TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS
Routine,routine
Laura Gamble recommends the reinforcement of rites for her very young students.
A
s adults, we often like a change
in our routine, something to
shake it up a little. If we found
ourselves in a classroom, learning a
second language or any other new skill,
we would most probably be bored if the
teacher followed the same format week
in week out. Young children do not
have this problem. They like routine and
anything that differs from the norm may
be met with questions and confusion.
It is important to create a safe and
comfortable learning environment in
the classroom, and the teacher–student
relationship is central to this
environment. Students need to be able
to trust their teacher. They also need to
feel that the teacher believes in them.
And paramount for children is, I believe,
to establish a routine. This article will
focus on the teaching of very young
learners (VYLs): three to four years old.
Lists and lower case
Once you have planned your lesson and
are ready to start teaching it, you need
to find a way to convey your plan to
your students. Children as young as
three can often understand the meaning
of simple ideas, such as new sound, story
and song. These can be markers for them
to look for throughout the lesson. I
have found that writing a numbered list
on the board helps enormously. Even
though the children can’t read, they can
see how many points are on the list.
The stages of the lesson should be
written in lower case as this is more
recognisable to VYLs (as it is to any
learners). When learning the sounds
represented by different letters, the
letters are generally presented in their
lower-case form. Moreover, the biggest
exposure to written language that VYLs
get is probably through story books,

which are predominantly in lower case.
It is rare to see big chunks of language
written anywhere in capital letters.
VYLs can usually count – if not in
English, then in their native language –
and a total of seven or eight points
seems manageable. Putting a picture
next to each item is even better, as
portraying things visually is key at this
age. My board may look like this:
1 game
2 old sound
3 new sound
4 all sounds a b c
5 writing
6 song
7 story
8 bye bye!
Lessons and likes
I have found over time that putting ‘bye
bye’ at the end really does make a
difference. When I first started teaching
VYLs, I didn’t recognise this as an actual
stage in the lesson. I would also get a
little upset when students asked if it was
home-time next, as I thought this was an
indication that they weren’t enjoying the
lesson. On reflection, I don’t believe this
to be the case at all. It’s just something
that they understand.
As the lesson progresses, I tick off
each point covered as we go along and
put a smiley face next to it. Then I let
the children count how many more
things we have to do before it’s time to
leave. If, for example, early in the lesson
a student asks if it’s ‘story’ next, I will
• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 75 July 2011 •
show them ‘story’ on the list and count
with them up to that point. I feel that
this enables students who are too
young to have any real concept of time
to follow the lesson plan.

Once a routine is established, it’s hard –
but not impossible – to change it,
especially if it is something the students
like doing or have previously been
praised for. In one of my classes, I used
to let the children put away their own
whiteboards, thinking this would allow
them to develop responsibility for
keeping the classroom tidy. The
problem was that they started fighting
over who could do what. It’s simply no
good telling a four year old that ‘it’s
Jamie’s turn this week’. This awareness
of time is too sophisticated for
students of this age group.
Change is not, then, impossible.
Obviously, when students progress from
one level to the next there are inevitable
changes. Likewise, if you observe a fellow
teacher and you decide to try out his
or her way, this will necessarily involve
changes to your own routine. Children
are adaptable and once the change has
been explained and carried out a couple
of times in practice, it becomes a new
routine and they can barely remember
how it was done before. Just be
prepared for all the questions! ETp
Laura Gamble taught
business English in
Germany for two years
and has also taught in
the UK. She is currently
teaching and writing
materials in Hong Kong.
lauragamble19@yahoo.co.uk
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