UNIT I: HOW TO TEACH A SECOND LANGUAGE?

Introduction.
Application of play activities in the teaching of English:
Learning and language, responds to a general purpose, (learning language) which is
divided and subdivided into specific objectives.
The educative game appears as a parallel dimension to these particular objectives,
reinforcing the motivation to a satisfactory end: be the winner.
In that sense the binomial learning- game reaches a holistic status that enhances the
results of the educator. You play to win, you win if you learn and if you learn, you
win.
Games require communication; they provoke and activate mechanisms for language
learning. Its dynamic has a parallel mechanism to the acquisition of the mother
tongue used by the child.

The context becomes impregnated with a playful atmosphere and allows each child
to develop their own learning strategies. Its goal may be: practice the language, have
fun and r win the game. To achieve any goal the specific target language will be
used in our case, English.
With the game, we as educators stop being the center of learning, becoming us in
mere facilitators-drivers of the teaching-learning, and boost, work in groups or
couples.
The use of games favor the creation of a relaxed and motivating atmosphere, thus
obtaining the most out of the activities.
We propose the use of play as a tool, not as exclusive activity
In our opinion the ideal of teaching is not one that uses a greater number of
recreational and educational activities, but one that has very specific goals and uses
the game to improve teaching and encouraging at the right time.

1. First language second language

Knowing how to children learn their first language can help us teach them a
second language.
All children can speak at least one language when they come to school.
Think about how they learn this first language. Think about babies and young
children. Most mothers talk a lot to their children.

For viewing a conversation between a 2 months and 10 days baby and her parents

Click here (video).

Babies:
Hear voices from the time they are born.
Respond to the voices of their mother, father or carer.
Listen to a lot of sound.
Play with sound and practice making sounds.
Begin to associate the sound with what they can see and understand.
Begin to use language to interact with others and get what they want.
For viewing a conversation between two babies, Click here (Video).

Young children, say what they hear others saying, and they pick up the
accent of those around them.
Read this transcrip of a mother talking to her child of 16 month

Mother: Now were nearly dressed,Ok, now

Mother: Yes. Your shoes. Where are they? Oh

over your head good boy put in your

there. Look your shoes on the chair.

other hand now shoes. Where are your

Child: Sus. Sus

shoes.

Mother: Yes shoes.

Child: sus

For viewing a conversation between a 20month baby and his mother , Click here

(Video).
For viewing a conversation of a 20 month girl, click here (Video).

This kind of talk called caretaker talk; parents as careers talks to help the
development of their childs language.
Teachers in school can do the same with their learners. Think about young
children learning English as a second language when they go to school.
Young children will:
Only acquire the language they hear around them.
Need to hear a lot of English.
Listen to you and try to make sense of what you say.
Sound like the people they listen to.
Listen to the next audio. Thinking about Easter bunny and eliciting the phrase

chocolate eggs.

AUDIO 1

Teacher: And its holiday, isnt it?

Children: Yes, yes.

Children: yeah.

Teacher: Chocolate eggs. OK. And he

Teacher: Yes. And on Easter Sunday he

brings? Yes?

brings us what? em?

Children: Chocolate eggs.

Children: Chocolate

Teacher: Do you like chocolate eggs? Do

Teacher: Chocolate? Uh, uh chocolate. Eh

you like chocolate eggs? I love chocolate

chocolateIcecream?

eggs.

Children: No
Teacher: No, no its not chocolate icecream. Eh, chocolate, eggs?
Children: Yes
Teacher: Do you like chocolate eggs?
Children: Yes, yes.
Teacher: Mm, yum, yum, yum, yes?

The conversation between the mother and the young child and the
classroom extract, are similar in many ways.
Both mother and teacher talk a lot more than the children do.
They provide a secure and supportive environment, which gives
the children confidence to try out language.
Look at the table below, there are many similarities between mother-child,
and teacher-child
What the teacher /parent
does

mother-child

teacher-child

Repeats phrases said

earlier

M: Now shoes
Yes, your shoes.
Look your shoes

T: Chocolate eggs?
Do you like chocolate
eggs?
I love chocolate eggs.

Keeps childrens attention M: Where are your shoes?

by asking questions
Where are they?

T: And he brings us
what?
He brings?

Reacts positively to what

children say even if words
are not complete or
perfectly pronounced

S: Sus- Sus
M: Yes, shoes

C: Chocolate.
T: Chocolate? Uh, uh,
chocolate.

Adds to or improves what

children say

S: Sus..
M: Yes. Your Shoes.

C: Chocolate eggs.
T: Do you like Chocolate
eggs?

This features of caretakers talk can help learners acquire new language
naturally. So they are very good things for teachers to do when teaching English
class.
Remember:
The more English the children hear, they more they will learn.
They will learn gradually; they wont say everything perfectly to start
with. Encourage them by responding positively.
1.1 Teaching tips. Helping children learn a second language.
1. Use English in class as the main language for communication.
2. Use gestures, actions and pictures to help children understand.
3. Children often need to talk in order to learn let children use their
mother tongue for communication especially to start with.
4. Recast in English what children say to you in their mother tongue.
5. Answer children in English as much as possible.
6. Use their mother tongue for support when you do a new activity or if
no one understands.
7. Talk a lot with your pupils, they need to hear English.

2. English classroom
To help children acquire English, speak English from the beginning of each
English lesson.
What you say then will, of course, depend on whether you are everyday class
teacher, or whether you are a specialist English teacher.
Are you a class teacher?
A class teacher teaches everyday subjects, including English, to the same class. Your
pupils are listening to you , every day, so think about::
Do something different so that everyone knows its time for English class.
(e.g. sing a song, make a rutine).
Wear something special during the lesson, e.g. a badge a hat.
Stand in a different place or arrange the room differently.
Put up a picture or get toys that children associate with English.
Are you as specialist teacher?
A specialist teacher only teaches English, but usually teacher several classes. You
might work with pupils of different ages and levels. Think about:
Plan something familiar in English at the beginning of the lesson to
make the change of teacher easier.
Prepare a routine that the children like, e.g. sing a song, or make a rhyme

Listen to the teachers in extract, the different ways to starts an English

lesson:
AUDIO 2

Teacher: Good morning.

Children: Very well. How are you?

Children: Good morning, teacher.

Teacher: Fine. Thanks.

Teacher: How are you today?

AUDIO 3

Teacher: Good morning. Is today Monday?

Children: Thursday.

Children: No

Teacher: Great!

Teacher: Or maybe Tuesday?

Teacher: Oh! I wish it was Sunday. Ok,
What day is today?

Songs as we will see later are essential in teaching a foreign language. We must not
forget its functionality when we want to changing activities or relax the classroom.
AUDIO 4

Teacher: Morning
Children: Morning.
Teacher: Ok. Can you stand up now? Please. Ok, Amanda, can you stand up too? Thanks
remember how to put your hands on your head? Yes? Like this. (Teacher puts his hands on his
head) Ok, do you remember this song? Ok.. Head and shoulders, knees and toes

These are some rutines we can use at the beginning of the lesson. But we can
do another rutines as:
AUDIO 5

Teacher: Thats all for today. Ok, on Monday there will be more. Ok, Ok, now children, now,
make a line o say good bye following the leader.

Remember:
Use songs and rhymes when you change for one activity to another.
Encourage your pupils to use English for routine classroom request
by praising nay effort they make.
Use Wall charts or posters to help children remember what you are
doing in the English class.