Diploma in Pre & Primary Teacher Training

Phase - 8

Language Learning and Language Acquisition

A Quick Glance
A glance through the past century or so of language teaching will give an
interesting picture of how varied the interpretations have been regarding the best
way to teach a foreign language. Language teaching methods have constantly
waxed and waned in popularity. Albert Marckwardt saw these “changing winds and
shifting sands” as a cynical pattern in which a new method emerges every quarter
of a century. Each new method broke from the old but took with it some of the
positive aspects of the previous practices.

Some General Ideas

• Human language is unique and species specific.

• Children are not born with a mind that is like a blank slate, but we are pre-
wired to learn language.
• Children do not start with a fully formed grammar or with knowledge of
social and communicative intercourse.
• Linguistic competence develops by stages. Observations of children in
different language areas of the world reveal that the stages are similar
possibly universal.
• Some of the stages last for a short time; others remain longer.
The following is a brief overview of the various principles and methods of
language teaching that have evolved over the years.

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The Grammar Translation Method
In the western world, “foreign” language learning in schools was synonymous with
the learning of Latin and Greek. Latin was taught by means of what has been
called the Classical Method; where the focus is on grammatical rules,
memorization of vocabulary, translation of texts and doing written exercises.

As other languages began to be taught in educational institutions in the 18th and

19th centuries, the Classical Method became the chief method of teaching a
foreign language. Little thought was given to teaching someone how to speak the
language; as languages were taught not to learn communication skills but to gain
reading proficiency and for scholarly pursuits. In the 19th century the Classical
Method came to be known as the Grammar Translation Method. The focus in the
classroom was on grammatical rules as the basis for translating from the second to
the native language.

The major characteristics of this method are: classes are taught in the mother
tongue with little active use of the target language, vocabulary is taught in the
form of lists of isolated words, elaborate explanations of the intricacies of
grammar are given, instructions focus on the form and inflection of words‟
reading of difficult classical text, little attention is paid to context, drill in
disconnected sentences from the target language into the mother tongue, little
or no attention to pronunciation is paid.
It does virtually nothing to enhance a student‟s communication skills and students
view it as a “tedious experience of memorizing endless lists of grammar rules and
vocabulary”. However this method is still used as it requires few specialized skills
on the part of the teachers and it is easy to construct tests of grammar rules and
of translations and can be objectively scored.

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Gouin and The Series Method
Francois Gouin can perhaps be called the father of modern language teaching.
However this French teacher‟s contribution was overshadowed by Charles Berlitz
the founder of the Direct Method.

Gouin had to go through a very painful set of experiences in order to derive his
insights. In his attempt to learn German, he spent a year in Germany memorizing
books, translating classics, memorizing 30000 words from the dictionary all in the
isolation of his room only to be crushed by his failure to understand German
afterwards.

Gouin spent a great deal of time observing his nephew and other children and
came to the conclusion that: language learning is primarily a matter of
transforming perceptions into conceptions. Language is a means of thinking, of
representing the world to oneself.

So Gouin set about devising a reaching method that would follow from these
insights and thus the Series Method was created. A method that taught directly
(without translation) and conceptually (without grammatical rules and
explanations) a series of sentences that5 are easy to perceive. Gouin was
successful with such lessons because the language was easily understood, stored,
recalled and related to reality. Yet he was a man ahead of his time and his insights
were largely lost in the popularity of the Direct Method.

The Direct Method

The basic premise of the Direct Method was similar to that of Gouin‟s Series
Method, namely, that second language learning should be more like first language
learning – lots of oral interaction, spontaneous use of language, no translation
between first and second language and little or no analysis of grammatical rules.

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The principles of the Direct method are: classroom instructions are conducted
exclusively in the target language, only everyday vocabulary and sentences are
taught. Oral communication skills are taught through question-answer
exchanges between teacher and students in small classes. Grammar is taught
inductively, new concepts are taught through modeling and practice, concrete
vocabulary is taught with the aid of objects and pictures while abstract
vocabulary is taught by association of ideas, speech, listening comprehension,
pronunciation and grammar are emphasized.

It was widely accepted in private schools. But almost any method can succeed
when the classes are small, students get individual attention and there is intensive
study. It was also criticized for having a weak theoretical base and being overly
dependent on the personality of the teacher.

By the middle of the 20th century the Direct Method was revived and redirected
into the Audiolingual Method.

The Audio lingual Method (ALM)

The outbreak of the Second World War heightened the need for Americans to
become orally proficient in the languages of both their allies and their enemies.
The courses that were designed were called the “Army Method”. Characteristic of
these courses was a great deal of oral activity – pronunciation and pattern drills
and conversation practice with virtually no grammar and translation classes. In
all its adaptation and variations the Army Method came to be known as the
Audiolingual Method (ALM). It was firmly grounded in linguistic and psychological
theory.

The characteristics of the ALM are: new material is presented in dialogue form,
structures are sequenced and taught one at a time, structural patterns are
taught using repetitive drills, there is little or no grammatical
explanation, vocabulary is limited and learned in context, a lot of audio – visual

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aids are used, great importance is given to pronunciation, successful responses
are immediately reinforced and there is a tendency to manipulate language and
disregard content.

The ALM failed to teach long-term communicative proficiency. Language is not

really acquired through a process of habit formation and over learning, and errors
are not necessarily to be avoided at all costs.

Cognitive Code Learning

Chomsky turned linguists and language teachers towards the “deep structure” of
language. He argued that children subconsciously acquire a system of rules and
begin to inject more deductive language learning in the classrooms. Retaining the
drilling of ALM and Grammar Translation techniques the Cognitive Code Learning
added explanation and reliance on grammatical sequencing of material and
emphasized a conscious awareness of rules and their application to second
language learning.

 The Community Language Learning (CLL) is an affectively based method in

which learners in a classroom were regarded not as a class but as a group. In a
group each person lowered the defenses that prevent open interpersonal
communication. The anxiety caused by the educational context was lessened and
the teacher‟s presence was not perceived as a threat.

Today virtually no one uses CLL exclusively in the curriculum as it was felt that the
method was far too restrictive for institutional language programs.

• Suggestopedia was a method derived from Bulgarian psychologist

GeorgiLozanov‟s contention that the human brain could process great quantities of
material if given the right conditions for learning, among which are a state of
relaxation and giving over of control to the teacher. Music is central to this
method as it created the kind of “relaxed concentration” that led to “super

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learning”. Activities were carried out in soft comfortable seats in relaxed states of
consciousness. Students were encouraged to be as “childlike” as possible, yielding
all authority to the teacher. Students thus became “suggestible”.

Results with Suggestopedia were highly questionable and the practicality of the
method was an issue with teachers where music and comfortable chairs were not
available. However Suggestopedia gave the language teaching profession some
insights especially the use and benefits of music in the classroom.

• The Silent Way: The theory of learning behind this method was: learning is
facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather than remembers and repeats
what is to be learned. Learning is facilitated by accompanying physical objects and
by problem solving involving the material to be learned.

“Discovery learning” a popular educational trend in the 1960s advocated less

learning by being told and more by self discovery of various and principles. The
Silent Way used such discovery-learning procedures. The learner should develop
independence, autonomy and responsibility. At the same time the learners had to
cooperate with each other in the process of solving language problems. The
teacher was silent much of the time hence the name of the method.

The Silent Way was considered too harsh a method and the teacher too distant to
encourage a communicative atmosphere. Students need more guidance and overt
correction than the method permitted. However we can benefit from the theory of
discovery learning in our classrooms and providing less teacher talk than we usually
do to let the students work things out on their own.

• James Asher developed Total Physical Response in the 1960s but it was
almost a decade before the method was widely discussed in professional circles.
Today, Total Physical Response (TPR), with its simplicity as its most appealing
feature is a common word with language teachers.

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Principles of child language acquisition were important. Asher noted that children
in learning their first language, appear to do a lot of listening before they speak
and that their listening is accompanied by physical responses. So he devised a
method that was a stress-free as possible, where the learners would not feel overly
self-conscious and defensive. In the TPR classroom the children did a lot of
listening and acting.

However the TPR had its limitations. It seemed to be especially effective in the
beginning levels of language proficiency but lost its distinctiveness as learners
advanced in their competence.

Language Learning versus Language Acquisition

The distinction between “language learning” and “language acquisition” has been
brought to us by researchers in linguistics, psycholinguistics and cognitive
psychology – notably by Steve Krashen, Noam Chomsky, Steven Pinker and others –
and through studies of both first and second language learning. More significantly,
the majority of people who learn another language do so without teachers, books
or classroom study. They do it by being exposed to comprehensible input that is for
some reason important to their lives – trading, traveling, studying or working. They
do it not by thinking about learning language, but by using new sounds and systems
to communicate something of importance to them. We might do well to look at
this phenomenon since these “non-students” are relatively more successful in their
task than the majority of formal language students.

The acquisition- learning hypothesis

According to Stephen Krashen, there are two ways to develop knowledge of the
second language: acquisition and learning. In his view we acquire as we are
exposed to samples of the second language which we understand. This happens in
much the same way as children pick up their first language- with no conscious

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attention to language form. We learn, on the other hand, via a conscious process
of study and attention to form and rule learning.
For Krashen, acquisition is by far the more important process, he asserts that only
acquired language is readily available for natural, fluent communication. He also
says that learning cannot turn into acquisition. The evidence for this is many
speakers are quite fluent without having learned rules, while others may know the
rules but fail to apply them when they are focusing their attention on what they
want to say more than on how they are saying it.

Writing may be more conducive than speaking to monitor use because it allows
more time for attention to form. So the focus on language teaching should be on
creating conditions for acquisition rather than learning. Krashen believes language
which is produced quickly and apparently spontaneously must have been acquired
rather than learned. One acquires language by exposure to comprehensible input.
If the input contains forms and structures just beyond the learner‟s current level
of competence then both comprehension and acquisition will occur.

The „affective filter‟ is an imaginary barrier which prevents learners from

acquiring language from available inputs. Affect refers to motives, needs,
attitudes and emotional states. A learner who is tense, angry, anxious or bored
may „filter out‟ input making it unavailable for acquisition.

Thus, depending on the learner‟s state of mind or disposition, the filter limits what
is noticed and what is acquired. Things will be blocked out when the learner is
stressed or self -conscious. It will be „down‟ when the learner is relaxed and
motivated.

The critical difference is the focus on the “message” rather than the medium or
code used to transmit the message. To summarize: (An extract from Smooth Moves
by Dave Hopkins)

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 Acquisition Learning
• Similar to the process of learning • Learning process is not like
L1 (first or native language) learning L1
• An intuitive process • Conscious process
• Implicit knowledge • Explicit knowledge
• Speaking without thinking about • Thinking before speaking
it • Formal teaching helps
• Formal teaching does not help • Not as dependent upon affective
much factors
• Strongly influenced by affective • Teachers or parental figures are
factors more important than peers
• Peers have a more important • Language is often de-
influence than teachers or contextualized for drills and
parental figures exercises
• Language is acquired in a • There is no attention to what is
“context” that is understandable known about the sequence of
to the learner learning different linguistic
• There is a discernable, but as yet features.
incomplete ordering of the
sequence of acquisition of
linguistic features

Another way of looking at this distinction may be the following. Native speakers
have a built in “feel” for what is right or wrong in language.
I love to swim.
I enjoy to swim*
While the second sentence is a logical extension of the first, native English
speakers know it isn‟t right.

For the teacher the underlying principle should be to bring language teaching
closer to the “natural acquisition” of language characterized by first language

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learning (L1), and to reduce the type of “learning” practiced in many classrooms
where second languages are taught. To do this there will be a strong emphasis
upon,

• Language context and modeling of language

• Natural language as it occurs in real life
• Encouraging learners to participate and make choices about their learning
• Learning grammar and vocabulary in context
• Repeated and varied language models for accuracy, rather than correction
• Maximizing peer interaction to allow students to observe, hypothesize,
experiment with language – i.e. scaffolding as output processing for
language development
• Focus on the “message” rather than the “language”
• Emphasizing the emotional engagement of the learner
• Giving the student time to digest input before requiring production

There is little doubt that communicative language teaching, with its primary focus
on using language for meaning interaction and for accomplishing tasks, rather than
on learning rules, has won support from many teachers and learners.

Finally a successful teacher is a reflective teacher. Teacher‟s have the profound

advantage over language academics in that they spend hours in classrooms
observing language acquisition take place, and if they become teacher-researchers
their approach, method and technique will continually be refined and improved in
sometimes unconscious ways. A teacher who is aware of what is happening in the
classroom and who takes the time to analyze and theorize about what has taken
place will be equipped to make the necessary academic decisions required of him
or her.

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(References from Smooth Moves)

http://www.usingenglish.com/amazon/us/0130282839.html A great article by

Steven Pinker on how language is acquired.

http://www.usingenglish.com/amazon/us/0130282839.html A quick thumbnail

sketch of the idea of “acquisition” and why it is so important.

http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~vcook/slabib.html A very comprehensive

bibliography of second language acquisition.

http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html A brief introduction to Steve Krashen‟s ideas

about second language acquisition in English and Portuguese.

http://www.eslminiconf.net/ An index of the ESL Mini-conference Online articles.

This is an excellent discussion between Krashen, O‟Neil and Bill Van Patten about
language acquisition theory.

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Language and developmental stages

There’s a lot missing from the speech of a typical two-year-old. This in itself
is of no great interest--after all, there are lots of other things that two-year-
olds aren't that good at. What makes the two-year-old more interesting to the
linguist is that there are striking regularities in what gets missed out where...
(Colin Phillips 1995)

It is a fact that children do not produce adult-like utterances from the very
beginning of their multi-word speech. And so much of the debate ongoing in child
first language acquisition has been devoted to the nature and extent of „what gets
missed out wherein regards to their early grammatical systems.

Stages of first language development

In nearly all cases, children's language development follows a predictable

sequence. However, there is a great deal of variation in the age at which children
reach a given milestone. Furthermore, each child's development is usually
characterized by gradual acquisition of particular abilities: thus "correct" use of
English, verbal inflection will emerge over a period of a year or more, starting
from a stage where verbal inflections are always left out, and ending in a stage
where they are nearly always used correctly.

There are also many different ways to characterize the developmental sequence.
On the production side, one way to name the stages is as follows, focusing
primarily on the unfolding of lexical and syntactic knowledge:

Typical
Stage Description
age
6-8
Babbling Repetitive CV patterns
months

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 One-word stage
(better one-
morpheme or one- 9-18
Single open-class words or word stems
unit) months
or holophrastic
stage
18-24 "mini-sentences" with simple semantic
Two-word stage
months relations
Telegraphic stage
or early multiword "Telegraphic" sentence structures
24-30
stage of lexical rather
months
(better multi- than functional or grammatical morphemes
morpheme)
Later multiword 30+
Grammatical or functional structures emerge
stage months

Language Development Chart

Age of Child Typical Language Development
• Vocalization with intonation
• Responds to his name
6 Months

• Responds to human voices without visual cues by turning his

head and eyes
• Responds appropriately to friendly and angry tones
• Uses one or more words with meaning (this may be a
fragment of a word)
12 Months

• Understands simple instructions, especially if vocal or

physical cues are given
• Practices inflection
• Is aware of the social value of speech

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 • Has vocabulary of approximately 5-20 words
• Vocabulary made up chiefly of nouns
18 Months

• Some echolalia (repeating a word or phrase over and over)

• Much jargon with emotional content
• Is able to follow simple commands
• Can name a number of objects common to his surroundings
• Is able to use at least two prepositions, usually chosen from
the following: in, on &under
• Combines words into a short sentence-largely noun-verb
combinations (mean) length of sentences is given as 1.2
words
• Approximately 2/3 of what child says should be intelligible
24 Months

Vocabulary of approximately 150-300 words

• Rhythm and fluency often poor
• Volume and pitch of voice not yet well-controlled
• Can use two pronouns correctly: I, me, you, although me
and I are often confused
• My and mine are beginning to emerge
• Responds to such commands as "show me your eyes (nose,
mouth, hair)"

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 • Use pronouns I, you, me correctly
• Is using some plurals and past tenses
• Knows at least three prepositions, usually in, on, under
• Knows chief parts of body and should be able to indicate
these if not name
• Handles three word sentences easily
• Has in the neighborhood of 900-1000 words
• About 90% of what child says should be intelligible
36 Months

• Verbs begin to predominate

• Understands most simple questions dealing with his
environment and activities
• Relates his experiences so that they can be followed with
reason
• Able to reason out such questions as "what must you do
when you are sleepy, hungry, cool, or thirsty?"
• Should be able to give his sex, name, age
• Should not be expected to answer all questions even though
he understands what is expected

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 • Knows names of familiar animals
• Can use at least four prepositions or can demonstrate his
understanding of their meaning when given commands
• Names common objects in picture books or magazines
• Knows one or more colors
• Can repeat 4 digits when they are given slowly
• Can usually repeat words of four syllables
• Demonstrates understanding of over and under
48 Months

• Has most vowels and diphthongs and the consonants p, b,

m, w, n well established
• Often indulges in make-believe
• Extensive verbalization as he carries out activities
• Understands such concepts as longer, larger, when a
contrast is presented
• Readily follows simple commands even thought the stimulus
objects are not in sight
• Much repetition of words, phrases, syllables, and even
sounds

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 • Can use many descriptive words spontaneously-both
adjectives and adverbs
• Knows common opposites: big-little, hard-soft, heave-light,
etc
• Has number concepts of 4 or more
• Can count to ten
• Speech should be completely intelligible, in spite of
articulation problems
• Should have all vowels and the consonants,
m,p,b,h,w,k,g,t,d,n,ng,y (yellow)
60 Months

• Should be able to repeat sentences as long as nine words

• Should be able to define common objects in terms of use
(hat, shoe, chair)
• Should be able to follow three commands given without
interruptions
• Should know his age
• Should have simple time concepts: morning, afternoon,
night, day, later, after, while
• Tomorrow, yesterday, today
• Should be using fairly long sentences and should use some
compound and some complex sentences
• Speech on the whole should be grammatically correct
• In addition to the above consonants these should be
mastered: f, v, sh, zh, th,l
• He should have concept of 7 days
6 Years

• Speech should be completely intelligible and socially useful

• Should be able to tell one a rather connected story about a
picture, seeing relationships
• Between objects and happenings

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 • Should have mastered the consonants s-z, r, voiceless th,
ch, wh, and the soft g as in George
• Should handle opposite analogies easily: girl-boy, man-
woman, flies-swims, blunt-sharp short-long, sweet-sour,
etc
7 Years

• Understands such terms as: alike, different, beginning,

end, etc
• Should be able to tell time to quarter hour
• Should be able to do simple reading and to write or print
many words
• Can relate rather involved accounts of events, many of
which occurred at some time in the past
• Complex and compound sentences should be used easily
• Should be few lapses in grammatical constrictions-tense,
pronouns, plurals
• All speech sounds, including consonant blends should be
established
• Should be reading with considerable ease and now writing
8 Years

simple compositions
• Social amenities should be present in his speech in
appropriate situations
• Control of rate, pitch, and volume are generally well and
appropriately established
• Can carry on conversation at rather adult level
• Follows fairly complex directions with little repetition
• Has well developed time and number concepts

Stages of second language acquisition

Stage I: Pre-production

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This is the silent period. English language learners may have up to 500 words in
their receptive vocabulary but they are not yet speaking. Some students will,
however, repeat everything you say. They are not really producing language but
are parroting.
These new learners of English will listen attentively and they may even be able to
copy words from the board. They will be able to respond to pictures and other
visuals. They can understand and duplicate gestures and movements to show
comprehension. Total Physical Response methods will work well with them.
Teachers should focus attention on listening comprehension activities and on
building a receptive vocabulary.

English language learners at this stage will need much repetition of English. They
will benefit from a “buddy” who speaks their language. Remember that the school
day is exhausting for these newcomers as they are overwhelmed with listening to
English language all day long.

Stage II: Early production

This stage may last up to six months and students will develop a receptive and
active vocabulary of about 1000 words. During this stage, students can usually
speak in one- or two-word phrases. They can use short language chunks that have
been memorized although these chunks may not always be used correctly.

Here are some suggestions for working with students in this stage of English
language learning:

 Ask yes/no and either/or questions.

 Accept one or two word responses.
 Give students the opportunity to participate in some of the whole class
activities.
 Use pictures and realia to support questions.
 Modify content information to the language level of ELLs.

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  Build vocabulary using pictures.
 Provide listening activities.
 Simplify the content materials to be used. Focus on key vocabulary and
concepts.
 When teaching elementary age ELLs, use simple books with predictable
text.
 Support learning with graphic organizers, charts and graphs. Begin to foster
writing in English through labeling and short sentences. Use a frame to
scaffold writing.

Stage III: Speech emergence

Students have developed a vocabulary of about 3,000 words and can communicate
with simple phrases and sentences. They will ask simple questions, that may or
may not be grammatically correct, such as “May I go to bathroom? ” ELLs will also
initiate short conversations with classmates. They will understand easy stories read
in class with the support of pictures. They will also be able to do some content
work with teacher support. Here are some simple tasks they can complete:

 Sound out stories phonetically.

 Read short, modified texts in content area subjects.
 Complete graphic organizers with word banks.
 Understand and answer questions about charts and graphs.
 Match vocabulary words to definitions.
 Study flashcards with content area vocabulary.
 Participate in duet, pair and choral reading activities.
 Write and illustrate riddles.
 Understand teacher explanations and two-step directions.
 Compose brief stories based on personal experience.
 Write in dialogue journals.

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Dialogue journals are a conversation between the teacher and the student. They
are especially helpful with English language learners. Students can write about
topics that interest them and proceed at their own level and pace. They have a
place to express their thoughts and ideas.

Stage IV: Intermediate fluency

English language learners at the intermediate fluency stage have a vocabulary of

6000 active words. They are beginning to use more complex sentences when
speaking and writing and are willing to express opinions and share their thoughts.
They will ask questions to clarify what they are learning in class. These English
language learners will be able to work in grade level math and science classes with
some teacher support. Comprehension of English literature and social studies
content is increasing. At this stage, students will use strategies from their native
language to learn content in English.
Student writing at this stage will have many errors as they try to master the
complexity of English grammar and sentence structure. Many students may be
translating written assignments from native language. They should be expected to
synthesize what they have learned and to make inferences from that learning. This
is the time for teachers to focus on learning strategies. Students in this stage will
also be able to understand more complex concepts.

Stage V: Advanced Fluency

It takes students from 4-10 years to achieve cognitive academic language

proficiency in a second language. Student at this stage will be near-native in their
ability to perform in content area learning. At the beginning of this stage,
however, they will need continued support from classroom teachers especially in
content areas such as history/social studies and in writing.

Language and the Brain

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Are human beings biologically programmed to learn language?
E. H. Lenneberg in his book Biological Foundations of Language (1967) pointed out
that the slightly unusual features shown by the human brain and the vocal tract
can be viewed as a partial adaptation of the body to the production of language.
Human teeth, lips, mouth, tongue, the larynx, the lungs and the breathing
mechanism differ from other primates and seem to be geared and biologically
organized for speech.

The „Speech chain‟ was proposed by Denes and Pinsons (1963). Two human beings
the listener and the speaker are involved in this act. It has 3 stages:

• Linguistic Level: the formation of the message. The listener receives the
message through the ear and sends it through sensory nerves to the brain.
Then the message is encoded in the brain.
• Physiological level: the brain monitors the vocal muscles to produce speech
sounds through the motor nerves in the speaker. The message is sent to the
brain for encoding via sensory nerves.
• Acoustic level: the sound waves are the main linkage between the speaker
and the listener. This is the only level which exists outside the speaker and
the listener.

The human brain

The human brain is divided into a lower section, the brain stem and a higher
section, the cerebrum. The cerebrum is not essential for life, its purpose is to
integrate the human being with its environment. This is the part of the brain
where language is likely to be organized.

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 The cerebrum is divided into two
halves, the cerebral hemispheres, the
left and the right, which are linked to
one another. Various methods for
testing which hemisphere controls
speech, have shown that the majority
of human beings, about
90%,havespeech located primarily in
the left hemisphere.

Speech impairment of various kinds

(different types of aphasia) due to head injuries, provides evidence of the link
between speech and the brain. Stuttering, pauses, repetition of one word only,
grammatical words left out, lack of naming ability, creating non-words, phonemic
substitution, associated lexical item replacement, nonfluent spontaneous speech
etc. – all related to speech production; failing to understand simple syntactic
relationships, inability to understand meaning, inability to comprehend abstract
words etc. – all related to the comprehension of speech are all speech impaired
problems.

Lateralization of the brain:

The left hemisphere of the brain is
known as the „analytic‟ side while the
right hemisphere is the „creative‟
side. This separation of the two
hemispheres according to functions is
known as “lateralization”.

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Left Hemisphere Right Hemisphere
1. Analytic tasks 1. Perception
2. Categorization 2. Matching of global patterns
3. Calculation 3. Spatial orientation
4. Logical organization 4. Creative sensibility
5. Information sequencing 5. Musical patterns
6. Complex motor functions 6. Emotional expressions
7. Language 7. Face recognition

In young children if the left hemisphere

is damaged, the right hemisphere can
take over the language function of the
left hemisphere. Though syntactic and
semantic correlations are processed in
the left hemisphere, single lexical items
seem to be processed in the right.
Further, interpretation of metaphors,
understanding of discourse, telling a
story, understanding of ambiguous
sentences and production of the
intonation patterns in sentences – all seemed to be controlled by the right
hemisphere.
Literacy and Play

Early childhood is about integration as all the wires are making connection. The
first five years of a child‟s future determines success later in life.

Let us first look at what is play?

Play is spontaneous, child directed, suspended in reality and self motivated. Piaget
says when children get together to negotiate they need time to negotiate rules or

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roles, then play it and also to come out of it. The time required is 45 to 60
minutes.

• Play is active,
• It can be scaffold to fit all developmental levels,
• Can be environmentally supported, includes social and physical experiences,
• Differs among children, ca develop a very positive early disposition towards
literacy.
• Quality play can meet all developmental domains.
What is literacy?

Literacy includes speaking, listening, reading, writing and viewing.

But how is literacy and play related?

They both manipulate symbols, they are intended to communicate meaning and
ideas, and they both include rules. Play and literacy are linked closely in numerous
research studies. Based on such research play is considered to be the best way to
learn if it supported. To build a playground on e needs tools, materials, a plan and
hard work and for a classroom one needs books, equipment, plan and hard work.

Let us now look at the similarity between the playground equipment and literacy.
Notice that as the see-saw tips on one side but the base does not change. Similarly
while reading and writing are important pieces to literacy, the unchanging
necessary piece is oral language. In children birth through age five, oral language
is the most important aspect of literacy.

The merry-go-round represents the teaching learning cycle.

As you spin the merry go round it blends together and it is the same with literacy.
The jungle gym represents the scaffolding that takes place in instruction.
Scaffolding is a term which has been used to describe the process of assisting a
learner in moving from one level of learning to the next.

25
The final component of the playground is gravel/ grass/ wood chips/ sand. This
cushions the fall, it protects and supports and is also used for digging and
exploring.

There are different types of Play:

 Exploratory play – freely exploring different medium
 Constructive play – constructing own knowledge
 Dramatic play – take on a character and play it out
 Games with rule – literacy is related to rules that must be followed
 Physical play – uses the body
 Language play – involves the production of language.

The teacher can assist in play by suggesting form the side, commenting from the
side, assist, model but remember to get out as soon as things are back on track.
The room set-up should allow for sensible grouping, space for loud play, quite
play, moderate play, individual reflection, space for choice and physically
separated spaces.

Increasing Children‟s Oral Language:

Oral language is like Play Dough. It provides form and shapes our understanding of
everything. The oral language ability that children bring to formal K-12 schooling
set the stage for their success in both school and future accomplishments. There
are vast differences in the oral language experiences between individual children
prior to kindergarten. These enormous differences “mark” children for life. A 3
year old child with rich language experience is exposed to 2153words per hour, a
child with moderate experience- 1251 words / hour whereas, a child with
impoverished language experience has only 616 words per hour. (Hart &Risley,
2000). These differences accumulate over time. So by the time the children enter
KG, there are enormous differences in their oral language experiences.

26
Therefore to go back to the analogy of literacy and play, just as the child on
the swing requires adult assistance, children acquire language through interactions
with others, especially through interactions with adults in their environment. Just
as the swing goes back and forth, so do conversations. Further more like the frame
of the swing set gives it foundation and keeps it grounded; similarly, oral language
provides the foundation for all literacy interactions. It helps us make sense of
everything we encounter and use our existing language to categorize it and give it
meaning. Thus the more words we have, the more they can benefit from new
situations. That is why the first language is so powerful. There is a clear link
between children‟s oral language ability and their future abilities in reading and
writing. Over time, children learn to understand how different social situations call
for different language interactions and also use language appropriate to these
social situations.

The teacher needs to model and help children practice the seven functions of
language: (Halliday,1975)
 Instrumental – used for satisfying needs and wants.
 Regulatory – control others.
 Interactional – create interactions.
 Personal – to express thoughts and opinions.
 Imaginative – to create imaginary world.
 Heuristic – to seek information.
 Informative – to communicate information.

These functions describe a hierarchy of language use. For children to be optimally

proficient in oral language they must be able to understand and use all seven. And
in order to do so they must experience them on a daily basis. Children who
experience a wealth of narrative and explanatory talk are more likely to use these
types of talk. These two types of talk have also been linked to children‟s literacy
development in kindergarten.

27
The stages of conversation development:

In the beginning, children repeat sounds, next they begin to state their thoughts
aloud. Next children begin taking turns talking, not conversing just being polite.
Finally they engage socially with another person in true conversation.

To build rich vocabulary in children the teacher needs to talk to them and with
them using an expanded vocabulary, provide real experiences for discussion and
reflection. The teacher should weave vocabulary words into talk whenever and
wherever possible. Also the teacher should introduce new vocabulary in
combination with words which are already familiar to children.

The best practices to support oral language are conversations, experiences,

friendships, books and stories and plays. The best way to provide support for
children in oral language development is through purposeful, normal, everyday
experiences.
Finally remember
 to talk and listen ;
 to model good language;
 to actively engage verbally and nonverbally with each child daily;
 to use powerful strategies to increase the number of words children
experience as well as increase their vocabulary; and
 to provide opportunities for children‟s language practice in meaningful
ways.
Increasing Phonological Awareness:

• The first diagram shows Oral language components and the second shows
written language. The ability to hear phonemes or the minimal unit of sounds is
phonemic awareness and the ability to hear all sounds – whole, individual and
discrete is phonological awareness. It is only through experience of oral language

28
can one understand phonemes. The biggest predictor of student‟s reading success
is this phonological awareness.

The progression of phonological awareness is:

 Sounds
 Words
 Syllables
 Onsets
 Rhymes
 Phonemes.

Activities that support such development are using oral fun language activities.
Like fun songs, songs with their names, Simon says, breaking sentences into words
by saying each word separately and adding action to these separations, inserting
silly words to see if they can recognize them, clapping for syllables. Recognition
activities like raising the finger when they hear a particular sound, picking the odd
one out or discrimination activities and supply activities.

Increasing Print Awareness:

Knowledge of letters and words is called Print awareness. Print awareness includes
understanding that:

 Print conveys meaning

 Print is speech written down
 Print moves in a specific way
 Print is made up of sentences and phrases which in turn are made up of
words, which are made up of letters
 Print uses symbols to convey the meaning.

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The two biggest predictors of children‟s future reading ability are their
knowledge of letters (print awareness) and knowledge of sounds (phonemic
awareness) at the beginning of first grade. Combining sound and letter names into
activities that are meaningful to children is the most effective means of teaching
letters and sounds. Teaching letters and sounds in isolation does not have an
impact.

Three important aspects of book reading are:

• Introduction – this will hook them into the book.

• Picture walk – to talk about the cover.
• Conversation – before, during and after story telling.
For 3-5 years discussing the story as a whole is important but for the 6-8
years discuss the story as a whole and then focus on the smaller
parts. Remember it isn‟t the story itself that seems to make a difference
but it is the quality of interaction you have during the book time that has
the most positive effect.

Enhancing Writing Skills:

“Writing is a way of making marks that call to mind the ideas you had when you
wrote”. – Temple, Nathan, Temple & Burns, 1993

Oral Language Written Language

Difference:
Along with words, the context, gestures Precise use of language to communicate
and intonations convey meaning. meaning.
Similarities:
Both rely on oral language as base.
Both rely on symbols to communicate.
They are reciprocal processes: reading informs writing and writing informs

30
reading.
Both involve the communication of information between the author and the
audience.

How are Play and Writing related?

• Both use oral language to compose and share ideas.
• Use symbols to represent ideas.
• Require communication.
• Follow rules.
• Require both cognitive and physical skills.
• May require help from more able „others‟.

Two developmental factors that impact writing are – Physical and

cognitive development. The control and movement primarily come from the
shoulder, to the whole arm, the elbow, the hand and wrist and finally to the
finger. Any kind of motor skill and fine motor skill, activities are necessary to
support writing. Children must understand the content, form and use of writing.

The 3 things that teachers need to do for children are model, mediate and
provide real opportunities for children to practice.

A Final Note:
The environment you build lays the foundation for the literacy experiences
children will encounter and the joy and sadness they will experience. The
emotions, equipment and activities you select forms the backbone for your
interaction with young children and have great implications for their future
writing and complete literacy learning. Keep the oral language developing
because it helps learning in all areas. Keep play in mind for all interactions
so that it is fun and pleasurable.

Developing the Four Skills

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The importance of developing the four skills requires planning as well the right
knowledge of technique. While introducing listening, speaking, reading and
writing to young learners a teacher should keep in mind the short attention
span of these learners. The teachers need to plan activities to use of all their
sense organs to achieve effective learning outcome.

Developing and Teaching Listening Skills

What do you mean by listening?
It‟s an active purposeful response to make sense of what we hear

Objectives:
1. We listen to sounds
2. We react to it
3. We listen to comprehend
4. It is receptive skill
5. We listen to the tone inflection and to the inferred

Perhaps that is why listening is the first tool to communication ,and that‟s why . it
is the first skill that children adapt to . So we as teachers must do everything in
our capability to strengthen the tool. There are many aids that can be used to
improve the skill such as facial expression, movement , voice modulation , mime ,
songs , poems , pictures With young learners , repetition of the same is very
important, clarity of speech must be ensured and communication of message has
to be simple.

Note
Some listening activities will wake your students up, make them move about,
create movement or noise. Others will calm them down, make them concentrate
and create a peaceful atmosphere.
Different types of listening activities in the classroom according to age groups
Age group 3 to 5 years

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Listening Skills

Listen and Do. A

Method: Students are in teams. Each team member is given a vocabulary item -
e.g. a color. There is one of each color in each team. Either tell each person their
color, or give them a card with that color. The teacher says, "If you have a red
card, please stand up." Or "If you are red, please stand up." Or: "The first red to
stand up gets a point for their team." Or: "Reds, please stand up."

Listen and Do. B

• Method: Students are in teams. As the teacher instructs the students follow.
First the game goes at a slow pace and then picks up speed.
Simon says jump 2times
Simon says laugh 5 times
Simon says clap 4times
• Number Codes: Cut out some squares and write numbers from 0-9 on them.
Put the numbers in a box and then instruct the students to place the
numbers in a line as you call them out.
• Calendars. Have a big, colorful calendar on your classroom wall. At the
beginning of each class have your Students point out the correct date
and tell you the day and date in English: "Today is Monday the 4th of
August". Try doing this quick activity each class.

33
Happy Birthday worksheet

Method :
Distribute the worksheets to the children, then instruct them to colour the picture.
Choose a child whose birthday will be celebrated. Tell the children to cut out the
pictures accordingly. Reshuffle the items amongst the children so that the items
are not equally distributed Finally call out the items and those who have the items
are to be told to come up and give the candles, balloons … to the birthday girl boy
.

• Pre-listening Activities
• Step 1 : Warm up and motivation
T. Good morning class ,how are you today ?
SS. Fine thanks and you?
T. I‟m fine too, thank you.
Step 2 : State the aim of the lesson (Context setting)
T. Today we are going to listen to Friend‟s Club(i)

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Instruction : Check the meaning of the following words in your dictionary:

1. I know these words :

Bird Head
Cat Leg
guinea pig Tail
Hedgehog Tail
Leaf Teeth
Parrot Insect
Rabbit
Rat
Spider

2. Label the pictures

RABBIT

3. I can write my own examples.

Have got questions
1. Juan has got a pet. Has Juan got a pet...............................................?
2. My brothers have got two dogs.

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………………………………………………………………………………………
3. My sister has got a cat.………………………………………………………………………………..?
4. My pet has got four legs.…………………………………………..?
5. Her parrots have got long tails.…………………………………………...?
6. Our uncle has got a new pet.…………………………………………..?

v) My Cartoon friends
Name: ............................................................... Grade:
.............................. Date: ...........................
1. Listen to the teacher and join the characters to the Paint box:

Age group 6 to 8 years

Warmers To Develop Listening Skills

1. Simon Says
Time: 10 minutes:
Objective: To respond to the commands & follow it up with activities

36
Procedure:
• The teacher shouts instructions which should only be obeyed if they include
the word “Simon says”
• For example:
Simon says; raise your right hand
Simon says; hop on your left foot
Simon says; touch your toes …….
c) Encourage the students to be prompt.
d) The game should be fast paced

2. Chinese whisper
Time: 10 minutes:
Objective: To listen & repeat verbatim
Procedure:
a. Arrange the class in a circle.
b. The teacher whispers a word/phrase into the ear of one student and indicates
that it has to be passed around till it reaches the last person.
c. The last person then has to act out the word/phrase.
d. After the action the teacher then confirms whether the word and the action are
same or not.
e. The one who does the action now gets the chance to whisper.

3. Sea King Christmas Party Game In the Sea King Christmas party game, one
player is selected to play the role of the “Sea King” whose duty is to stand in the
center of a circle, formed by the rest of the players seated around him. The circle
should be as large as possible. The game continues with each player choosing the
name of a fish. The „Sea King‟ runs around the circle calling each player by his/her
fish name.

As the King calls out their names, each player gets up and follows the Sea King.
Once all his subjects have left their seats, the sea king calls out, “The sea is

37
troubled”, and sits on a seat immediately. Following his example, his subjects also
rapidly seat themselves. The player who fails to get a seat has to take the place of
the Sea King and the game continues.

4. Tail the donkey

Time: 10 minutes:
Objective :T o listen & follow instructions to complete the task
Procedure:
1. Draw a donkey on the board but without a tail
2. Now choose a volunteer from the class blindfold him/her.
3. Divide the class into group A and group B
4. Each group gets the chance to give directions to blindfolded student
5. The blindfolded student in turn has to draw the tail of the donkey listening to
the directions given

Activities to develop Listening Skills

vi) Phonics
Time: 10 minutes:
Objective: To become aware & recognize long vowels
Procedure:
1. Play a tape stressing on phonics
2.Use the black board or give a worksheet having the following words :
Which of these words has a "long a” sound?
• Fat, brace, zebra, urge.
• Mat, bat, goat, owl.
• That, net, don‟t.

3. Ask the students to listen to the tape and identify the word having the long “a‟
sound.
4. Other examples:
Which of these words has a "long e" sound?

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 • Ten, nature, three, seven
• Fell, steal, scale, ladder
• Pen, shovel, send, hockey

Which of these words has a "long i" sound?

• Fly, image ,tin ,individual
• Finish , sin , thigh , incredible
• Hit , time , fill , thin

Which of these words has a "long o" sound?

• Too, ton , blow , cow
• Solo, pond , boot , down
• Pool, loan, sock ,hockey

vii) Listen and draw!

Time: 10 minutes:
Objective: To listen to instructions & draw pictures on the board to match the
original.
Procedure:
1. Divide the class into two groups. Group A and Group B.
2. Now a participant from group A comes to the board and faces the board.
3. The teacher puts forward a chit of paper having a figure.
3. The other participant from group B gives instructions to his/her counterpart.
4. Based on these directions the participant of group A will draw a figure on the
board.
5. The figure on the board has to match with figure on the paper.

More Listening Activities :

Activity 1

39
 1. Trevortalks about his beloved dog and describes what it
looks like.
2. Next try the quiz
Todd: Trevor, do you have a dog?
Trevor: Yeah, I do have a dog.
Todd: What kind of dog?
Trevor: My dogs a boxer.
Todd: A boxer. What does a boxer look like?
Trevor: A boxer is medium size. She's got short hair and a very short stubby nose.
And no tail.
Todd: No, tail. Nice. Which do you prefer dogs or cats?
Trevor: I'm a dog person. I like dogs.
Todd: OK. Why?
Trevor: Dogs are a man's best friend and they are always loyal.
Todd: OK. What do you mean loyal? What does loyalty mean?
Trevor: Oh, they'll stay with you, even through the hard times.
Todd: OK. Which breed or kind of dog do you like besides boxers?
Trevor: I like Labradors and I like, uh, small Terriers.
Todd: Small Terriers
Trevor: Small terriers. A Jack Russell is a small Terrier.
Todd: What color is a terrier?
Trevor: Black and white.
Todd: Black and white. All right! --- What are the costs associated with keeping a
dog?
Trevor: Pretty cheap really. You got some vet costs if they get sick and they got to
have needles, but food. That's about it really.
Todd: OK. Great. All right. Thanks a lot Trevor
Trevor: See ya later!
• What kind of dog does Trevor have?
a) Terrier
b) Boxer

40
 c) Poodle
2) what does his dog have?
a) Short stubby nose
b) White fluffy hair
c) Long tail
3) Why are dogs so popular?
a) They are sweet
b) They are loyal
c) They are stupid
4) Are dogs cheap or expensive to keep?
a) Expensive
b) Cheap
c) It depends

5) What are some costs associated with keeping a dog?

a) Vet costs
b) Food
c) Both

Activity 2
Transcribing a song
Summer Holiday
Were all going on a summer holiday.
No more working for a week or two.
Fun and laughter on a summer holiday.
No more worries for me and you.
For a week or two.

Were going where the sun shines brightly.

Were going where the sea is blue.

41
Weve seen it in the movies.
Now lets see if its true.

Everybody has a summer holiday

Doing things they always wanted to.
So were going on a summer holiday
To make our dreams come true
For me and you.
Activity 3
Age group 9 to 12 years
Lie detector
Time: 10 minutes:
Objective: To listen & identify the structure that does not belong to the category
Procedure:
1. Teams are created; each team is given a topic.
2. The teams must create four sentences about that topic, but one of those
sentences contain an untruth.
3. The sentences are then presented to the class and it is the task of the other
teams to identify the lie.
4. The response must be exact and not sentence 3 is wrong.
5. For example:
Tom cruise is a superstar
Tom Cruise did many movies
Tom Cruise is married to Katie Holmes.

Possible categories
• Countries
• Famous people
• Members of the class
• The teacher
• English

42
 • Grammar
• Stories from films or other TV programmes

Activity 4
Giving directions
Time: 10 minutes:
Objective: To listen & follow directions accurately to solve the maze
Procedure:
1. Ask for a volunteer who is blindfolded.
2. The furniture of the room is rearranged (if the tables are fixed then the chairs
can be manipulated) The classroom is like a maze.
3. Place a coin or a wrapped sweet somewhere in the room.
4. In order to reach the target the blindfolded person is now asked to follow
directions as told to him /her
5. Gently turn the student two or three times to confuse his / her sense of
direction.
6. Then the teacher remains silent as the rest of the class gives instructions.
7. This could be done in groups too.

Activity 5

Guess!
Time: 10 minutes:
Objective: To become aware of integration in speech
Procedure:
1. A sentence is read out ten times in ten different ways by ten different students.
2. Each time the rest of the class tries to guess what emotion is being expressed.
3. The teacher must encourage the students to say the words with as much
expression as the can muster.
4. Possible categories:
• Anger

43
 • Happiness
• Sorrow
• Anxiety
• Euphoria
• Surprise
• Tiredness

Activity 6

Retelling
Time: 10 minutes:
Objective: Listen & repeat accurately
Procedure:
1. Read out a joke.
2. Now ask any of the students to retell it
3. In order to help them comprehend better it could be so that as the students
listen, they also read it from a work sheet.
4. For example:
• Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other, "Does this taste
funny to you?"
• When do cannibals leave the table? When everyone's eaten.
• What is a cannibal's favorite type of TV show? A celebrity roast.
• What did the cannibal get when he was late for dinner? The cold shoulder.
• What is a cannibal's favorite game? Swallow the leader.
• Did you hear about the cannibal who loved fast food? He ordered a pizza
with everybody on it.

Activity 7

Listen up!
Time: 10 minutes:

44
Objective: To listen & recall the gist of the spoken text
Procedure:
1. Record the voice of a student.
2. Play it in the class.
3. Ask the students to explain what the speaker is telling.
4. It could be exactly what he/ she is saying or it could be a gist of the speech
(depending on the level of the students.

Activity 8

Listen up! 2.
Time: 10 minutes:
Objective: To identify & repeat words with correct phoneme sounds.
Procedure:
1. Playa tape
2. Encourage the students to pronounce the words exactly as they hear it.

Developing and Teaching Speaking Skills

It is perhaps the most difficult skill to teach. Speech in English has to be developed
naturally and that is quite an enduring task or a teacher because children tend to
speak in their native tongue at a drop of a hat.

The important fact that has to be kept in, mind is that a balanced environment has
to be given consisting of controlled and guided activities and at the same rime
letting them enjoy natural talk.
Following are some examples of activities categorized according to age groups

Age group 3 to 6

45
Activity 1
Duration: 10 minutes
The teacher knows what his or her students are capable of doing. So he or
she says thing like „Susan can sing, Tom can draw, Joe can ride a bike‟ etc.
the sentence should be true and accompanied by appropriate action and
sounds.

• Using a puppet
One of the most successful ways of presenting language to young children
is through puppets or a class mascot. Having someone familiar all the
time helps to develop conversation and introduce new language to
children. Once the teacher has given the model the children can ask the
puppet all sorts of questions and it will answer. In this way its name,
address, identity, likes and dislikes will be built up in cooperation with
the children.

Activity 2

A song to improve speech

Learn With ABC”S

Learn the ABC “S with Ease
While getting a fit and having fun
Alphabetize your exercise
And do your moves one by one
At the store or in the park
You will cause a small commotion
If you suddenly stand and start

Activity 3
The alphabets in motion

46
A Arch H Hop O Open V Vibrate
B Bend I Itch P Prance W Walk
C Clap J Jump Q Quick X Make an X
D Drop K Kick R Run Y Yodel
E Expand L Laugh S Squat Z Zigzag
F Flock M March T Turn
Uncurle
G Grow N Nod U
d

Activity 4

Poems to improve speech

• Star bright,
First star I see tonight,
Star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may,
I wish I might,
• One, Two, Three, Four, Five.
Once, I caught a fish alive.
Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten.
But I let it go again.
Why did I let it go?
Because it bit my finger so.
Which finger did it bite?
My little pinkie on the right.

Age group 8 to 10
Activity 1
A month that rhymes with soon:
Summer weather that rhymes with bought:

47
A time of rest that rhymes with station:
A summer place to play that rhymes with peach:
Something you make that rhymes with hassle:
Something you take that rhymes with sip:

A big summer fruit that rhymes with felon:

Something to cool you that rhymes with man:
A summer drink that rhymes with fade:

What you put in your drink that rhymes with nice:

Summer clothes that rhyme with sports.
Something to do in summer that rhymes with him:
Summer footwear that rhymes with handles:
Where you sleep when you camp that rhymes with
sent:

Activity 2
Name Something that Begins With A-M
Apple begins with A.
Name two animals that begin with B.
Name a country that begins with C.
Name a pet that begins with D.
Name a planet that begins with E.
Name a season that begins with F.
Name two things you wear that begin with G.
Name a school subject that begins with H.
Name something cold that begins with I.
Name a drink that begins with J.
Name a toy that begins with K.
Name a toy that begins with l
Name two things in our solar system that begin with M.

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Activity 3 – Tongue Twisters

Repeat them a few times......

• A flea and a fly in a flue
Said the fly "Oh what should we do"
Said the flea" Let us fly
Said the fly” Let us flee"
So they flew through a flaw in the flue
• Mr. See owned a saw.
And Mr. Soar owned a seesaw.
Now, See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw
Before Soar saw See, Which made Soar sore.
Had Soar seen See's saw
Before See sawed Soar's seesaw,
See's saw would not have sawed
Soar's seesaw.
So See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw.
But it was sad to see Soar so sore
just because See's saw sawed
Soar's seesaw.

• Animal Alliteration

Alliteration is when all the words start with the same sound.
Big bears biting berries

You try some: Dirty dogs _____________ in the dirt.

____________ Cats cooking carrots.
Five fish ____________________
____________ Snakes slithering.

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Red rabbits _________________.
___________ Horses hauling hay.
Purple pandas ____________ pictures.
Creepy _____________ crawling.
Many mice _________________.
Tired _______________ talking.
Green gorillas ________________.
Whales waiting in the water.

Age group 9 to 12years old

Activity 1
One minute speaking activities

For practice have students give one minute speeches. Here are some ideas for the
short activities
1. Tell a joke or riddle
2. Teach the class a tongue twister
3. Read or recite a poem
4. Using a puppet, relate a fairy tale
5. Write a modern version of a nursery rhyme. Read it to the class.
6. Retell a fable
7. Introduce a classmate, your teacher, or yourself to the class.
8. Tell a ghost story
9. Relate a humorous story
10. Recite a limerick
11. Tell about a movie, TV show, or sports event
12. Retell a folktale or legend
13. Telephonic conversation

50
There are two kinds of environment that can be offered to the students. They are
as follows :

• Controlled practice
In controlled practice error is very less because the language is provided by the
teacher
One pupil asks : “How are you ?”
The other answers: “I am ______”.
Or
“What‟s she doing?”
“She‟s_______________”.
The motive is to help the students learn simple language according to the context.
Learners may have to repeat sentences, be corrected and go through the same
thing several times.

• Guided practice
•
Guided practice is often done in pairs or in groups. The students are given a
choice. Aids such as flashcards,mimes,gestures, video clips can be used to enthuse
the students.

Example:
Chain-Chain
The teacher puts a number of picture cards or word cards face down on the table.
Pupil A picks up one card which has a picture of monkeys and says:“Do you like
monkeys ?”
Pupil B picks up another card on which there are some butterflies and answers,
“No, I don‟t like monkeys, but I like butterflies.”
It continues with other students and other cards. This activity can be used to
practice whatever vocabulary or structure the teacher is working on at that time.

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Dialogues and Role play

Role plays can be a very good way for students to develop fluency by forgetting
themselves and concentrating on the task in hand. They provide the opportunity
for extended interaction rather than just a 2-line exchange. However, they do
need careful setting up and staging. If your students haven‟t done any role plays
before or aren‟t used to doing them, start gently and don‟t launch into a really
challenging activity immediately. You can easily turn ordinary conversation
practice into a mini role play. Ask students who are supposed to be on the phone
to sit back to back so that they can‟t see each other‟s faces. Ask students who are
having a conversation in a shop to stand up and exchange money, etc. Give
students time to get into their characters. Tell them to think about the meaning
and the situation. Encourage them to use facial expression and pronunciation
(stress and intonation) to express emotion, e.g. politeness, rudeness, anger,
irritation, excitement, etc.
Example
Age group 6 to 8
I Wish!

Once there was a caterpillar on a leaf. His name was Googly. Googly had many
friends, Robin the red bird, Buzz the bee and Gypsy the dragon fly. Googly loved
them very much but he also felt sad because he couldn‟t fly .One day, Robin flew
to Googly and told “Hi there! guess where have I been?”

Googly (all excited) Where?

Robin: To the highest part of the sky. It was dreamy!
Googly sighs! : I wish I could fly ,he says to himself and looks away.
The next day Buzz came along and started to talk at a go. Buzz: zzzzzGoogly help
me! zzzzzzz , My hive is being attacked!
Googly : What can I do? I can‟t fly!
Buzz: zzzz I better fly down and get my folks!

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Googly (pulling a long sad face) I wish I could fly .
No sooner had Buzz gone that Gypsy came to visit him.
Googly (Rolling his eyes) Now what?
Gypsy: smiling: I am going on a vacation catch you later. (he winks and flies away)
Googly is so sad that he stars to eat on a leaf loudly. Chomp chomp he goes. He
eats and eats and it doesn‟t seem that he wants to stop. Some time later, Googly
begins to feel sleepy.
Googly : (yawns) I am tired! I think I will sleep right here. He sleeps and sleeps and
sleeps for days and nights. Then one fine fresh morning Googly opens his eyes to
say good morning to the sun. He stretches and lo! and behold! He has changed into
a lovely colourful butterfly with wings!
Googly : yippee ! Hurrah! Shouts googly I can fly now. He flutters his wings and
flies into the horizon.

Age group 3 to 5
Physical movements and objects make the language come alive for children. The
teacher can ask the children to bring something to class and keep it in their
pockets. The children can choose the following dialogue and go through it with as
many others as possible.

A: What have you got in your hand ?

B: Why don‟t you guess?
A: Is it a candy
B: No, it‟s a _______.

There is a lot more involved than language alone in these exchanges. There are
also endless ways in which this dialogue can be developed.

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Objectives:

• Improves Speaking
• Improves Learning
• Improves Observation
• Use Appropriate Emotions
• Its Fun
• Improves Imagination Creativity
• Gives freedom of choice to the students
• Improves Memory
• Helps to focus
• It‟s the ultimate communicative activity
• Group work improves
• Conversation improves

Importance of Dialogues and Role-play:

• Learn to ask and answer.

• Learn to use short complete chunks of language and to respond
appropriately.
• Learn to use right tone, stress, intonation, facial expression etc.
• Gives an opportunity to use natural language.

• Free activities
• Free activities focus attention on the message/content.
• Communication is genuine though the situation is hypothetical.
• Helps to evaluate the students‟ fluency level.
• Teacher control is minimal during the activity.
• The atmosphere is informal and non-competitive
• There is fun and game element in the activity.

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The range of free activities is endless and goes from playing card games to giving
mini-talks. For young children it is based on the information gap principle.

Examples: Age group 6 to 12 years

• Take a picture from their textbook and tell half the class to color half of the
picture and the other half of the class to color the other half of the picture.
Once it is completed the children get into pairs and ask each other
questions regarding the half of the picture they have not colored from their
partners and complete the picture. They do not show each other their
colored half till the activity is over. Then they compare pictures and see
how close they are.
• Strips of a story are distributed among the children. They come and enact
their parts. They decide the beginning and the end of the story.
• Another story telling exercise which needs more imagination and is suitable
for ten to twelve year olds where everyone in the group has two objects or
pictures which has to be woven into a story. The teacher starts the story
and the children add their sentences based on the objects or pictures with
them and continue the story.
• A set of picture cards can be distributed to the students. They have to find
the matching pair without showing their card. They have to describe their
picture in order to find the identical pair. This activity is useful for
prepositions, colors, actions and all sorts of object vocabulary.

Teaching Reading to the Young Learners

When teaching reading to young learners, who start learning a language, listening
and the printed words become the main source. The teacher plays a key role here
and the various approaches she makes are –

1. Phonics – They stress on the letter and sound of the alphabets. Phonics help in
teaching words as they are actually pronounced.

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2. Word recognition using flash cards, repeating everyday words that are familiar
to the students. Students may repeat the familiar words after teacher. Word
recognition games like – matching words and pictures, pointing to objects.
Guessing the word can be done at this stage. It actually works as a pre reading
exercise.
3 Whole Sentence Reading may be done with the yl as they get familiar with
words and phrases. The words are not presented in isolation, but as whole phrases
or sentences. Reading for meaning should be encouraged from the beginning.
4. Language Experience Approach - This approach is based on child‟s spoken
language. The teacher writes down a sentence for the child to read. It is based on
what the child has said. This is a good, pupil-centered approach to reading. It is
favorable to adopt an approach that concentrates on meaning from the beginning.
Five to seven year olds take more time in reading than older children Young
learners 2 (8-10yr olds). Picture books with or without text are invaluable at this
stage. Children who have not learnt to read in the mother tongue will progress
slowly. Since the child does not understand most of the words, illustrations in a
book are more meaningful than the words.
Eight to ten year olds have it easy to pick up the reading. So it is easy to teach
them the mechanics of reading and more time can be spent on the content.
Reading aloud is a skill useful in the classroom. It makes a beginner give full
attention to reading. Teacher may use it to train students on pronunciation and
expression. Loud reading can be a treat to the class provided the reader is well
prepared with the text and can use voice modulation as necessary.

Silent Reading
Silent reading is a technique used by most. It remains with the reader throughout
his life. It encourages a positive attitude towards books and encourages reading. It
encourages the children to read books for understanding and pleasure .It is the age
group 9 -12 years who reap the benefits of silent reading.

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Confidence Building
Natural readers require no encouragement but the teacher needs to spend some
time building up confidence with the rest about silent reading. Teacher can give
them a story that they have heard before. Give them a little while to read. Then
talk about the story, clear up any difficulties. The teacher can give the students
half of an interesting story and then discuss what happens next. There will be
different endings and then the teacher can give them the rest of the story to see
whether they were right. This encourages anticipation.

Reading Stories with Flash Cards which tell a story and can be read quickly is very
useful. They can be placed in a box or a book pocket. A one-page story gives a
sense of achievement. There may be questions about the story behind the cards.

New method „D.E.A.R'

A new method to teach children how to read is „D.E.A.R‟ method. It is „Drop
everything and Read‟. It is a time set aside when both students and teacher leave
everything and reads a pre-selected book. It is an important part of daily or weekly
schedule and has to be done with priority and students look forward to it as a
special period. It is a graded activity and its purpose is to make students excited
about reading. Students can be encouraged to speak about the books they have
read, recommend the books and post it on a bulletin board. Time set for D.E.A.R.
needs to be a quality time and need not be very long. Ten minutes a day for
younger ones and 20 minutes for primary students is ample. The goal of D.E.A.R
is to encourage students to read independently.

To motivate the students‟ to read, the teachers can use the following measures

• Build a library in the classroom with variety of books written at various

levels.
• Create comfortable reading areas with comfort seating and good lighting.
Make display areas for books and covers. Create a system where students

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 can share their comments about various books. For younger students stuffed
toys of related characters can be put up to add fun to learning.
• Read excerpts from various books aloud to class; show students the book
from which you are reading, and let them know that the book is available in
the class library.
• Students need to be exposed to a variety of genre of books. By presenting.
Nonfiction titles including biographies, autobiographies, historical works,
and scientific works as well as a range of fiction including adventure,
fantasy, mystery, science fiction, historical fiction, and general selections
interest may be aroused in them. They may be presented with poetry and
humor. Help students understand that books, like ice cream, come in a
variety of flavors. . . . There's something for everyone!
• Students need to be taught to search books in a library using Authors name,
catalog or database.
• Teachers may call for parental involvement in buying the books to a child,
donating books to the library, encourage students to discuss the books read
and set examples as readers.
• Set aside regular times in the class schedule for reading.
• Make sure every child has a book to read. A child should have the freedom
to choose a book of his liking. A child should have the liberty to choose a
book whether it be easy or hard for him. He should be free to choose
another book, if he likes to.
• It is important for teachers to remember that D.E.A.R time is a time of fun.
Teachers should always read to their students.

Teaching Writing to the Young Learners

Writing uses certain characteristics that make it difficult for children. It does not
use the nonverbal languages to convey meaning. Most part of the writing is
targeted towards future use, with few immediate benefits. Writing a foreign
language involves a lot of corrections and grammar, which is often not very

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interesting for a child. So the emphasis should be on content writing than error
correction.
Writing is an important aspect of language learning as it helps the students to
express themselves, as well as learn the skills and allow for conscious development
of the language. It renders a lot of confidence to the writer, so criticism should be
done with care. Writing is a rewarding and the most visible of all skills.

Pre writing refers to the range of activities in which the writer engages before
setting fingers on the pen or paper or keyboard. Prewriting is the process of
generating and recording ideas. The main distinction between this stage
and planning is that it is the creative phase rather than the more critical phase of
planning. In planning, the writer considers and rejects ideas.

Pre Writing Tasks

It is essential that preschool children develop essential, foundational fine motor
skills for pre-writing activities .These skills will include hand strength, directional
movement patterns, and effective hand position, which will then facilitate making
lines, letters, and shapes. Since all development comes in predictable stages, a
child must have the prerequisite fine motor skills necessary to use his wrist and
hands properly and effectively.
Ideas for Fine Motor Skill Development and Pre-Writing Activities for Preschool
Children

1. When coloring with crayons, try having the children color while lying on their
bellies, or have them stand while coloring a piece of paper taped on the wall, a
wall easel, or a floor easel . Both positions help promote grasp and a proper
position of the wrist. The first position, on their bellies, also helps strengthen their
arms.
2. When coloring, try giving the children finger crayons, broken or short pieces of
crayons. This will help promote a proper grasp.

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3. When coloring, encourage scribbling first, imitation of vertical strokes second,
horizontal strokes next, then circular motions, and finally, copying a circle. This is
the proper developmental sequence of pre-writing skills.
4. Pre-writing activities for preschool children should include using different
things, such as finger paints , instead of crayons when working on imitating
strokes. Use sponges, various sized paintbrushes.
5. Partially fill large Zip-Lock baggies with colored hair gel or colored shampoo.
Seal the bags and show the children how to make lines with their fingers. Have
them imitate your strokes, as mentioned above. As they draw with their fingers,
the material in the baggies will be displaced so they can see their strokes. You
could also do this on plates or trays using dry ingredients such as powder, dry
pudding mix, or sand. Have them draw in these things. It is also great for kids.
6. Give the children paint brushes and have them paint using water on the
pavement, walls, or chalkboard.
7. When using play-dough, show the children how to make lines up, down and
across, using a plastic pizza cutter.

Activities
In a classroom situation, prewriting starts when a writing assignment is presented
in the classroom, taking notes on the teacher's comments or reading the text of
the assignment. Journal keeping is a useful bridge between reading and other
classroom activities and writing .A journal may be used as a storehouse of ideas for
further development in more formal writing assignments. Teaching prewriting
practices in the classroom will give each student writer a repertoire of techniques
for getting started on writing. It is important to think about prewriting activities
that don't use words as well. Drawing, listening to music, and working with simple
models can aid students in generating ideas for a writing process.
In prewriting, ideas are simply generated, but they are not judged for their value.
The two most important aspects of all of the prewriting activities described here
are: (1) the student must actively compose something, and (2) the ideas generated
should not be critiqued at this stage.

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Prewriting activities such as brainstorming, free-writing and asking questions are
good ways to start the process of writing. It is important to remember that at this
stage in the writing process, anything goes--main ideas, details, feelings, whatever
comes to mind.

Some more Ideas

1.Controlled writing activities are actually guided activities with the beginners.
In general controlled activities are done to practice language while allowing for
self -expression even at a lower level.
a. Straight copying is the starting point for writing and gives the teacher the
opportunity to reinforce language that has been presented orally or through
reading. Teachers may ask pupils to read aloud quietly to themselves when they
are copying the words because this helps them to see the connection between the
written and spoken word.
b. Matching Pupils can match pictures and text or choose which sentence they
want to write about the text.

Example:
Write one sentence
• He likes singing.
• He is a good singer.
• He is singing a tune at the piano.

c. Organizing and copying Copying can also be a good introduction to structured

writing.
For example:

Complete Mike‟s note

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We went to a ------------.We saw buildings which had ------------ paintings and -------
-------. We enjoyed the painting. We looked for ------------------. We found -----------
------ and loved to see it.

d. Delayed copying
This activity is used for training short term visual memory. The teacher writes a
short, familiar sentence on the board and gives the students a few seconds to look
at it and then erases it. The pupils then have to write it down.

e. Dictation
The teacher provides the actual language as well as the context. However the
language should be elementary and simple. For young Learners, dictations should
be short, made up of small sentences. They should be connected to previous work
or work that is to come. They should be read or said at normal speed.

2. Guided written activities

a. Fill-in exercises
These exercises are useful for beginners as they require only understanding. Fill-in
exercises can be used for vocabulary.

For example: if the students are familiar with the context of pets then the
exercise will have meaning for them even if there is no picture.

My Pet
I have a ……………………….. for a pet. The ……………‟s name is Ben. He is a colored

Boxer. He is beautiful. He has long ……………………………., big ……………………………….

and a ……………………………… tongue. He is a very …………………… dog. He looks

harmless but ……………………. my house at night.

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b. Dictation The teacher might dictate only half a sentence and ask pupils to
complete it in their own. The students can complete each sentence before the
teacher reads the beginning of the next, which encourages quick writing.

• Letters and invitations Letter writing is a popular language activity and a

useful way of getting pupils to write short meaningful sentences.

For example:
Dear ………………………,
I hope you are free on ………………. We are going to the …………………………… Would
you -------------------------------- with ……………………. ?

Love
……………………………………..
These letters can be actually sent to other classmates who will personalize the
activity.

• Free Writing activities are students own activities, where the teacher is the
initiator and helper. Teachers should guide with ideas and words and correct
the matter while it is still being done. The aim is to produce work as correct as
possible. Older learners should be encouraged to rewrite their work. The
teacher should allow the work to be kept in a folder to review the progress.
Free writing activities cover poems, book reviews, advertisements, jokes, post
cards, messages etc

Pre Writing - Talk about the topic

A simple conversation about the subject can float ideas and help to collect
thoughts. Answers to simple questions can be another way to do it and these
answers can be written on the board.

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Word webs Put the key word on the board. Ask the class in groups, to write down
all the words they can think have connected with that topic. When all the groups
have made their word webs, the teacher can write one on the blackboard. This
gives the class further ideas about what to write.

Vocabulary Charts The teacher can use a photograph, story, song, or a shared
experience to make vocabulary collections. The aim is to give the pupils as many
words and ideas as possible before they start writing.

Descriptions -Teacher can talk about a picture or a scene, ask leading questions to
make the matter imaginative.
Collages can help give students ideas as well as enhance the vocabulary. The
teacher may collect lot of words associated with the topic and students may be
asked to write short texts on the given topic. They may add pictures, cut outs that
relate with the topic.

A teacher needs to remember –

1. Prewriting work is essential.
2. Always give positive remarks and feedback.
3. Encourage but don‟t force rewriting.
4. Display pupil‟s work as much as possible.
5. Maintain record of all written work.
6. Students should concentrate on content

Avoid:

1. Surprising the students by announcing the topic without preparation.

2. Setting homework without preparation.
3. Correcting all the errors on the sheet.
4. Setting work beyond the capability of the learner.

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