsurroundings.Youngchildren

needtoeelIcanspeakEnglishandIlikeEnglish

andtheirparentssupportcanhelpthemachievethis

romtheirfrstlessons.

8/8/2019 Parents Booklet Speaking English

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Whatisparenteselanguage?

Parentese isa ormo talkingthattunesintoand adjusts t

o

ayoungchilds language,providing dialogue with thechild

andshepherdingthem totheir nextlevelocompetence.

Womenappearto be innateuserso parentese; somemen

seem tonditmoredicultunless theycan centretheirt

alk

around specicobjectsapicturebookor agame. Howev

er,

childrenespeciallyboys needmalerolemodels as men

uselanguage dierently.Mentendtotakeamoretechnica

l

approachtousinglanguage andchatter less.

Parents,using asoter,caringvoiceandsimplerlanguage,

unconsciouslyshepherdtheiryoungchildthrough

anactivityby:

arunningcommentary(talkingal

oud)onwhat

isgoingon: Lets put ithere. There.Look.

Iveputitonthetable. Whichonedoyoulike?

[pause]Oh,I likethisone. Theredone

repeatinguseullanguagemore o

tenthan in

adulttalk:repetition introduced naturallyhelps

thechild toconrmwhattheyare picking up itis

notboring orthechild, eveni itisortheparent

refectingbackwhattheirchild ha

ssaidandenlargingit:

Child:Yellow; Parent: You like theyellowone.Hereit is.

Herestheyellow one.Letssee.yellow, redandheres the

brownone.Ilikethebrown one,doyou? [pause]

talkingmoreslowlyandstressing

newwordsnaturally

without alteringthemelodyothe language.Whichrhym

e

shallwesaytoday? Youchoose. [pauseorchildto selec

t]

Whyparents helpisbest

Parents canocusontheir ch

ild,spendingsome

one-to-one timewiththem.

ParentscanftEnglishsessio

nsintoanypartotheir

daytosuittheirchildandthemselves.

Parentscanregulatetheleng

tho anEnglishsession

andselectactivitiestofttheirchildsneeds,

interests

andabilitytoconcentrate.

Parentsknowtheirchildintimatelyandcanintuitively

judgethetypeo Englishtalkingsuitable or

their

individualwaysopickinguplanguage.

Parentscanbestinterpretthe

irchildsmoodsand

respondtothem. Childrenhavedayswhent

hey

eagerlyabsorblanguageandotherswhent

heyfnd

itdifculttoconcentrate.

Parentscanintroducemore

un,astheyareworking

with anindividual,notaclass.

ParentscanintroduceEnglish

cultureintoamilylie,

sobroadeningtheirchilds outlook andunde

rstanding

otheirowncultureaswellasthingsEnglish

.

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UsingEnglishByusingsimpleEnglishwithplentyofrepetition,parentshelptheirchildtobeginthinkinginEnglishduringactivitieswheretheyfeelsecureandcanpredictwhatisgoingtohappen,likegamesorrhymetimes.YoungchildrenwanttobeabletotalkinEnglishabout:

themselvesandwhattheylike:Ilike; Idontlikeyukwhattheyhavedone:Iwentto;Isaw; Iatehowtheyandothersfeel: Iamsad; shes cross

Parentscanhelpbysharingpicturebooksormakingtheirownbooksusingdrawingsorphotographs.Youngchildrenlearningtheirhomelanguagebecomeskilledintransferringalittlelanguagetomanysituations:Allgone.IfadultstransferEnglishphrasesinthesameway, youngchildrensooncopythem.WhenchildrenneedtopractiseschoolEnglish,usephraseslikeWhatsyourname?Howoldareyou?Whatsthis?Thats apencil.ParentscanturnthisintoafunactivitybyusingatoythatspeaksonlyEnglish,askingitthequestionsandpretendingtomakeitanswer.

usingthesamephraseseachtimetomanageEnglishsessionsaswell asactivitiesandgames.Aschildrensunderstandingincreases,thesebasicphrasesareenlarged:LetsplaySimonsays.Standthere.Infrontofme.Thatsright.Areyouready?addingacialexpressionandgesturetoaidunderstandingusingeyecontac

tinone-to-oneexchangestoreassureandalsotoencourageahesitantchildtospeakpausingoralongertimeaschildrenneedtothinkaboutwhattheyhearbeoretheyarereadytoreply.Whenspeakingisstilllimited,exaggeratedpausescanaddunorholdinterestinagame.

Someparentsfnditembarrassingtodramatiseanduseparentese.However,orthechild,itmakespickingupEnglisheasierastheyareamiliarwiththesenaturalmini-lessonsintheirhomelanguage.Onceyoungchildrenbegintospeak,parentsinnatelyeellessneedtouseparentese,exceptwhenintroducingnewlanguageoractivities.

8/8/2019 Parents Booklet Speaking English

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Asyoung childrenbecomemore

competent

speakers,they mayincludeaword

intheirhome

languagewithinan Englishphras

eHeseating

a()becausetheydo notyetknow

theEnglish

word. Itheadultrepeatsthephra

sebackusing

onlyEnglish,thechildcanpickup

theEnglish

word.Hes eatingaplum. Aplu

m.

Whentotranslate

Youngchildrens abilitytounderstands

hould

notbeunderestimated; theyunde

rstandmuch

morethantheycansayinEnglish.

Intheir

homelanguageyoungchildrena

reusedto

understandingonlysomeothe w

ordstheyhear

and fllingintherestromthespe

akersbody

languageandcluesaroundthem

togetmeaning.

Whereparenteseis used,theyap

peartotranser

theseskillstoworkingouttheme

aninginEnglish.

Whenbothnewconceptsandne

wlanguageare

introducedatthesametime, itma

y benecessary

togiveaquicktranslationonce,u

singa whisper,

olloweddirectlybytheEnglish.I

translation

isgivenmorethanonceandagai

nin ollowing

sessions,achildm

ay getusedtowaitingorthe

translationinsteadousing hisor herowncluesto

understandtheEnglish.

Englishsessions

Englishsessionsmaylastromjustaew

minutesup toabouttenandcantake

placeonceortwiceaday,dependingon

circumstances.ThemorerequentlyEnglish

isused,thequickeritisabsorbed.

DuringEnglishsessionsparentsneedtoocus

on theirchildwithoutanyinterruptions.Young

childrencometoloveEnglishsessions, because

orthemEnglishisaspecial time withtheir

parentsundividedattention.

Youngchildrenarelogicalthinkers:they

needtohaveareasonorspeakingEnglish,

since boththeyandtheirparentscanspeak

the homelanguage.

Theymayfnditdifculttoswitchromtheir

homelanguageintoEnglish, soitisimportant

tosetthescene:In threeminuteswearegoing

tohaveourEnglish time.Settingthescene

orEnglishtimemightinvolvemovingto a

special placeinthe room:Letssit onthe

sofa. Now, lets talkin English.Warming up

inEnglishbycounting or sayingaamiliar

rhymealsohelpstoswitchintoEnglish

beoreintroducingsomenewactivity.

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Childrenpickuplanguagewhenthetalkisbasedaroundanactivity

inwhichtheyarephysicallyinvolved.Itheyhavealreadybeen

introducedtotheactivityintheirhomelanguageandunderstoodthe

content,theyeelmoresecureandcanconcentrateonunderstanding

andpickinguptheaccompanyingEnglish.WheresessionsareinonlyEnglish,activitiesneedtobeshorter

sincechildrensattentionspanisgenerallynotaslongasinthehome

language.ListeningonlytoEnglishcanbetiring.Encouragementandprais

e

Youngchildrenlookortheirparentspraise.Theyneedtoeelgood,

andknowtheyaremakingprogressinEnglish.Continuouspositive

support,encouragementandpraiserombothmotherandather,

aswellastheextendedamily,helpstobuildupsel-confdenceand

motivate.Intheearlystagesolearning,encouragementisespecially

importantandpraiseoranysmallsuccessmotivates.Thatsgood.

Ilikethat.Welldone!StartingoinEnglishisthetimewhenyoungchildrenneedparents

supportthemost.Oncetheyareabletospeak,reciterhymesand

havememorisedsomestories,thesupportneednolongerbeso

intensive.Bythisstage,Englishphrases,rhymesandstoriesarelikely

tohavebeenplayullytranserredintoamilylie.In-amilyEnglishcan

bebondingandislikelytostay.Thiscanbethebeginningopositive

lielongattitudestoEnglishandothercultures.Itisnowgenerally

acceptedthatlielongattitudesarelaiddowninearlychildhood

beoretheageoeightornine.Tofndoutmore,visitwww.britishcouncil.org/parents

8/8/2019 Parents Booklet Speaking English

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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