The Teacher Development Series Editor: Adrian Underhill : : | yy Children _LearpingBt too BBTV Uy ebestorts RTS ety Pee Grec URS loaily De ene eta See Pier Rog ere Pee ee ee nenesca nee Peet meet Prt reg ents hts Pern Tas eer peters Bro Terenas tere geste le Children Learning English A guidebook for English DT Sen etree ele Children Learning English is for teachers of English to young learners. It offers you discussion, discovery activities, and real-life examples from classrooms Ere RC Cn RTs ee OLE eee eR Rid Tost ela Rene CRS CERT etc! Cras Ree nee te Roce tatc rc language-learners. Cee ae CeO er eC Redd Seem ote Coan © Gain insights into your own beliefs and practice. © Understand the theory and practice of teaching English to children. eI MACMILLAN HEINEMANN eee cy 1M,Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Epilogue Contents About the author The Teacher Development Series Introduction to Children Learning Englis = Children learning English Children as language learners Do you like learning English? aghsh Pupils’ attitudes to learning Are they the same? Children come in all types We've found our partners, Miss ‘Managing pupils’ language learning Who has some good news for today? Effective teacher-pupil mteraction Do you need a hand? Supporung children’s language learning Can we do ‘Poker Creating, adapting and evaluating acuyites for face’ again, Miss? Janguage learning Why did I do it like this? Planning for children’s language learning What's your topic? Using a cross-curricular approach for organizing Tanguage learning, Can we make a spinner? Involving children in making and using resources Learning to see Assessing learning and teaching How can I be a better language learner? Learning to learn Looking forwards Glossary Index 15, 26 41 60 86 99 118 135 148 163 77 182 184About the author Lam a lecturer mn the School of Education, University of Leeds, where I have taught for 13 ‘years on postgraduate and short courses for expertenced TESOL teachers, teacher trainers and material developers from all over the world One of the most rewarding aspects of my work1s the opportunity to work with TESOL teachers and tranners from many different international contexts, and to recognize both our shared concerns as well as our differences Before I came to Leeds, I worked for many years in different parts of Asta, such as Hong Kong, the Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, Indonesta, imtually teaching and then later workmg as a teacher tramer and a curriculum developer Iam very mterested in children’s second language development, and, in particular, how children develop their abihty to write stories and other texts in Enghsh I would hike to dedicate this book to all the children, teachers and trainers I have worked with around the world, from whom I have ganned immense insights about teaching and learning They come ftom Bangladesh, Bhutan, Colombia, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Malta, Malaysia, Nepal, South Afnca, Spam, Sri Lanka and many other countries Author’s acknowledgements ‘Many people have contributed in different ways to this book I would hke to thank all of them Dugald for supporting me through the whole process, Marilyn for giving me the mal push, Adrian Underhill (series editor) and Jill Florent (commissioning editor) for their helpful and insightful comments in the early stages of the book, Lynne Cameron, Jenny Jarvis, William Gibbs, Gary Knamuller and Ang: Malderez for commenting on early drafts of chapters, Alyson Maskell, who has come in with a fresh eve and done a wonderful job on the final editing of the book Last, but not least, I would like to thank all the teachers I have worked with in different countries and my students at Leeds, in particular, BA Tesol teachers from Malaysia, who have contributed 1n different ways to the development of my sdeas for this bookThe Teacher Development Series ‘TEACHER DEVELOPMENT 1 the process of becoming the best teacher you can be It means becomung a student of learning, your own as well as that of others It represents a widening of the focus of teaching to include not only the subject matter and the teaching methods, but also the people who are working with the subject and using the methods It means taking a step back to see the larger picture of what goes on in learning, and how the relationshap between students and teachers influences learning It also means attending to small details which can in turn change the bigger picture Teacher development 1s a continuous process of transforming human potential into human performance, a process that is never finished ‘The Teacher Development Series offers perspectives on learning that embrace topic, method and person as parts of one larger interacting whole We am to help you, the teacher, tramer or academic manager to stretch your awareness not only of what you do and how you do it, but also of how you affect your learners and colleagues. This will enable you to extract more from your own experience, both ast happens and in retrospect, and to become more acuvely nvolved in your own continuous learning The books themselves will focus on new treatments of familiar subjects as well as areas that are just emerging as subjects of the future ‘The series represents work that 1s n progress rather than finished or closed The authors are themselves exploring, and invite you to bring your own experience to the study of these books while at the same tume learning from the experiences of others We encourage you to observe, value and understand your own experience, and to evaluate and integrate relevant external practice and knowledge into your own internal evolving model of effective teaching and learning Adrian Underintt Other titles in the Teacher Development Series Inside Teachmg ‘Tim Bowen and Jonathan Marks Learning Teachmg Jum Scrivener Sound Foundations Adrian Underhill Readings in Teacher Development Katie Head and Pauline Taylor The ELT Manager's Handbook Graham Impey and Nic UnderhullIntroduction to Children Learning English Who is the book for? Thave written this book for teachers It will be suitable, in particular @ for those of you already teaching teaching in new ways @ for those of you who are general primary teachers in your own countries, but are now going to teach English as well «© for those of you who are already specialist English language teachers of secondary school students or adults, who are now going to teach English to children Enghsh to children, who want to consider your What is the book for? Thave written this book because of my interest in teaching languages to children. T would like to share with you something of my own fascination and enjoyment in working with them But this real interest took tume to develop When I first began teaching, I was busy trying to survive and cover the syllabus, My focus was on the subject matter, the methods and keeping the children quret. It was only gradually that I began to understand the importance of observing what children do and talking to them. It was only later that I began to see them as real people with preferences, ideas and views of their own. As I responded to them as human beings, they responded to me As I observed them closely, I realized what an amazing capacity they had for learning and how many abilities they already had which I could draw on in the classroom. These changes mn my understanding and beliefs led to changes in my practice and also made me feel much more excited about and involved 1n teaching children. In this book, I want to help you to examine your own teaching and beliefs about teaching in the context of teaching English to children, Change can only take place if we become more aware of the assumptions and beliefs which underpin our practice. This new awareness may lead to change. I hope that the book will provide you with different ways of domg thus, ¢ The new challenge (for some of you) of teaching children Enghsh may provide an opportunity to re-examine your practice and the reasons for your practice. ¢ Learning from children, observing what children do and say, and talking to them as people rather than pupils in a class can influence your teaching in new and exciting ways. ¢ Considering the pomts of view of specialists and of other primary teachers may help to give you new ideas or different perspectives to consider so that you have more options to think about in your teaching. Thope that this book will enable you to feel excited about teaching Enghsh to children, both professionally and personally, What is the book about? This book focuses on the teachmng and learng of English as a forergn language (EFL) ~ that means where English 1s a subject taught at school and where the child generally does not use English outside of school However we have also inchided examples from second language (ESL) teaching situations where this helps to illuminate the way children’s Ianguage develops The book 1s concerned with children from six to twelve years of age but atalso includes examples from older children where this seems relevant, to illustrate the way children’s language and attstudes to language develop and change