Methods of Teaching English To Young Lea

PRACA DYPLOMOWA
LICENCJACKA
Methods of Teaching English to Young

Learners
Karolina Witek
Nr albumu: 035099
Kierunek: Filologia angielska
Specjalność: nauczycielska
PROMOTOR:
Dr Barbara Loranc-Paszylk
Bielsko-Biała, 2011
Table of contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. 2
Chapter I Theoretical introduction into the terms and methods ................................................................... 4
1 Describing Young Learners .................................................................................................................. 4
1.1 General features of YL ........................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Individual differences ............................................................................................................................ 6
1.2.1 Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) ...................................................................................... 6
1.2.2 Multiple Intelligences theory (MI theory) ................................................................................ 7
1.3 Motivation .............................................................................................................................................. 8
1.3.1 Motivation in general ............................................................................................................... 8
1.3.2 YL motivation ........................................................................................................................ 10
2. Methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 11
2.1 What is methodology and why is it useful? .......................................................................................... 11
2.1.1 Approach ................................................................................................................................ 11
2.1.2 Method ................................................................................................................................... 11
2.1.3 Procedure ............................................................................................................................... 12
2.1.4 Technique ............................................................................................................................... 12
2.2 Methods of teaching English to YL ...................................................................................................... 13
2.2.1 Audio-lingualism.................................................................................................................... 14
2.2.2 Total Physical Response (TPR) .............................................................................................. 14
2.2.3 The Natural Approach ............................................................................................................ 15
2.2.4 Songs ...................................................................................................................................... 16
2.2.5 Chants .................................................................................................................................... 17
2.2.6 Puppets ................................................................................................................................... 18
2.2.7 Flashcards .............................................................................................................................. 18
2.2.8 Games .................................................................................................................................... 19
3 Syllabus design ...................................................................................................................................20
3.1 Syllabus criteria .................................................................................................................................... 20
3.2 Types of lesson syllabus ....................................................................................................................... 21
4 Conclusions .........................................................................................................................................23
Chapter II Empirical Research ....................................................................................................................24
2.1 The purpose of the research .............................................................................................................24
2.2 Procedures and methods ...................................................................................................................24
2.3 Data collection .................................................................................................................................26
2.4 Discussing the data ...........................................................................................................................26
2.4.1 QUESTIONNAIRE ........................................................................................................................... 26
2.4.1.1 Quantitative analysis ........................................................................................................... 26
2.4.1.1.1. The most commonly used methods ...................................................................... 27
2.4.1.1.2. Effectiveness of the methods used ........................................................................ 28
2.4.1.1.3 Parents' opinions .................................................................................................... 30
2.4.1.1.4. Teachers assessing their students' progress ........................................................... 30
2.4.1.2. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 31
2.4.2 SYLLABUS ...................................................................................................................................... 31
2.4.2.1 General information about the syllabus .......................................................................................... 32
2.4.2.2. Comparison of the syllabus charts ................................................................................................. 32
2.4.2.1. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 34
2.4.3 OBSERVATIONS .............................................................................................................................. 35
2.4.3.1 Observation charts – quantitative analysis .......................................................................... 35
2.4.3.1.1. Types of interaction occurring on the lessons ....................................................... 36
2.4.3.1.2. Acivities ................................................................................................................ 36
2.4.3.1.3. Level o students' satisfaction with the methods used based on the observation
charts .................................................................................................................................... 36
Chapter III - Conclusions ............................................................................................................................38
Summary in English ................................................................................................................................... 41
Summary in Polish ..................................................................................................................................... 42
Bibliography ...............................................................................................................................................43
Appendix ....................................................................................................................................................46
Introduction
The topic of this thesis concerns the methods used in teaching English to young
learners, specifically young learners in kindergartens. What makes the topic worth
considering is the fact that there is not an official syllabus for children leaning English
in kindergartens in Poland for learning English in kindergartens in not compulsory yet.
However, it might be in the future. That is why it is worth checking what has already
been done in this field and what may be needed to be done in the future.
All the useful terms will be explained and described in the first chapter which
serves as the introduction to the empirical part of the thesis. In the chapter Young
Learners (YL) will be described in detail along with all their features and motivation.
The methods and techniques which are commonly used in teaching English to YL such
as the Total Physical Response, The Natural Approach and PPP will be described next.
The most common techniques used in teaching English in kindergarten such as
songs, chants, puppets, flashcards and games will be described in greater detail. The
chapter will end with the subchapter “Syllabus design” where the term syllabus along
with the types of lesson syllabus and the criteria of creating one will be described.
“Conclusions” chapter is going to close the whole theoretical part leading to the
second part of the thesis.
The empirical part of the thesis is based on a descriptive research and focuses on
the effectiveness of the methods used in teaching English in kindergartens, the
effectiveness of the existing syllabus and the engagement of the teachers in providing
English lessons to their students. All of the focal points are put in a form of research
questions which will be answered further on in the empirical part. The chapter describes
and analyzes the research tools as follows: the questionnaire, the syllabus charts and the
observation charts.
The third chapter serves as the final conclusion of the thesis. It contains all the
conclusions that were made in the empirical part, all grouped in form of answers to the
research questions asked in the beginning of chapter two.
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Chapter I Theoretical introduction into the terms and
methods
This chapter is the theoretical part of the thesis. It discusses the terms that are going
to be used in the thesis along with the description of methods and some psychological
terms that refer to Young Learners – the main subject of the thesis. The theory included
here will most probably be helpful in the research that is to be demonstrated.
1 Describing Young Learners
The term „young learner‟ in this thesis relates to children under the age of 7
learning English as their second language in kindergarten and can be replaced with an
acronym YL.1
1.1 General features of YL
Learner's age is an important factor in establishing suitable methods of teaching

for each age group has its individual features and characteristics. In this subchapter we
are going to describe general features of YL – definition as described above . Children
come to the classroom with well-established set of instincts and skills which should not
be disregarded (Halliwell 1992:3). According to Halliwell (1992:3-8) and Brown (2007)
young children, especially those under the age of 10, learn in the following ways:
 They understand the overall meaning of information they receive even if they do
not understand individual words. That is the ability they use also in learning
their mother tongue.
 They learn with all their senses at once. The best way to know and understand
something is by touching, smelling and exploring it. They learn from what they
can see and hear and, above everything else, by having a chance to touch it and
interact with it.
 They establish the meaning of the messages conveyed to them mostly from the
1
Retrieved from http://www.europa-pages.com/uk/ELT-Acronyms.html on 15.06.2011
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gestures, intonation and facial expression of the person speaking to them.
 They have a limited attention span. Performing activities lasting longer than 10
minutes bores them that is why the lesson must be engaging and full of different
tasks and activities.
 They are generally enthusiastic about learning and exploring the world around
them.
 They have a need to be noticed and treated as individual and also to be praised.
 They are creative in using their limited language resources. Halliwell (1992:4)
sets here an example of a four-year-old boy saying “Switch off the dark” which
is an example of children's creativity in using the forms they already know to
communicate. It is the urge of communication that makes them invent new
words for their personal use.
 They learn indirectly most of the time i.e. they are not concentrating on learning
a phrase, they just want to guess the right one. They are not concentrating on the
language but still they remember the phrases.
 They love to have fun and their imagination is ready for every game and activity
for they love imagining things and fantasizing. They also love playing with
language sounds, imitating, and making funny noises.
 They like talking and sharing their ideas with others. The teachers goal is to
encourage them to do it in English.
 They are very good imitators. Echoing is an important strategy used by children
when learning a foreign language.
It is impossible to describe every single feature of every child because they are
all individuals. Listed above are the relevant for language teaching characteristics of an
average child.
These generalizations are common for the majority of children under the age of
10 and they are crucial in choosing the most effective teaching methods, forming a
perfect classroom interior and atmosphere, creating suitable teaching aids and
establishing the best way of interaction with young learners.
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To sum up, YL are eager to learn about the world that surrounds them and they
easily adopt foreign languages by imitation, echoing and repetition. As it was mentioned
before they have a short attention span but, on the other hand, they fully engage in the
games and exercises in the classroom.
1.2 Individual differences
It is important to remember that every age group, even though they are different
in many ways, has one fundamental linking „feature‟, they all are sets of people and
people are all individuals. That means they all think a little differently, they perceive the
world in many different ways and they have different techniques of learning as well as
different aptitudes. Some people are better at learning languages, others like
mathematics and physics more. This indicates that every brain works differently and
that people respond differently to different stimuli. There are many approaches
describing the differences between learners, but this paper will focus specifically on
young children so only the relevant approaches such as Neuro-linguistic programming
and the MI theory will be presented.
1.2.1 Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)
According to this approach “we use a number of „primary representational

systems‟ to experience the world” (Harmer 2003:46) and they are all described in the
acronym VAKOG which stands for: Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic, Olfactory
(concerning the sense of smell), and Gustatory (concerning taste). It is said that we all
use all these systems to experience the world but we tend to have one „preferred primary
system‟ (Ravell and Norman 1997:31). The idea is that people whose preferred primary
system is Visual react powerfully to images and those preferring Auditory react stronger
to sounds. The approach shows that every child the teacher is dealing with has its
individual needs and for example may not learn as good as others simply because the
teacher used images and the child is a Kinaesthetic and needs another way of interaction
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with the subject.
What NLP shows the teachers is that they should provide their students with
various materials. It suggests the teacher should establish a „healthy diet‟ of flashcards,
listening materials, games and activities for all representational systems.
1.2.2 Multiple Intelligences theory (MI theory)
MI theory is a concept introduced by a Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner

(1993) who suggests that people do not possess a single intelligence but a number of
intelligences. He listed seven: Musical/Rhythmic, Verbal/Linguistic, Visual/Spatial,
Bodily/Kinaesthetic, Logical/Mathematical, Intrapersonal and Interpersonal. So for
example a typical end state of a person with Bodily/Kinaesthetic intelligence would be
of PE teacher or a sportsman, for a person with Logical/Mathematical intelligence the
end state would probably be a scientist or IT specialist. For Musical/Rhythmic
intelligence the end state might be a musician and so on.
Gardner has added an eighth intelligence called the Naturalistic intelligence
which is the ability to recognize and classify the patterns in nature and after that Daniel
Goleman (1997) has added the ninth „Emotional intelligence‟ which includes the ability
to empathize and to self-motivate.
Again, just like with NLP, if the teacher accepts the MI theory it means he or she
realizes that a task good for a student with Verbal/Linguistic intelligences will not be
suitable for the one with Bodily/Kineasthetic ones. Gray (2006) from the University of
Yale has presented a following table containing the most suitable activities according to
the intelligences.
Intelligence Strength: Students May Enjoy:

Writing, speaking, publishing, vocabulary,
Verbal-Linguistic
Word puzzles
Math games, logic puzzles, experiments,
Logical Mathematical
codes, analogies, numbers, mysteries
Maps, charts, diagrams, drawing, sculpture,
Visual-Spatial graphic organizers, models, puppets,
photographs
Movement, dance, manipulatives, drama,
Bodily-Kinesthetic
building, role-playing, sports
Musical instruments, listening, recording,
Musical
rhythmic language, poetry, songs, clapping
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Board games, cooperative groups, collective
Interpersonal problem solving, interviewing, peer tutoring,
think-pair-share, discussions
Journaling, scrapbooks, reflection, goal-
Intrapersonal
setting, self-directed projects, debates, memoir
Outdoor experiences, plants, pets, bugs,
Naturalistic classifying natural objects, environmental
topics
Table 1 Activities for different intelligencies - Gray (2006)2
According to these information the teacher might be able to work with the
students in small kindergarten groups of 5 to 8 students more effectively than teachers at
school. Furthermore, the MI theory just like the NLP reminds the teacher about the
individuality of his or her students.
In conclusion, as we found out in this chapter, students are all individuals with
different needs concerning the teaching-learning process. For example, the visual
learners – learners with the Visual Intelligence - prefer drawings, model and
photographs to listening or speaking activities. Furthermore, the chapter shows that it is
difficult to provide a lesson which would be the most effective for all the students in the
classroom.
1.3 Motivation
It is generally known that motivation is a key to success. Majority of people

admits that if they are not trying at all there is a big chance of failure. Motivation is also
a key in the process of learning. If the student is not motivated to learn he will simply
not learn. Since motivation plays an important role in education there is a need to define
what it means and how to define it. (Brown 2007)
1.3.1 Motivation in general

Generally, motivation is a force that drives people to do things in order to
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achieve something. Brown (2007:168-9) highlights three perspectives in which
motivation can be seen. They are all referring to psychological philosophies.
According to the behavioral perspective motivation is the anticipation of an award and
performance in tasks along with the motivation to do it is often determined by the
teacher, parents and peers.
The cognitive perspective

The cognitive perspective is more about personal decision of an individual.
People choose which things they are willing to do and how much effort they will put in
performing them.
Brown also points out that in cognitive perspective people are driven by basic human
needs such as the need of exploration (probing the unknown), activity (physical and
mental), knowledge, and ego enhancement (being accepted and approved by others).
The constructivist view

The constructivist view emphasizes the social context and the individual
personal choices even further. Motivation here is based on two elements - interactions
with others and one‟s self-determination.
Here is the table produced by Brown (2007:170) concerning the three types of
motivation.
Three ways of motivation:

Behavioristic Cognitive Constructivist
Driven by basic human needs Social context
Anticipation of reward
(exploration, manipulation, Community
Desire to receive positive
etc.) Social status
reinforcement
Degree of effort expended Security of group
External, individual forces in
Internal, individual forces in Internal, interactive forces in
control
control control
Table 2 Three views of motivation. Adapted from Brown (2007:170)
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There is one thing that is also very important if it comes to motivation apart from
different views and definitions. Motivation can be divided into extrinsic and intrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation comes from the inside of an individual. The person might
be motivated because they enjoy the process of learning or because they want to feel
better.
Extrinsic motivation comes from the outside. The student may want to pass the
exam very badly because otherwise he will not be admitted to a higher school or he does
not want his parents to be disappointed. (Brown 2007:170)
1.3.2 YL motivation
Children are less complicated than adolescents or adults if it comes to

motivation since they are on the beginning of the course of education and they do not
yet have tests or exams. In fact they are not aware of the process of learning at all. They
are taught by games, songs, playing with puppets and guessing what is there on the
flashcards they can see. At the very start their motivation is based mostly on the
cognitive perspective and specifically exploration. They are young adventurers who are
hungry for knowledge. As they familiarize with the rules of social interactions their
motivation is also ego enhancement which means they learn because they want to be
accepted and approved by others and not only by peers but also by the teacher. The
motivation is intrinsic – they are motivated by the desire to have fun and feel good.
The most important conclusion for the teacher is to take the opportunity and
teach those children as much as possible while they are motivated and ready for it.
To sum up, motivation in general is a force that drives people to do things in

order to achieve something. It can be seen in the cognitive perspective which is about
the individual‟s personal decision on how much time and effort is going to be used in
performing something and in the constructivist view which is based on interaction with
others. Furthermore, motivation is divided into intrinsic – coming from the inside of the
individual, and extrinsic that comes from the outside. Children‟s motivation is intrinsic
– they want to have fun and feel good, and based on exploration and enhancement.
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2. Methodology
There are a few things a teacher needs to know to teach people. One of the basic
ones is the methodology, meaning the methods that he or she can use to effectively
teach a subject, in this case English. Before the actual list and description of the most
popular methods of teaching English to children it will be said what „methodology‟
actually means and why is it useful.
2.1 What is methodology and why is it useful?
Methodology is the study and the description of methods of teaching. It is a

general area within which 4 terms can be specified. These are approach, method,
procedure and technique. (Harmer 2003:78)
2.1.1 Approach
An approach describes:
 how language is used
 the dependence between language constituents
 how people acquire their language skills
 the conditions promoting language learning.
An approach is mainly about the theories of language and language learning.
2.1.2 Method
“A method is the practical realization of an approach” (Harmer 2003:78). Presents

the ideas about:
 Types of activities
 Roles of teachers and learners
 Kinds of materials that will be useful
 Models of syllabus organization
Methods include procedures and techniques. They are easy to describe when the
procedures are fixed and the approach clear.
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2.1.3 Procedure
A procedure in an ordered sequence of techniques. It is “the last level of

conceptualization and organization within a method” (Richards and Rogers 2001:31)
Smaller than a method but bigger than a technique, a procedure is a sequence
that can be described in the following way: first you do this, than you do that… It is a
list of successive steps of an activity. What is more, a procedure centers on checking
how a method deals with presentation, practice and feedback.
Below there are three dimensions of a method at a level of procedure:
 “The use of teaching activities to present new language and to clarify and
demonstrate formal, communicative, or other aspects of the target language,
 The ways in which particular teaching activities are used for practicing
language,
 The procedures and techniques used in giving feedback to learners concerning
the form or content of their utterances and sentences” (Richards and Rogers
2001:31)
2.1.4 Technique
A technique is smaller than a procedure and usually represents one activity. Like for
example silent viewing where the teacher plays a video with no sound and the students
watch. It is more like a single activity rather than a bigger set. (Harmer 2003:78-79)
Apart from approach, method, procedure and technique there is also a term
„model‟ used for describing typical procedures or sets of procedures usually for teachers
in training.
What is useful about methodology is that it describes many different methods to

be used during the course of English teaching. It is expedient for the teachers to
acquaint themselves with them as each of the methods is suitable for different types of
learners. It is also of vital importance that the teacher would feel comfortable using the
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method chosen so the students could benefit from it as much as possible. What is also
important is to check if the chosen method conveys all the information and the
knowledge required to the students so it would not be pointless.
2.2 Methods of teaching English to YL
The most popular methods on which teaching English to YL is based are the
methods listed, for example, by Larsen-Freeman (2000) – the Audio-lingualism;
Presentation-Practice-Production (PPP) and it‟s alternatives; Communicative approach;
Task-based learning; The Four methods: Community Language Learning, The Silent
Way, Suggestopaedia, Total Physical Response (TPR); Humanistic teaching and the
Lexical approach. However, not all of them are fully used in teaching English to YL.
Fixed methods like those listed above are usually used at schools where children
are older and have mastered their mother tongue in speaking and in writing and are
capable of understanding what grammar is. Young learners in kindergarten are still
developing their mother tongue skills and are not able to capture the essence of
grammar and so it would be difficult to use Humanistic teaching where they are
supposed to create sentences concerning their lives in different tenses. The same with
Communicative approach. Young children are still learning how to use their mother
tongue correctly so they are not able to communicate in English in any way. (Brown
2007)
Teachers in kindergarten are deriving their techniques from already existing

methods such as Audio-lingualism, Total Physical Response (TPR), The Natural
Approach or PPP which will be discussed along with the used techniques and models in
this chapter.
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2.2.1 Audio-lingualism
Audio-lingualism is based on the behaviorist theory about stimulus – response –

reinforcement in other words about learning new behaviors. In Audio-lingualism it
equals engendering good habits in language learning. This form of teaching includes
mainly drills. The drill is designed to teach a certain form for example a correct
sentence in Present Simple. Small changes are being performed on the drill so that the
students would constantly learn but also to prevent them from making mistakes. For
example:
Teacher: There‟s a cup on the table… repeat.
Students: There‟s a cup on the table.
Teacher: spoon
Students: There‟s a spoon on the table.
Teacher: Book
Students: There‟s a book on the table.
Teacher: on the chair
Students: There‟s a book on the chair.
Etc.
(Harmer 2003:79-80)
The methods has many drawbacks for example it does not allow the student to
experiment with the language. On the other hand, it is perfect for YL for it shows
exactly how a proper English sentence should look like and it can be very useful in
establishing some fixed sentences and phrases in the student‟s dictionary.
2.2.2 Total Physical Response (TPR)
The TPR originator James Asher (2000) based his theory on the fact that
children learn a foreign language from speech directed to them. TPR is basically
learning from oral instructions given to the students by the teacher. The basic idea is that
students are not being made to speak, their main task is to listen to the teachers
instructions in the foreign language and respond to them and only if they feel ready they
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can start speaking in that language. The examples of such instructions are (Larsen-
Freeman 2000:111):
“Bring me chalk from the box that lies on the desk”, “Go fast towards the door and hit
it”, “Come to the blackboard and draw an apple” etc. The teacher speaks to the students
using commands till everyone respond correctly and then one of the students can start
giving instructions to his fellow students. This type of teaching is appropriate mainly for
the beginners.
The concept of only listening to the language originated from Asher‟s
observation of babies. Before it speaks, a baby is listening to the people around it for a
long time. The parents do not usually urge the baby to speak so it chooses his or her
own moment when it is ready. The same way of interaction is supposed to occur during
teaching English to children using the Total Physical Response. (Larsen- Freeman
2000:109)
TPR is a key method to apply when teaching children for it respects the „silent
period‟ and does not require any previous language knowledge from children. (Harmer
2003:90)
2.2.3 The Natural Approach
The Natural Approach is a method that methodologists advice to use at the first
stages of teaching to introduce the Total Physical Response. The method concentrates
on using the foreign language on the lessons nearly all the time and helping the students
understand it by showing them pictures and being as expressive as possible.
Listening comprehension is a crucial goal in both TPR and Natural Approach. In
fact, it is so important that the teacher does not correct any oral errors made by the
students and allows them to use their mother tongue along with the foreign language to
communicate on the lesson. (Larsen- Freeman 2000:110)
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2.2.4 Songs
Songs are a powerful and almost inexhaustible source of English vocabulary.

They are a basic teacher‟s help in teaching in kindergarten based on the Audio-lingual
method. Songs are drills but sung. The form of the drill is incorporated into the song and
therefore more interesting for children. Songs are even better than typical drills for they
are easily remembered and stay in children‟s minds for long (Cant and Superfine 1997).
There are songs for practically every topic covered during the English course in
kindergarten. The best example would be Super Simple Songs which is basically a set of
songs grouped by themes which create a ready curriculum. Below are the lyrics of one
of the songs:
One little pumpkin smiling, smiling. (Hold up one finger and then make a smiley face!)
One little pumpkin smiling, smiling.
One little pumpkin smiling, smiling.
One little pumpkin is happy. (Smile and put your fingers on your cheeks.)
Two little pumpkins pouting, pouting. (Hold up two fingers and then frown and look down.)
Two little pumpkins pouting, pouting.
Two little pumpkins pouting, pouting.
Two little pumpkins are grumpy. (Cross your arms and frown.)
Three little pumpkins yawning, yawning. (Hold up three fingers and then cover your mouth with your
hand as you yawn.)
Three little pumpkins yawning, yawning.
Three little pumpkins yawning, yawning.
Three little pumpkins are sleepy. (Stretch and yawn like you are falling asleep.)
Four little pumpkins crying, crying. (Hold up four fingers and pretend to wipe a tear from your eye.)
Four little pumpkins crying, crying.
Four little pumpkins crying, crying.
Four little pumpkins are sad. (Wipe tears from both eyes with both hands.)
Five little pumpkins laughing, laughing. (Hold up five fingers and then hold your tummy as you pretend
to laugh.)
Five little pumpkins laughing, laughing.
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Five little pumpkins laughing, laughing.
Five little pumpkins are playing. (Run around the room!) 3
Usually each song has a choreography for the children to understand the lyrics
better and to have more fun singing. Songs, as a technique of teaching, are a very
effective way of teaching kids. They teach pronunciation, vocabulary and phrases.
2.2.5 Chants
Just like songs chants are another sort of drills. The text of a chant is rhythmical
and often rhymed. Chants also can be divided into themes and they sometimes have a
simple choreography. The main difference between songs and chants is that chants focus
mainly on pronunciation or just „making‟ English sounds. Here is an example of one:
Hickory dickory dock

A mouse runs up the clock
The clock says one
The mouse runs down
Hickory dickory dock
(Cant and Superfine 1997)
This chant is a traditional chant and it was chosen because it shows how chants
can be used to teach children. For example, the one above could be used to present what
„up‟ and ‟down‟ means and by saying it children will practice some English sounds, for
example „r‟.
The fact that chants are rhymed makes them almost as easy to learn as songs. By
remembering chants the students are able to memorize the lexical items better.
3
Retrieved from www.simplesongs.com on 5.05.2011
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2.2.6 Puppets
As it was mentioned before young children have a short attention span (Harmer
2003) so every inventive technique of teaching is welcomed. Puppets are one of such
techniques. They are used in stories, songs, chants, roleplay and pairwork.
It is true that what teachers say to the children with the help of puppets and how
they interact or lead short dialogues could be easily done without using any extra help
but this form of leading a dialogue is more interesting and more engaging for children
than if they were just talking to the teacher. It triggers their imagination and because of
the slight sense of unreality they feel more comfortable to interact with the puppet using
English language. (Reilly and Ward 2003). They are also listening more intently to
understand what is going on in the classroom. The fact that the puppet is out of the
ordinary in the classroom makes the children interested and eager to speak English with
it.
To teach with the help of puppets, the teacher does not necessarily have to have
them made; the other way of teaching with the use of puppets is to make them with the
students and teach them such expressions as “draw”, “cut”, “stick” etc. (Cant and
Superfine 1997:49)
2.2.7 Flashcards
Flashcard‟s main goal is introducing vocabulary. Working with young learners a

teacher must own a huge amount of colorful flashcards concerning all the themes
covered in the syllabus. They can be used to introduce vocabulary from the songs before
children sing them and in various exercises such as guessing the name of the thing on
the flashcard, describing the color of the thing, as a memo game etc.
Flashcards are a useful tool also because they are easy to make and relatively
cheap. Teachers can make their own flashcards or simply buy them. They are so useful
because with their use the teacher can show nearly every piece of vocabulary that is
taught to YL. (Cant and Superfine 1997:38)
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Working with children requires creativity and energy. Apart from the methods
and techniques listed above children love any type of active tasks containing jumping,
clapping, shouting, running, walking and dancing. (Brown 2007:65-68)
2.2.8 Games
Games are by far the most joyful of all the techniques already listed. That fact
makes them also very effective since the students forget that they are learning because
they are totally focusing on having fun and winning the game. In other words, games
provide positive classroom atmosphere and an effective learning environment (Cant and
Superfine 1997:9). What is also important, is that games are a useful tool on many
stages of the lesson. They can be used as:
 A warm-up at the beginning of the lesson
 An introduction of a topic
 A review of lexical items
 A kind of a drill making the students to repeat and learn lexical and grammatical
items
 A cool-off in the end of the lesson
Here is a list some important criteria that a proper game used in teaching English should
meet:
 The games should have linguistic relevance.
 They should have an aim and a purpose.
 All the children should be able to participate.
 The games should be easy and quick to set up and carry out.
 They should be fun for the children.
(Cant and Superfine 1997:9)
19
3 Syllabus design
In this subchapter the syllabus design will be described. Since in the empirical
part of the thesis the syllabus is going to be analyzed, it is important to present some
details on how it is actually created.
When creating a syllabus one must take into consideration a number of criteria.
However, before they are going to be described the term “syllabus” must be explained.
Syllabus is a list of items that need to be learned put in an appropriate sequence.
There are many different types of language syllabus and they all can be a base for a new
course book. (Harmer 2003:295)
3.1 Syllabus criteria
There are four main syllabus creating criteria. The syllabus designer must take
them all into consideration as they will help not only to assess whether the particular
item should be placed in the syllabus but also where exactly it should be to make the
syllabus a useful tool in teaching. The criteria are as follows:
 Learnability – some lexical or grammatical items are easier to learn than others.
Thus the designer puts them on the beginning of the syllabus and then gradually
increases the difficulty level.
 Frequency – this criteria allows the designer to decide which lexical and
grammatical items are used most frequently and thus which of them should be
taught first.
 Coverage – by this criteria the designer may decide to teach some grammatical
items before others because they are more useful, for example, the designer
might want to teach the students the going to future form before present
continuous in the future reference if he thinks it could be used more often.
 Usefulness – this criteria refers to the lexical items that are most frequently used
in a given situation; in other words, such lexical items as pencil or table are used
very often because they are useful in classroom situations. They are the easiest
20
to talk about at the beginning.
(Harmer 2003:296)
3.2 Types of lesson syllabus
As it was mentioned before, there is a number of different types of lesson

syllabus. Below there is a list of the most common ones:
1. The grammar syllabus – the commonest type of syllabus, introduces the

grammar structures gradually leading to the understanding of the
grammar system.
2. The lexical syllabus – since idioms, phrasal verbs and many other
different collocations exist it is difficult to create a lexical syllabus that
would not be connected to the grammar one. There are also many
possible ways of organizing a lexical syllabus and one of the most
successful ones is dividing the words by topics (e.g. family life, religion,
music).
3. The functional syllabus – this kind of syllabus divides the language into
functions such as for example requesting or offering and builds the
vocabulary and grammar around them.
4. The situational syllabus – very similar to the functional syllabus but
instead of functions it consists of situations: at the bank, at the
supermarket etc.
5. The topic-based syllabus – a syllabus based on a list of topics such as
sport, living, law and justice etc. The lessons are focusing around that
topic which allows the students to stay interested with the topic and to
learn the vocabulary quicker and easier.
6. The task-based syllabus – a syllabus based on a list of tasks. Each topic is
focusing around them.
(Harmer 2003:296-299)
21
It is easy to notice that the types of syllabus listed above used separately would
be incomplete. That is why the multi-syllabus syllabus exists. It usually consists of two
or more of the syllabuses listed above and the most common place to find it is in the
course books.
22
4 Conclusions
The theoretical part of the thesis is divided into four chapters. The first focuses
on the Young Learners (YL), the second is about methodology, the third describes the
types of lesson syllabuses and the fourth contains the conclusions.
In the first chapter the general features of YL and individual differences between
learners were described. Then the Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the MI theory
were presented. In the end, some useful information on YL motivation were shown.
We have come to the following conclusions:
1. YL are eager to learn new things and are particularly capable of adopting
languages. They love imitating others and are very creative during the process of
language creating.
2. YL have limited attention span and every one of them learns differently due to
the fact that according to the NLP and the MI theory different people learn better
by different exercises i.e. they learn better from the exercises that meet their
„primary representational system‟ and their Intelligence type.
3. YL are highly motivated to learn due to the fact that they are still learning about
the world that surrounds them and everything is new and exciting for them.
The second chapter began with the definition of methodology and the list of
methods useful in teaching English to YL. Then Audio-Lingualism and the TPR were
described in greater detail, as they are the key methods in teaching YL. Furthermore, we
have discussed the techniques used in teaching English in kindergarten and these are
songs, chants, puppets, flashcards, games
In the third chapter, the term syllabus was described along with the criteria for
creating a syllabus and different types of lesson syllabus.
This theoretical part is the base on which the empirical part of the thesis is going
to be built.
23
Chapter II Empirical Research
2.1 The purpose of the research
The purpose of the research that is going to be conducted is to prove that the
methods currently used in teaching young learners are effective and engaging.
Listed below are the questions the research will attempt to answer:
1. Are the methods used in teaching English to young learners in kindergarten
effective?
2. Is the syllabus for kindergartens effective? Does it allow children to use all their
cognitive skills?
3. Are the teachers really engaged in their work with young learners thus making
the syllabus and the methods effective?
The research will try to assess the syllabus of teaching English to Young Learners in
kindergarten in Bielsko-Biała, Poland; in two kindergartens – number 37 and 54.
Specifically the effectiveness of the methods used. It will also attempt to check if the
methods and the syllabus allow children to use all their cognitive skills i.e. the research
is going to check if the syllabus is flexible enough to allow the children to use all their
creativity, energy and will to learn and to acquire the language.
2.2 Procedures and methods
In this chapter the participants and the setting of the research are going to be
described.
For the purpose of the research I have been working with a teacher of English
teaching young children in kindergarten. I have also been observing the lessons she
carried out and the student's response for the methods she used. What is more, I was
able to lead a few lessons myself.
24
The teacher as well as the students are Polish and the students are learning
English as a second language. I have been observing the lessons since September 2010
and I am going to describe the setting for this particular case.
TEACHER
She has been teaching children for 10 years. She passed the TOEFL exam in the
United States of America and she has also got the Helen Doron Early English
Certificate. She has been teaching children in kindergarten for two years now. She
created the syllabus for kids in kindergartens using her Helen Doron experience and the
Super Simple Songs CD-s which are the base for every topic.
CHILDREN – Young Learners
A group taking part in an English lesson consists of five to twelve children of the
same age, therefore there are six groups in one kindergarten: two groups of four- , five-
and six-year old children. Each group has a slightly different syllabus due to their age.
The interdependence will be described further in the text. As it results from the
observation of the learners during the lessons, all children have the features described in
the first chapter as general features of young learners.
LESSON
One lesson lasts 30 to 45 minutes maximum and the duration time depends on the age
of the group; the older the group is – the longer the lesson can be. The lessons take
place in one of the rooms in kindergarten, therefore the atmosphere of the place is
pleasant and beneficial for the students. The teacher sits with the students in a circle and
leads the lesson using different methods and materials.
25
2.3 Data collection
As it was mentioned earlier, the main method used in the research was
observation. Apart from this passive form I have also collected the following research
instruments:
 a questionnaire for the teachers
 analysis of the syllabus
 analysis of the observation charts
2.4 Discussing the data
In this chapter the collected data will be described and the results of the research
will be shown. Firstly, the teachers‟ questionnaire is going to be analyzed to see how the
teachers assess the effectiveness of their teaching methods and the children‟s
satisfaction. Than the syllabus will be discussed to check if it is sufficient for the
learners. Finally, the observations are going to be described and there is also going to be
a comments section below the chapter.
2.4.1 QUESTIONNAIRE
The questionnaire was filled by 7 teachers of English. All of them teach English to YL
in kindergartens or in schools of English in Bielsko-Biała, such as, for example, Helen
Doron schools. It was meant to check how the teachers assess the effectiveness of the
methods used in teaching English to young learners. Below the analysis and the results
of the questionnaire can be found.
2.4.1.1 Quantitative analysis
All of the teachers who were filling in the questionnaire teach young learners.
The diagram below shows for how many years have the teachers been teaching children.
26
Figure 1How many years have the teachers been teaching children
As it can be noticed the majority of teachers – 57% - have comparatively small

teaching experience and only 14% have been teaching children for more than 5 years.
The reason for the lack of longer experience in teaching children might be the fact that
teaching English in kindergartens is a relatively new business in Poland. However, even
one year is sufficient to measure and notice progress of students and effectiveness of the
methods used.
2.4.1.1.1. The most commonly used methods
According to the questionnaire the usual lesson for young learners lasts 30-45
minutes maximum. As far as the materials are concerned, question number 4 asked to
list the materials used in teaching English to young learners, the diagram below shows
the answers:
27
Figure 2 Number of teachers using particular methods
The diagram shows that the most common methods are chants, CD-s with songs,
games and worksheets. Flashcards and puppets seem to be also used often but the books
and DVD-s do not appear very popular. The reason for that is most probably the fact
that many kindergartens in Poland lack suitable equipment such as TV or a DVD player
and also that since there is not an official program for English in kindergartens there are
not many suitable DVD materials or books for such young learners.
2.4.1.1.2. Effectiveness of the methods used
The next and by far, the most important question was about the effectiveness of
the methods used and the answer can also be seen on a diagram.
Here is what the numbers on the diagram refer to:

1 – not effective
2 – quite effective
3 – effective
4 – very effective
28
Figure 3 The effectiveness of the methods
The results are pretty similar to those from Figure 2. It is logical that the teachers
use those methods which are effective. The fact that there is not a method that would be
not effective is the answer for the first research question. Nevertheless, the opinions
shown so far were only expressed by the teachers. Further the children‟s and parents‟
minds will be presented as well starting with the children.
Figure 4 Which method is YL's favourite and how does it respond with it's effectiveness?
29
On the diagram – Figure 2 - the children‟s opinions are compared with the
effectiveness of the methods. As it can be seen, what young learners like best are games
and songs and the second place goes to flashcards. The diagram shows a certain
dependence: methods that students like best are the most effective.
All in all, Figures 2 to 4 seem to agree that games, songs and flashcards are three
most effective and liked methods of all.
2.4.1.1.3 Parents' opinions
The questionnaire also contained a question which asked if the parents notice
progress in their children‟s English. The majority of teachers (85%) answered „yes‟.
According to them children tell their parents about their lessons and carry the
worksheets from English classes home to share their experiences with their parents. One
of the teachers wrote that parents tell her that children sing English songs at home. The
parents are also informed each month what their children will be learning about on
English classes so if they know English they can check their children's knowledge.
That leads to two conclusions:

1. Parents are definitely aware of their children's progress.
2. If he children sing English songs and use English words at home it means the
methods used to teach them are definitely effective.
2.4.1.1.4. Teachers assessing their students' progress
In question number 9 the teachers were asked to assess their pupils‟ progress in
English. One of the answers poses as the best conclusion here. It says that the progress
is not significant but it is noticeable. That means the children are learning slowly but
carefully. Other answers suggested that the students remember the vocabulary and even
try to use it and that they sing songs actually understanding the meaning of the words.
30
2.4.1.1.5. Three rules making the lesson effective
In the last question the teachers were asked to list three pieces of advice for
people who want to prepare a good lesson for young learners. The answer that occurred
most frequently was related to the YL short attention span. The teachers advised to
prepare a busy lesson, full of activities, tasks and games. They wrote it should be
entertaining and make the students do many things on their own rather than just keep
them passive. Apparently, it is also good to have some surprises at hand and a good
reward system to motivate the students better.
All the answers show that the teachers are well aware of what makes a
successful lesson and if only they stick to the advise they gave that means they care for
the lesson to be engaging and fun for the students.
2.4.1.2. CONCLUSION
In this subchapter the questionnaire has been described and analyzed. With the
help of diagrams it has been established that the majority of methods used in
kindergarten is effective, that the children like the methods and enjoy learning English,
that they make progress noticeable not only by the teacher but also by their parents and
that the teachers really care about their pupils‟ English and they make sure the lessons
are attractive and entertaining.
2.4.2 SYLLABUS
In this subchapter the syllabus of teaching English to young learners in

kindergarten is going to be analyzed in order to answer the second research question i.e.
to check if the syllabus is sufficient for the learners and if it is effective.
First of all, teaching English in kindergarten is not compulsory that it why the
official syllabus does not exist. However, that does not mean that the lessons are
chaotic. The teacher I have been working with created her own syllabus and this is the
syllabus that is going to be analyzed.
31
2.4.2.1 General information about the syllabus
Basically, the syllabus consists of language units that are to be covered each
month by the students. The language units involve vocabulary, grammar units, songs,
what the learners will hear on the lesson and what they will learn to say.
As it was mentioned before, there are three age groups in each kindergarten: the
four-, five- and the six-year old children. This fact is also visible in the syllabus where
each group has slightly different language units to be covered. The number and
difficulty of the units depends on the age of the learner. The four-year old children, for
example, have the most basic set of phrases to learn and vocabulary units to remember
while the six-year olds‟ version is extended.
2.4.2.2. Comparison of the syllabus charts
Since all the syllabus charts are similar let us compare the October syllabus chart
for four-year old children with the one for six-year olds.
Below, there is a table of two sections taken from the October syllabus chart.
They are the most important parts and the analysis is going to focus on them specifically
since the “I hear” section is very similar on each chart. Another reason is that the
research is going to focus mainly on Young Learners‟ active participation in the lesson.
Topic 4 year olds 4 year olds 6 year olds 6 year olds

“I can say, I can sing” “I hear” “I can say, I can sing” “I hear”
Hello! Hello Peppa! OK., let's say hello Hello Jackie! Bye, bye Jackie! OK., let's say hello
Bye, bye! Bye, bye Peppa! to Peppa! Good morning! to Jackie!
Good morning! I'm Agata - and I‟m (Ola), what‟s your name? I'm Agata - and
I‟m (Ola) you? My name is (Agnieszka). you?
Hello (Agnieszka), say - I'm …. How old are you? say - I'm ….
I‟m (Ola) Come in / go out Where do you live? Ask each other-
“Knock, Knock Hello” I‟m (5). I live in (Bielsko- What's your name?
song Biała).
“Hello Hello” song
Colors Blue, red, yellow, Let's sing,let's Blue, red, yellow, purple, pink, and answer- My
32
purple (revision) play,let's learn orange, brown, green name is….
“I see something blue” together (revision) asking and
song new colors: white, black answering "can
“I see something blue” song you…?"
Food Apple, banana, pear, Spaghetti, French fries, Do you like…?
orange (revision) watermelon, apple, pear, Yes, I do / No, I
New words: bread, orange, banana, tomato, potato don't
milk, honey, cheese, (revision)
plum, strawberry, New words: broccoli, ice
cherry, tomato, potato cream, juice, doughnut,
popcorn, pizza, soup, bread,
egg, cheese, cake
“Do you like Broccoli Ice
Cream?” song
Counting 1-10 (revision) 1-10 (revision)
“One potato, Two New: 11-15
potatoes” song
Conclusions:
1. The two basic skills are being developed
From what can be seen in the table it is clear that the syllabus makes the
children develop the two basic skills that are speaking and listening. The
language units that are being developed are adjusted to the learners‟ age and to
what the children are capable of saying and understanding.
That is why the 4 year olds have in their section only the sentences
allowing them to say “hi” and “good bye” and to introduce themselves.
In the case of 6 year olds it is clearly visible that the material is a little bit
more demanding. Apart from saying hi and good bye and introducing themselves
they are also required to ask questions to their peers and to answer a question in
Present Simple tense. All that shows that the syllabus was thought over and is
not random. It takes into consideration the children age and abilities.
2. Same topics – different range of language units to learn

As it can be seen from the table the topics are the same for both four- and six-
year olds. What changes is the range of vocabulary and grammar units the children
33
know and are to learn. 6 year olds are capable of remembering more words than 4 year
olds simply because of the age difference and because they have been learning English
longer.
The positive thing is that the syllabus does not stop on the 4 year old level to the
end of the kindergarten just revising it but it enhances the knowledge allowing the
learners to develop their minds.
3. A lot of material is repeated regularly

This system puts emphasis on repetition and as it was mentioned in the first
chapter children have a short memory, they are quick to learn but also quick to forget
what they have already learned if it is not repeated. The syllabus was established to
teach but also to make sure the students will remember what they have learned. That is
why the system might be very effective in teaching English to young learners.
4. Lack of the continuations of the songs

What may seem one of the weakest points in the program is lack of songs‟
continuations, for example, there is a song about numbers 1-10 but there is not one
about numbers 1-20. This may not seem important but as it will be mentioned in the
“Observations” chapter songs help children remember the vocabulary incomparably
better than just flashcards or games.
All the program charts can be found in the Appendix if needed for further
analyzing.
2.4.2.1. CONCLUSION
In this chapter the syllabus of teaching English to young learners in kindergarten

has been analyzed. The following conclusions have been derived:
1. The syllabus was thought over and is not random. It takes into consideration the
children age and abilities.
34
2. The syllabus does not stop on the 4 year old level to the end of the kindergarten
just revising it but it enhances the knowledge allowing the learners to develop
their minds.
3. The syllabus was established to teach but also to make sure the students will
remember what they have learned. That is why the system might be very
effective in teaching English to young learners.
4. It may be helpful to record the continuations of the songs used in the syllabus.
2.4.3 OBSERVATIONS
In this subchapter the course of the lessons observed will be described and
analyzed to check whether the syllabus is used in practice as well as it is written or is it
just theoretical. Another purpose of the chapter is to answer the research question
number 3 – Are the teachers really engaged in their work with young learners thus
making the syllabus and the methods effective?
For the purpose of the research the observations of the English lessons in
kindergarten has been lead since October 2010. However, not all the observation charts
will be analyzed for it will not be necessary to prove the points of the research. Since
not on every lesson every method and material is used 10 charts are going to be the
subject for analyzing in this subchapter.
2.4.3.1 Observation charts – quantitative analysis
First of all, the charts confirm that a usual lesson in kindergarten lasts about 30
minutes and that the maximum number of students on the lesson is 15.
Second of all, the most important part of the chart is “The course of the lesson”
and the column “Level of students' satisfaction with the method used” and these are the
parts that are going to be analyzed more specifically than the others.
35
2.4.3.1.1. Types of interaction occurring on the lessons
Looking at the table with “The course of the lesson” the first column shows that
on the lesson every kind of interaction occurs. The teacher interacts with the students
and the other way round and the students interact with each other. That shows that the
lesson has been carefully prepared to allow the students to fully develop their cognitive
skills.
2.4.3.1.2. Acivities
Just above the interactions, time of every single activity can be found. As it can
be seen every activity is shorter than 5 minutes and the number of activities done on the
lesson ranges from 7 to 10 which is quite an amazing result for a 30 minute lesson. The
reason for that is of course the students' short attention span.
Three next columns describe in detail what kind of activities have been done on
the lesson, what the teacher does and how students respond. One of the good things that
can be noticed there is that the teacher finds enough time on the lesson to practice, for
example, counting with every student individually. That allows the teacher to see the
progress and also to help those students who have problems.
2.4.3.1.3. Level o students' satisfaction with the methods used based on the
observation charts
The most important column is the last one - “Level o students' satisfaction with
the method used”. Since the first research question asks about the effectiveness of the
methods and the analysis of the questionnaire shows that the methods liked the most by
the students are the most effective, this column is a useful tool in checking if the
methods are both liked and effective.
Below there is a table which contains the data on the level of students‟
36
satisfaction with the methods used on the lessons.
Songs, games, flashcards and puppets are the four most successful methods of
all. The data confirm the conclusions drawn in previous chapters.
37
Chapter III - Conclusions
The theoretical part of the thesis was divided into four chapters. The first
focused on the Young Learners (YL), the second was about methodology, the third
describes the types of lesson syllabuses and the fourth contains the conclusions.
In the first chapter the general features of YL and individual differences between
learners were described. Then the Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the MI theory
were presented. Then some useful information on YL motivation were shown. In the
end the syllabus design was described.
The following conclusions were made:
1. YL are eager to learn new things and are particularly capable of adopting
languages. They love imitating others and are very creative during the process of
language creating.
2. YL have limited attention span and every one of them learns differently due to
the fact that according to the NLP and the MI theory different people learn better
by different exercises i.e. they learn better from the exercises that meet their
„primary representational system‟ and their Intelligence type.
3. YL are highly motivated to learn due to the fact that they are still learning about
the world that surrounds them and everything is new and exciting for them
The purpose of the research which was carried out was to check whether the
methods used in teaching English in kindergarten are effective. The research also
attempted to answer the following questions:
1. Are the methods used in teaching English to young learners in kindergarten

effective?
2. Is the syllabus for kindergartens effective? Does it allow children to use all their
cognitive skills?
3. Are the teachers really engaged in their work with young learners thus making
the syllabus and the methods effective?
38
The analysis of the questionnaire, the syllabus and the observation charts
allowed to prepare the answers to the questions based on the results.
All the conclusions from the empirical part of the thesis have been divided into
three groups:
I Answering the research question 1 we can present the following conclusions:

1. According to the Figure 3 based on the questionnaire, there are not any
ineffective methods used in teaching English to young learners. As far as the
methods that are used are concerned, Figure 4 shows that the methods used most
frequently are also liked best by the students and thus effective. Those methods
are games, flashcards, songs and puppets.
2. The questionnaire shows that children sing English songs and use English words
at home which is an argument for the effectiveness of the methods.
II Answering the research question 2 we can present the following conclusions:
1. The syllabus was thought over and is not random. It takes into consideration the
children age and abilities.
2. The syllabus does not stop on the 4 year old level to the end of the kindergarten
just revising it but it enhances the knowledge allowing the learners to develop
their minds.
3. The syllabus was established to teach but also to make sure the students will
remember what they have learned. That is why the system might be very
effective in teaching English to young learners.
4. It may be helpful to record the continuation of the songs used in the syllabus.
III Answering the research question 3 we can present the following conclusions:
1. Creating the syllabus, making the materials and finding proper CD-s with songs
that children love is one of the arguments for the positive answer for this
question.
2. According to the last question from the questionnaire, the teachers are well
aware of what makes a successful lesson and if only they stick to the advise they
gave that means they care for the lesson to be engaging and fun for the students.
39
All in all, I believe the research managed to answer the questions and to prove
that the methods used in teaching English to young learners are effective, the syllabus
was thought over, is engaging and allows the children to develop their cognitive skills
and the teachers truly care about their students.
The research tools: the questionnaire, the syllabus charts and the observation
charts were a useful help in finding out the answers for the questions. I hope no further
research needs to be done. Nevertheless, all the information in the empirical part and in
the Appendices may be used for any further study.
40
Summary in English
The topic of this thesis concerns the methods used in teaching English to young
learners, specifically young learners in kindergartens.
In the first chapter all the useful theoretical terms were explained and described.
The chapter is an introduction to the empirical part of the thesis. In this chapter Young
Learners (YL) were described in detail along with all their features and motivation. The
methods and techniques which are commonly used in teaching English to YL were
described next.
The empirical part of the thesis, based on a descriptive research focuses on the
effectiveness of the methods used in teaching English in kindergartens, the effectiveness
of the existing program and the engagement of the teachers in providing English lessons
to their students. All of the focal points are put in a form of research questions which are
answered further on in the empirical part. The chapter describes and analyzes the
research tools as follows: the questionnaire, the program charts and the observation
charts and contains derived conclusions.
The third chapter serves as the final conclusion of the thesis. It contains all the
conclusions that were made in the empirical part, all grouped in form of answers to the
research questions asked in the beginning of chapter two.
41
Summary in Polish
Tematem niniejszej pracy są metody używane w nauczaniu młodych uczniów

języka angielskiego. Termin „młodzi uczniowie” odnosi się przede wszystkim do dzieci
uczących się języka angielskiego jako języka obcego w przedszkolach.
Temat został uznany za ciekawy, ze względu na brak oficjalnego programu
nauczania języka angielskiego w przedszkolach. Jak powszechnie wiadomo, język
angielski pojawił się w Polskich przedszkolach stosunkowo niedawno, dlatego też
metody i program są ciągle jeszcze sprawdzane i modyfikowane. Jednakże istnieje
możliwość iż nauczanie języka angielskiego w przedszkolach stanie się obowiązkowe i
dlatego warto zobaczyć co w tym polu zostało już osiągnięte, jakie metody są
wykorzystywane oraz sprawdzić czy są one skuteczne.
W pierwszym rozdziale pracy, który jest rozdziałem teoretycznym, opisani
zostali młodzi uczniowie – ich cechy, zachowania i typy motywacji; zostały opisane
wszystkie metody i techniki wykorzystywane w nauczaniu języka angielskiego w
przedszkolach oraz wytłumaczone zostały wszystkie potrzebne dalej w pracy pojęcia.
W rozdziale drugim, który jest rozdziałem empirycznym, można znaleźć opis i
analizę badań przeprowadzonych w celu dowiedzenia iż metody, z których korzysta się
przy nauczaniu języka angielskiego w przedszkolach są skuteczne. Właśnie w tym celu
przeprowadzona została ankieta z nauczycielami i zostały przeprowadzone obserwacje
lekcji języka angielskiego.
W ostatnim rozdziale znajdują się wnioski końcowe, czyli inaczej mówiąc
odpowiedzi na pytania z części empirycznej pracy. Rozdział ten jest podsumowaniem
całej pracy.
42
Bibliography
1. Brewster J., Ellis G. and Girard D. 1991 The Primary English Teacher’s
Guide. Penguin
2. Brown H.D. 2007 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Longman
3. Cant A, Superfine W. 1997 Richmond Developing Resources for Primary.
Richmond Publishing
4. Celce-Murcia M. 2001 Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language,
3rd Edition. Heinle ELT
5. Cross K. 2007 Introducing English as an Additional Language to Young
Children: A Practical Handbook. Paul Chapman Publishing
6. Gardner H. 1993 Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences.
Basic Books
7. Goleman D. 1997 Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.
Bantam
8. Halliwell S. 1992 Teaching English in the Primary Classroom. Longman
9. Harmer J. 2003 The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman
10. Reilly V., Ward S.M., Maley A. 2003 Very Young Learners. Oxford
11. Scott W, Ytreberg L.H. 1990 Teaching English to Children. Longman.
12. Vale D., Feunteun A. 2007 Teaching Children English. a training course for
teachers of English to children. CUP
13. Cohen L., Manion L. and Morrison K. 2007 Research Methods in Education.
Routledge Taylor and Francis Group
14. Richards J.C., Rogers T.S. 2001 Approaches and Methods in Language
Teaching. CUP
15. Larsen-Freeman D. 2000 Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching
(2nd Edition). Oxford
16. ELT Acronyms http://www.europa-pages.com/uk/ELT-Acronyms.html
17. Krashen S. D., Terrell T.D. 1996 The Natural Approach: Language Teaching
Methodology. Bloodaxe Books Ltd.
43
Table 1 taken from
http://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/extra/images/2009/09.06.06.03.jpg
This Is Your Brain…This is Your Brain on Fire…Any Questions. Gray S. F. Yale
National Initiative, Curriculum Unit 09.06.06
Table 2 taken from Brown 2007:170
44
List of tables
Table 1 Activities for different intelligencies - Gray (2006) ............................................. 8
Table 2 Three views of motivation. Adapted from Brown (2007:170) ............................. 9
Figure 1How many years have the teachers been teaching children .............................. 27
Figure 2 Number of teachers using particular methods .................................................. 28
Figure 3 The effectiveness of the methods ..................................................................... 29
Figure 4 Which method is YL's favourite and how does it respond with it's
effectiveness? .................................................................................................................. 29
45
Appendix
OBSERVATION CHART 1
Date: 11 Oct 2010 Topic: I see something blue Number of students: 8 Age: 4
years old
Time of class: 30 minutes
Aims of the lesson:
revision of colors, numbers and actions
teaching new vocabulary from topic “Actions”
accustoming children to English
Intended outcomes:
Students can:
 say hallo and goodbye
 introduce themselves
 list 4 colors
 list 4 different kinds of food
 count to 10
 name the actions concerning the topic “Movements”
Problems which occurred:
 pronunciation mistakes; children had problems with pronouncing words and
phrases correctly
How were they dealt with:
 the teacher was consequently correcting major pronunciation mistakes
Materials used:
CD with songs, flashcards, games, puppets, blocks
46
The course of the lesson:
Level of
Time students'
Type of Type of satisfaction
What teacher does? What students do?
interactio activity with the
n method
(1-10)
Greets children using a puppet. Say “Hello” to the
3 min Warm-up Prompts students to say “Hello”, to puppet. Introduce
7
T-S/S-T Greetings introduce themselves to the puppet and themselves.
then to say “Bye bye”. Say “Bye bye”
Asks the students to get up and make a Get up and make a circle.
circle. Sing the song with the
4 min
Song Plays a song “Knock, knock Hello”. teacher copying the 8
T-S/S-S
Sings the song with the students using gestures and the faces.
gestures and making faces.
Asks the students to sit down. Sit down.
2 min Naming the
Shows the students flashcards with Name the colors. 7
T-S/S-T colors
colors and asks them to name them.
Plays “I see something blue” song. Sing the song.
4 min Asks the children to sing and to look Run around the
Song 9
T-S/S-T for the things that are blue, red, yellow classroom looking for the
and purple in the classroom. colorful things.
2 min Shows food flashcards to children and Name the foods.
Revision 6
T-S/S-T asks them to name the foods.
Asks the students to jump, run, clap, Jump, run, clap, stand
3 min
Revision stand up/sit down in order to check if up/sit down. 8
T-S/S-T
they remember what it means.
Asks the students to stand up. Stand up.
Explains the students the activity they Follow the teacher.
5 min Introduction are going to take part in. Show the movements.
8
T-S/S-T of new words Shows what does it mean to walk, hop, Repeat the words.
swim, tiptoe, sleep and stop and asks
the students to follow her movements.
Song Plays “Walking, walking” song. Sing the song and show
4 min
Asks the students to sing and show the the movements. 10
T-S/S-S
movements.
Cool off Asks the students to sit down. Sit down. 8
3 min
Asks the students to count to ten using Count to 10.
T-S/S-T
blocks.
Ending Says goodbye. Say goodbye. 10
1 min
Gives all the students that behaved Take the stamps.
T-S/S-T
properly a stamp.
47
OBSERVATION CHART 2
Date: 13 Oct 2010 Topic: Actions Number of students: 7 Age: 4

years old
Aims of the lesson:
practicing new vocabulary from topic “Actions”
to accustom children to English
Intended outcomes:
Students can:
 list 4 colors
 count to 10
 misbehavior
 pronunciation mistakes; children may have problems with pronouncing
words and phrases correctly
 the misbehaving students were put in the corner or were asked to leave the
classroom
 the teacher consequently corrected major pronunciation mistakes
Materials used:
48
Level of
students'
Time
satisfacti
Type of
Type of activity What teacher does? What students do? on with
interactio
the
n
method
(1-10)
3 min Warm-up Prompts students to say “Hello”, to puppet. Introduce
7
T-S/S-T Greetings introduce themselves to the puppet themselves.
and then to say “Bye bye”. Say “Bye bye”
Asks the students to get up and Get up and make a
make a circle. circle.
4 min Plays a song “Knock, knock Sing the song with the
Song 8
T-S/S-S Hello”. teacher copying the
Sings the song with the students gestures and the faces.
using gestures and making faces.
Shows them flashcards with Count with the teacher.
4 min numbers and asks them to count Count alone.
Counting 8
T-S/S-T with her.
Asks each of the children to count
alone.
Plays “Seven steps” song. Sing with the teacher.
4 min
Song Sings and counts with children. Count from 1-7 and 7- 8
T-S/S-T
1.
2 min Shows food flashcards to children Name the foods.
Revision 7
T-S/S-T and asks them to name the foods.
Asks the students to jump, run, Jump, run, clap, stand
clap, stand up/sit down, tiptoe, up/sit down, walk,
3 min
Revision swim, stop, sleep, walk and hop in swim, tiptoe, hop, 9
T-S/S-T
order to check if they remember sleep, stop.
what it means.
Song Plays “Walking, walking” song. Sing the song and
4 min
Asks the students to sing and show show the movements. 10
T-S/S-S
the movements.
3 min
Shows them colorful blocks and Answer teacher‟s
T-S/S-T
ask them about colors. questions.
1 min
Gives all the students that behaved Take the stamps.
T-S/S-T
properly a stamp.
49
OBSERVATION CHART 3
Date: 18 Oct 2010 Topic: Food Number of students: 8 Age: 4

years old
Aims of the lesson:
practicing new vocabulary from topic “Actions”
learning new vocabulary from topic “Food”
Intended outcomes:
Students can:
 list 4 colors
 count to 10
 misbehavior
classroom
Materials used:
CD with songs, flashcards, games, puppets
50
Level of
Time students'
n method
(1-10)
Greets children. Answer teacher‟s questions.
3 min Warm-up
Asks students about their names Introduce themselves and tell 7
T-S/S-T Greetings
and about their age. how old they are.
Asks the students to get up and Get up and make a circle.
make a circle. Sing the song with the
4 min
Song Plays a song “Hello, Hello”. teacher copying the gestures 8
T-S/S-S
Sings the song with the students and the faces.
4 min Plays “Seven steps” song. Sing with the teacher.
Song 8
T-S/S-T Sings and counts with children. Count from 1-7 and 7-1.
Gives each 10 blocks and asks Count with the teacher.
4 min
Counting them to count with her. Count alone. 8
T-S/S-T
Asks each of the children to count
alone.
2 min Shows food flashcards to children Name the foods.
Revision 7
T-S/S-T and asks them to name the foods.
Shows the students flashcards Learn the new words.
2 min Introduction with foods. Repeat after the teacher.
8
T-S/S-T of new words Teaches them the new ones.
Asks to repeat.
Game Mixes the flashcards. Take turns and pick up one
4 min Asks each student to pick one at a flashcard.
8
T-S/S-T time and say what is it. Say what is on the flashcard.
Asks them to take turns.
3 min Colors Shows them colorful blocks and Answer teacher‟s questions.
7
T-S/S-T ask them about colors.
Song Plays “Walking, walking” song. Sing the song and show the
4 min
Asks the students to sing and movements. 10
T-S/S-S
show the movements.
1 min
Gives all the students that Take the stamps.
T-S/S-T
behaved properly a stamp.
51
OBSERVATION CHART 4
Date: 6 Dec 2010 Topic: Christmas Number of students: 7 Age: 5 years

old
Aims of the lesson:
revision of colors, food and numbers
learning new words concerning Christmas
Intended outcomes:
Students can:
 ask each other about their names and age
 list 10 colors
 name the food
 count to 13
 list Christmas things
Problems that occurred:
 misbehavior
 problems with counting
classroom
 the teacher helped the children who had troubles counting
Materials used:
52
CD with songs, flashcards, games, blocks, puppet
Level of
students'
Time
satisfacti
Type of Type of
What teacher does? What students do? on with
interactio activity
the
n
method
(1-10)
Greets children with Peppa Say Hello to Peppa.
puppet. Introduce themselves and
3 min
Warm-up Asks students about their names tell how old they are.
T-S/S-T 6
Greetings and about their age. Ask each other about their
S-S
Asks them to ask each other. names and age.

4 min
Song Plays a song “Hello, Hello”. teacher copying the 8
T-S/S-S
Sings the song with the students gestures and the faces.
Shows the children flashcards Answer teachers questions.
with colors. Sing the song.
3 min
Revision Asks about the colors. Look for the colorful things 9
T-S/S-T
Play “I see something blue” in the classroom.
song.
Shows the students flashcards Sing with the teacher.
4 min with numbers. Count.
Revision 8
T-S/S-T Plays “Ten in the Bed” song.
Sing and count with children.
Shows food flashcards. Answer the teacher.
4 min Asks students what they can see. Sing with the teacher.
Revision 7
T-S/S-T Plays ”Are you hungry” song.
Sings with children.
with Christmas vocabulary. Repeat after the teacher.
4 min Introduction
Asks them what are the things on 9
T-S/S-T of new words
flashcards.
Teaches the children new words.
Plays “Rudolph the red nosed Listen to the song.
4 min
Song reindeer” song. 9
T-S/S-T
Asks the students to listen.
1 min Says goodbye. Say goodbye.
Ending 10
T-S Gives stamps. Take stamps.
53
OBSERVATION CHART 5
Date: 6 Dec 2010 Topic: Christmas Number of students: 10 Age: 4 years

old
Aims of the lesson:
learning new words concerning Christmas
Intended outcomes:
Students can:
 list 6 colors
 name the actions
 count to 10
 list Christmas things
Problems that occurred:
 misbehavior
phrases correctly
 problems with counting
classroom
Materials used:
CD with songs, flashcards, games, blocks, puppets
54
Level of
Time
students'
Type of Type of
What teacher does? What students do? satisfaction with
interactio activity
the method
n
(1-10)
Greets children with Peppa Say Hello to Peppa.
3 min
Warm-up puppet. Introduce themselves and
T-S/S-T 6
Greetings Asks students about their tell how old they are.
S-S
names and about their age
Asks the students to get up Get up and make a circle.
and make a circle. Sing the song with the
Plays a song “Knock, knock, teacher copying the
4 min
Song hello”. gestures and the faces. 8
T-S/S-S
Sings the song with the
students using gestures and
making faces.
Shows the children flashcards Answer teachers
with colors. questions.
3 min
Revision Asks about the colors. Sing the song. 9
T-S/S-T
Plays “I see something blue” Look for the colorful
song. things in the classroom.
Shows the students flashcards Sing with the teacher.
with numbers. Count.
4 min Plays “One Potato, Two
Revision 8
T-S/S-T Potatoes” song.
Sings and counts with
children.
with Christmas vocabulary. Repeat after the teacher.
5 min Introduction of Asks them what are the
9
T-S/S-T new words things on flashcards.
Teaches the children new
words.
Gives the students Color the pictures.
worksheets with Christmas Count the reindeer and the
vocabulary and numbers. presents.
5 min Asks them to color the Tell what they have done.
Worksheet 9
S-S pictures and count the
reindeer and the presents.
Asks the students to tell what
they have done.
Plays “Rudolph the red nosed Listen to the song.
4 min
Song reindeer” song. 9
T-S/S-T
Asks the students to listen.
1 min Says goodbye. Say goodbye.
Ending 10
T-S Gives stamps. Take stamps.
55
OBSERVATION CHART 6
Date: 3 Jan 2011 Topic: Weather Number of students:13 Age: 6 years

old
Aims of the lesson:
revision of colors, food and numbers
teaching new vocabulary from topic “Weather”
revision of letters A-L
Intended outcomes:
Students can:
 list 10 colors
 count to 15
 misbehavior
classroom
Materials used:
56
Level of
Time students'
n method
(1-10)
Prompts students to say puppet. Introduce
“Hello”, to introduce themselves.
3 min Warm-up themselves to the puppet and Say “Bye bye”.
7
T-S/S-T Greetings then to say “Bye bye”. Ask each other about
Asks the students to ask each their names and age.
other about their names and
age.
4 min Plays a song “Hello Hello”. teacher copying the
Song 8
T-S/S-S Sings the song with the gestures and the faces.
students using gestures and
making faces.
Plays “I see something blue” Sing the song.
song. Run around the
4 min Asks the children to sing and classroom looking for the
Song 9
T-S/S-T to look for the things that are colorful things.
blue, red, yellow and purple in
the classroom.
Shows food flashcards to Name the foods.
2 min
Revision children and asks them to 7
T-S/S-T
name the foods.
Plays “Do you like broccoli Sing with the teacher
3 min ice-cream?” song. repeating the gestures
Song 8
T-S/S-T Sings with students making and faces.
gestures and faces.
Shows the students flashcards: Repeat after the teacher.
sunny, rainy, snowy, cloudy.
5 min Introduction of Says the words out loud.
8
T-S/S-T a new topic Asks the students to repeat.
Teaches the students how to
ask about the weather.
Song Plays “How's the weather?” Sing the song and answer
4 min song. the questions.
7
T-S/S-S Asks the students to sing and
answer the questions.
3 min
Asks the students to count to Count to 15.
T-S/S-T
fifteen using flashcards.
1 min
T-S/S-T
57
58
OBSERVATION CHART 7
Date: 3 Jan 2011 Topic: Animals Number of students: 5 Age: 4

years old
Aims of the lesson:
revision of colors and actions
learning new vocabulary from topic “Animals”
to accustom children to English
Intended outcomes:
Students can:
 list 4 colors
 count to 10
 list 8 animals
 misbehavior
 problems with remembering new words
classroom
 the teacher helped the children who had troubles remembering new words
Materials used:
CD with songs, flashcards, games
59
Level of
Time students'
Type of Type of satisfactio
interactio activity n with the
n method
(1-10)
3 min Warm-up Greets children. Greet the teacher.
6
T-S/S-T Greetings Asks them about their names. Introduce themselves.
Plays a song “Knock, knock teacher copying the
4 min
Song Hello”. gestures and the faces. 8
T-S/S-S
Sings the song with the students
using gestures and making
faces.
Shows them flashcards with Count with the teacher.
4 min numbers and asks them to count Count alone.
Counting 8
T-S/S-T with her.
Asks each of the children to
count alone.
Plays “One Potato, Two Sing with the teacher.
4 min
Song Potatoes” song. Count from 1-7 and 7-1. 8
T-S/S-T
Sings and counts with children.
Shows colors flashcards to Name the colors.
2 min
Revision children and asks them to name 8
T-S/S-T
the colors.
3 min
Song song. Look for colorful things in 9
T-S/S-T
Sings with children. the classroom.
Shows the students flashcards Repeat the sounds and the
with animals. name of the animals.
4 min Introduction Tells them what they are and
8
T-S/S-S of new words what sounds they make.
Asks them to repeat the sounds
and the names of the animals.
4 min Plays “Walking, Walking” song. Sing the song. 10
Cool off
T-S/S-T Run around the classroom.
Says goodbye. Say goodbye. 10
1 min
Ending Gives all the students that Take the stamps.
T-S/S-T
60
OBSERVATION CHART 8
Date: 5 Jan 2011 Topic: Shapes Number of students: 9 Age: 5

years old
Aims of the lesson:
revision of colors, numbers and food
practicing new vocabulary from topic “Weather”
learning new vocabulary from topic “Shapes”
Intended outcomes:
Students can:
 list 10 colors
 count to 13
 name the words concerning the topic “Weather”
 misbehavior
 troubles in counting
classroom
Materials used:
61
Level of
Time students'
Type of satisfaction
Type of activity What teacher does? What students do?
interactio with the
n method
(1-10)
Greets children. Answer teacher‟s
Asks students about their questions.
3 min Warm-up names and about their age. Introduce themselves
7
T-S/S-T Greetings Asks the students to asks and tell how old they
each other. are.
Ask each other.
Asks the students to get up Get up and make a
and make a circle. circle.
4 min Plays a song “Hello”. Sing the song with the
Song 8
T-S/S-S Sings the song with the teacher copying the
students using gestures and gestures and the faces.
making faces.
Plays “Ten in the bed” song. Sing with the teacher.
4 min
Song Sings and counts with Count from 1-10. 8
T-S/S-T
children.
Asks the students to sit Sit down.
down. Count with the teacher.
4 min
Counting Shows them flashcards. 8
T-S/S-T
Asks them to count with her
from 1-13
2 min
T-S/S-T
name the foods.
Plays “Are you hungry?” Sing the song.
2 min
Song song. 8
T-S/S-T
Sing with the children.
Shows the students Repeat after the teacher.
flashcards with shapes. Show the shapes.
3 min Introducing new Tell them how they are
7
T-S/S-T words called.
Asks the children to repeat
and show.
Plays “The shape song” Sing the song with the
4 min
Song Sings showing the shapes. teacher showing the 7
T-S/S-T
shapes.
Plays “Walking, walking” Sing the song and show
4 min song. the movements.
Song 10
T-S/S-S Asks the students to sing
and show the movements.
1 min
T-S/S-T
62
OBSERVATION CHART 9
Date: 10 Jan 2011 Topic: Shapes Number of students: 10 Age: 5

years old
Aims of the lesson:
revision of colors, numbers and food
practicing new vocabulary from topic “Weather”
practicing new vocabulary from topic “Shapes”
Intended outcomes:
Students can:
 list 10 colors
 count to 13
 name the words concerning the topic “Weather”
 misbehavior
 troubles in counting
classroom
63
Materials used:
CD with songs, flashcards, games,
Level of
Time students'
n method
(1-10)
Greets children. Answer teacher‟s
Asks students about their names questions.
3 min Warm-up and about their age. Introduce themselves
7
T-S/S-T Greetings Asks the students to asks each and tell how old they
other. are.
Ask each other.
4 min Plays a song “Hello”. Sing the song with the
Song 8
T-S/S-S Sings the song with the students teacher copying the
using gestures and making gestures and the faces.
faces.
4 min Plays “Ten in the bed” song. Sing with the teacher.
Song 8
T-S/S-T Sings and counts with children. Count from 1-10.
4 min Shows them flashcards. Count with the teacher.
Counting 8
T-S/S-T Asks them to count with her
from 1-13
2 min
Revision children and asks them to name 7
T-S/S-T
the foods.
2 min Plays “Are you hungry?” song. Sing the song.
Song 8
T-S/S-T Sing with the children.
Shows the students flashcards Show the shapes.
3 min practicing
with shapes. Tell how they are 7
T-S/S-T new words
Asks them how they are called. called.
Plays “The shape song” Sing the song with the
4 min
Song Sings showing the shapes. teacher showing the 7
T-S/S-T
shapes.
Plays “Walking, walking” song. Sing the song and show
4 min
Song Asks the students to sing and the movements. 10
T-S/S-S
show the movements.
1 min
T-S/S-T
64
OBSERVATION CHART 10
Date: 7 Feb 2011 Topic: Around us Number of students: 5 Age: 4 years

old
Aims of the lesson:
teaching new vocabulary from topic “Around us”
Intended outcomes:
Students can:
 list 4 colors
 count to 10
phrases correctly
 the teacher was consequently correcting major pronunciation mistakes
Materials used:
65
Level of
Time students'
n method
(1-10)
Prompts students to say puppet. Introduce
3 min Warm-up
“Hello”, to introduce themselves. 7
T-S/S-T Greetings
themselves to the puppet and Say “Bye bye”
then to say “Bye bye”.
Plays a song “Knock, knock Sing the song with
4 min
Song Hello”. the teacher copying 8
T-S/S-S
Sings the song with the the gestures and the
students using gestures and faces.
making faces.
2 min Naming the Shows the students flashcards Name the colors.
7
T-S/S-T colors with colors and asks them to
name them.
song. Run around the
4 min Asks the children to sing and classroom looking for
Song 9
T-S/S-T to look for the things that are the colorful things.
blue, red, yellow and purple in
the classroom.
2 min
T-S/S-T
name the foods.
3 min Plays “Walking,Walking” Sing,jump, run, clap,
Revision 10
T-S/S-T song. stand up/sit down.
Shows the students flashcards Repeat the words.
with sun, moon, sky, cloud,
4 min Introduction
stars, tree, flower, leaves, 8
T-S/S-T of new words
grass.
Asks them to repeat the words.
Game Mixes the flashcards. Take one flashcard.
5 min Gives each student one. Say what they have
8
T-S/S-S Asks them to tell which one got.
they have.
3 min
Asks the students to count to Count to 10.
T-S/S-T
ten using blocks.
1 min
T-S/S-T
66
Questionnaire 1
How many years have you been teaching children?
1-3
How old are the children you teach?
3-7
How long does a usual lesson last?
30-45 minutes
What kind of materials do you use during the lessons?
CD-s with songs and chants
Flashcards
Puppets
Others:
Chants, worksheets, games
Please mark the effectiveness of the materials you use:
Very effective Effective Quite effective Not effective
books yes
flashcards yes
puppets yes
songs yes
chants yes
drama yes
worksheets yes
games yes
 Could you describe how your students respond to the materials you use?
They mostly like the materials I use on the lessons, they seem to be interested in the topic. They
touch them and always want to interact with them in some way. They like new things.
 Which of the methods/materials is their favorite? Do they have a common one or does it
depend on individual opinion?
67
They all like songs, games and drama :) It‟s more of a group thing at this age.
 Do parents notice progress in their children's English?
Yes, they say that they notice it.
 How would you assess your students' progress in English?
Quite good. They remember the vocabulary from previous lessons and they usually can
repeat the sentences they‟ve learned earlier.
 List three most important things that a teacher needs to be aware of to provide a
successful English lesson for children under the age of 10.
1. Small pupils get bored very quickly, they need to be interested in topic.
2. Teacher should not only use books and workbooks during the lesson but provide students
with games, songs etc.
3. Teacher should be nice, keep smiling, speak loud and clearly.
Questionnaire 2
1. How many years have you been teaching children?
a. 1-3
b. 3-5
c. >5
2. How old are the children you teach?
a. 3-7
b. 7-13
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3. How long does a usual lesson last?
a. 30-45 minutes
b. 45 minutes
c. An hour
4. What kind of materials do you use during the lessons?
a. Books
b. CD-s with songs and chants
c. Flashcards
d. Puppets
e. Others: Chants, worksheets, games
5. Please mark the effectiveness of the materials you use:
books _______
flashcards ________
puppets _______
songs ________
chants _______
drama
worksheets _______
games ________
Children like the materials very much. Their favorite are games and songs. They also like
flashcards. Usually children are eager to learn and they have a lot of fun on the lessons.
I think they like songs best but I would also say they love games. It‟s difficult to say which one
is better for them. They have their absolute favorite songs such as for example “Walking,
walking” and that is because the song allows them to walk and then run around the classroom. I
would say they have common favorite things rather than individual.
The parents come to me and say their children sing English songs at home so I think
they notice that their child actually benefits from the lesson. The kids learn how to say
69
their names and how to answer the basic questions and they like to share what they have
learned with their parents. They see the progress and I guess they are glad because I‟m
still teaching the children 
I would say that most of the kids manage to follow the program of which I am proud of.
Of course there always are kids who have problems in learning but it doesn‟t happen
too often. Children who learn according to the program make progress after every
English lesson. The program is designed for them to always repeat what they‟ve already
learned and to learn something new.
 Always prepare a busy lesson plan so the kids don‟t have time for behaving badly.
 Make the lesson funny and entertaining, colorful and engaging. Make the kids DO
and not just sit and listen.
 Have fun with them. They will copy you and you‟ll spend some nice time together
learning.
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Questionnaire 3
a. 1-3
b. 3-5
c. 5
a. 3-7
b. 7-13
a. 30-45 minutes
b. 45 minutes
c. An hour
a. Books
c. Flashcards
d. Puppets
books >
flashcards >
puppets >
songs >
chants >
drama >
worksheets >
games >
71
They usually play and enjoy the games.
They usually prefer games and songs.
Parents usually notice the progress.
The progress is rather high.
The willingness, patience, some ideas for classes.
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Questionnaire 4
a. 1-3
b. 3-5
c. 5-7
a. 3-7
b. 7-13
a. 30-45 minutes
b. 45 minutes
c. An hour
a. Books
c. Flashcards
d. Puppets
books v
flashcards v
puppets v
songs v
chants v
drama v
73
worksheets v
games v
My students do not like to using books during the lesson but they love to learn trough playing.
When a game, song or even flashcards appear on the lesson, the students are much more
interested and active.
I believe it depends on individual opinion but all of my students like games and songs (not all of
them to the same degree). The rest of the teaching methods or materials are not good enough for
all students. Some of pupils like them and some of them are bored during working.
Many parents do not know English language so they are not able to notice the progress.
What is more, only a few parents ask how their child is doing.
Each student is individual and it is impossible to judge them as a whole. I have very
talented students who made a great progress during the learning process but there are
also students who have huge problems with language and their progress is less visible
but of course their knowledge is better than it was.
short attention span of young learners,
learning trough playing is much more effective than traditional learning,
short exercises - many of them are better than long exercises
74
Questionnaire 5
a. 1-3
b. 3-5
c. >5
a. 3-7
b. 7-13
a. 30-45 minutes
b. 45 minutes
c. An hour
a. Books
c. Flashcards
d. Puppets
5. Please mark the effectiveness of the materials you use (in the table)
books ------------
flashcards _______
puppets
songs -------------
chants -------------
drama
worksheets ------------
games -------------
75
Children want to sing songs, play games they like working with flashcards and worksheets
especially if they are colourful and catch attention. They also enjoy time when I‟m reading
stories from books.
Each child is an individual, but I think they like singing and playing games the most.
Parents notice that children enjoy English lessons, because of their showing interest in
English also at home. Parents are informed by children what they were doing each day
during lessons. They(kids) have positive feelings about the subject.
Children show engagement and are willing to learn more. They make progress, want to
get to know new words.
The teacher:
must be able to attract children‟ attention,
should use variety of techniques(games, songs)and resources - colourful flashcards etc. ,
should focus also on the way lesson is organized –coordinate conducting exercises with
discipline
76
Questionnaire 6
a. 1-3
b. 3-5
c. >5
a. 3-7
b. 7-13
a. 30-45 minutes
b. 45 minutes
c. An hour
a. Books
c. Flashcards
d. Puppets
5. Please mark the effectiveness of the materials you use (in the table)
books _______
flashcards ________
puppets ________
songs _______
chants _______
drama
worksheets
games ________
77
Games and any other activities other than filling the exercices in the book stimulate
children. they regard it as fun, and are very willing to participate and cooperate with
each other.
Every student loves games, especially hangman They also adore games that require running, or
jumping, moving in general.
.I guess they do. And, what's more important, they notice that children like English
classes, and sometimes even can't wait for them.
I believe that the progress is not particularly significant, but noticeable.
Lessons must be entertaining. The teacher must not treat learning English as the prime
purpose in life. The teacher must praise their students and motivate them.
78
Questionnaire 7
a. 1-3
b. 3-5
c. >5
a. 3-7
b. 7-13
a. 30-45 minutes
b. 45 minutes
c. An hour
a. Books
c. Flashcards
d. Puppets
e. Others: DVDs,games,worksheets
books v
flashcards v
puppets v
songs v
chants v
drama
Dvd-s v
games v
workheets v
79
smile and clap when they see them
Ask for some of them
flashcards, games, songs
It‟s a group thing – depends on group‟s age
 Do parents notice progress in their children's English? YES
They sing songs understanding the text
They try to use new words
They compete in vocabulary games
Interesting lesson‟s plans – new and old vocabulary (30/70%)
Changing actions, themes and tempo during each lesson
Games, surprises and awards system in order to keep them focused and motivated
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Methods of Teaching English To Young Lea

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Methods of Teaching English To Young Lea

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PRACA DYPLOMOWA

Methods of Teaching English to Young

1 Describing Young Learners

1.1 General features of YL

Learner's age is an important factor in establishing suitable methods of teaching

1.2 Individual differences

1.2.1 Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)

According to this approach “we use a number of „primary representational

1.2.2 Multiple Intelligences theory (MI theory)

MI theory is a concept introduced by a Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner

Intelligence Strength: Students May Enjoy:

It is generally known that motivation is a key to success. Majority of people

1.3.1 Motivation in general

The cognitive perspective

The constructivist view

Three ways of motivation:

Children are less complicated than adolescents or adults if it comes to

To sum up, motivation in general is a force that drives people to do things in

2.1 What is methodology and why is it useful?

Methodology is the study and the description of methods of teaching. It is a

“A method is the practical realization of an approach” (Harmer 2003:78). Presents

A procedure in an ordered sequence of techniques. It is “the last level of

What is useful about methodology is that it describes many different methods to

2.2 Methods of teaching English to YL

Teachers in kindergarten are deriving their techniques from already existing

Audio-lingualism is based on the behaviorist theory about stimulus – response –

2.2.2 Total Physical Response (TPR)

2.2.3 The Natural Approach

Songs are a powerful and almost inexhaustible source of English vocabulary.

Hickory dickory dock

Flashcard‟s main goal is introducing vocabulary. Working with young learners a

3.1 Syllabus criteria

3.2 Types of lesson syllabus

As it was mentioned before, there is a number of different types of lesson

1. The grammar syllabus – the commonest type of syllabus, introduces the

2.1 The purpose of the research

2.2 Procedures and methods

CHILDREN – Young Learners

2.4 Discussing the data

2.4.1.1 Quantitative analysis

As it can be noticed the majority of teachers – 57% - have comparatively small

2.4.1.1.1. The most commonly used methods

2.4.1.1.2. Effectiveness of the methods used

Here is what the numbers on the diagram refer to:

2.4.1.1.3 Parents' opinions

That leads to two conclusions:

2.4.1.1.4. Teachers assessing their students' progress

In this subchapter the syllabus of teaching English to young learners in

2.4.2.2. Comparison of the syllabus charts

Topic 4 year olds 4 year olds 6 year olds 6 year olds

2. Same topics – different range of language units to learn

3. A lot of material is repeated regularly

4. Lack of the continuations of the songs

In this chapter the syllabus of teaching English to young learners in kindergarten

2.4.3.1 Observation charts – quantitative analysis

1. Are the methods used in teaching English to young learners in kindergarten

I Answering the research question 1 we can present the following conclusions:

II Answering the research question 2 we can present the following conclusions:

Tematem niniejszej pracy są metody używane w nauczaniu młodych uczniów

Date: 13 Oct 2010 Topic: Actions Number of students: 7 Age: 4

Date: 18 Oct 2010 Topic: Food Number of students: 8 Age: 4

Date: 6 Dec 2010 Topic: Christmas Number of students: 7 Age: 5 years