Teaching

Across Age Levels

Teaching Children
Intellectual development
Children (up to the
age of eleven) are in
Piagets concrete
operations stage
Here and now,
functional purposes of
language
They do not respond to
abstract rules. Teach them
through examples and
repetitions
Meaning and
relevance of the
repetitions
Teaching Children
Attention Span:
Make your classes interesting, lively and funny
Activities should
be designed to
capture their
immediate interest
Use variety of
activities to keep
interest and
attention alive
Be animated and
enthusiastic in the
classroom, keep
children laughing and
learning.
Tap childrens
curiosity
to maintain their
attention
Teaching Children
Sensory input:
Children need to
have all senses
stimulated
Sensory aids help them
to internalize concepts
Nonverbal language
is important
Use physical and hands-on
activities in the classroom
(role plays, games, etc)
Teaching Children
Affective Factors:
Be patient and supportive with children
Help them laugh
with each other
at various mistakes
made.
Elicit as much oral
participation as you can
Authentic and meaningful language
Children are good at sensing
material that is not authentic
Give them context to use the
language
Teaching Teens
Intellectual development
Teens start using
logical thinking to solve
tasks
The success of the activity
depends on the level of attention
placed on it.
Attention span:
Its lengthening as a result of
intellectual maturation
It can be affected (shortened) by
many distractions in teens life
Teaching Teens
Affective factors
Sensory input:
Varieties of sensory input are still
important, but as the capacity for
abstraction increases, they become less
necessary.
Teens are sensitive
Dont embarrass them
but emphasize their
strengths
Allow their own and
their partners mistakes
Their physical and
emotional changes
Encourage group work and de-emphasize
competition among them
Teaching Teens
Authentic and meaningful language
Look for a balance. Neither use
stilted language or bore them
with over analysis.
Teaching Adults
Intellectual development
Adults handle abstract rules and concepts
Dont exaggerate with too much abstract
generalization. Provide them with real language use
Attention span:
Adults have longer attention span for materials
that may not be intrinsically interesting
Teaching Adult
Sensory input:
It is not quite varied with adults. But you can still
appeal to your students 5 senses to make classes
entertaining.
Affective factors:
Adults fragility of egos is not quite as critical as
those of children.
They usually bring a general self-
confidence into the classroom.
However, dont underestimate affective
factors when teaching adults
Teaching Adult
Authentic and meaningful language
Adults can understand context-reduced segments
of language
Provide them with authentic language
filled with meaningful functions
Dont treat them like children
Give them opportunities to make
choices
Dont discipline them in the
same way as children