Teaching English to Young Learners

Module 1: Task 1– Video Lecture

Video 1 – Characteristics of Young Learners

Hello, English Teachers! Do you teach young learners? Then you know that teaching children is a
challenge. But it is also rewarding! Anyone who has children or teaches children knows that it takes a lot
of energy and patience. When I taught children, I was always sweating at the end of class. I was moving
around while singing songs or playing games. I often used big gestures to keep students’ attention and
to show the meaning of words. What about you? Do you have the same experience?

Why does it take so much energy to teach children? Let’s think about the characteristics of young
learners. It’s time for a brainstorm! I am going to give you 15 seconds to write down ideas on a piece
of paper. Write down as many words as you can. Write down words… that describe young learners.
I’m going to write mine down in a word web. Ready? Go! Now, if you need more time, just pause the
video.

What words are on your paper? Here are some of the words I wrote down in my web: active,
energetic, spontaneous, can’t sit still, and touches things. Young learners are what we called
kinesthetic learners. They like to move and wiggle their bodies. You can’t expect them to sit still in
class all day. They also learn well through movement and gestures. They are tactile in their learning
style. They love to touch and play with objects. So if you want to teach students what a ball is, give
them a ball to bounce and throw.

As you can see, understanding children’s characteristics can help us make an effective classroom.
Your activities and approaches should be “developmentally appropriate.” This means your teaching is
based on how children develop and learn. It should be “appropriate” for their characteristics. The
goal? Effective learning in your classroom! For example, if my young learners are kinesthetic learners,
then I should prepare activities that encourage them to get out of their seats and move around. I
could play Simon Says. Let’s try it! Stand up. Ready? Simon says, Touch your head! Simon says, Touch
your shoulders! Touch your nose! Did you do it? Simon didn’t say!

Now look at your paper. Do you have other words? Maybe you think young learners are imaginative
and curious. Yes, they are! Use stories like fairytales for your imaginative young learners. Or take a
walk outside and look for bugs for your curious young learners. Maybe you wrote easily distracted or
short attention. That may be true! Then use activities they like, such as games or videos and don’t
stay too long on any activity. Keep the pace of your class quick and exciting.

Think about the characteristics of your young learners and always make your activities and approaches
match those characteristics.

© 2020 by George Mason University. Module 1 – Video 1 Script for the Online Professional English
Network (OPEN), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S.
government and administered by FHI 360. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 1
Attribution 4.0 License, except where noted. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/