Marja Loureyth Augusto Félix

To What Extent can English be Learnt by Young Learners in Pre-school

Research Proporsal

Universidade Licungo
Beira Extension
Beira
2020

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 Marja Loureyth Augusto Félix

To What Extent can English be Learnt by Young Learners in Pre-school

Research Proposal

Research proposal to be submitted to the Department

of Languages and Communication, Faculty of Letters
and Humanities, for the attainment of the Licentiate
Degree in English Language Teaching With Minor
in Translation English-Portuguese

Universidade Licungo
Beira Extension
Beira
2020

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Contents
1. Chapter One ........................................................................................................................1

1.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................1

1.2. State of the problem ......................................................................................................2

1.3. Background of the study ...............................................................................................2

1.4. Objective of the study ...................................................................................................3

1.4.1. General Objectives .................................................................................................3

1.4.2. Specific Objectives ................................................................................................3

1.5. The research question ....................................................................................................4

1.6. Hypothesis ....................................................................................................................4

1.7. Reasons for carrying out the study.................................................................................4

1.8. Beneficiaries of the study ..............................................................................................5

1.9. Organisation of the paper ..............................................................................................5

1.10. Summary ...................................................................................................................6

2. Chapter Two: Literature Review ..........................................................................................7

2.2. Introduction ..................................................................................................................7

2.3. Young Learners (YL) ....................................................................................................7

2.4. Why to Teach a FL (Foreign Language) Early ...............................................................7

2.5. Characteristics of Young Learners.................................................................................8

2.6. The Benefits of Early Language Learning ................................................................... 10

2.7. The characteristics of language teachers who teach to children .................................... 11

2.8. How to teach Young Learners ..................................................................................... 12

2.9. Summary .................................................................................................................... 13

3. Chapter Three .................................................................................................................... 14

3.1. Research Methodology................................................................................................ 14

3.2. Type of Research ........................................................................................................ 14

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 3.3. Research Procedure ..................................................................................................... 14

3.4. Research Instruments .................................................................................................. 14

3.4.1. Questionnaire ....................................................................................................... 14

3.4.2. Interview.............................................................................................................. 15

3.4.3. Observation.......................................................................................................... 15

3.5. Research Settings and Population ................................................................................ 15

3.6. Limitation of the study ................................................................................................ 15

3.7. Summary .................................................................................................................... 15

4. Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 16

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 1. Chapter One

1.1. Introduction

Language as a means of communication plays very important role in social relationship among
human beings. The English Language is the first foreign language that is taught to children
nationally at very early stages of schooling. The primary aim of teaching English in the early
years of schooling is to motivate young learners to be ready and have self-confident in learning
English at higher levels of education. Some children are born to parents who polyglots, so they
have to acquire two or three different languages. Some others learn second or third language
because they are to immigrate to a new country. Nowadays language learning is essential needed
for children in order to follow the educational systems and to become useful members or citizens
of those countries.

As decreed by the National Government, English in our country is initiated to be learnt at grade 6
by which the pupils have an average age of 10/11 years. While according to Hashemi &
Azizinezhad (2011:2084):

“For this reason, in teaching children English, there are some characteristics of whom presented
by Scott and Lisbeth (1992). Children aged 8-10 are mature enough; They have a particular point
of view; They are able to describe the difference between facts and fictions; They are curious of
asking questions; They believe in what is said and the real world to express and comprehend
meaning/message; They have distinct opinions about what they like and what they dislike; They
are open to what happens in the classroom and begin asking a teacher s decision; and They can
cooperate with each other and learn from others.”

Both our government and Hashemi & Azizinezhad (2011:2084) believe that “children
particularly at those ages are competent mother tongue users. In this regard, they are aware of
basic linguistic rules of their mother tongue. At these ages, children can grasp abstracts and
symbols, generalize language, and systematize it.” So definitely this is the perfect age to start to
teach English to children although the reality in Mozambique shows negative results in terms of
the teaching of the subject.

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 1.2. State of the problem

Although there are various points of view about the best time to begin English language
instruction, and minor differences in student age and program categories, Cameron (2003:106)
adds that the fact is that in most countries, children are learning English at younger and younger
ages and that is notable in our country with introduction of the language in pre-schools.

Scott & Lisbeth (1999:i) say that the teaching of English to young has become especially
important in recent years. One of the reasons for this has been the introductory of it in pre-
school. However, it is a fact that many teachers now find themselves teaching in pre-school even
though they have not been trained for this level. And even for teacher who have been trained,
there is a lack of good books concerning this important area of teaching.

In many countries, English is a compulsory subject in the early primary grades. In a recent
survey of EYL teachers from 55 countries around the world, Shin & Crandall (2011:65) found
that more than 50 % of these countries introduced compulsory English language courses by third
grade. Even in countries where families may choose the foreign language for their children to
study, English is “overwhelmingly the first choice”. The growing demand for English, plus
parents‟ belief that English skills provide their children with a better education and better
employment opportunities, have led to an increase in the number of EYL programs and one of
things is this introduction.

As our government decreed for instruction of this language in grade 6, that means they will
provide the training for teachers from that level. Not only the training but with the materials
which also include books for that specific level. That means somehow, the introduction of
English in pre-schools is “illegal” because there are no training of teachers for such level and
there are also no books.

For the teachers who are teaching, to what extent are they going to be successful in teaching
English?

1.3. Background of the study

People often think that teaching young children is an easy job and anyone can teach at primary
level as it is seen as an extension of mothering rather than as an intellectual enterprise. Teachers

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at primary level are then often given less training, lower status and low pay than colleagues in
the same educational system who teach teenagers or adults at secondary and tertiary level.
Cameron (2001) cited in Gautam (2014:27) says contradicting:

“Teachers of young children should be such that they need to understand the children, find out
what they need and offer them the materials in a way that they take them with interest. “The
teacher of children needs to be highly skilled to reach into children’s world and lead them to
develop their understandings towards more formal, more extensive and differently organized
concepts”

Presumably, the teachers of pre-schools, teaching English are not specifically trained for that
level. Hashemi & Azizinezhad (2011:2083) adds that teaching English to children is not an easy
job. But it is also not difficult, if we already know how to do it.

The preoccupation of the researcher comes through this point mention above. As it is known that
teaching a young learner is not easy but it will not be difficult if the teacher knows how to do it.
As the teacher did not go throw any specific training, is he/she really able to be successful to do
it?

1.4. Objective of the study

The objectives of the study are going to be divided in general ones to the specific.

1.4.1. General Objectives

The general objective of this study is to see that to what extent the young learners are being able
to learn English in the conditions of the pre-school that they are.

1.4.2. Specific Objectives

In the specific objectives, the researcher intends to:

- To see how the teachers are instructing the young learners considering that they are not
trained for that levels.
- Suggest some materials and methods to the teachers

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 1.5. The research question

The research questions which will be guiding this survey are:

- How are the YL learning?

- What is being the context of the lessons?
- What type of methods and materials are the teachers making use?
- To what extent are the YL being successful?
- Can the age influence in the success of each YL?

These questions are also accompanied by the following hypothesis:

1.6. Hypothesis

Teaching young children is a salutary (good though seem unpleasant) experience; one cannot
„get away‟ with it being unprepared or tired or absent minded. The pleasures and
disappointments of teaching at this level are correspondingly great. This explains that teaching
young children is obviously challenging and a careful planning is required in order to engage
them in language learning activities. A teacher has to be professionally competent enough to
teach the young children and “the professionalism of teachers of young learners requires an
underpinning of theoretical knowledge that can help counterpart prevalent misunderstanding of
the job (teaching young children)” (Gautam;2014:26-27)

“Pre-schoolers are considered to be energetic than any other level, and they can also easily get
annoyed if they do not find the lesson interesting. So seeing that English is something that the YL
never heard about, how are the teachers being able to deal with it, so that the learners can be
integrated the lessons?”

Besides trying to know how successful the teachers are in instructing English to Young Learners,
the researcher also wants this hypothesis to answer the research questions presented herein.

1.7. Reasons for carrying out the study

The national authority had their own special reasons to decree that English should be taught
starting from grade 6 by students who are partially 10 years or above. However, because of many

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reasons and one of them being of the demand of business to attract clients, some pre-schools are
introducing English to their curriculum.

The introduction of English in pre-schools is not a bad idea at all, but it made the researcher to be
curious. In countries like Russia, they have English as their foreign language just like English in
our country. Therefore for the Russians, this language is compulsory starting from pre-schools
meaning that the education system offers trained teachers and materials for that level. Differently
with our context, English is not compulsory in pre-schools, that is why it is some of pre-schools
that are introducing this language. From there, come out the reason for carrying out the study.

With no training to the teachers for this language, and with no materials for it, the research wants
to know how are the teachers being able to instruct the young learners (YL)? Considering that
this is one of the complex levels of students that any other teacher may have.

1.8. Beneficiaries of the study

This study will benefit mostly to the pre-schools teachers by making them to analyse the work
they are doing. To see how successful or unsuccessful they are being concerning to the lessons.
The same instructor will benefit through supply of materials through the research, as the
researcher is through the same survey is getting methods and materials from the countries that
are already implementing it as compulsory.

1.9. Organisation of the paper

This research will have five chapters: a descriptive part which includes three chapters and an
empirical part which includes two main chapters. Therefore, chapter one will bring the overview
of the research problem and how important it is to be executed. Chapter two will present the
literature review in which the researcher will discuss about the state of reading for pleasure and
how to promote it. In chapter three, the methodology of the research will be discussed without
leaving out its implementation. Besides that, the researcher will present, analyse and discuss data
that will be in the chapter four. The research will be concluded in chapter five where all the final
considerations of the project will be there including the suggestions and recommendations.

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 1.10. Summary

The first chapter is introducing the topic of the research, in which it has included the presented
topic, the research problem, the background of the study, objectives whereby there were general
and specific, the hypothesis, the rationale of the study, the beneficiaries and the organisation of
the paper. Therefore, with the introduction of English to young learners, it made the researchers
to outcome this survey to try to find how successful are those teachers being during their job.

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 2. Chapter Two: Literature Review

2.2. Introduction

In this chapter, the main focus is discussing the literature on teaching of Young Learners. This
process in this chapter will be reviewed in a way that other countries they are doing in order to
be successful. This chapter will also bring the brief of characteristic of Young Learners by which
it will help to understand the abstract part of this job as teacher of YL.

2.3. Young Learners (YL)

Young Learners in the context of this research are those students whom are beginning to be
taught English concerning the context the place where the author is. According to Scott &
Lisbeth (1999:01) the young learners are those who are between 5-10 years old. Achkasova
(2013:385) says that in Russia, “today, children start English in the first grade (6-7 years old).
Lyceums and gymnasiums run courses of English beginning at the age of five.” Which means
that their YL start between 5-7. Also Rogińska (2013:1) confirms that YL starts English between
5-7 years.

Focusing directly on our contexts, the pre-schools that were visited by the researcher which were
having instructions of English had children between the age of 3-5.

2.4.Why to Teach a FL (Foreign Language) Early

There are many reasons for teaching this language. As mentioned in the previous chapter that the
majority of pre-schools intruced it in order to attract the parents to opt for their school. This is
the major reason but there other reason which can be looked at stated by Cameron (2003:06):

a. The value of increased time- One reason for starting English in the
earlier, is the amount of time that children will have to learn the language. As Curtain and
Dahlberg (2010) stated in Cameron (2003:06) say,“when language learning begins earlier, it
can go on longer and provide more practice and experience, leading ultimately to greater
fluency and effectiveness”. However, duration is not enough. Intensity also matters. Children
need the opportunity to learn English for more than two 30-minute periods a week.

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b. The possibility of better pronunciation and fluency- Moreover, some
researchers have concluded that young learners are more likely to attain native-like
pronunciation greater confidence in speaking the language, and better oral proficiency. These
studies do not refute the possibility that older language learners can achieve native-like
pronunciation or proficiency, but they suggest that younger learners may have an advantage.
If children begin learning another language before age 11 or 12, and they are given
appropriate instruction and input, they “are more likely to acquire English to native levels
without an accent” (Pinter, 2006, p. 29). “Appropriate instruction” requires well-trained
teachers with good English proficiency who can foster the creativity and imagination of
young learners, taking advantage of children‟s willingness to imitate or mimic what they hear
and to repeat the language, especially if the activity is fun.
c. The possibility of greater global awareness and intercultural competence- As the world
gets smaller and more interconnected through the Internet and international travel, children
have the opportunity to become global citizens. Through learning another language, children
can gain an appreciation for other languages and cultures. The experience can also make
them more aware and reflective of their own language and culture.
d. The value of bilingualism: mental flexibility- Being bilingual provides many cognitive
advantages. Even when children are only using one of their two (or more) languages, they
have access to the other language(s) and to those neural networks (Bialystok, 1999 stated in
Cameron;2003:07). For young learners, especially, being able to speak another language
provides a number of advantages such as mental flexibility, the ability to see a problem from
different perspectives. It can also increase a child‟s selfawareness. As Marsh (2000) stated in
Cameron (2003:07) explains, “What we need to realize is that the ability to use different
languages, even to a modest extent, can have a positive impact on the youngster‟s thinking
processes. Being able to see the same phenomenon from different angles, as though looking
through different language „spectacles‟, can have a very interesting impact on our ability to
think and understand”.

2.5. Characteristics of Young Learners

Almost everyone get amused when they hear a three year old baby starts to talk. But the question
is, can that three year old learn a language that he/she is not exposed to frequently but only for

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some minutes? According to Scott & Lisbeth (1999:01), “the British philosopher John Stuart
started to learn Greek at the age of three. But the authors explain that the child was not an
average child.

The same author also explains that children are really different in terms of their development,
some develop gradually others in leaps and bounds while some develop early, some later. It is
not possible to say that at the age of three-five can all do x at the age of seven they can do y or
that at the age of ten they can all do z. But it is possible to point out certain characteristics of
young children which should be noticed of and take into account in teaching. Gautam (2014:26)
believes that “there is often a myth that young children who come to school at primary level do
not know much and they are like blank sheet of paper. It may be true that they are innocent but
they know a lot and they can do several things at very young age.” Scott & Lisbeth (1999:1-3)
divided the ages into 5-7 and 8-10 years in which they listed the characteristics. They stated
these characteristic for children for 5-7 years:

a. They can talk about what they are doing.

b. They can tell you about what they have done or heard.
c. They can plan activities.
d. They can argue for something and tell you why they think what they think.
e. They can use logical reasoning.
f. They can use their vivid imaginations.
g. They can use a wide range of intonation patterns in their mother tongue.
h. They can understand direct human interaction.
i. They know that the world is governed rules. They may not always understand the rules,
but they know that they are there to be obeyed.
j. They understand situations more quickly than understand the language used.
k. They use language skills long before they are aware of them.
l. Their own understanding comes through hands and eyes and ears. The physical world is
dominant at all times.
m. They are very logical- what you say first happens first. “Before you turn off the light, put
your away” can mean 1 st turn off the light and then 2nd put your book away.
n. They have a very short attention and concentration span

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 o. To them it is difficult in knowing what is a fact and what is fiction.
p. Young children are often happy playing and working alone but in the company of others.
They are can be very reluctant to share It is often said that children are very self-centred
up to the age of six or seven and they cannot see things from someone else‟s point of
view. This may well be true, but do remember that sometimes pupils don‟t want to work
together because they do not see the point. They do not always understand what we want
them to do.
q. They love to play and learn best when they are enjoying themselves.
r. They keep on learning positively if they are praised

Therefore, Uysal & Yavuz (2015:20) adds that:

“It is the teacher who provides a variety of experiences and a set of activities without getting
them bored. Children are creative and want to be active so it is better to make use of their
imagination and energy in games, songs, drawing pictures or puzzle-like activities. Children,
especially boys, are not tend to sit still and sometimes resort to aggression probably because of
the changes in hormones, following with high energy (Biddulph, 1998). In addition, compared to
the boys, little girls are better in linguistic skills, fine motor skills and concentration while boys
are unable to keep up them by up to one year (Khan, 1998; Biddulph, 1998; McIlvain, 2003).

Definitely children are amazing and they have a so much to offer in class and it is the teacher
who needs to learn how to manage this in class.

2.6. The Benefits of Early Language Learning

Early studies of second or foreign language learning argued that there was a “critical period”
(Lenneberg, 1967; Penfield & Roberts, 1959 cited in Cameron, 2003:04) or a “critical” or
“sensitive period”, prior to puberty in which children could acquire native-like proficiency in a
foreign language. That perspective found ready acceptance among adults who thought children
could “pick up” a language easily, often remembering their own frustration at not having
mastered another language.

However, a number of “language policy documents explicitly state the advantages of early
language learning. Read (2003) cited in Cameron (2003:05) suggests that younger is better when
learning is:

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  Natural
 Contextualized and part of a real event
 Interesting and enjoyable
 Relevant
 Social
 Belongs to the child
 Has a purpose for the child
 Builds on things the child knows but also challenges the child
 Supported appropriately
 Part of a coherent whole
 Multisensory
 Active and experiential
 Memorable
 Designed to provide for personal, divergent responses and multiple intelligences
 Offered in a relaxed and warm learning atmosphere

2.7. The characteristics of language teachers who teach to children

Both Hashemi & Azizinezhad (2011:2086) and Scott & Lisbeth (1999:01) say that “teaching
English to children is not an easy job. But it is also not difficult, if we already know how to do
it.” Many researchers do believe that a successful language teacher of Young Learners should
possess some characteristics that is why Hashemi & Azizinezhad, (2011:2086) classified the
teacher as follows:

 Must be energetic and patient.

 Must love children.
 Must pay attention to individual differences.
 Must encourage, encourage, and encourage.
 Must let children see the beautiful and useful aspects of the language.
 Must let them love you as the language teacher and the new language as well.
 Must know the techniques of teaching.
 Must respect children as human.

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  Must start teaching to children as soon as possible.

2.8. How to teach Young Learners

Teaching children is really different from teaching adolescent or adults, as Hashemi &
Azizinezhad (2011:2086) demonstrated that by explaining that teachers of adults may need to re-
think their approach when teaching children. There are some helpful ideas to incorporate into the
language classroom of YL. These ideas come from the discussions and experience and
researches done by teachers and professionals and wwere stated by Hashemi & Azizinezhad
(2011:2086-87):

 Switch to simple English in the class

 Speak clearly and concisely
 Use the board most of the time
 Use enjoyable language learning games
 Have a sense of humor
 Let them listen to music and watch cartoons in English
 Don‟t forget background music when teaching or assigning them some tasks
 Use audios for modeling if you are not a native speaker
 Observe successful language classes for teaching tips
 Use pantomime and body language when necessary
 Get your real objects to the class
 Pay attention to seating arrangement of the children
 Call them by their first names or give them some new English names
 Budget your time, don‟t be in a rush
 Check their home works regularly but not seriously
 Have a video recording of your classroom
 Give them break some times
 Be well dressed

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In order to teach English to the young children effectively, Gautam (2014:27) suggests that the
teacher should have knowledge and skills of how the language should be presented at the very
young age.

2.9. Summary

This is the second chapter that explains the literature review of the study, by which all the
literature or concepts were deeply explained. The researcher started by explaining about the
concept Young Learners wherein, they have been considered as the children between the age of
3-5 years who are beginning to learn English language in pre-schools. The reasons of learning
English in a very early stage, has also been established, including the characteristics of the YL.
Teachers should be presumably teaching the children without any special training but it is
important to know some tips of “how to teach YL.”

In terms of the duty of the Teachers in YL classroom should establish a good rapport with the
students and children must feel that their teacher is there to play with them. Personal
relationships, in this context, are important to children, and the teacher must be ready to listen to
stories about their families and accounts of daily happenings. Similarly, children love fun
environment and they want to experiment things by themselves. They are inquisitive,
imaginative and creative. “Young children do not come to the language classroom empty-
handed. They bring with them an already established set of instincts, skills, and characteristics
which will help them to learn.

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 3. Chapter Three

3.1. Research Methodology

In this chapter, the researcher outcomes the analysis methodology for this study. It will include
the research type, how it is going be conducted, its instruments that is going to be useful for data
collection and the corresponding procedures which will be applied for the data collection
purpose. Moreover, the paper will take in some aspects related to the participants and the settings
that will take place the study.

3.2.Type of Research

The systematic method of this research is the quantitative, by which the aim is to see that to what
extent are they learning English as it is also the conceit of study.

3.3. Research Procedure

This study is going to be done in six months where the researcher is going to be observing the
learning process of the Young Learners. First of all, the researcher will be making sure to be
certain about the training level and experience of the teacher and then analyse the characteristics
of the students if they are compatible to those that have been explained in the literature review.
Also the methods of teaching of the lesson will be observed and to what extent are they being
successful.

3.4.Research Instruments

The research instrument that will be useful for this study is a questionnaire, an interview and
observation. Definitely, all these instruments will be designed to collect personal data about the
student which will facilitate on the data analysis.

3.4.1. Questionnaire

The researcher designed a form with questions that will be used to collect the information of the
pre-school and the personal information of the teacher.

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 3.4.2. Interview

This is also one of the instruments that will be used to have more information about the teachers
and the students. For more information that could have been left in form of the questionnaire will
be fulfilled through the interview.

3.4.3. Observation

This instrument is the main one that will provide the main information of the study. As the
researcher will be observing the lesson and also the feedback of the Young Learners. Through
that the researcher will be registering all the important information.

3.5. Research Settings and Population

This study is going to be done at a Pre-school called Tamy‟s Escolinha wherein, it has children
starting from 1-5 years. It is a pre-school that has started its services this recent year (2020) and
they opted to introduce English to the Young Learners. The pre-school presumably has not more
than 25 Young Learners for that reason the research would want to know if they are all being
part of the lessons or not.

3.6. Limitation of the study

In the study, the researcher is expecting some limitations. As the pre-school is still starting its
services, they might feel intimidated by the characteristic of the study and they might reject its
execution. Not only the pre-school administration can feel that, but also the English may feel
intimidated and decide to not to cooperate and that can also endanger the progress of the study.

3.7. Summary

In any study that should be done, a method is necessary to simplify the collections of its results.
For this paper, the researcher chose the quantitative method that will determine to which extent
that the Young Learners are learning English. Furthermore, for the instrument for collection of
data, the researcher preferred to use the questionnaire, interview and observation that are also
expected to simplify the data collection. Then for limitation, the researcher is expecting two of
them. To avoid these limitations, the researcher will clarify the objective so that not any entity
can feel intimidated.

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 4. Bibliography

Achkasova, N. (2013, June). The Best Ways of Teaching English to Children: Using Children‟s
Operas in Teaching to 5- to 6- Year-Old Children. US-China Education Review, 3(6),
385-390 .

Cameron, L. (2003). Challenges for ELT From the Expansion in Teaching Children. ELT
Journal, 2(57), 105–112.

Clarke, P. (2009). Supporting Children Learning English as a Second Language in the Early
Years (birth to six years). Sydney: Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

Gautam, G. R. (2014). Teaching English to Young Children. Journal of NELTA Surkhet, 26-33.

Hashemi, M., & Azizinezhad, M. (2011). Teaching English To Children:A Unique ,Challenging
Experience For Teachers, Effective Teaching Ideas . Social and Behavioral Sciences ,
2083-2087.

Pinter, T. (2006). Teaching young language learners. Oxford: O.U.P.

Rogińska, M. (2013). Teaching English to children - Chapter I. World Scientific News, 1, 1-8.

Scott, W. A., & Lisbeth, Y. H. (1999). Teaching English to Children. New York: Longman.

Shin, J. A., & Crandall, J. (2011). A Survey of English Young Learner Programs, Policies, and
Teachers. New York: Unpublished MS.

Uysal, N. D., & Yavuz, F. (2015, February). Teaching English to Very Young Learners. (A. W.
Center, Ed.) Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 19-22.

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