@ Theory, Planning and Application Considerations for Teaching Young Learners After reflecting on yourself asa child, aswell as exploring the characteristics of yung learners, you have probably thought about some ofthe concepts you will zead about inthis chapter, Remembering what it wa like to bea six-year-old child reminds us of how differently we think and learn as adults. In order to teach young leamers effectively, itis important to know them in depth and be able to put ourselves in their shoes. Children ages 5-12 years are growing and developing rapidly, Teaching young learners English requires an approach that is developmentally appropriate, which means that learning is dependent on the stage ‘ofa childs physical, social, emotional, and mental maturity (Coltrane, 2003; Nissan, 1990). The right approach is to work with their natural tendencies instead of against them. In order to find the right approach for teaching young learners English, itis {important to explore the following: 1 Characteristics of young learners 1 How cere learn 1 How children learn language For each section, the main points will be explained, followed by examples showing how teachers can apply this information. Within these three main ‘categories, there will be 12 considerations for teaching young learners English, ‘hich willbe summarized atthe end. Characteristics of Young Learners How a primary school teacher describes her/his students can depend on the day. On a good day she might say ‘young learners are energetic, social, spontaneous, and curious. On a bad day s/he ‘may say they are hyperactive, too talkative, cat sit stil, and are easily distracted. "These two different interpretations (both positive and negative) reflect the same characteristics of young learners, which most teachers agree on. Children are 1, Energetic and physically active 2, Spontaneous and not afraid to speak out ot participate 3. Curious and receptive to new ideas 4, Imaginative and enjoy make-believe 5. Easily distracted and have short attention spans 6. Egocentric and relate new ideas to themselves, 7. Social and are learning to relate to others 2 pave rnc BINAll ofthese characteristics can make teaching young learners exciting and inspiring; however, the same characteristics can present challenges for teachers \who may have anywhere between 15 and 50 students in one classroom. Its important to ook at these characteristics ina positive way and use them to develop an effective teaching approach. 1. Children are energetic and physically active Teachers atthe primary level ned to consider how to harness the dynamic energy of young learners and use it toward effective learning. Therefore, teachers should utilize childrens natural, tendency tobe physically active and not get frustrated with the fact that young children cannot sit til for long periods of time. You might incorporate kinesthetic activities that encourage young learners to get up and move around, For example, Total Physical Response (TPR) is a commonly used method with children because itconnects language to movement (Asher, 1977). In TPR you would give a physical ‘command, suchas Sit down? and sit down while saying it. Children at even the Twest level of English language proficiency can connect the oral uterance with ‘movement and can follow the commands through repetition. The game Simon isa perfect example ofa fn activity that uses TPR, jon Says ‘Simon Says is a popular children's game that uses TPR. It is reat way to check ‘comprehension of vacabulaty related to body parts and physical movement and ‘bring lots of aughterto your classroom, Instructions: + Tell students that they have to do what Simon says, or they vil be out. ‘Always begin every sentence with*Simon says... + Then give command to doa body movement while physically doing that movement. For example: Teacher:'Simon says... touch your toes (Teacher touches her toes) + Students have todo what Simon says. So students should touch their toes + However the game sto lista carefully. Sometimes the teacher cn say 078 ‘movement while physically doing another movement. Then ifthe student does nat do what Simon says"s/he is outand cannot keop payin, For ‘example, Teacher:"Simon say... touch your head!” (Teacher touches her toes) + Fa student rouches her/his toes, then s/he is out. The teacher can make ie funny by saying, "But Simon didnt say touch your toes” ee2. Children are spontaneous and not afraid to speak out or participate ‘Young learners are not very inhibited. Older learners can be more self-conscious and concerned with how people judge them. Young learners are much more willing 40 participate in activities and speak out in English without feeling embarrassed. ‘They are good imitators of language, in part because they are not afraid to repeat after the teacher or sing along to fun songs, even if their use ofthe language ist exactly right or even if they dont understand every word. Teachers can use simple songs, rhymes, chants, and dialogs with kids because they are ready to follow along, ‘The sample lesson Meet and Greet on pp. 49 takes advantage of young learners’ spontaneous nature by asking them to dramatize a simple dialog in many different ‘ways—by miming, mouthing the words, and doing thei role using different ‘emotions, such as angrily, happily, fearfully, etc. Because they are not afraid to speak ‘out and participate, activities lke these are very effective for improving students’ coral proficiency through repetition that isnot boring and that gives young learners a chance to be expressive 3. Children are curious and receptive to new ideas Young learners have a ‘natural curiosity. The world isa new place for them, and they want to know more about it, Teachers should prepate activities that arouse students’ curiosity, For ‘example, the Mystery Bag game is a commonly used activity for fun a parties or in class to teach English, 2 Base Pines a] Mystery Bag Instructions: The teacher ean put diferent objects in any opaque bag, like a brown lunch bag ora cloth bag, Students have to reach into the bag, fel the object, and describe it, Then students have to guess what the object is. MF The teacher could prepare a few bags for stucents to use in groups and. Putin objects that have different qualities, ike hard, sof, bg, small, long, short, round, square, ec. The students have fun guessing what the objects are. {In addition, aching about new and interesting topics like exotic animals plants that dor‘ exist in their local environment can capture young learners’ attention. Unusual animals lke kangaroos or bizarre plants like venus fytraps «can keep learners interested and teach them about the amazing world we live in Introducing international cultures can also arouse theit curiosity and in, troduce them to the world where they may be using English in the future. Ibis important to expose students to lots of different cultures, not just American a British cultures that are usually associated with English. Cultural topics that ‘are particularly interesting for young learners are food, dress, music, hol celebrations, greeting customs, and folktales. 4. Children are imaginative and enjoy make-believe Young earners love activities that encourage them to use ther imagination. Using role plays and «drama games allows them to play “make-believe” and pretend they are someone or something else, For example, children can learn new vocabulary about animals and have fun pretending tobe an elephant, lion, or giraffe, making the movements, ‘ith their bodies and sounds with their voices. This can be the basis fora fun ga ‘of charades in which the children take turns picking the name of an animal from a bag and acting it out until their classmates can guess winat animal they ate imitat ‘Teachers can also use stories or play to create an imaginary world for students while learning new language. Many popular children’ stories and TV shows take place in a fantasy world with fairy godmothers, wizards, superheroes, monsters, or animals that talk. Students can use their imagination and creativity to make and use their own pictures or puppets to retell a story. They can also play make-believe by dressing up in costumes and pretending tobe characters to reenact a story using English PBB octane Youn exer nih5. Children are easily distracted and have short attention spans Young Jearners are known for being easily distracted. Although children have short attention spans, they can concentrate on longer activities if they are fan and Interesting to them. Teachers should try to engage children with fun activities that arouse their curiosity and imagination, asthe previous sections suggested. Teachers can also capture their attention with brightly colored pictures, photos, and posters. Incorporating different kinds of audio-visual aids such as playing songs, TV or ‘movie clips, or YouTube videos can help keep children’s attention and interest. In addition itis a good idea to plan lessons as a series of short activities. Shin (2006) points out that, ‘As children get older, their ability to concentrate for longer periods ‘of time increases, So for students ages 5-7, you should try to keep activities between 5 and 10 minutes long, Students ages 8-10 can handle activities that are 10 to 15 minutes long. Its always possible to revisit an activity later in class or inthe next class’ (p. 4). However, these time limits are not writen in stone I all depends on the particular activity. Although teachers may have longer tasks they would like their young learners to accomplish, its recommended that teachers try their best to break long activities down into smaller steps and check on progress or give students a short break, For example, ifthere isa story-writing activity for ten-year- ‘ld students that may take more than 15 minutes, the teacher might break the task dovrn into parts and check on students’ progress after each part in order to keep them focused and on track. In addition, teachers could have students take a break after concentrating very hard on the activity. The break could be one minute long 2 tase Princes | 38and would require students to stand up and move their bodies around with some "TPR, or even play a quick game of Simon Says to get students up, moving, and laughing, If students have been focused on a writing activity, tis recommended for teachers to take a quick break and do the “Hand Shakes? which isa TPR activity. To do the Hand Shakes, the teacher leads the students in TPR by saying and doing the following three or four times in a row: Shake your right hand, One. Two, Three. (Shake your right hand for 3 secon ‘Shake your left hand, One. Two. Three. Shake your lft hand for 3 seconds) Young learners are still learning to write well, so they often hold their pens and pencils too tightly and can use a physical as well as mental break from the activity, Sometimes these are called “brain breaks” and are recommended for young learners with short attention spans. A Writing the Story from a Video (25 minutes) | nthisacthvity the class just matched a video or itened tothe teacher tls tory) |The students are responsible for wing the story they watched The teacher can break the task down al check progressafter students do each ofthe folowing steps + Brainstorm ies (3 minutes n small groups, students brainstorm ideas forthestoryina web. + Ustideas @ minutes n small rouns stents order their ideas in it + Share ideas (5 minutes) th the whole cas, students share thelr ideas from theirlist wre te teacher wes the ideas in complete sentences tn the board students make ay grammatical mistakes when txpressng their ideas the teacher can model the correct sentences 2s She ites on the bore. + White sentences [5 minutes Individual, students write 2 sentence for teach idea using the teachers model on the boar. « brain break (2 minutes} The teacher leads the whole class in TPR bran break do the Hand shakes three or four times and then stretch thei hands up high and touch thelr toes a few ties. «Aad detals (2 minutes} With the whole cas, students cicuss what deta to add tomake the story more interesting, «Write story 5 minutes Inelvially students wit the storyin good handwriting on aclean sheet of paper. “Te teacher can checkon progies after each step and tell students to move | ext step. While students are working in smal groups, pats, nd individually, | teacher can ok erond and help student or foups who aresgaing. em6. Children are egocentric and relate new ideas to themselves Young earners are egocentric, centered on themselves and their immediate surroundings. ‘They have difficulty perceiving things from another person's perspective. As they get older, they improve in this area, but they still have a tendency to relate ‘new ideas to themselves while at primary school ages, Teachers need to provide ‘opportunities for young learners to personalize what they are learning. This means to connect new information and language to themselves. For example, if you are teaching children about adjectives to describe people, they will enjoy writing an __acrostic name poem about themselves, See the example below for a young learner named Minh. Musical Intelligent Nice Happy ‘An activity lke this is engaging fr children because it s about them, and it helps them practice new vocabulary by relating it to themselves. The teacher could have students draw or bring in pictures of themselves to put on the paper with the poem ‘and have them decorate the poem using their own creativity. Then the teacher can ‘post students’ acrostic name poems around the room and have them present their _ poems and pictures to the class. These activities reinforce the language and cater to ‘childrens egocentric nature. Not only is personalizing a good strategy to use with ‘young learners; itis also good to relate cultural topics to their own native culture. If the teacher uses stories or topics from other international cultures, it helps young Tearners when they get a chance to relate it to their own culture or immediate ‘context. This can help teachers see if students understand the information, help lents remember the information, and build their understanding of cultural ences, 7. Children are social and are learning to relate to others Young learners are social and like to talk to each other. They are learning how to relate to others as of their socialization process to their culture. They love to play games with each ‘and can cooperate to do activities. Teachers should have a balance of activities allow students to have various types of interaction, such as student-student pairs, students-students in groups, teacher-student one-on-one, and teacher ants as a whole class. First, varying the kinds of interaction from activity to ity, including ones that encourage students to work alone, is important to keep class engaging, Itis also important for students to experience all types of social raction with each other and the teacher, because communicating in different32 aching Young Lares Eng contexts i ike real life, Learning how to communicate with and work with peers {san important part of personal growth and development for each child. Finally plenty of interaction withthe teacher is very important for young learners b the teacher has the role of supporting students through the process of earning English. This pat of social interaction willbe discussed further inthe next sect “How Children Learn” [As the examples associated with each characteristic shows taking advanta the characteristics of young learners will create @ classroom environment! exciting and dynamic. Although a class full of energetic, spontaneous, curi imaginative, easly distracted, egocentric, and social earners can be chal teachers can cater to those characteristics to keep learners engaged in order! teach English effectively. How Children Learn This section focuses on how children learn, based the major educational theorists who have set the foundation for current approa for teaching young learner. It will goa step beyond the characteristics of young learners described earlier, which are easily witnessed even by an untrained obs “The previous section tied to explain how to keep children engaged based on oftheir characteristics ths section goes on to explain how children learn and process new information, Children: 8, Learn by doing and interacting with their environment 9. Need support and scaffolding by the teacher 8. Children learn by doing and interacting with their environment Confucius sad, "Uhear, and forget. Isee, and I remember. do, and I under "This is particulary true for young learners, who are just beginning to make se the world around them. Piaget (1970) emphasized that children ar active learn and thinkers, Children construct knowledge from interacting with the physical environment in developmental stages, Students in primary school can be found! Piagets Preoperational and Concrete Operational Sages. Very young learners at eats old who are in the Preoperational Stage are extremely egocentric and hig imaginative, although they are starting to distinguish between fantasy and reali compared to younger children in this stage. As young learners reach the Cones (Operational Stage (7-11 years old), they ae able to think more logically but are ¢grounded in concrete objects and what is happening here and now. Its not ut adolescents are over 12 years old that children start to exhibit intelligence thr their understanding of abstract concepts.Brief Review of Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development Sensorimotor Stage: Children WE are 0-2 years old WF show intelligence through physical interactions and experience Wi have limited use of symbols and language Preoperational Stage: Children ... WE are 2-7 years old show intelligence through strides they make in language development Ware extremely egocentric and have difficulty seeing things from another's perspective develop memory and imagination WE do not think logically Concrete Operational Stage: Children ... WE are 7-11 years old show intelligence through logical and organized thought related to con- crete objects WF are less egocentric but still hve a tendency to relate new ideas to them- selves and their immediate surroundings can reverse their thinking through reasoning Formal Operational Stage: Children ... Ware 11 years old and older I show intelligence through logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts Mi con hypothesize and use deductive reasoning «cording to Piaget (1970), children learn through their own individual actions exploration. For example, a young child does not learn the meaning of a door listening toa definition of a door and having someone explain the function of door. Children learn what a door is by opening and closing the door repeatedly may slam the door and laugh or cry as they learn that the door separates rooms. Creating opportunities for children to lear by doing and to learn by ting with their environment is extremely important in the young learner 2 easiePrinapes BB| BB cing gare gt classroom. Teachers can bring in reali for students to interact with. For example, ifthe lesson is about different fruits and vegetables, the teachers can bring in fruits and vegetables for students to tase Ifthe lesson is about animals, the tac can have students bring in their stuffed animal toys or even take a trip tothe 001 if students ate learning about nature, the teacher could take the students ouside local park or a nearby beach or forest, depending on whats available inthe lo environment, inorder to allow students to interact with real-life objects conne tothe language they are learning 9. Children need support and scaffolding by the teacher Equally impor an understanding of how children learn through social interaction. Vygotsky (I found that children construct knowledge through other people, more specifi through interaction with adults or more competent peers. Adults work actively with children inthe Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which by definition is the difference between the child’ capacity to solve problems on her/his own and her/his capacity to solve them with assistance or “scaffolding” The adults is very important ina chld’s learning process (Bruner, 1983; Vygotsky, 1962). In the classroom, the younger the learner, the more important the teacher’ role is scaffolding the earning process. Like Vygotsky, Bruner focused onthe impo oflangvage ina childs cognitive development. Bruner carefully studied hove provided effective scaffolding, Cameron (2001, p. 8) outlines in a concise man ‘what Bruner’ studies found as effective scaffolding techniques used by parents support a childs learning: 1 They made the child interested inthe task 1 They simplified the task, often breaking it down into smaller steps. 1M They kept the child on track toward completing the task by reminding the what the goal was |W They pointed aut what was important to.do or showed the child other doing parts of the tasks. 1m They demonstrated an idealized version of the task 1 They controled the chil frustration during the task ‘Working with a child individually is different from being a teacher with a class {all of young learners; however, we can apply these scaffolding principles to, an effective approach for teaching young learners, Below are suggestions for EYL teachers using the scaffolding techniques listed above. Note that there are suggestions rather than six because the fourth and fit points have been com into one.{Ml Ask questions about the meaning ofthe refrain Then each the tune ofthe verse using “lla a” instead ofthe Irie, bi | sing the refrain with the lyries. 1 Then teach the verses one by one, always singing the refrain after Ask questions about the meaning of each verse WF there are words tha chyme tthe end of each line, point them out | practice repeating them when teaching each verse a i cg ci a bw ee So to slated word to whole meaning; refrain and verses; tune and lyrics: ya that shyme to words to sentences to song. This is how to simplify the tsk of singing a song by breaking it down into smaller pars Keep children on task Part ofa teacher’ challenge when teaching young learn is tokeep them “on task" by reminding them of the purpose or goal The phrase “on task” is often used by teachers in the United Stats to indicate that a learner engaged in a particular activity and working productively toward accomplish particular task Teachers all over the world struggle to find solutions to this co challenge. Inherent in the statement is that each task or activity has areal pa ‘or goal. Ifthere is no rel purpose to the activity then you will havea difficult ti keeping students engaged. Therefore, creating tasks that are not just interesting but aso havea purpose or goal is very important when teaching children. Having reason to use English o accomplish a task will make students focus lesson learn and more on using the language to communicate something rel. For example, if ‘the goal ofthe activity i to make a valentine fora classmate using an acrostic po about her/him, which needs to be ready tomorrow the activity has areal parp , the students The goal isto finish the activity by the nextday, whichis Pebreary or Valentine’ Day. This i fun way to introduce a holiday from a foreign cul ‘wile encouraging areal communicative act, which is expressing something ni aftiend. ‘Sometimes children can get distracted from the activity and get“ ask? itmight be necessary to remind them about the purpose or goal and point important parts of the task. The teacher can do this by first praising and aging the student, then reminding her/him of the goal and giving sugge hhcip the student accomplish the task. Ifthe child i distracted, then the te ‘could say, "Looks great so far! Dont forget! You have to finish it today. Ta row is Valentine’ Day.” Maybe the student as a blank line and is struggling finish, The teacher could point out how to think of a word for a particular BEY teeing og Lerner EnghHAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, SARAH! Soper, Kuetong Red fiend saying, “Like your poem so far! One line needs a nice word. What are nice is that start with P? Lets think together: pretty, pal, peaceful. Let’ look up + P words in our dictionary” Here the teacher is making suggestions and of: a strategy for finding a good word. Keeping children on task is an impor- part of the scaffolding process, especially since children need reminders for they are doing and why. | the task, including different ways to do the task Always remember to model task and show students what your expectations are, Particularly with language ing, if students are not given proper models to follow, it isnot reasonable ‘expect them to perform at the desired level. For example, when students are earning to write teachers can model the product they expect, In Writing e Story from a Video on p. 30, the teacher models how to write students ideas sentences correctly, The students use this as a model to write their own ces. They have to add more detail and add their own sentences, but they are ‘guidance directly by the teacher to put the sentences together accurately. In on to giving clear models, it is important to consider thet students learn in nt ways; therefore, your modeling should reflect what you know about your sand the various ways they can accomplish a particular task. ‘This means lering and incorporating different learning styles and multiple intelligences ct, 1983, 1999) into instruction to help students who learn differently to to successfully. The sample lesson Meet and Greet on p. 49 shows how to orate different learning styles and intelligences and how to accomplish the ‘of greeting a friend and meeting someone new in different ways, For instance, 2 BasiePrinciles BH]“Teaching Young Leer gis there isa chant to appeal to musical learners: the activities encourage interpe intelligence through interaction and emotional expression; there i a focus om gestures, which appeals to kinesthetic learners; and the activities are introd with visuals anda video to appeal to visual learners. This approach makes le _more effective for different types of learners, helps develop different kinds of intelligences, and creates an exciting and dynamic classroom environment for young learners of English. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences ‘There are eight widely accepted intelligences that were defined by Howard Gardner (1999), I Spatial-visual (picture smart): Children may think in pictures and {mages and show special abilities in drawing. They may learn throu visuals and organize ideas spatially through graphic organizers. Ml Bodily-kinesthetic (body smart): Children may learn through ges and manipulatives and enjoy activities that involve movement, danci running, jumping, and touching, Musical (music smart): Children may learn through auditory 1 and melodies and enjoy singing, chanting, tapping ehythms, and listening activities I Linguistic (word smart): Children tend to think in words and enjoy. reading, writing, discussions, and dialogs. They also have the ability figure out grammatical patterns. Wl Logical-mathematical (mumber smart): Children do not just show a propensity toward math but also tend to be more analytical. They Ie through reasoning and enjoy puzzles and experiments, Interpersonal (people smart): Children ike interacting with people: show ability to relate to others. They enjoy discussing and soc with their peers and cooperative activities. Wi Intrapersonal (self smart): Children have a tendency to be self reflective and like to work alone. They may be more in touch with emotions, feelings, and abilities. Naturalistic (nature smart): Children have an affinity toward nature, including the environment, plants, and animals. They may enjoy activities that take place outdoors in nature.Control children’s frustration during the task Sometimes young learners can get trated with a task. The first step is to take a closer look at what is upsetting the ally assume that the child has a problem. Your fist thought “should be that the task might be too difficult. See if other students are having the issue. Then review your planning and see where your scaffolding may need to altered. This probably means you did not break down the tasks into small enough teps. Or maybe you didn't cater to enough learning styles or intelligences. However, ‘may not be possible to change the activity at that moment, so the teacher needs to hhow to alleviate frustration on the spot. Young learners usually respond well o attention, encouragement, and praise. Ifthe student or students need some help, hen the teacher should give them the hints they need to succeed without giving them all the answers. For example, if students are doing a fil-in-the-blank activity, at they can't remember the correct vocabulary word and are getting frustrated or ited, the teacher can give them two or three choices to select from or give the [eter of the word and make it into a game. If you have established a comfortable jironment that is lively and fun, then you can more easily move students from tion to good feelings. Chapter 8 will discuss classroom management in more detail and focus on how to build a comfortable and controlled classroom that jurages student participation and leads them to success. ow Children Learn Language This section is an extension of the ous section describing how children learn; it looks specifically at the ways sn handle learning language. It describes the important aspects of how learn their frst language (L1) in order to show how to approach teaching sn another language. Children: 10. Need a learning environment similar to first language acquisition 1, Learn language through lots of meaningful exposure and practice 12, Do not learn language through explicit grammatical explanations Children need a learning environment similar to first language ition As discussed in Chapter 1, there isa popular assumption that starting sh classes at younger ages, before the “critical period? will produce better 1s of English because of the ease in which children seem to acquire their first ative language. However, this is not necessarily true. Success in second or foreign guage learning also depends on the characteristics of the classroom environment. ildten may use similar processes to acquire a first or native language (L1) anda cond or foreign language (1.2); however, the environment for L1 and L2 acquisition n be quite different (Brewster, Ellis, & Girard, 2004). Krashen (1987) first escribed the difference between L1 acquisition and 1.2 learning, Typically, we think 2 Basic Principles [ilof the L1 environment as situated in the real world: therefore, the language used is always authentic and contextualized. Children are highly motivated to learn and the language because it enables them to mect immediate needs and respond to th surroundings. For example, when a child is hungry and wants milk, s/he will learn ‘the word for milkin order to ask for it In contrast, the L2 classroom environment tends to have the opposite characteritics—that i, the language used and presen isartificial because it is not based in real lif. Traditional L2 clases tend to focus ‘heavily on form and isolated structures rather than a meaningful context in which ‘the message is more important than form. Ifthe language used isnot in context ‘and not meaningful to young learners, then it willbe difficult to motivate them to participate and learn Children will be motivated ifthere is areal purpose or rea to use the language, just like the child learning to use the word “milk” because s ishungry. Therefor, teachers should engage learners in purposeful activities that ae appropriate for them and that mirtor frst language acquisition, like storytelli singing, chanting, talking with each other socially letter writing, e-mailing, read recipes, and watching plays, TV shows, and movies. 11, Children learn language through lots of meaningful exposure and practice In the Ll environment, children are surrounded by their native angua Itisbeing spoken and used in various context all around the child. This constant source of meaningful exposure to language in authentic contexts helps children acquire language naturally and quickly. However, when learning English asa foreign language, usually the only place and time learners can hear or use E isthe dassroom. Most EYL classes meet approximately 2~4 hours per week for 30-45 minutes per class (Shin, 2014). Because this snot much time per week of exposure to English, the challenge ofthe EYL teacher isto create an English- speaking classroom environment and use English as much as possible during the 30-45 minutes s/he has the students. To create an optimal environment for learning English, the input in the classroom needs to be comprehensible and just above the students’ current level of English (Krashen, 1981). Teachers can suppo comprehension of input by using lots of visuals realia, gesture, and caregiver speech, Caregiver speech refers tothe adjustment of language done by achil’s caregiver, which fo ist language aquisition isthe parent or grandparent. Teas can also use caregiver speech to help make language input in the classroom more comprehensible, such asa slower rate of speech, using shorter and simpler sentences, and repeating or rephrasing uterances. In addition to giving lots of meaningful, comprehensible input, itis Important to give students plenty of chances to practice using English in «lass. This means giving them the opportunity to produce meaningful and Tein Your earners ngcomprehensible output (Swain, 1985). Without enough opportunities to produce output, students will not be able to test their hypotheses about how English works, Furthermore, language learners need to have the opportunity "to interact with each other and negotiate meaning (Long, 1987). In addition to using lots of purposeful, authentic activities to expose young learners to real English, teachers have to prepare students for the language needed to negotiate ‘meaning (Curtain & Dahlberg, 2010). In. other words, teachers should train “students to use classroom language in English, such as: Why? What is this? What does___mean? How do you spell 2 I need help. Can you help me? Could you repeat that? What is the answer for number ___? The answeris How do you say in English? is can increase the amount of meaningful classroom interaction in English e students will know how to use English for classroom purposes. This will help EYL teachers create an English-speaking environment in the classroom. earners may use their L1 in class, especially when they are engaged in an ivity and dont have the language to express themselves, When students use L1, ers should always recast those utterances in English and encourage students to sulate their thoughts in English. Children do not learn language through explicit grammatical ations. Grammatical structures are the building blocks of language, but approach to teaching grammar should match the way students learn, The to teaching grammar should be “learning-centered” which Cameron 3) describes as“... meaningful and interesting, require active participation learners, and will work with how children learn and what they are capable of ing” (p. 110). As we explored in the previous section, children learn by doing. Janguage this means that learners need to experience the language through ‘of exposure. They will not learn through grammatical explanations; rather, ‘vill gain an understanding of the grammar implicitly through repetition and ing ofthe language in different contexts. As Pinter (2006) and Cameron (2001) ze, this approach to teaching young learners encourages them to “notice” 2 fc ces