Professional Competencies Required to Teach English to Young Learners

1

Professional Competencies Required to Teach English to

Young Learners1

Oya Büyükyavuz

Süleyman Demirel University, Faculty of Education, Isparta, Turkey

[email protected]

Abstract

Teaching is a multi-faceted profession which depends on a number of factors. Of

these teachers play a pivotal role in constructing and shaping educational practices

at all levels. It would be difficult to dispute the fact that quality education can be

ensured, regardless of subject matter, only by quality teachers. In order for teachers

to teach effectively they are expected to have various competencies. The paper first

discusses the issue of competency for teachers in general terms. In the second part

teacher competency for language teachers will be presented based on current

literature. The third section discusses the characteristics of young learners and the

desirable attributes of English language teachers to young learners concluding with

recommendations for current teacher education program.

Key words: Young learners, teacher competencies, English language teachers

Introduction

Regardless of subject matter teachers play a pivotal role in constructing and shaping

educational practices at all levels. Teachers are powerful figures who have long-lasting

influence in many aspects on students. Teachers directly affect their learners’ academic

achievement. That is, the learning outcomes turn out to be optimum to the extent of the

quality of their teaching (Campbell, et al. 2004; Rockoff 2004). According to Stronge (2003) it

is teachers who directly affect what, how and how much students learn in a particular course.

With any luck, we had an ‘unforgettable teacher’ at some point of our educational lives. No

matter what reason makes them permanently etched in our memories, we do not forget

these remarkable people. Since the issue of accountability has emerged in the field of

education, the teacher started to move to the top of the list of variables which influence

educational outcomes. Thus educators have tried to define and describe desired teacher

competencies, attributes, dispositions and behaviors. Ample research has been conducted on

defining ‘competent teachers’, however, there is no consensus on one single definition to

date. Despite the fact that the literature on teaching is replete with a variety of definitions

and descriptions as to what exactly constitutes a ‘competent teacher’, the fact that teachers

have a direct impact on teaching is undisputable.

1 The article is based on a paper presented at IATEFL TTed Conference entitled ‘Projecting into

Teaching Young Learners’ held at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, October 13-14 in Muğla in 2013.

mailto:[email protected]

2014, Dil ve Edebiyat Eğitimi Dergisi, 9, 1-7.

2014, Journal of Language and Literature Education, 9, 1-7.

2

Competency, is defined as ‘the ability to do something well’. This definition of a ‘competent

teacher’ is then is one who has knowledge and skills to teach the subject matter well. When

the subject matter is a foreign language the issue of competency turns out to be more

important as their competency is closely related to teaching. With this in mind, the next

section will discuss the characteristics of language teachers with an emphasis on the

attributes and characteristics language teachers are expected to possess.

The Competencies of Language Teachers

Language teaching is the only subject matter in which knowledge, that is, new

information is to be presented in a language other than a student’s native language.

Nunan (1999) identifies two types of knowledge bases required for language teachers and

states that they are equally important for competency. The ‘declarative knowledge’ refers

to the things teachers have to know about, more specifically, language teachers are

expected to be competent in using grammatical rules correctly and in articulating four

language skills. The ‘procedural knowledge’, in Nunan’s terms, refers to the ability to

design the curriculum and overall delivery of the lesson.

Borg (2006) conducted a study to investigate the opinions of language teachers and those

of other domains about the distinctive features between teaching a foreign language and

the other subject matters. The sample included more than 200 practicing and prospective

English language teachers and also teachers from mathematics, history, and science

fields. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of the participating teachers

believed that language teaching is more complex and varied as compared to the other

subject matters. Moreover, they claimed, language teachers have the responsibility to

make his/her students think in the ways that native speakers are likely to do in their

culture. Furthermore, the participants stated that a typical language class includes a wide

range of activities, teaching methods and materials which are different from those in the

other subjects. Another finding was related to the peculiarities of methodology utilized in

language teaching. Unlike the other subject matters, Borg (2006) asserts that language

teaching methodology is of a ‘ progressive’ nature thereby forcing the language teachers to

keep up-to-date. English language teachers are obliged to work harder compared to the

teachers of the other subject matters. Another distinction was that language teachers’

proficiency and command of the language was usually compared to that of native

speakers of the target language while there was not such a comparison among the other

subject matter teachers.

As for the personality characteristics of language teachers, the participants stated that

English language teachers were supposed to have generally more positive relationships

with learners in comparison to other teachers of other subjects. According to Brosh (1996),

central to the qualities of good language teachers is the mastery of the target language. He

further asserts that along with this quality, competent language teachers are expected to

have skills to organize, explain and to evoke interest and maintain motivation among

students.

Pettis (cited in Shishavan and Sadeghi 2009) attests that professionally competent teachers

have certain qualities. Firstly, good teachers are principled and knowledgeable about their



3

subject matters. Secondly, competent teachers are those whose professional needs and

interests change over time throughout their teaching career. That is, competent teachers

are open to professional development thereby finding ways to keep themselves up-to-

date. Put simply, competent teachers are characterized by their commitment to ongoing

professional development. In addition, competent teachers are expected to possess an

array of teaching activities and know how to blend them with required materials

optimizing the overall learning process in the classroom.

According to Brown (1994) a good competent language teacher in an EFL context

performs teaching with two components; mechanical and mental. The first component

refers to the skills to deliver the lesson in ways most accessible to the students while the

second refers to the teacher’s mindset and his personality. With regard to personal

qualities, Vadillio (1999) states that competent language teachers should have an

understanding of their students’ needs in and , he adds, should also have warmth and

tolerance toward students. The next section is devoted to young learners with an

emphasis on their characteristics and the most desirable teacher competencies.

Young Learners and Their Characteristics

Teaching young learners (YLs henceforth) is by no means the same as teaching adults.

Nor as Ersöz (2010) states ‘working with young learners is not the easiest job available’

(p.18). Phillips (1999) defined the term “young learners” as ‘children from the first year of

schooling (five or six years old) to eleven or twelve years of age’ (p.3). Of the attributes

listed in the literature on language teaching to young learners are various agreed-upon

traits. The young learners are characterized by their naughtiness, noisiness, short

attention span, activity-addiction, their passion for games and hands-on learning

experiences (Orr 1999; Cameron 2001; Coltrane 2003; Klein 2005). With regard to the

learner types, the majority of the young learners are bodily kinesthetic and visual learners

(Çakır 2004). They learn best by doing and making things.

Professional Competencies of Teachers to Young Learner

Given the fact young learners are different from adult learners teachers of young learners

are assumed to have special professional and personal qualities. A quick review of the

related literature suggests the following competencies are attributed to the teachers of

YLs. Teachers of YLs are assumed to provide their students with activities that involve

tasks and activities such as making things, playing/inventing games, doing projects, doing

puzzles etc. Attention-getting activities prevent loss of interest and attention thereby

making YLs focused on the learning process. (Scott & Ytreberg 2003; Slattery & Willis

2001; Cameron 2001).

Games are placed in the center of children’s lives offering a series of true-to-life lessons.

Through games children learn how to live in a rule-governed world thereby

experimenting with so-called realities of life. They get socialized by interacting with their

peers. With regard to the significance of games in English courses for YLs, Toth (1998)

states; that “children bring a wealth of knowledge about games to the classroom’ (p.6); they are



4

already familiar with the rules and the roles that they are expected to take up. The

potential merits of games as stated by Ersöz (2010) are as follows:

1. they are amusing and interesting;

2. they encourage and increase cooperation;

3. they develop friendship and social relationship;

4. they are a natural part of the children’s world;

5. they are the only activity that children take seriously;

6. they provide opportunities for exploring meaningful and useful language in real

context;

7. they broaden children’s awareness of themselves and the world;

8. they teach children to follow. (p.43).

In the same vein, Cameron (2001) claims that games provide a “non-linear and interconnected

growth” of language instead of “the piling up” of discrete blocks of knowledge (p.106). Along with

professional knowledge, the personality traits of teachers of YLs are equally important.

Experience says that we should not overlook the inner wisdom of children. Sometimes they

ask questions that an adult cannot answer.. Larkin (2002) enumerates a number of personal

qualities which are attached to good teachers of YLs. According to Larkin teachers of YLs

should be positive, patient, and caring. Slattery and Willis (2001) state that teachers of YLs

are to create fun-filled and enjoyable learning environment through attention-getting

activities.

In a study relating to the desirable personality characteristics of teachers of YLs, ten year

olds were asked to describe their ideal teacher (Scott & Ytreberg, 2003). The findings of the

study revealed that patience and sense of humor were placed at the top of the list proposed

by the children who participated in the study. Based on the findings of the study, Scott and

Ytreberg (2003) suggest that teachers of YLs should try to learn how to sing or even play a

musical instrument. They further add that, teachers should learn to mime, to act and draw

very simple drawings. Results of the aforementioned study also showed that the children

want to have teachers who like and play music, make students to draw pictures, and play

funny games with students. The next section will focus on ‘Teaching English to Young

Learners’, a required course placed in the curriculum of English language teaching

departments in the schools of education. The paper will be concluded with recommendations

for the teacher educators who teach this course.

Teaching English to Young Learners Course

Parallel to the globalizing world and the current status of English as the lingua franca of

the international communication in both scientific and technological arena around the

world English language instruction has started to be integrated into the curriculum of the

primary schools in many countries (Kırkgöz 2010). More and more children have started

to learn English at an early age. In Turkey with a recent curricular change English has

been integrated into the curriculum of the 4th and 5th graders (Kırkgöz 2010). Following

the law passed in 2013, the English instruction in Turkey was placed in the curriculum of

the 2nd graders.

Turkish teachers of English are the graduates of the English language teaching

departments housed in the Schools of Education. Currently, the prospective English



5

language teachers receive 4 contact hours of ‘Teaching English to Young Learners’ course

in the first and the second semesters of the junior year. The graduates of the ELT

departments based on their scores from KPSS, a national selection exam for employees,

are appointed by the Ministry of National Education to state schools either at lower

secondary or secondary levels. They are not allowed to choose the type of schools in terms

of level.

Current pre-service teacher preparation for prospective teachers of YLs is handicapped by

a number of weaknesses. Of these, limited credit hours of education provided to teacher

trainees stands out as the major problem. The second problem is the short period of

practice teaching assigned to teacher trainees. Teacher trainees are placed in coordinating

schools without knowing the level they will be teaching after graduation. Apart from

these, the sequencing of the topics in the textbooks which are selected and disseminated

by the Ministry of National Education to public schools is a serious problem. Regarding

the sequencing problem it is widely argued that while the fourth, fifth and sixth grade text

books are full of repetition and recycling units the seventh grade syllabus is unexpectedly

replete with a wide range of new and hard topics. Teachers have raised their concerns

about illogical sequencing of topics in the syllabus. They stated that once the students

attend the first year of the upper secondary school, they start to learn very basic topics

(personal communication with English language teachers working in public schools in

Isparta). Although there are a number of problems, there are still some steps which can be

taken to further improve the teaching practices. The following is a list of

recommendations to improve the quality of pre-service education with an emphasis on

TEYLs course;

1. The total number of the credit hours assigned to the TEYLs course needs to

be increased. If possible, elective courses which are specifically designed for

YLs should be placed in the ELT curriculum such as; songs and drama

activities for YLs. If possible, a multidisciplinary approach can be adopted

through cooperating with related departments such as theater and music

education department on campus. The teacher trainees can be encouraged

to register for elective courses offered in the mentioned departments.

2. The curriculum of the ELT departments needs to be restructured in a two-

division system; lower secondary teaching and upper secondary school. In

so doing, specialized training opportunities can be provided to teacher

trainees.

3. Practice teaching needs to be arranged in a way that teacher trainees do

practicum in both lower secondary and upper secondary schools.

4. The micro-teachings carried out in TEYLs course can be practiced in actual

YLs classrooms in the daycare centers located on almost every campus at

universities, allowing teacher trainees to have the opportunity to use and

test the materials they designed in the lesson. They can also establish a

materials bank in their departments.

As for the in-service education as argued by Haznedar (2010), more opportunities need to

be provided with the practicing teachers of YLs through which they will be familiarized

with the underlying theoretical principles of child second language acquisition. I would



6

like to conclude the paper with two reflections I had from a teacher and a student’s

perspective. A female English language teacher working in one of the prestigious public

primary schools in Isparta shared her feelings about teaching at primary level;

‘I don’t know how to teach at this level. In order to have the kids sit still at their desks I

threaten them with pop-up oral exam. I punish those who walk around the classroom or those

who watch the playing students in the playground…’ (Unpublished study, 2004).

A female student attending the fourth grade of a public school shared her feelings about

English language course;

‘… I hate English. We have a bad teacher who is actually a pharmacist but somehow is

teaching us English. She punishes us every day with long lists of words we could not

memorize…’

Conclusion

Although there is not a clear definition of what makes one a ‘competent’ teacher what is

clear is that teachers play a vital role in actualization of the educational process at every

level. Because teachers can have a long lasting influence on many students for the rest of

their lives, the standards are set very high for this profession. Teachers are expected to

have certain pedagogical, organizational and personality-related qualities. When the

subject matter is a foreign language and the stakeholders in the classroom are children the

expectations even get higher.

In Turkey English language instruction has been integrated into the curriculum of second

graders in Turkey. In writer’s opinion, in the earlier grades, the major goal of teaching

should be to help children develop positive attitudes toward language learning which

can be achieved only with well-prepared teachers who are able to blend pedagogical

expertise with desirable personality traits mentioned earlier in the paper. Put simply,

teachers working at this level can either make young learners love learning a foreign

language or make them develop a deep hatred which is likely to go on throughout their

educational lives. Teachers of YLs should be knowledgeable about the ways children

learn; ‘if the child is not learning the way you are teaching, then you must teach in the way the

child learns’ (Dunno cited in Ersöz, 2010).

Currently, prospective English language teachers receive instruction on teaching English

to young learners in the junior year of their pre-service education. Given the fact that the

number of students attending lower secondary schools is presumably higher than upper

secondary students the possibility of teaching at this level for the graduates of ELT

departments is higher. At present, the credit hour assigned to the course on teaching

English to young learners is limited to only four contact hours per week. In order for

teacher trainees to be effective the credit hours should be increased. Apart from this, the

ELT departments where prospective language teachers are educated should be

restructured in a way that prospective teachers are placed in two divisions; teacher

preparation for YLs and learners above 12 years of age.

Teachers of YLs must sow the seeds of love for language learning. The fun of speaking a

foreign language, once experienced, will hopefully continue throughout their lives.



7

References

Borg, S. (2006), “The Distinctive Characteristics of Foreign Language Teachers”, Language

Teaching Research 10,1 (2006); pp. 3–31.

Brosh, H. (1996), “Perceived Characteristics of the Effective Language Teacher”, Foreign

Language Annals, 29/2:125-138.

Brown, D.( 1994). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy

Prentice Hall Regent, NJ, USA.

Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge: CUP

Campbell, R. J., Kyriakides, L., Muijsc, R. D. & Robinsona, W. (2004). Effective teaching and

values: Some implications for research and teacher appraisal. Oxford Review of

Education, 30(4), 451 - 465.

Coltrane, B. (2003). Working with young English language learners; Some considerations. ERIC

Digest No EDO-FL-03-01.

Çakır, A. (2004). Musical activities for young learners of EFL. The Internet TESL Journal, 5 (11).

Ersöz, A. (2010). Teaching English to Young Learners. EDM Publishing, Ankara.

Haznedar, B. (2010). Teaching English at primary education: From policy planning to practice. In

(Eds.) Uysal H., Haznedar, B. Handbook for Teaching Foreign Languages to Young

Learners in Primary Schools pp. 43-66. Anı Yayıncılık, Ankara.

Kırkgöz, Y. (2010). Teaching English at primary education: From policy planning to practice. In

(Eds.) Uysal H., Haznedar, B. Handbook for Teaching Foreign Languages to Young

Learners in Primary Schools pp.23-41. Anı Yayıncılık, Ankara.

Klein, K. (2005). Teaching young learners. ELT Forum. 41 (1) pp. 12-16.

Larkin, M. (2002), “Using scaffolded Instruction to Optimize Learning”, Retrieved August

2013 from http://www.ericfacility.net/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed474301.html.

Nunan, D. (1999). So you think that language teaching is a profession, part 1. TESOL Matters.

Orr, J. K. (1999). Growing up with Children. Washington, D.C.: Office of Language Programs.

Pettis, J. (1997). Developing our professional competence; Some reflections. TESL Canada

Journal, 16(2), 67-71.

Philips, S. (1999), Young Learners, Oxford University Press.

Rockoff, J. E. (2004). The impact of individual teachers on student achievement: Evidence

from panel data. The American Economic Review, 94(2), 247-252.

Scott W. A & Ytreberg L.H. (2003). Teaching English to Children. Longman Keys to Language

Teaching.

Slatterly, M. & Willis, J. ( 2001). English for primary teachers, Hong Kong: Oxford University

Press.

Shishavan, H.B. and Sadeghi, K. (2009) “Characteristics of an effective English language

teacher as perceived by Iranian teachers and learners of English”, in English

Language Teaching, 2, 4: 130-143.

Stronge, J. H. (2003). Effective Teachers, New York: ASCD Publications.

Toth, M. (1998). Children’s Games. Oxford: Macmillan Heinemann English Language

Teaching.

Vadillio, R. S. M. (1999). Research on the good language teacher. EPOS, 15, 347-361.

Documents

Professional Competencies Required to Teach English to Young Learners