Chapter 3 brewster

Chapter 3: “How Children learn
English”

Learning-centred
 EFL: not simply putting fun into learning.
 (Nunan&Lamb, 1996; Cameron, 2001)

 Need to maximize learning.
 Provide both: support and challenge.

How children think and
learn
 Physical
 Emotional
 Conceptual
 Educational characteristics of YLE.

What is different about teaching
children?
 YLE are different from older learners
because:
 They have a lot of physical energy.
 Are emotionally excitable.
 Are developing conceptually/ early
stages of schooling.
 Are still developing literacy akills in L1.
 Learn more slowly and forget things
quickly.

And more…
 Tend to be self-oriented/worried with
their own world.
 Get bored easily.
 Are excellent mimics.
 Can be easily distracted but also very
enthusiastic.
 Can concentrate for a longer tiem if they
are interested.

Learner differences
 Chronological age is not the same as
developmental age.

 Age bands: 3-6, 7-9, 10-12 year olds.

 Degree of parental support.

PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL
DIFFERENCES
 At Primary school level learners are:

 Developing self-esteem and confidence in
learning.
 Very egocentric: 6-7, unable to cooperate
with others.
 Developing motor skills.
 Physically restless: short , varied activities.
 Unstable emotionally: tantrums, need to
learn how to overcome frustration.

Teachers need to provide:
 A supportive  Routines that
environment. provide a sense of
security.
 Activities to share
and play with other  Praise.
learners.
 A warm and
 A variety of encouraging
activitities. classroom
atmosphere.

Conceptual, educational and
linguistic differences
 3-6 year olds: symbolic thought, a
picture can be substituted by ther eal
thing.

 7+: capable of realistic and rational
thought.

How children think and
learn
 Behaviourism: transmission model of
learning.

 Piaget: Constructivism. Clearly defined
stages of intellectual development:
 4 to 8: concrete-operational stage.
 11+: formal thinking.
 His research: study how children think and
learn through their behaviour in relation to
given tasks.

Bruner (1983)
 Why is school difficult for learners?
 It is too different from their real lives.
 CONSTRUCTIVIST VIEW:
o Child as active agent in constructing
KOL: selecting, learning, retaining and
transforming information.

SCAFFOLDING
 Comparison between children learning and
building a house:
 Broken up into stages: foundations, walls
and ceiling: BUILDING BLOCKS.

 Plumbing and electrics: how everything is
put together and connected. LINKS AND
NETWORKS.
 SCAFFOLDING is removed when the
hosue can support itself.

Child’s learning as a
process:
 3 Modes of Representation:
 1. Knowing something through doing it.

 2. Working with a picture or image of it.

 3. Working with a symbolic
representation: language.

VYGOTSKY (1978)
 Mental development at two levels:
 Present.
 Future or potential. ZPD.
 Differences between Piaget /Vygotsky:

 1. Role of adults/ teachers.
 2. Role of language.
 Social-constructivist model.

Ellis (1999)
 The role of Metacognition.

 Helping children to think, plan and
remember aids them to develop
confidence in similar tasks.

Discuss:
 Learning and sequential stages.

 Learning, egocentrism and the role of
play: social competence. Play as
cognitive challenge.

 The role of the L1. short-story telling,
rhymes, songs, oral activities/traditions.

The uniqueness of learners

 NLP (1970´s)

 LEARNING
STYLES.(Berman, 1998).Visual, Auditor
y, Kinesthetic.

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES.

 Howard Gardner (1993) :
 1. Linguistic Intelligence.
 2. Logical-mathematical Intelligence.
 3. Spatial Intelligence.
 4. Kinesthetic Intelligence.
 5. Musical Intelligence.
 6. Interpersonal Intelligence.
 7. Intrapersonal Intelligence.
 8. Naturalistic Intelligence.
 (See activities to be promoted, pp36)

Methods that work well with
YLE
 TPR Total Physical Response
(Asher, 1960)

 TBL.

 Project Work.

How teachers generate their
own learning theories:
 Memories of childhood learning.
 Teacher training.
 Reading.
 Reflection upon classroom practice.
 Professional development activities.
 CRITICAL PROCESS.

Bruner’s videos:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2H_s
wMUlOg

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeUU
J7SrMVg&feature=related

Chapter 3 brewster

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Chapter 3 brewster