The Teaching Of English To Young Children Education Essay

Vocabulary plays a very important role in learning a foreign language and is one element that links the four skills: speaking , listening, reading and writing. Without teaching vocabulary, many students can fall behind in other subject areas. In order to communicate well in a foreign language, student should acquire an adequate number of words and should know how to use them correctly.

Experienced teachers of English as a Second Language know very well how important vocabulary is. They know students must learn thousands of words that speakers and writers of English use.Fortunately, the need for vocabulary is one point on which teachers and students agree.

For many years, however, programs that prepared language teachers gave little attention to techniques for helping students learn vocabulary. Some books appeared to be telling teachers that students could learn all the words they needed without help. In fact , teachers were sometimes told that they ought not to teach many words before their students had mastered the grammar and sound system of the language. In journal articles for teachers, vocabulary was seldom mentioned. Pronunciation and grammar were emphasized, but there was little or no emphasis on vocabulary.

The aim of my MA thesis would be to show how the knowledge of wide range of vocabulary is important for learner of Second Language but also how to make it interesting and easily adaptable for young students. During my work in Primary School I have observed how easily children become distracted when they are not motivated. It is very essential to keep them engaged in the lesson. I know from my teaching experience that using varieties techniques and methods are very important while teaching children. I would like to consider some of them.

A number of techniques can be adopted to present new vocabulary items. Some techniques are more popular and more often used than others. Also it is up to the teacher which techniques he or she decides to use but always the effectiveness of teaching should be considered. Every teacher tends to use and prefers some technique that he or she finds interesting. There are techniques that are particularly appropriate for certain types of words – for example actions can be explained through pantomime. Another factor that is worth considering is the age of the learners. Younger ones react quite well when we show them concrete illustrations, the older ones can manage pretty well abstract explanations or even definitions.The presentation of new vocabulary can be classified for example according to verbal and visual techniques. Among visual techniques we can find pictures – flashcards, photographs and magazine pictures, wall charts, posters, blackboard drawings, word pictures, several realia that teachers can hold up or point to. Mime, action and gestures can be used especially for explaining actions and times. Learners can label pictures or objects or perform an action.Verbal techniques consist of using illustrative situations, descriptions, synonyms and antonyms, collocations, scales, and using various forms of definition: for example, definition by demonstration (visual definition), definition by abstraction, contextual definitions, and definition by translation. Explanation can become extremely difficult especially with beginner levels.

There are many different methods and approaches how to teach a foreign language,including vocabulary. I will mention some of them that can be used for teaching young

learners. A little bit of shocking method is the direct method . The mother tongue is never used, there are no translations. Only target language is used and only complete sentences. Culture is considered an important aspect. Suggestopedia is a very successful method in helping learners to memorize words. This method stimulates the learner´s brain by music while learning but nowadays teachers seem to be leaving this method. What really works especially for young learners is the Total Physical Response method. Very many children are nowadays very hyper and physically active and to concentrate for a long time can be very difficult for them. Using this method, games, changing topics and using a variety of activities is very appreeciated by them. .Communicative Language Approach (Teaching) – CLT – stresses the meaning of a language in context. Communicative competence is highly developed here and learners are encouraged to communicate.

When teaching young learners, the teacher has to be strong at the knowledge but also needs to connect with the children. They need to feel the teacher likes them and wants to teach them something new. The results are seen easily and the learners at this age are very grateful when someone invest time in them. The teacher has to know his or her pupils. It is important to understand their needs, their expectations with which each child comes to the lessons, also ways how to motivate them and last but not least their learning style. All this the teacher is learning while working with the learners. The teachers get to know their families, their hobbies and interests and just basic information about the learners. Also, especially nowadays, we as teachers have to consider the learning disabilities too. There are more and more chidlren with these problems and we as teachers need to help them to enjoy the lessons and help them to learn too. The teacher needs to understand their differences, their cultural and family background.

The characteristics of young learners will be also needed. I want to show that working with them offers many possibilities and we can use many methods and approaches. During my teacher´s training I have learned that it is important to learn about their personalities and also to get to know them. Every learner is different and we need to view each person individually.