7/28/2019 Teach your child English and English will teach him
every thing - Mohamed ElKhemissi Elkahlaoui
1/2
Teach your children English and English wil l teach them
everything. This is not a joke but areality that I inferred from my
teaching experience. A positive too early experience with
foreignlanguages can help our children develop self esteem and very
positive attitudes to Englishlanguage learning .Motivating young
learners to master the acquisitions of foreign language isthe
responsibility of the education ministry, the teachers and the
parents. Very young learnersexposed to the English language
learning are equipped with greater confidence at old ages andcan
bring high order thinking and cognitive skil ls to the formal and
the abstract learning that theyexperience later in their lives.
The key to the success of our young children in the studies of
foreign languages mainlyEnglish is the motivation factor. And the
first step in this process of getting the child involved inthe
learning in general is the responsibility of the parents. Some
people would argue that it is notfruitful for preschool children to
be taught a second language other than their first one. And that
itwould be futile to introduce children to a new second or foreign
language . However, recentstudies proved that the first three to
four years of life is the best time for a child to learn a
anotherlanguage. According to Jeanette Vos Ed,D, there are some
important reasons forexposing children to early second language
learning. For Jeanette Vos Ed.D , when peopleimmerse themselves in
a language like children, through play and exploration, they can
learn a
language quickly and easily. So, if parents grow their children
in a well -rounded environment,they would learn to speak at least
2000 words by the time they are four years old. We would
likeparents to observe how their babies learn to talk proves that
their children are natural learners, Ababy brain will then discard
the ability to speak in language he or she does not hear,
(Kotulak,1996).
Our message for parents that preschool years are vital years.
Ronald Kotulak, authorofInside the Brain, said that during this
period and especially the first three years of life, thefoundation
of thinking, vision, language, attitudes, aptitudes, and other
characteristics are laiddown. Most parents are aware that it would
be mad to let the childs natural ability to learnforeign languages
go with the wind during her/his most vital years.Simply because
during the firstfew years of life, young learners form their main
learning pathway in the brain (Bloom, 1964).
There are six main pathways to the brain. They include learning
by sight, sound, taste ,touch, anddoing ( Dryden and Vos,1997)
Later in life, all individuals learnings will grow from
theinformation gained during these years. I would like to tell our
parents the famous story of theMother-cat who took her kittens for
a walk on a sunny day and suddenly a huge dog appeared infront of
them and started barking. The kittens were frightened and started
meowing in panic.Mother -cat, however, picked up her courage and
started barking at the dog who wasastonished and disappeared. The
cat said to her kittens: You see children how important it is
tospeak foreign languages!
I think we all agree that the roles of foreign languages
teachers are crucial and substantial.Most people think that
language learning is an enriching experience for all ages, but
children
have the most to gain from this wonderful adventure provided
that best teachers are the oneswho must instruct and scaffold the
English language learning at the very beginning. A studyconducted
by researchers from UCLA and the University of Honk Kong however,
shows thatyoung learners with significant exposure to language in
early childhood can end up speaking likea native. It is up to
teachers of foreign languages to raise their students awareness
andexpectations about the English language learning. From my
experience with teaching Englishand French to very young learners I
concluded that introducing children to languages when theyare young
helps them accept the fact that bilingualism and multilingualism
are normal in ourworld. My students got to the tradition of
speaking more than one language before puberty. Forthem it is an
element of belonging to the global society. In other words , all
foreign languagesteachers should be aware that exposing their
children to other languages and cultures at very
young age through books ,videos, songs and objects, will have
the opportunity to feelcomfortable growing up in a world where
languages and cultures intertwines on a daily basis.Teachers should
be aware to select books for their students that are about their
favorite storiesand songs. The selection when done appropriately
will make a learner more eager to learn toread the books himself.
According to a recent study done by a foreign language teacher
on
7/28/2019 Teach your child English and English will teach him
every thing - Mohamed ElKhemissi Elkahlaoui
2/2
classroom management for young learners , Noamen Amara opines
that to maintain order andkeep the group on task and moving ahead ,
not to stop and punish their students who aremisbehaving , best
teachers should anticipate when misbehaviors are likely to occur
andintervene early to prevent them. The study also stated that
language teachers should establishand discuss classroom rules with
their students to set up the scene for a comfortable
learningsetting for young learners. Noamen also opines that one of
the successful ways in motivation iswhen the teacher is resourceful
and skillful enough in using pair work and group
workappropriately.
I recommend my colleagues to vary techniques when teaching
foreign languages to veryyoung learners using role plays this is a
technique ,says Noamen to vary the pace of thelesson and to respond
to the fundamental notions of variety in teaching. Teachers are
advised touse the role play actively in order to motivate their
students and to help the less motivatedlearners take part in the
lesson.
Parents and teachers substantial roles in motivating students to
learn foreign languagesshould be enhanced and boosted by the
educational authorities and curriculum specialistsefforts and
measures. Assuming that an early start to learning English is
automatically better,makes the ministry of education work on
providing kindergarten and primary schools with skilledlanguage
teachers and appropriate resources. The provision of well selective
language materials
for each grade level and the availability of teaching school
tools and equipments is at the core ofhigh motivation and
engagement for our very young learners. From my experience, the
resultsare bewitching with students being instructed through a
white interactive board and internetconnectivity. A classroom well
equipped with what a foreign language learner needs, is a key
tomotivation of children acquiring the foreign languages. I know it
would be very costly for theministry to provide these tools to
every school, but the implementation of these tools should bedone
gradually and step by step. In a decade the ministry will have
provided most of the schoolswith the above mentioned school
equipments. The ongoing expansion of English languageteaching for
young learners has been a notable feature of ELT in recent years
and up tocurriculum specialists in our country to consider
implementing the latest approaches andstrategies for motivation and
updating school teachers for rewarding results.
Finally, I would like to refer parents, teachers and education
authorities to the Swedishexperience with teaching foreign
languages to very young learners. In Swedish schools you willfind
three-year olds speaking three different languages fluently (Dryden
and Vos, 1997). Here inour country we can turn this dream into
reality following the Swedish model and other countrieswith
successful results in motivation and engagement.
References
Noamen Amara
:http://teachingenglish-alexenoamen.blogspot.com/John Dryden:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_
Dryden Kotulak,1996.Bloom s taxonomy
5
flag
https://class.coursera.org/writing2-001/class/reporter?area=flag&problem=forums-abuse&url=https%3A%2F%2Fclass.coursera.org%2Fwriting2-001%2Fforum%2Fthread%3Fthread_id%3D6191%23post-19855&title=%26nbsp%3BTeach%0Ayour+children+English+and+English+will...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Drydenhttp://teachingenglish-alexenoamen.blogspot.com/
