Christopher Brumfit, Centre for Language in Education, University of Southampton, England Introduction: Teaching English to children 4 LAST FEW YEARS have seen a revival of interest in the teaching of English to young learners. After much interest in the 1960s, the period ‘of communicative language teaching saw a concentration on adults or secondary level work, with relatively little concern for primary level activity. Now this is changing. fe In part this was because the emphasis on needs analysis was particularly unhelpful for learners who were by definition too young to have clearly identifiable needs. Yet it was strange in many ways to observe this neglect of young learners, for many of the approaches that came in the 1970s and 1980s benefited from our experience of working with young learners in general education. ‘Humanistic’ approaches to language teaching share con- cerns with good primary school teaching practice, and the emphasis on language use and language context simply draws upon the commonplace expectations of good primary school ‘teachers. Jn the 1950s and 1960s, educational innovation at primary levelled a process of liberalisation that changed classroom practice. Jean Brewster's first paper discusses the current practices deriving from this approach, which received its synthesis in Britain in the official Plowden Report (HMSO 1967). ‘Throughout the world during this period classes were increasingly working in small groups on projects which integrated work from a number of pre- viously diverse subject areas. For many traditions, changes of this kind were very radical, and it has taken several generations of teachers to assimilate them into normal practice. At the same time, we have to recognise that language teaching innovation at this level emerged more from practitioners than from theorists. Non-native-speaking teachers working in normal class- rooms without extraordinary resourcing were the people who had to accept new ideas if they were to be of any value in the long term. ‘This book attempts to provide a basis for work by primary level teachers of all kinds, whether native speaker or non-native speaker. The contributors hhave experience in many countries, and include both native speakers of English and non-native speakers, The first part of the book is concerned with the practice of teaching, and contains a wealth of ideas of various kinds. The papers in this section move from the practical towards the theoretical as the section progresses. The second part contains the basic background which is ivTeaching English to children necessary to make sense of the practical principles which have already been demonstrated. Thus Section Two is more theoretical and more academic than Section One. Between them, the two parts provide a thorough over- view of the theory and practice of teaching English to young learners. ‘What I hope to offer in this introductory paper is a general framework for more detailed examination of specific problems ~ but the value of such a framework needs to be constantly tested against the experience of particular learners in particular education systems, with particular groups of teachers. ots Variation at primary level ‘ata Let me start by asking a fundamental question. Is there any such thing as “primary English Language Teaching’ in a general sense? Clearly in many countries there is English Language Teaching in schools for young e groups. But the key elements in the concept of primary Bates ably from culture to culture. cough aa AES For example, what we mean by ‘childhood’ itself varies considerably from‘TEACHING ENGLISH TO CHILDREN Why teach English at primary level? ‘There is a considerable debate about whether young leamers leam language better or more efficiently than older children or adults. In general the evidence is unclear. What is certainly clear, though, is that effective teachers. can help learners to progress rapidly at any level of schooling, Much of the discussion in Section One of this book is an attempt to pass on some of the successful practices of effective teachers. However, there are a number of reasons for teaching English at primary level that do not rely simply on the claim that that is the best time to learn Janguages well: © the need to expose children from an early age to an understanding of foreign cultures so that they grow up tolerant and sympathetic to others. © the need to link communication to the understanding of new concepts. © the need for maximum learning time for important languages — the earlier you start the more time you get. © the advantage of starting with early second language instruction so that later the language can be used as a medium of teaching. (These issues are surveyed by Singleton 1989 pp. 242-5.) If you think about your own situation in relation to these reasons, you will quickly realise that different countries have different needs, and no one country will wish to teach foreign languages to young learners for all of these reasons. How much money is available, how good the teachers’ knowledge of English is, whether English is a second language (used for social purposes outside school) or a foreign language (only normally used while it is being learnt in school), and other factors will determine which of these needs are relevant. ‘Many of the broader issues raised by Singleton are not within the control : of individual teachers, however, and some of them will reflect general social views which education cannot directly change at all. Nonetheless, itis useful to recognise the claims that may be made about the role of edugation— even if we conclude that we cannot do much about them! Second language learning at a young age i I said earlier that it is unclear whether children learn languages better ata. young age. Many people believe that they do, however, and a number of different explanations have been offered. Itmay simply be, of course, that young children have more opportunities - than adults. They are learning all the time without having the worries and \ responsibilities of adults; their parents, friends and teachers allhelp them in learning, Furthermore, they have a strong personal need to learn if they are surrounded by people speaking the second language, and there are strongsocial pressures to do what their elders expect! ‘the inain explanations for better learning that have been suggested are these: a) That the brain is more adaptable before puberty than after, and that acquisition of languages is possible without self-consciousness at an early age. . ) That children have fewer negative attitudes to foreign languages and cultures than adults, and that consequently they are better motivated than adults. c) That children’s language learning is more closely integrated with real communication because it depends more on the immediate physical environment than does adult language. 4) That children devote vast quantities of time to language learning, com- pared with adults, and they are better because they do more of it. Nonetheless, there are problems with most of these explanations. If the child’s brain is really more adaptable, why do so many adults learn so well? Children do perhaps learn accent better than adults (though even this claim has been disputed), but it is unclear that they learn anything else more efficiently. Many adults are very successful and economical language Jearners. Further, some of these advantages do not apply when the child is not immersed in the foreign language culture, so their relevance to many foreign language situations is not obvious. Altogether we need to be a little cautious about over-strong claims. At the same time, there is no evidence to suggest that teaching foreign languages to young children actually produces bad results, unless the teachers are untrained ot there is no satisfactory resourcing. The two most recent book-length surveys of the age factor in language acquisitin conclude that while an early start does give advantages, and certainly need not do any harm, there is no theoretical agreement over exactly what the advantages are (Harley 1986, Singleton 1989). What do teachers need? Thope it is clear from my discussion so far that there are no strong reasons to do with children themselves or the ways in which children learn for refusing to teach them second languages. There may, however, be strong reasons which relate to teachers and materials — there is little justification for exposing learners to teachers who themselves lack confidence in their ability to (ge and use the target language. What kind of support do teachers need? First, teachers need the language. Basic competence is essential. However, we should note that this may pose problems in some educational traditions, especially where foreign rather than second languages are being learnt. Opportunities for foreign language access will vary considerably from