What is TEYL?

TEYL = Teaching English to Young Learners

We define young learners as children aged six to twelve, but the course has also proven to be beneficial for those who teach very young learners or
teens.

Our CertTEYL is designed for those who teach English overseas (EFL or ESOL); however, we've had a great response from ESL teachers in English
speaking countries as well.
Humor in TEYL - Reducing Classroom Anxiety
By Adam Chee W.S.

Introduction

Humor is the characteristic that makes something laughable or amusing but humor in the English classroom
has more than just the 'effect to induce laughter'; it brings together a chain-reaction by increasing the
learner's motivation and self-confidence which creates a positive classroom atmosphere for the smooth
acquisition of the language.

Joseph Gatt (2000) explains it best:

"It is the 'breathing-out of the soul'. When during the lesson the pupils only listen to the teacher, who may be
teaching in the same tone, then it is as if they only breathe in and have no opportunity to breathe out. They
need humor, which the teacher can find in very different places. Therefore the teacher must bring in humor
during his lessons and this humor should result from the vitality and momentum of the lesson."

Such is the wondrous effect of humor in the classroom.

Benefits of humor in TEYL

There is little or no doubt that humor is an invaluable teaching aid in the English classroom and that almost
all English teachers use humor at one point of time or another in their lesson. As a matter of fact, students
have listed humor as an essential quality of a good teacher (Sylwester 2001) and the best teachers are known
for their ability to release tension in class with humor (Kenner).

But what exactly is so special about the use of humor in the ESL classroom that helps get the language to
flow so freely? It has been observed by Marklin (Walker 2002) that "students enjoys humor in forms of
funny anecdotes" and it is this very 'enjoyment' that makes humor a popular content for teaching English
because positive humor helps,

1) Increases Motivation and Self-confidence

"Humor can help the shy and/or timid students to feel that they are a part of the class and to allow them to
contribute or participate without feeling humiliated or vulnerable" (Chiasson 2002). This can act as a means
of enhancing student motivation to learn English as well as stimulating recall to the materials taught.
(Vadillo 1998)

2) Creates a Positive Classroom Atmosphere

The nature of positive humor helps create a "positive atmosphere" which encourages the learners' desire to
take part in class conversations by decreasing anxiety and stress. (Chiasson 2002)

A positive classroom environment coupled with increased motivation encourages the young learner to take
risks and participate in the use of English because there is no fear of criticism or being ridiculed in a joyful
and non-threatening environment. This effectively reduces anxiety and increases motivation in the English
classroom.

Types of Humor in Teaching

We have seen the benefits of humor in teaching English, but how do we go about using it in our lessons?
How are we going to make the students laugh?

A common misconception is that humor must result in laughter. Although a sense of humor in teaching
involves much more than just telling jokes, one need not be a comedian in order to utilize humor in the
classroom and humor itself may or may not be expressed by laughter.

The trick here is to understand that humor is basically an attitude that is communicative (Chiasson 2002);
Strategies for Caregiver Involvement in TEYL
By Serindit Indraswari

[NOTE: English is a second language for Indraswari.]

Introduction

Learning is a complex process that involves various skills and strategies. Learning must be carefully nurtured and
should include strategies for involving parents or caregivers. Parents and caregivers should give their children the
opportunity to be exposed to English in daily life; even if the caregivers can not speak English, they can be
motivators and facilitators.

In a country like Japan, where English is not written any where, and rarely spoken; teachers and caregivers are
the most important persons children can rely on to increase their English acquisition. However, lack of
confidence due to their own English skills, make some caregivers limit the exposure their children get from
English language resources (daily communication, TV programmes, story books reading, singing, etc.).
Caregivers prefer to transfer the role of helping their children's English learning process to the English teacher. If
this situation continues, it will likely lower the young learner's motivation to learn English because the children
do not find any English usage in their daily lives. Strategies to gain the caregiver's participation are very
important to increase motivation and the young learner's learning rate.

The Study: Caregivers' expectation of children's English acquisition

Methodology

The research was undertaken in Tsukuba, Ibaraki prefecture, Japan, on January 20 to February 10, 2005. A fact-
finding survey was used by distributing Japanese translated questionnaires to 35 respondents, who are parents of
English lesson participating child (Appendix B).

The questionnaires were designed in closed and open ended format, and were centred around the child's English
lesson, the caregivers' bilingualism, and the caregivers' opinion of their child's English acquisition. The first three
questions were to collect data about child's age, duration of participation in English lessons, and their interest in
the lesson. The purpose of Question 4, about the caregiver's bilingualism, was to identify respondents' language
skills, which have a potential influence on the children's attitude to language learning process. Questions 5 and 6
were asked to find out the caregivers' expectations of their child's English lesson. Questions 7, 8, 9 and 10 were
focused on the caregivers' opinion of and participation in the learning process. The information which is gained
from those six last questions (Questions 5 to 10), will be used to formulate strategies for getting caregivers
involved in the young learner's English learning process.

Findings
[Data in Appendix A]

The majority of respondents had children from kindergarten to second grade. They had been participating in
English lessons for more than 18 months and enjoyed it very much.

Question about bilingualism were answered "no" by 63.9% of respondents, and 27.8% of repondents answered
"yes but not fluently". Among bilingual respondents, 90% speak English, and 10% speak Chinese. Comparing to
unilingual respondents, bilingual ones have some strong reasons to their child's English lessons, as is shown in
Table 3 Appendix A.
Almost all of the reasons that were mentioned in the questionnaires were highly chosen by bilingual respondents.
Caregivers reasons for deciding to encourage their child to learn English in private English course are various,
but the most preferred are:

 getting their child to like and enjoy English (33%)

 making their child be able to communicate in English (21.2%)
 equipping their child with necessary skills for their future (13.6%).
 helping their child understand English lesson at school (12.1%).

Only two respondents chose reading and writing as their child's English skills priorities. However, more than
twenty respondents prioritized English speaking and listening skills for their child. Most respondents were
anxious that their young children will confuse Japanese characters (hiragana, katakana, kanji), which they had
just learned, with the acquisition of another language.

Respondents' attitude toward language learning process was found out from their answer to "Do you think that
English learning process is not only required during the English lessons?" This question was answered "Yes" by
88.6%.

51.5% of the respondents do not communicate in English to their child, because they can not speak any English
or do not have any confidence in speaking English. They also thought that Japanese must be prioritized in daily
communication. The other respondents (48.6%) said that they do communicate in English, by greeting their
children, mentioning things about household items, food, and other items, playing games, singing, and answering
their child's English questions in English. However, 94.3% of respondents were interested in participating child's
language acquisition process. Their preferred participation activities were:

 communicating with their child in English, according to their own and the child's fluency
 participating in activities (season's events, games, etc.) with their child in English class
 giving learning resources at home, like books, cassettes, cards.

There were two respondents who explained their effort in repeating and evaluating some of their child's English
lessons through interesting games, but that they needed to improve their own English.

This information indicates that most of respondents care about the English learning process for their children,
and that they seem to have a willingness to be involved. However, lack of confidence in speaking English and
limited information about child's bilingualism makes the caregiver become anxious about the possibility of
English interfering with the child's L1 acquisition.

Analysis

Based on the findings, some approaches can be formulated to encourage the caregivers' participation in the
English learning process for their children. These approaches are basically intended to support the caregivers'
willingness to participate, to provide appropriate information about bilingualism and the learning process, and to
minimize the barriers in exposing children to English in their daily lives.

These approaches are:

1. Emphasis on involving caregivers as active partners in the production of educated children (Braiw and Reid.
2003).

2. Caregivers are invited to take responsibility for their child's behaviour and motivation to learn English.
Montalvo (2003) stated that there are five factors will affect a child's progress in the second language acquisition
process: motivation, exposure, age, personality and parents. Parents will influence their child's progress in many
ways. Some caregivers who show an interest of their child's English learning, will also encourage the children to
communicate in English frequently.

3. Creating meaningful activities for both parents and children that require using English to make it more familiar
and applicable in daily communication between caregiver and child. Caregivers are invited to learn and
participate about what children are doing in English lesson, so that they are able to see the value of learning tools
or how language is developed, practiced and learned. (Zanatta)

4. Providing information to obtain appropriate insight into the young learner's language learning process and
bilingualism in order to support caregiver's comfort and confidence to communicate in English with the child.

Activities to implement these approaches are:

1. Inviting caregivers to attend short lecture with special issues in TEYL:

o advantages and disadvantages of bilingual children, for instance: "native-like" ability, ability to see two different
cultures internally, have a deeper appreciation to foreign language, etc.
o a guide for caregivers to give English exposure to their child at home,
o a process for children's second language learning: without stress, fun, interactive, etc.
o how caregiver's attitudes, encouragement and interest are vital in a child's second language development.

Discussion after the lecture will allow parents/caregivers to question, and to comment, so that they become aware
of teaching practices and learning objectives, and get more involved in the development and review of their
child's learning process.

2. Keep caregivers regularly informed by sending home periodical lesson syllabus, hands-on and student-made
learning tools. Periodical syllabus is information about the learning subject, target, and activities. To clearly
inform caregivers about what is happening in English class, Zanatta in Home-School Connection, suggests
setting up and organizing class time to create hands-on, student-made learning tools for students to take home
regularly to show caregivers. Things like flash cards, take-home storybooks, simple hand-made puppets, game
boards, personal picture dictionaries, are invaluable memory and speaking prompts for describing and explaining
what students are doing and learning in English class.

3. Inviting caregivers to watch the English lesson, for specific reasons. For instance: caregivers are invited to
watch teacher's reading children a story, pointing to the pictures, and talking about the story. When caregivers
read stories that way in their native language they help their children build skills that children will use later in
learning to read and write in English, as well as in L1.

4. Providing caregiver-child literacy activities, like a caregiver-child English reading club. After watching the
teacher read stories, parents/caregivers try to practice it in the English class or at home. The child chooses the
book and caregiver reads it for him or her. In turn, the child will have to re-tell it with his/her own words or
drawings to his peers in class. Caregivers can assist children to find essential points or ideas of the story.

5. Inviting caregivers to be involved in special activities that need extra preparation, for instance: seasonal events
such as New Year, Christmas, or Summer Festivals. Teachers, students and parents/caregivers will become a
team to implement these ideas. This situation can provide a supportive language environment for both children
and caregivers to express their ideas, feelings, and literacy in English. These events also become a very good
means for intercultural exchanges.

Conclusion

Most of the respondents care about the learning process for their child, and they seem to have a willingness to get
involved. However, the caregivers have barriers such as the confidence to communicate in English to a child and
a limited amount of information about children's bilingualism. To minimize these barriers, caregivers must be
active partners in educating their children; they must take responsibility for their child's behaviour and
motivation to learn; they must become accustomed to English through creating meaningful activities for both
caregivers and children; and caregivers must be given the appropriate insight of young learner's language
learning process and bilingualism. Some suggested activities involve inviting parents to attend short lectures with
special issues in TEYL; sending home periodical lesson syllabus, hands-on and student-made learning tools;
inviting parents to watch the English lesson for specific reasons; providing parents-children literacy activities and
inviting parents to involve in special activities. By involving caregivers/parents in young learners learning
process, they will have the confidence and the ability to give enough English exposure to their child, so that the
children will be aware of English language in their daily lives.

References

[Missing dates the references were retrieved.]

Braiw, Kevin. and Reid, Ivan. Constructing Parental Involvement in an Education Active Zones. Educational
Studies. Vol 29(2/3). p.291-305. 2003.

Johnson, Renee and Shurts, Kristina, Bilingual Parenting in a Foreign Language. Retrieved from
http://www.byu.edu/~bilingua/index.html

McGlothlin, Dough,J. A Child's First Step in Language Learning. The Internet TESL Journal. Vol III(10). Oct.
1997. Retrieved from http://www.iteslj.org/Articles/McGlothlin-ChildLearn.html

Montalvo, Luci Ann. English as a Second Language in Early Childhood Education: Understanding Parent's
Perception of an ESL Program for Young Children. Pennsylvania State of Graduate School. 2003. Retrieved
from http://www.gradsch.psu.edu/diversity/srop/2003sroppapers.html

Zanatta, Theresa. The Home-School Connection. Retrieved from

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/resources.home_school.shtml