Chracteristics of Young Learners

Characteristics of Young Learners.

Introduction.

·        Young pupils reflect great diversity and, at the same time, share certain common characteristics.

·        In this stage of education the child is hyperactive. He spends a lot of time playing, running and doing other motional activities.

·        He enthusiastically shifts from a certain activity to another without feeling tired.

·        Boys’ activities tend to be more violent than girls’ activities, because boys usually depend on their muscles more than girls do.

Who are the young learners?

·        Children from the first year of formal schooling (five or six years old) to eleven or twelve years of age. However, as any children's teacher will know, it is not so much the children's age that counts in the classroom as how mature they are. There are many factors that influence children's maturity:

 for example,

·         their culture,

·        their environment ,

·        their sex,

·        the expectations of their peers and parents.

Why is it important to know the characteristics of Y.L?

·        Develop methods and a system of work that I will use in the process of teaching. 

·        To choose the right way of teaching for these little children. The teacher definitely has to be very sensitive to the children's needs and has to prepare the lessons well to satisfy these needs.

Child's growth stages of learning

1-Physical Activity Growth:

·        In the elementary stage of education a pupil engages himself in many physical activities.

·        He spends his time practicing outdoor physical activities such as cycling, camping, tree climbing and other energetic risky activities.

2-Linguistic Growth:

·        A child’s mastery of vocabulary increases so does his fluency.

·        He becomes more aware of the proper use of expressions and understands grammatical usage through practice in his daily life.

·        A child in this stage is to describe what he sees and to express his ideas. He likes to read much, especially about plants, animals, children of other nations.

·        A child is also able to recognize logical linguistic relations and distinguish between meanings.

3-Emotional Growth:

·        In this stage a child is more able to express his feelings in words rather than motion expressions.  

·        A child usually tends to play with his school fellows or with groups. This is usually an output for different hidden emotions.

·         Flattery and encouragement positively affect him.

·        In this stage of study a child weeps less and laughs more and enjoys humor and merry -making.

·        He understands jokes and likes to mimic others and cleverly imitates their behavior.

·        Reward and punishment - but not physical punishments - affect him.

4-Social Growth:

·        At the end of this stage, he tends to join small groups in which they enjoy playing together.

·        We can notice different tendencies to leadership,

        Cooperation, competition or jealousy.        

·        Through imitation, assimilation and personification a child usually acquires different methods of behavior.

·        This emphasizes teachers’ role in forming children’s customs and social behavior.

Teaching Young Learners

I. What are the characteristics of young learners?

·        The characteristics of young learners vary depending on their age.

·        They are kinesthetic and tactile learners – they like to move and touch things

·        They have a short attention span – it is difficult for them to pay attention for long periods of time.

·        They may not have well developed reading and writing skills.

·        They can understand meaning without necessarily understanding the pieces of language.

·        They can learn language indirectly, without trying, “accidentally,” while trying to complete activities in the target language.

II. What are some suggestions for teaching young learners?

·        Activities should be short and varied.

·        Teachers may repeat information, activities or phrases to help learner's master new information.

·        The teacher should present information in a concrete manner.

·        Young learners are not interested in grammar terms (today we’re going to study how to make the plural form of regular nouns) or abstract grammar explanations (to make the plural form of regular nouns is formed by adding “s” at the end of the word).

·        If the teacher wants to focus on grammar structures, she can ask learners to look for patterns in the information she presents.

·        Teachers should model instructions or new vocabulary – they should show the students information in addition to telling them information.

·        Vocabulary and grammar should be presented in a context—an action, a demonstration, a picture, an object, etc.

·        Teacher should move around the class so that she can be close to all learners and monitor their work and understanding.

·        The classroom can divided into sections; a section for storytelling and singing, a section for learning new vocabulary, etc.

III. What activities can be used with young learners?

·        The learning process should be enjoyable and game-like.

·        Teachers should be sure that there is a learning purpose for every task – every task should help learners learn or practice language.

·        Teacher should be sure that classroom activities are creative and help learners develop higher level thinking skills.

·        Learners should actively participate in every activity:

·        They may raise their hands, point to objects, clap, stamp their feet, nod, touch an object, move around the class, act out a word, etc.

·        They can also make sounds or repeat words or phrases.

·        TPR, total physical response activities give learners the chance to show that they understanding the even if they can’t speak.

·        Teacher can ask learners to stand up, sit down, come to the front of the room, hold up your book bag, close your eyes, touch your head, etc.

·        Learners can show that they understand doing instead of by speaking.

·        The teacher can tell a story.

·        Stories which have repeated words or phrases can be used so that learners can hear the information many times and, with practice, repeat the text as the teacher reads.

·        Learners can chant new information.

·        Teachers can write jazz chants; poems or songs to help learners remember new information (see the sections on Poetry and Music for more information).

IV. What materials can be used with young learners?

A.   Teachers should make their classrooms language rich.

1.    Posters and pictures can be put on the wall.

2.    Information should be changed periodically to keep learners’ interest.

B.   REALIA – boxes, packages, cans, bottles, books, posters, clothing, fruits and vegetables, etc. in English can be used to stimulate learners’ imaginations and plan creative activities.

C.   Clothing can be used to make role plays more interesting.

D.   Puppets and toys can be used to present or practice language.

E.    Colored pencils, markers and colored paper can be used to support the learning process.

Ways of arousing interest in tasks

·        Clear goals

·        Varied topics and tasks

·        Visuals

·        Tension and challenge games

·        Entertainment

·        Play acting

·        Information gap

·        Personalization

·        Open-ended cues

Tips to deal with individual differences

·        Vary your teaching techniques.

·        Simplify your methods.

·        Ask very simple questions.

·        Seek more interesting, more effective and more memorable ways of explaining new vocabulary.

·         Encourage the low achievers to participate in class activities.

·        Insist on making the low achievers repeat the correct answers.

·        Challenge the distinguished students’ abilities.

·        Prepare different types of homework assignment to meet the different levels.

What is a learning style?

Ellis (1985) described a learning style as the more or less consistent way in which a person perceives, conceptualizes, organizes and recalls information.

Where do learning styles come from?
Your students' learning styles will be influenced by their genetic make-up, their previous learning experiences, their culture and the society they live in.

What types of learning styles are there?
There are many ways of looking at learning styles. Here are some of the classification systems that researchers have developed.

The four modalities are:

·        visual (seeing), 

·        auditory (hearing),

·        kinesthetic (moving) or

·        tactile (touching) way of learning.

Those who prefer a visual learning style...

1.  ...look at the teacher's face intently

2.  ...like looking at wall displays, books etc.

3.  ...often recognize words by sight

4.  ...use lists to organize their thoughts

5.  ...recall information by remembering how it was set out on a page

Those who prefer an auditory learning style...

1.  ...like the teacher to provide verbal instructions

2.  ...like dialogues, discussions and plays

3.  ...solve problems by talking about them

4.  ...use rhythm and sound as memory aids

Those who prefer a kinesthetic learning syle...

1.  ...learn best when they are involved or active

2.  ...find it difficult to sit still for long periods

3.  ...use movement as a memory aid

Those who prefer a tactile way of learning...

1.  ...use writing and drawing as memory aids

2.  ...learn well in hands-on activities like projects and demonstrations.