For many English Teachers, it turns out to be a challenge Teaching Kids. In fact, most of the English Teachers tend to avoid this task, since they claim that dealing with human beings in their first stages is not an easy job. On the contrary, for most Techaers,  children are synonym of stress, pounds of patience, tiredness, headaches and more. However, what most of those Teachers do not know is how rewarding Teaching Kids could be, if we are able to get acquainted with the several approaches we can use for the teaching of English within the first stages of life. Moreover, when we teach kids, we usually develop strong ties with them, since they will always think of the Teacher as their second mother or father, as another person that contributes to their academic and personal growth. Kids are very sensitive, and they’re always willing to learn something new in any way, through games, simulations, role-plays, etc.

     Experts in ELT and Neurolinguistics believe than when a child is introduced to a second/foreing language at an early age, the chances of becoming more proficient are higher. They base this statement on the Critical Period Hypothesis which claims that, any child that starts learning a new language before puberty (before the age of 13) will have more chances of becoming proficient. According to the Hypothesis, the human brain, especially the LAD (Language Adquisition Device) is in development and highly activated during this stage of life, so chances are that a child will learn a second language just as his/her mother tongue, in other words, with the same level of proficiency.

     However, it is also known that pre teens and boys and girls who are already teenagers are also capable of learning a second/foreing language as well as young children might do.  Besides, the theory does not affirm that a language cannot be learnt at a later age. The experience and the enviroment in which a language is learnt play a determinant role in language acquisition, regardless how young the learner might be.

     Whatever the age, when children learn a second language, the develop skills which will help them to create broaden opportunities in their future. They also acquire the lifelong ability to communicate with others in any circumstances and learn about other cultures, which help them developing a better outlook of life.

What stops children from learning

Feeling uncomfortable, distracted or under pressure.
Feeling confused by abstract concepts of grammar rules and their application which they cannot easily understand.
Activities which require them to focus attention for a long time.
Boredom.
Being over-corrected.

How children learn languages
Children learn by:

Having more opportunities to be exposed to the second language.
Making associations between words, languages, or sentence patterns and putting things into clear, relatable contexts.
Using all their senses and getting fully involved; by observing and copying, doing things, watching and listening.
Exploring, experimenting, making mistakes and checking their understanding.
Repetition and feeling a sense of confidence when they have established routines.
Being motivated, particularly when their peers are also speaking/learning other languages.

     Teaching kids is a really worthwhile task, since we are able to interact with human beings in their early stage, and having human beings learning at such moment, enables Teachers to develop more meaningful and funny activities that will make them acquire the tagert lagnage in an easy and funny way. We even become determinant in the children’s growth, and the feeling of pride feeds our spirits as teachers as well as our horizons.

Learner-Centered

The role of the instructor in CLT is quite different from traditional teaching methods. In the traditional classroom, the teacher is in charge and “controls” the learning. In CLT the teacher serves as more of a facilitator, allowing students to be in charge of their own learning.

The teacher still sets up exercises and gives direction to the class, but the students do much more speaking than in a traditional classroom. This responsibility to participate can often lead to an increased sense of confidence in using the language. Putting the teacher in charge of everything in the traditional classroom has been compared to the Atlas Complex (Lee and Vanpatten, 1995).

    

      I hope my presentation had an effect on my classmates as it had on me, since it was helpful to gather information about such an important element in the development of our carees.

PROJECTION IS THE FORMULA!!!

Regards,

Pat.-

Movie I made-ELT.

     When we refer to as ELT, we’re just talking about “Enlgish Language Teaching”, a field that it’s also known as a profession whose main purpose is to develop the most appropriate Methodology for the Teaching of Enlgish as a Second/Foreign Language. It this respect, it is important to let teachers know, in an explicit way, the differences between EFL and ESL since, according to the kind of approach, the Methodology will change. ESL refers to learning English in an “English-Speaking Country”, which means that the learner will undergo a process of immersion, in which he/she will be forced to use the target language (English) to survive in the country. EFL, on the contrary, refers to learning English in a ”Non-English-Speaking Country”, which means that “English” will not be the target language but the learner’s mother tongue. As we can see, both ways of learning English differ significantly and, in the same way, the Methodology that must be carried out for the Teaching-Learning process will differ as well. Due to these discrepancies when teaching English, what the field of ELT does is trying to find or develop the best way of teaching without frustrating the learner. Moreover, Teachers must bear in mind that, despite the kind of approach, English must be taught in a meaningful way, and that is why nowadays, the Communicative Approach appears to be the most effective one since it aims at developing in the student the four abilities when learning a new language (speaking, writing, reading and listening) in a realistic/meaningful way so that, the learner will be more likely to learn effectively.

     For more than a century, the ELT field has been trying to find the best teaching method that comprises the best attitudes, theories, methods and techniques (see McArthur, 1983, p.p 96) and after a longer or shorter period of time what seems to be “the best approach”is succeeded by a new perfect method, as in the case of the Audiolingual Method which was later substituted by the Communicative Approach. But what reveals more importance is to clarify that we cannot use one approach to overlap another. Most of the times, the best English Teaching Method arises as a result of combining features of different approaches. Moreover, what is fundamental for the ELT field is that, Teachers must be aware of the different views on the nature and use of language as well as the rationale behind teaching methodology, so that, they do not only translate theory into practice but they can also contribute to the development of the ELT profession.

VOICE is considered one of the most important instruments Teahcers have to carry out effectively the teaching-learning process. For this reason, it turns out to be determinant to take care of our voices since the beginning of our Teaching Career. The following presentation aims at providing Teachers with special & easy tips for the taking care of the voice as well as raising awareness about the importance of this fundamental instrument within the ELT field.

Pat.- 

Pat.-

     I work as a Teacher at CVA – Las Mercedes and recently I got a New job at the USB, which is amazing and my students are just great and pleased with what I’ve done for them in their learning process so far, as I’m proud of them. I hope this blog will provide you with some good hints and news about the Teaching of English as a Secodn/Foreign Language and how Technology will keep on giving us assistance in the development of our classes.

My regards,

Patricia Ulanova Meléndez Justo