284 Part V: What Kind of Class Will I Have?
Looking at how little ones learn
Most people think that children are superb language learners and that they
outstrip adult students. However, more recent research shows that this
isn’t exactly true. Children have much more time to devote to learning than
adults and they can often see a clear need for doing so. So, for example, most
bilingual children have a parent or caregiver who speaks to them entirely in
another language. Say, a family in the UK are made up of a Twi-speaking mum
and a dad who’s bilingual, the child eventually speaks Twi to communicate
with her mother and English to speak to everyone else. However, when the
mother learns English, the child may stop speaking Twi because she doesn’t
have to. Understanding Twi is sufficient for survival and so English becomes
dominant.
Two good points about youngsters learning a language:
✓ Their pronunciation is sometimes better than that of adult students.
✓ They’re often less self-conscious about speaking than older learners.
If you work as an au pair to small children, you can just speak your language
and the children begin to acquire it because they need to communicate.
However, as an EFL teacher you’re only likely to have your pupils for an hour
or two a week, so acquisition is less likely to happen this way. You need a
strategy for helping them learn.
Sorting out what young learners need
Children’s and adult’s lessons obviously differ in some respects. You really
can’t just turn up and play a game so here are some things you ought to
include in your lesson preparation:
✓ Shorter activities to match the shorter concentration span: Even games
or role-plays need to be brief and punchy so that the kids don’t get
bored.
✓ Extra activities just in case: Sometimes the children aren’t in the mood
for a particular activity so instead of forcing them, have an alternative
on hand.
✓ Eccentric behaviour: Kids love it when you do something out of the
ordinary. It gives them a reason to communicate because they want to
tell you about it.
✓ Rewards: Parents don’t always like it if you give their children sweets,
except occasionally, but you can have stickers with smiley faces and
positive messages. Pre-teens really beam when they get praise and
commendation that they can show to Mum and Dad.
