2.

2 Young learners
Generally, we refer to the age group between 4 and 11 as young learners. Very
young children learn differently from older children, adolescents and adults,
especially those up to the ages of nine or ten. Teaching children can be great fun
as young learners are enthusiastic and energetic when they like something, and
are eager to participate in any activity that the teacher brings to class. They bring
less obstacles and preconceived ideas about language to the classroom, and are
not as self-conscious about making mistakes as adults or teenagers.

Some of the features of the way very young children learn are:

 Even if they do not understand individual words, they respond to meaning.

 They learn indirectly, rather than directly; that is they take in information from all
sides, learning from everything around them rather than only focusing on the
precise topic they are being taught.
 Their understanding comes not just from explanation, but from what they see, hear
and touch, and by having a chance to interact with the world around them.
 They display a curiosity and an enthusiasm for learning about the world around
them.
 They respond well to learning that uses themselves and their own lives as the main
topics in the classroom, as they are naturally keen to talk about themselves.
 They have a need for attention and approval from the teacher.
 They focus on the use of the language and do not feel embarrassed about making
mistakes.
 Grammar rules are difficult for them to grasp.
 Unless activities are extremely engaging, students can get bored easily, losing
interest after ten minutes or so, because of their limited attention span.

When teaching children, the key is to have short activities and lots of them, as they
are unable to sustain high levels of concentration for long periods of time. They
also need plenty of repetition in order to assimilate correct forms.

Within this varied and varying age span, it is important when discussing young
learners to take account of changes which take place. While learners 10 and 11
years of age like games, puzzles and songs most, those who are 12 and 13 years
old like activities built around dialogues, question and answer activities and
matching exercises. Teachers at this level need to provide a rich diet of learning
experiences which encourage their students to get information from a variety of
sources. They need to work with their students individually and in groups,
developing good and affective relationships. They need to plan a range of activities
for a given time period, and be flexible enough to move on to the next exercise
when they see that their students are getting bored.
Teachers of young learners need to spend time understanding how their students
think and operate. They need to be able to pick up on their student’s current
interests so that they can use them to motivate the children. Since speaking and
listening are the skills which will be used most at this age, students need good oral
skills in English. Children imitate very well so the teacher’s pronunciation really
matters.

There is a worldwide need for highly skilled and dedicated teaching once a
decision has been taken to teach English to younger learners. If teachers do their
job well and the student’s success is followed up as they move to a new school or
grade, there is no reason why young learners cannot become highly successful
learners even though they may well be the most difficult age to teach.