Phase - 2

Characteristics of Young Learners

2.1 Difference between Adults and Young Learners

2.2 Categories of Young Learners
2.3 Developmental Stages- Physical, Social, Emotional and Intellectual

2.1 Difference between Adults and Young Learners

Instructors need to understand the differences between young and adult learners in order
to be effective teachers. This includes their characteristics, how they learn, what they bring
to the learning situation, their needs and expectations as learners. All learners want to be
able to use a foreign language with confidence and spontaneity, in the same way as they
use their mother tongue.

Detailed differentiation is presented below:

 The young are totally dependent on the instructor while adults are autonomous
and self-directed. Decide on what information to give young learners because they
have very little knowledge and will accept whatever the instructor gives. Involve
adults actively in the planning and learning processes. Let them see relevance of
new learning experiences to their past and future.
 While teaching young learners help them learn through all the five senses. Adults
learn better through audio and visual inputs.
 The attention span for a young learner being short the inputs should be varied with
graded activities. Adults on the other hand can focus on a topic for a longer period
of time.

1
 Young learners find it difficult to understand abstract concepts, the content for
them should be relevant and something they can relate to. Adults can understand
abstract concepts and can relate easily to them. For young learners content should
gradually progress from concrete to abstract.
 The young are at school because parents or government want them to be there
Adults know what they wish to achieve by attending classes while the young do not.
Adults are relevancy-oriented. Instructors must ensure that learning objectives and
what they learn must be seen to be relevant to their learning goals.
 Learning speeds are different. The young are faster and adults can be slow
learners. Instructors should allay fears and anxieties caused by slow learning or
difficulties experienced right from the beginning. Positive reinforcement as well as
proper timing of instruction can help a lot. Reference to theories can be scary and
meaningless to adult learners. Use simple facts or concepts to explain issues. Do
everything possible to reduce stress levels in learning situations.
 Young learners are more receptive to new ideas because they are told it will benefit
them while adults already know the benefit or otherwise and may not accept new
ideas that may be contrary to long held ideas. Instructors should be careful not to
impose views or force adults to discard views already held. Young learners have less
life experience but learn quickly while adults are more experienced but learn slowly
and well. Avoid rushing through what has to be learnt to complete syllabus.
Learners' progress should dictate the speed or pace of instruction.
 Young learners largely depend on extrinsic motivation while the adults have
intrinsic motivation. Adults are already motivated and instructors only have to
sustain and extend it.
 All learners need to be respected. Instructors should treat them as equals in
knowledge and experience and allow them to express opinions freely. Acknowledge
what experienced adults bring to the classroom and provide opportunities for them
to express this in various activities. Making them feel inferior may be in conflict with
their statuses at home and at work. Such conflict may interfere with the learning
process and lead to loss of motivation.

2
Good rapport with learners will increase level of motivation to attend learning classes.
Instructors should be strong believers in lifelong learning in order to inspire their learners
with confidence that they can succeed too.

In one respect, however, adult learners are similar to young learners. All may be grouped
according to their preferred learning styles. Differences in cognitive styles influence
learners’ priorities for particular approach to learning. Learners employ different learning
strategies, which includes specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier,
faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, and more transferable to new situations
(Oxford, 1990).
The common learning styles for each type of learner are (Richards & Lockhart, 1996):
- Concrete - learners use active means of processing information;
- Analytical - learners prefer logical and systematic presentation of new material;
- Communicative - learners prefer social approach;
- Authority-oriented - learners prefer the teacher’s authority, though the perspective
is different for the adult and the young learners. Adults prefer authority of content, while
the young learners are comfortable with discipline.

Young children are able to enrich their lives and open doors to their future when they learn
languages at a young age. They gain an expanded world view, have greater intercultural
appreciation and sensitivity, have a competitive edge in the global marketplace, and have
the ability to learn more languages more easily! When people start to learn languages at a
younger age, they tend to become individuals who have a better understanding of the world
not only because they can communicate in more than one language but also for the reason
that learning new languages can help them have better appreciation of other cultures.

Learning new languages can bridge a lot of gaps and prove to be beneficial in the future that
is why it is better to begin learning languages while you are still young. If you are a parent
or an elder sibling or a teacher of young students, encourage young children to learn new
languages and help them equip themselves for their future.

3
Tips for teaching young learners as opposed to adults

1. Organization. The first thing you should do when teaching a preschool or elementary
school ESL class is to figure out how to organize your class. For the younger students you'll
want to change your activities every five to ten minutes because they have shorter attention
spans. If you don't change your activities, they'll soon start losing interest. As you get
towards the higher elementary grades, you can expand the time you spend per activity. The
best way to gauge this is to pay attention to your class for the first few days to see what
length of time works the best for them. Additionally, try to have everything ready to go
before the students enter the classroom. That way you can go from activity to activity with
minimal downtime.

2. Expectations. If you notice that your class is getting noisy or rambunctious, it's time to
change activities. Kids of this age are active and like to be active; in order to balance out the
energy levels in the classroom, alternate between active activities and quiet activities. If
you have a large class you will need games that do not degenerate into chaos. This will
leave you exhausted and the children ignorant. Also important is that the language in the
game should be well within the grasp of the children. Start simple and increase the
difficulty of the language, or increase the amount of vocabulary in a given game gradually. If
you see that the children are hesitating too much in a game switch to an easier game
immediately.

Be careful how you use activities that require fine motor skills - or more importantly pay
attention to your expectations for activities that require fine motor skills. Children in
preschool and early elementary are just learning to write in their own languages. This is not
the best time to bog them down with writing in English as well. It is better to spend the bulk
of the lesson time on listening and speaking skills for the younger children. As they progress
through elementary school, however, you can begin using games and activities that require
them to write small amounts.

4
3. Variation. You want to make sure your activities appeal to all sorts learning styles, so
even when you are using games to teach grammar you'll want to vary the types of things
you expect your students to do. For preschool and early elementary grades, stick to games
that use talking, listening, looking and moving. For middle and high elementary, you can
continue to use games that use talking, listening, looking and moving and add in some
games that use writing and reading.

Going along with this same idea, think about what children learn from the
easiest. Television commercials are short and catchy and the most memorable are the ones
that are repeated often. Keep these characteristics in mind when you are teaching grammar
to your students - incorporate these characteristics into your daily activities.

4. Respect. To make games work for you and your class, be sure to operate your class with
the utmost respect - both to and from students. This includes teaching your students from
the very start that you expect respect at all times. This includes giving encouragement and
following the rules.

Having said that, you'll need to make sure the rules for all of the games are clear and
manageable. When possible, explain the rules in the students' native tongue so that they all
know what is expected of them. When there is an environment of respect in the classroom,
the students will feel safe enough to participate in the games so that they can get the most
educational value out of them.
Towards the end of elementary school, you can start introducing competitive games, but
only if the class is respectful where it shouldn't be the main focus of the game.

5. Routine. Even if you only have your students for a short time every week, establishing a
routine will help the class go smoothly. Children of this age (preschool through elementary
school) thrive on routine and if they know what to expect next, they will be able to
participate more in what's going on now. Set up a schedule for the type of activities you'll
be doing at any given time throughout the class whether it is a game, story or song or
whatever you want to do. Then, when you are planning your class, plug in the appropriate

5
activities to each section of time. You should also leave a little time at the end of the class
period to allow the students to clean up and gather their things as well as time for you to
recap the class, praise the students and tell them good-bye.

You can also designate a "sign" to use to signal to the students when it is time to change
activities such as clapping or signing a specific song so that they know it's time to return to
the circle, table or desks.

6. Nurture. Perhaps the most important thing you can do with your students is to nurture
them every day. For each child in your class, find something you like about him or her and
be sure to tell him or her. Be encouraging, patient and kind while playing games and
participating in activities and they'll like you as a teacher and a person which will in turn will
get excited about your class and what you have for them to do every day.

Just by keeping these tips in mind, you'll be able to teach children grammar with
ease. You'll be having fun and they'll be having fun - so much fun, in fact, that they might
not even realize that they are learning in the process!
2.2 Categories of Young Learners

CATEGORIES OF YOUNG LEARNERS

Categorizing young learners can be according to the stages of development as well as the
mode of language acquisition. Piaget’s theories as well as more recent studies by Jacques
Mehler tell us how categorizing young learners helps us as effective language teachers and
makes teaching a meaningful experience.

Jean Piaget on Child Development

One thinker that has had huge effect on the educational world, especially regarding the
education of children, is the Swiss Psychologist Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980). His specialty was
child development and he described a series of stages that he believed children go through
as they cognitively develop.

6
Sensory-motor Stage: from birth to about twenty four months and is characterized by
children understanding their environment by acting on it. Through touch and sight, children
begin to understand basic relationships which affect them and object in their immediate
experience. These include space, location of objects, and the relationships of cause and
effect. The children cannot make use of abstract objects; this develops over the next stages.

During the pre-operational stage, from around two to seven years, children develop the
“symbolic function” (the ability to understand, use and manipulate symbols), which includes
such skills as drawing, language and mental imagery. Children also begin to develop the
mental ability to use CONCEPTS dealing with number, classification, order and time, but use
these concepts in very limited ways.

The concrete operational stage, from about seven to eleven years is the period when
children begin to use mental operations and begin to acquire a number of concepts
of conservation* . During the formal operational stage, from around eleven onwards,
children begin to be able to deal with abstract concepts and PROPOSITIONS, and to make
hypotheses, inferences and deductions. Since the mental processes described by Piaget are
important for language development, linguists and psychologists have made use of Piaget´s
ideas in studying how mental development and linguistic development are related.

Jacques Mehler on language acquisition of bilingual children

A recent study conducted by Jacques Mehler, who is a cognitive neuroscientist at the
International School for Advanced studies in Trieste, shows that bilingual children can
quickly get used to different learning cues at seven months old compared with babies who
live in single-language homes. The results of the studies may lead researchers to rethink
how hearing two languages trains the young brains of babies even before they have learned
how to put together words.

Babies from bilingual environments develop early learning advantage skills but this may not
automatically mean that they will have higher intelligence later on in their lives. However, it
reveals that babies benefit early on from having bilingual exposure, even when they still

7
babble incomprehensible words. The enhancement of these babies’ learning advantage is
due more to perception at their young age rather than language production.

Scientists have known since before that babies begin absorbing language fundamentals
even before they can speak and that they can tell the difference between the sounds from
different languages. Previous researches have also gathered that regularly using two
languages improves some thinking processes among children and adults.

The research was designed and conducted by comparing bilingual babies with monolingual
babies. Each group had to look at screens in anticipation of visual stimulations with puppets
associated with sound cues with the image. In all the experiments, the bilingual babies beat
the monolingual babies even when the sound cues changed from nonsense syllable
combinations to a structured sound cue and then a visual cue.

The study clearly showed that bilingual babies have an advantage in thinking that involved
the so-called executive function which helps regulate abilities such as being able to start and
stop actions. The study also indicated that having early bilingual exposure could train the
mind in a more general sense rather than just a language-specific sense as some researchers
had suggested.

Since the bilingual babies don’t know how to speak yet, no one can attribute the knowledge
of two languages to them, said Mehler. However, the results of the study do not indicate
that the early learning advantage of bilingual babies can translate into better intelligence in
later life and it doesn’t deny the possibility that monolingual babies have plenty of
opportunities later to exercise executive function.

Exposure to two different languages at an earlier age may enhance the learning advantage
of young children. However, if we would want them to become truly fluent with languages,
we should encourage them to learn as they grow.

8
2.3 Developmental Stages- Physical, Social, Emotional and Intellectual

Child development stages describe theoretical milestones of child development. Many

stage models of development have been proposed, used as working concepts and in some
cases asserted as nativist theories.

This is the most widely accepted developmental stages. However, it is important to

understand that there is wide variation in terms of what is considered "normal," driven by a
wide variety of genetic, cognitive, physical, family, cultural, nutritional, educational, and
environmental factors. Many children will reach some or most of these milestones at
different times from the norm.

Overview of motor, speech, vision and hearing development

Developmental Milestones
Age Motor Speech Vision and Additional
hearing Notes
Smiles at parent
weeks
4–6

Vocalizes
6–8 weeks

Prone: head held up for Makes vowel Follows Squeals with

prolonged periods. noises dangling toy delight
3 months

No grasp reflex from side to appropriately.

side. Turns Discriminates
head round to smile.
sound

9
 Holds head steady. Enjoys vocal play
5 months

Goes for objects and

gets them. Objects
taken to mouth
Transfers objects from Double syllable Localizes May show
one hand to the other. sounds such as sound 45 cm 'stranger
Pulls self up to sit and 'mumum' and lateral to shyness'
6 months

sits erect with support. 'dada' either ear

Rolls over prone to
supine. Palmar grasp of
cube
Wiggles and crawls. Sits Babbles tunefully Looks for toys Apprehensive
9–10 months

unsupported. Picks up dropped about strangers

objects with pincer
grasp
Stands Babbles 2 or 3 Drops toys, Cooperates
holding furniture. words repeatedly and watches with dressing,
Stands alone for a where they go waves goodbye,
1 year

second or two, then understands

collapses with a bump simple
commands
Can walk alone. Picks 'Jargon'. Many Demands
up toy without falling intelligible words constant
mothering.
over. Gets Drinksfrom
up/down stairs holding a cup with both
18 months

hands. Feeds self

onto rail. Begins to
with a spoon.
jump with both feet. Most children
Can build a tower of 3 with autism are
diagnosed at this
or 4 cubes and throw
age.
a ball

10
 Able to run. Walks up Joins 2-3 words in Parallel play. Dry
and down stairs 2 feet sentences by day
2 years

per step. Builds tower

of 6 cubes
Goes up stairs 1 foot Constantly Cooperative
per step and asks questions. play. Undresses
downstairs 2 feet per Speaks in with assistance.
3 years

step. Copies circle, sentences Imaginary

imitates cross and companions
draws man on request.
Builds tower of 9cubes
Goes down stairs one Questioning at its Dresses and
foot per step, skips on height. undresses with
4 years

one foot. Imitates gate Many substitution assistance.

with cubes, copies a s in speech Attends to
cross own toilet needs
Skips on both feet and Fluent speech Dresses and
hops. Draws a man and with few infantile undresses alone
5 years

copies a triangle. Gives substitutions in

age speech
Copies a diamond. Fluent speech
Knows right from
6 years

left and number

of fingers

11
Physical specifications
Respir Heart
Average Normal
ation rate Visual
length/ Length Average Weight body
Age

rate (pulse) acuity

height growth weight gain temper
(per (per (Smelling)
(cm) ature
min) min)
2.5 cm 100-
4–8 kg
1–4 months

50–70 cm (0.98 in) 200 g 30 to 35.7-

(8.8–
(20–28 in) per per 40 37.5 °C
18 lb)
month week
1.3 cm
(doublin 500 g
4–8 months

70–75 cm (0.51 in) 25 to

g birth per
(28–30 in) per 50
weight) month
month
9.6 kg
Approx. (21 lb)
1.5 times Nearly 35.7-
8–12 months

500 g
birth triple the 20 to 37.5 °C
per 20/100
length by birth 45 (96.4-
month
first weight 99.6 °F)
birthday by first
birthday
5–8 cm 130-
9–13 kg
80–90 cm (2.0– 250 g 22 to 80 to
Months
12–24

(20– 20/60
(31–35 in) 3.1 in) per 40 110
29 lb)
per year month

12
 12–15 kg
(26–
7–13 cm
33 lb) 1 kg
85–95 cm (2.8– 20 to
2 years

about 4 per
(33–37 in) 5.1 in) 35
times year
per year
birth
weight
95–
100 cm
5–8 cm 1.4-
(37–39 in) 13–17 kg
(2.0– 2.3 kg 20 to 35-37 90 to
3 years

Nearly (29– 20/40

3.1 in) per 30 °C 110
double 37 lb)
per year year
birth
length
101.6– 5–6.5 cm 14.5– 1.8-
114 cm (2.0– 17 kg 2.3 kg 36.6- 90 to
4 years

20-30 20/30
(40.0– 2.6 in) (32– per 37.4°C 110
44.9 in) per year 37 lb) year
5–6.5 cm 1.8-
105– 17–21 kg
(2.0– 2.3 kg 90 to
5 years

115 cm (37– 20-30 20/20

2.6 in) per 110
(41–45 in) 46 lb)
per year year
5–7 cm
105– 17–22 kg 2 kg
>5 years

(2.0–
120 cm (37– per
2.8 in)
(41–47 in) 49 lb) year
per year

13
Categories of Child Development Stages
• Child (birth - puberty)
• Neonate (new-born) (0-30 days)
• Infant (baby) (1 month-1 year)
• Toddler (1-4)
• Play age (3 - 6 years)
• Primary school age (also called pre-pubescence) (4-12)
• Elementary school age (also called middle childhood) (4-8)
• Pre-adolescence (preteen, or late childhood. The child in this and the previous phase
are called schoolchild (schoolboy or schoolgirl), when still of primary school age.) (10-
12)
• Adolescence and puberty (12-20)

General Developmental Sequence Toddler through Preschool

This page presents typical activities and achievements for children from two to five years of
age. It is important to keep in mind that the time frames presented are in averages and
some children may achieve various developmental milestones earlier or later than the
average but still be within the normal range.

Physical Development Social Development

Walks well, goes up and down steps alone, runs,
seats self on chair, becoming independent in
toileting, uses spoon and fork, imitates circular
stroke, turns pages singly, kicks ball, attempts to
dress self, builds tower of six cubes.
AGE
2
Emotional Development
Very Self-centered, just beginning a sense of
personal identity and belongings, possessive,
often negative, often frustrated, no ability to
choose between alternatives, enjoys physical
affection, resistive to change, becoming
independent, more responsive to humor and
Solitary play, dependent on adult
guidance, plays with dolls, refers to
self by name, socially very immature,
little concept of others as
"people." May respond to simple
direction.
Intellectual Development
Says words, phrases and simple
sentences, 272 words, understands
simple directions, identifies simple
pictures, likes to look at books, short
attention span, avoids simple hazards,

14
distraction than discipline or reason.
Physical Development
Runs well, marches, stands on one foot briefly,
rides tricycle, imitates cross, feeds self well, puts
on shoes and stockings, unbuttons and buttons,
build tower of 10 cubes. Pours from pitcher.
Emotional Development
Likes to conform, easy going attitude, not so
resistive to change, more secure, greater sense
of personal identity, beginning to be
adventuresome, enjoys music.
Physical Development
Skips on one foot, draws "Man", cuts with
scissors (not well), can wash and dry face, dress
self except ties, standing broad jump, throws
ball overhand, high motor drive.
Emotional Development
Seems sure of himself, out-of bounds behaviour,
often negative, may be defiant, seems to be
15
can do simple form board.
Social Development
Parallel play, enjoys being by others,
takes turns, knows if he is a boy or girl,
enjoys brief group activities requiring
no skill, likes to "help" in small ways--
responds to verbal guidance.
Intellectual Development
Says short sentences, 896 words, great
growth in communication, tells simple
Age
stories, uses words as tools of thought,
3
wants to understand environment,
answers questions, imaginative, may
recite few nursery rhymes.
Social Development
Cooperative play, enjoys other
children's company, highly social, may
play loosely organized group games -
Age tag, duck-duck-goose, talkative,
4 versatile.
Intellectual Development
Uses complete sentences, 1540 words,
asks endless questions, learning to
testing himself out, needs controlled freedom. generalize, highly imaginative,
dramatic, can draw recognizable
simple objects.

Social Development
Physical Development Highly cooperative play, has special

Hops and skips, dresses without help, good "friends", highly organized, enjoys

balance and smoother muscle action, skates, simple table games requiring turns and

rides wagon and scooter, prints simple letters, observing rules, "school", takes pride

handedness established, ties shoes, girls small in clothes and accomplishments, eager

muscle development about 1 year ahead of to carry out some responsibility.

Age
boys.
5
Intellectual Development

Emotional Development 2,072 words, tells long tales, carries

Self-assured, stable, well-adjusted, home- out direction well, reads own name,

centered, likes to associate with mother, counts to 10, asks meaning of words,

capable, of some self-criticism, enjoys knows colours, beginning to know

responsibility. Likes to follow the rules. difference between fact and fiction-
lying, interested in environment, city,
stores, etc.

16