WEEK 5: TEACHING SPEAKING TO YOUNG LEARNERS During this class, we learned about the second skill: speaking. We went over a lot of information about it:
INTRODUCTION: We discussed some aspects about teaching speaking to young learners to start the class. Some of them were: We have to keep in mind the fact that what we have in front of us is a mixed class with varied abilities, expectations, motivation level, knowledge, and different learning styles. Young learners are like sponges. Mixed activities such as poems, rhymes, songs… are very helpful for them to grow their speaking abilities. Interaction is an important way of learning. We need to vary our approaches and offer as much opportunity as possible.
WHAT IS SPEAKING? Speaking is one way for them to play with words and sounds. Children experiment with the language when they are with their parents, family, siblings, and friends. They learn the power of their spoken words
by observing how a word can impact an adult’s feeling and how they respond to that kind of words. Play is a vital and important aspect of a child’s development and language is part of that play.
BACKGROUND TO THE TEACHING OF SPEAKING: Speaking is equally important in children’s overall language development. Speaking is the way they communicate about what they feel or what they need, and also the way their adults communicate with them. It is the first output after the first input, long before they can write.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPEAKING SKILLS: Young learners will probably have limitations in speaking. Children have a clear advantage when it comes to pronunciation if they begin learning English as a foreign or second language at any early age.
MEAN LENGTH OF UTTERANCES: It is a measure of linguistic productivity in children.
Calculated by collecting 100 utterances spoken by a child and dividing the number of morphemes by the number of utterances. A higher MLU is taken to indicate a higher level of language proficiency. The expectations for speaking for children should be tailored to their development.
OVERGENERALIZATION OF ERRORS: Children very good in interpreting meanings and they can see the patterns that occur in a sentence. Children have a tendency to over-generalize grammar rules when they are learning English. When teaching children to speak a second or foreign language, it is important to keep in mind the development of their skills in their native.
CLASSROOM TECHNIQUES AND ACTIVITIES: Brown stated 7 principles for designing speaking skills: 1. Use techniques that cover the spectrum of learners needs, from language-based focus on accuracy to message-based focus on interaction, meaning and fluency.
2. Provide motivating techniques. 3. Encourage the use of authentic language in meaningful contexts. 4. Provide appropriate feedback and correction. 5. Capitalize on the natural link between speaking and listening. 6. Give students opportunities to initiate oral communication. 7. Encourage the development of speaking strategies.
AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD: New material is presented in dialogue form. There is dependence on mimicry, memorization of set phrases and overlearning. Structures are sequenced by means of contrastive analysis and taught one at a time. Structural patterns are taught using repetitive drills. There is little or no grammatical explanation at all. Vocabulary is strictly limited and learned in context. Great importance is attached to pronunciation. Very little use of the mother tongue by teachers is permitted. Successful responses are immediately reinforced. There is a great effort to get students to produce error-free utterances.
COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING: Connects classroom-based language learning with the language that learners need in order to communicate outside the classroom. Goal: enabling students to use the language to communicate. It is necessary to connect classroom learning to the real life childfocused situations where children use language. CLT with children is slightly different than CLT with adults in part because children often enjoy playing the role of an adult or grown-up. The focus is on getting the message across and helping children acquire fluency.
OTHER TECHNIQUES & ACTIVITIES: Games Talking and Writing Box Tongue Twisters Error Correction