Methods of Teaching English to Young Learners

PRACA DYPLOMOWA LICENCJACKA

Methods of Teaching English to Young Learners

Karolina Witek Nr albumu: 035099 Kierunek: Filologia angielska Specjalność: nauczycielska

PROMOTOR: Dr Barbara Loranc-Paszylk

Bielsko-Biała, 2011

Table of contents Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. 2 Chapter I Theoretical introduction into the terms and methods ................................................................... 4 1 Describing Young Learners .................................................................................................................. 4 1.1 General features of YL ........................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Individual differences ............................................................................................................................ 6 1.2.1 Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) ...................................................................................... 6 1.2.2 Multiple Intelligences theory (MI theory) ................................................................................ 7 1.3 Motivation .............................................................................................................................................. 8 1.3.1 Motivation in general ............................................................................................................... 8 1.3.2 YL motivation ........................................................................................................................ 10 2. Methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 11 2.1 What is methodology and why is it useful? .......................................................................................... 11 2.1.1 Approach ................................................................................................................................ 11 2.1.2 Method ................................................................................................................................... 11 2.1.3 Procedure ............................................................................................................................... 12 2.1.4 Technique ............................................................................................................................... 12 2.2 Methods of teaching English to YL ...................................................................................................... 13 2.2.1 Audio-lingualism.................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.2 Total Physical Response (TPR) .............................................................................................. 14 2.2.3 The Natural Approach ............................................................................................................ 15 2.2.4 Songs ...................................................................................................................................... 16 2.2.5 Chants .................................................................................................................................... 17 2.2.6 Puppets ................................................................................................................................... 18 2.2.7 Flashcards .............................................................................................................................. 18 2.2.8 Games .................................................................................................................................... 19 3 Syllabus design ...................................................................................................................................20 3.1 Syllabus criteria .................................................................................................................................... 20 3.2 Types of lesson syllabus ....................................................................................................................... 21 4 Conclusions .........................................................................................................................................23 Chapter II Empirical Research ....................................................................................................................24 2.1 The purpose of the research .............................................................................................................24 2.2 Procedures and methods ...................................................................................................................24 2.3 Data collection .................................................................................................................................26 2.4 Discussing the data ...........................................................................................................................26 2.4.1 QUESTIONNAIRE ........................................................................................................................... 26 2.4.1.1 Quantitative analysis ........................................................................................................... 26 2.4.1.1.1. The most commonly used methods ...................................................................... 27 2.4.1.1.2. Effectiveness of the methods used ........................................................................ 28 2.4.1.1.3 Parents' opinions .................................................................................................... 30 2.4.1.1.4. Teachers assessing their students' progress ........................................................... 30 2.4.1.2. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 31 2.4.2 SYLLABUS ...................................................................................................................................... 31 2.4.2.1 General information about the syllabus .......................................................................................... 32 2.4.2.2. Comparison of the syllabus charts ................................................................................................. 32 2.4.2.1. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 34 2.4.3 OBSERVATIONS .............................................................................................................................. 35 2.4.3.1 Observation charts – quantitative analysis .......................................................................... 35 2.4.3.1.1. Types of interaction occurring on the lessons ....................................................... 36 2.4.3.1.2. Acivities ................................................................................................................ 36 2.4.3.1.3. Level o students' satisfaction with the methods used based on the observation charts .................................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter III - Conclusions ............................................................................................................................38 Summary in English ................................................................................................................................... 41 Summary in Polish ..................................................................................................................................... 42 Bibliography ...............................................................................................................................................43 Appendix ....................................................................................................................................................46

Introduction The topic of this thesis concerns the methods used in teaching English to young learners, specifically young learners in kindergartens. What makes the topic worth considering is the fact that there is not an official syllabus for children leaning English in kindergartens in Poland for learning English in kindergartens in not compulsory yet. However, it might be in the future. That is why it is worth checking what has already been done in this field and what may be needed to be done in the future. All the useful terms will be explained and described in the first chapter which serves as the introduction to the empirical part of the thesis. In the chapter Young Learners (YL) will be described in detail along with all their features and motivation. The methods and techniques which are commonly used in teaching English to YL such as the Total Physical Response, The Natural Approach and PPP will be described next. The most common techniques used in teaching English in kindergarten such as songs, chants, puppets, flashcards and games will be described in greater detail. The chapter will end with the subchapter “Syllabus design” where the term syllabus along with the types of lesson syllabus and the criteria of creating one will be described. “Conclusions” chapter is going to close the whole theoretical part leading to the second part of the thesis. The empirical part of the thesis is based on a descriptive research and focuses on the effectiveness of the methods used in teaching English in kindergartens, the effectiveness of the existing syllabus and the engagement of the teachers in providing English lessons to their students. All of the focal points are put in a form of research questions which will be answered further on in the empirical part. The chapter describes and analyzes the research tools as follows: the questionnaire, the syllabus charts and the observation charts. The third chapter serves as the final conclusion of the thesis. It contains all the conclusions that were made in the empirical part, all grouped in form of answers to the research questions asked in the beginning of chapter two.

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Chapter I Theoretical introduction into the terms and methods This chapter is the theoretical part of the thesis. It discusses the terms that are going to be used in the thesis along with the description of methods and some psychological terms that refer to Young Learners – the main subject of the thesis. The theory included here will most probably be helpful in the research that is to be demonstrated.

1 Describing Young Learners The term „young learner‟ in this thesis relates to children under the age of 7 learning English as their second language in kindergarten and can be replaced with an acronym YL.1

1.1 General features of YL Learner's age is an important factor in establishing suitable methods of teaching for each age group has its individual features and characteristics. In this subchapter we are going to describe general features of YL – definition as described above . Children come to the classroom with well-established set of instincts and skills which should not be disregarded (Halliwell 1992:3). According to Halliwell (1992:3-8) and Brown (2007) young children, especially those under the age of 10, learn in the following ways:  They understand the overall meaning of information they receive even if they do not understand individual words. That is the ability they use also in learning their mother tongue.  They learn with all their senses at once. The best way to know and understand something is by touching, smelling and exploring it. They learn from what they can see and hear and, above everything else, by having a chance to touch it and interact with it.  They establish the meaning of the messages conveyed to them mostly from the 1

Retrieved from http://www.europa-pages.com/uk/ELT-Acronyms.html on 15.06.2011

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gestures, intonation and facial expression of the person speaking to them.  They have a limited attention span. Performing activities lasting longer than 10 minutes bores them that is why the lesson must be engaging and full of different tasks and activities.  They are generally enthusiastic about learning and exploring the world around them.  They have a need to be noticed and treated as individual and also to be praised.  They are creative in using their limited language resources. Halliwell (1992:4) sets here an example of a four-year-old boy saying “Switch off the dark” which is an example of children's creativity in using the forms they already know to communicate. It is the urge of communication that makes them invent new words for their personal use.  They learn indirectly most of the time i.e. they are not concentrating on learning a phrase, they just want to guess the right one. They are not concentrating on the language but still they remember the phrases.  They love to have fun and their imagination is ready for every game and activity for they love imagining things and fantasizing. They also love playing with language sounds, imitating, and making funny noises.  They like talking and sharing their ideas with others. The teachers goal is to encourage them to do it in English.  They are very good imitators. Echoing is an important strategy used by children when learning a foreign language.

It is impossible to describe every single feature of every child because they are all individuals. Listed above are the relevant for language teaching characteristics of an average child. These generalizations are common for the majority of children under the age of 10 and they are crucial in choosing the most effective teaching methods, forming a perfect classroom interior and atmosphere, creating suitable teaching aids and establishing the best way of interaction with young learners.

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To sum up, YL are eager to learn about the world that surrounds them and they easily adopt foreign languages by imitation, echoing and repetition. As it was mentioned before they have a short attention span but, on the other hand, they fully engage in the games and exercises in the classroom.

1.2 Individual differences It is important to remember that every age group, even though they are different in many ways, has one fundamental linking „feature‟, they all are sets of people and people are all individuals. That means they all think a little differently, they perceive the world in many different ways and they have different techniques of learning as well as different aptitudes. Some people are better at learning languages, others like mathematics and physics more. This indicates that every brain works differently and that people respond differently to different stimuli. There are many approaches describing the differences between learners, but this paper will focus specifically on young children so only the relevant approaches such as Neuro-linguistic programming and the MI theory will be presented.

1.2.1 Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) According to this approach “we use a number of „primary representational systems‟ to experience the world” (Harmer 2003:46) and they are all described in the acronym VAKOG which stands for: Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic, Olfactory (concerning the sense of smell), and Gustatory (concerning taste). It is said that we all use all these systems to experience the world but we tend to have one „preferred primary system‟ (Ravell and Norman 1997:31). The idea is that people whose preferred primary system is Visual react powerfully to images and those preferring Auditory react stronger to sounds. The approach shows that every child the teacher is dealing with has its individual needs and for example may not learn as good as others simply because the teacher used images and the child is a Kinaesthetic and needs another way of interaction 6

with the subject. What NLP shows the teachers is that they should provide their students with various materials. It suggests the teacher should establish a „healthy diet‟ of flashcards, listening materials, games and activities for all representational systems. 1.2.2 Multiple Intelligences theory (MI theory) MI theory is a concept introduced by a Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner (1993) who suggests that people do not possess a single intelligence but a number of intelligences. He listed seven: Musical/Rhythmic, Verbal/Linguistic, Visual/Spatial, Bodily/Kinaesthetic, Logical/Mathematical, Intrapersonal and Interpersonal. So for example a typical end state of a person with Bodily/Kinaesthetic intelligence would be of PE teacher or a sportsman, for a person with Logical/Mathematical intelligence the end state would probably be a scientist or IT specialist. For Musical/Rhythmic intelligence the end state might be a musician and so on. Gardner has added an eighth intelligence called the Naturalistic intelligence which is the ability to recognize and classify the patterns in nature and after that Daniel Goleman (1997) has added the ninth „Emotional intelligence‟ which includes the ability to empathize and to self-motivate. Again, just like with NLP, if the teacher accepts the MI theory it means he or she realizes that a task good for a student with Verbal/Linguistic intelligences will not be suitable for the one with Bodily/Kineasthetic ones. Gray (2006) from the University of Yale has presented a following table containing the most suitable activities according to the intelligences.

Intelligence Strength: Verbal-Linguistic Logical Mathematical Visual-Spatial Bodily-Kinesthetic Musical

Students May Enjoy: Writing, speaking, publishing, vocabulary, Word puzzles Math games, logic puzzles, experiments, codes, analogies, numbers, mysteries Maps, charts, diagrams, drawing, sculpture, graphic organizers, models, puppets, photographs Movement, dance, manipulatives, drama, building, role-playing, sports Musical instruments, listening, recording, rhythmic language, poetry, songs, clapping

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Interpersonal Intrapersonal Naturalistic

Board games, cooperative groups, collective problem solving, interviewing, peer tutoring, think-pair-share, discussions Journaling, scrapbooks, reflection, goalsetting, self-directed projects, debates, memoir Outdoor experiences, plants, pets, bugs, classifying natural objects, environmental topics

Table 1 Activities for different intelligencies - Gray (2006)2

According to these information the teacher might be able to work with the students in small kindergarten groups of 5 to 8 students more effectively than teachers at school. Furthermore, the MI theory just like the NLP reminds the teacher about the individuality of his or her students.

In conclusion, as we found out in this chapter, students are all individuals with different needs concerning the teaching-learning process. For example, the visual learners – learners with the Visual Intelligence - prefer drawings, model and photographs to listening or speaking activities. Furthermore, the chapter shows that it is difficult to provide a lesson which would be the most effective for all the students in the classroom.

1.3 Motivation It is generally known that motivation is a key to success. Majority of people admits that if they are not trying at all there is a big chance of failure. Motivation is also a key in the process of learning. If the student is not motivated to learn he will simply not learn. Since motivation plays an important role in education there is a need to define what it means and how to define it. (Brown 2007)

1.3.1 Motivation in general Generally, motivation is a force that drives people to do things in order to 2

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achieve something. Brown (2007:168-9) highlights three perspectives in which motivation can be seen. They are all referring to psychological philosophies. According to the behavioral perspective motivation is the anticipation of an award and performance in tasks along with the motivation to do it is often determined by the teacher, parents and peers.

The cognitive perspective The cognitive perspective is more about personal decision of an individual. People choose which things they are willing to do and how much effort they will put in performing them. Brown also points out that in cognitive perspective people are driven by basic human needs such as the need of exploration (probing the unknown), activity (physical and mental), knowledge, and ego enhancement (being accepted and approved by others).

The constructivist view The constructivist

view emphasizes the social context and the individual

personal choices even further. Motivation here is based on two elements - interactions with others and one‟s self-determination.

Here is the table produced by Brown (2007:170) concerning the three types of motivation.

Three ways of motivation: Behavioristic Anticipation of reward Desire to receive positive reinforcement External, individual forces in control

Cognitive

Constructivist

Driven by basic human needs

Social context

(exploration, manipulation,

Community

etc.)

Social status

Degree of effort expended

Security of group

Internal, individual forces in

Internal, interactive forces in

control

control

Table 2 Three views of motivation. Adapted from Brown (2007:170)

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There is one thing that is also very important if it comes to motivation apart from different views and definitions. Motivation can be divided into extrinsic and intrinsic. Intrinsic motivation comes from the inside of an individual. The person might be motivated because they enjoy the process of learning or because they want to feel better. Extrinsic motivation comes from the outside. The student may want to pass the exam very badly because otherwise he will not be admitted to a higher school or he does not want his parents to be disappointed. (Brown 2007:170) 1.3.2 YL motivation Children are less complicated than adolescents or adults if it comes to motivation since they are on the beginning of the course of education and they do not yet have tests or exams. In fact they are not aware of the process of learning at all. They are taught by games, songs, playing with puppets and guessing what is there on the flashcards they can see. At the very start their motivation is based mostly on the cognitive perspective and specifically exploration. They are young adventurers who are hungry for knowledge. As they familiarize with the rules of social interactions their motivation is also ego enhancement which means they learn because they want to be accepted and approved by others and not only by peers but also by the teacher. The motivation is intrinsic – they are motivated by the desire to have fun and feel good. The most important conclusion for the teacher is to take the opportunity and teach those children as much as possible while they are motivated and ready for it.

To sum up, motivation in general is a force that drives people to do things in order to achieve something. It can be seen in the cognitive perspective which is about the individual‟s personal decision on how much time and effort is going to be used in performing something and in the constructivist view which is based on interaction with others. Furthermore, motivation is divided into intrinsic – coming from the inside of the individual, and extrinsic that comes from the outside. Children‟s motivation is intrinsic – they want to have fun and feel good, and based on exploration and enhancement.

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2. Methodology There are a few things a teacher needs to know to teach people. One of the basic ones is the methodology, meaning the methods that he or she can use to effectively teach a subject, in this case English. Before the actual list and description of the most popular methods of teaching English to children it will be said what „methodology‟ actually means and why is it useful.

2.1 What is methodology and why is it useful? Methodology is the study and the description of methods of teaching. It is a general area within which 4 terms can be specified. These are approach, method, procedure and technique. (Harmer 2003:78) 2.1.1 Approach An approach describes:  how language is used  the dependence between language constituents  how people acquire their language skills  the conditions promoting language learning. An approach is mainly about the theories of language and language learning. 2.1.2 Method “A method is the practical realization of an approach” (Harmer 2003:78). Presents the ideas about:  Types of activities  Roles of teachers and learners  Kinds of materials that will be useful  Models of syllabus organization Methods include procedures and techniques. They are easy to describe when the procedures are fixed and the approach clear.

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2.1.3 Procedure A procedure in an ordered sequence of techniques. It is “the last level of conceptualization and organization within a method” (Richards and Rogers 2001:31) Smaller than a method but bigger than a technique, a procedure is a sequence that can be described in the following way: first you do this, than you do that… It is a list of successive steps of an activity. What is more, a procedure centers on checking how a method deals with presentation, practice and feedback. Below there are three dimensions of a method at a level of procedure:  “The use of teaching activities to present new language and to clarify and demonstrate formal, communicative, or other aspects of the target language,  The ways in which particular teaching activities are used for practicing language,  The procedures and techniques used in giving feedback to learners concerning the form or content of their utterances and sentences” (Richards and Rogers 2001:31)

2.1.4 Technique A technique is smaller than a procedure and usually represents one activity. Like for example silent viewing where the teacher plays a video with no sound and the students watch. It is more like a single activity rather than a bigger set. (Harmer 2003:78-79)

Apart from approach, method, procedure and technique there is also a term „model‟ used for describing typical procedures or sets of procedures usually for teachers in training.

What is useful about methodology is that it describes many different methods to be used during the course of English teaching. It is expedient for the teachers to acquaint themselves with them as each of the methods is suitable for different types of learners. It is also of vital importance that the teacher would feel comfortable using the 12

method chosen so the students could benefit from it as much as possible. What is also important is to check if the chosen method conveys all the information and the knowledge required to the students so it would not be pointless.

2.2 Methods of teaching English to YL The most popular methods on which teaching English to YL is based are the methods listed, for example, by Larsen-Freeman (2000) – the Audio-lingualism; Presentation-Practice-Production (PPP) and it‟s alternatives; Communicative approach; Task-based learning; The Four methods: Community Language Learning, The Silent Way, Suggestopaedia, Total Physical Response (TPR); Humanistic teaching and the Lexical approach. However, not all of them are fully used in teaching English to YL.

Fixed methods like those listed above are usually used at schools where children are older and have mastered their mother tongue in speaking and in writing and are capable of understanding what grammar is. Young learners in kindergarten are still developing their mother tongue skills and are not able to capture the essence of grammar and so it would be difficult to use Humanistic teaching where they are supposed to create sentences concerning their lives in different tenses. The same with Communicative approach. Young children are still learning how to use their mother tongue correctly so they are not able to communicate in English in any way. (Brown 2007)

Teachers in kindergarten are deriving their techniques from already existing methods such as Audio-lingualism, Total Physical Response (TPR), The Natural Approach or PPP which will be discussed along with the used techniques and models in this chapter.

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2.2.1 Audio-lingualism Audio-lingualism is based on the behaviorist theory about stimulus – response – reinforcement in other words about learning new behaviors. In Audio-lingualism it equals engendering good habits in language learning. This form of teaching includes mainly drills. The drill is designed to teach a certain form for example a correct sentence in Present Simple. Small changes are being performed on the drill so that the students would constantly learn but also to prevent them from making mistakes. For example: Teacher: There‟s a cup on the table… repeat. Students: There‟s a cup on the table. Teacher: spoon Students: There‟s a spoon on the table. Teacher: Book Students: There‟s a book on the table. Teacher: on the chair Students: There‟s a book on the chair. Etc. (Harmer 2003:79-80)

The methods has many drawbacks for example it does not allow the student to experiment with the language. On the other hand, it is perfect for YL for it shows exactly how a proper English sentence should look like and it can be very useful in establishing some fixed sentences and phrases in the student‟s dictionary.

2.2.2 Total Physical Response (TPR) The TPR originator James Asher (2000) based his theory on the fact that children learn a foreign language from speech directed to them. TPR is basically learning from oral instructions given to the students by the teacher. The basic idea is that students are not being made to speak, their main task is to listen to the teachers instructions in the foreign language and respond to them and only if they feel ready they 14

can start speaking in that language. The examples of such instructions are (LarsenFreeman 2000:111): “Bring me chalk from the box that lies on the desk”, “Go fast towards the door and hit it”, “Come to the blackboard and draw an apple” etc. The teacher speaks to the students using commands till everyone respond correctly and then one of the students can start giving instructions to his fellow students. This type of teaching is appropriate mainly for the beginners. The concept of only listening to the language originated from Asher‟s observation of babies. Before it speaks, a baby is listening to the people around it for a long time. The parents do not usually urge the baby to speak so it chooses his or her own moment when it is ready. The same way of interaction is supposed to occur during teaching English to children using the Total Physical Response. (Larsen- Freeman 2000:109) TPR is a key method to apply when teaching children for it respects the „silent period‟ and does not require any previous language knowledge from children. (Harmer 2003:90)

2.2.3 The Natural Approach The Natural Approach is a method that methodologists advice to use at the first stages of teaching to introduce the Total Physical Response. The method concentrates on using the foreign language on the lessons nearly all the time and helping the students understand it by showing them pictures and being as expressive as possible. Listening comprehension is a crucial goal in both TPR and Natural Approach. In fact, it is so important that the teacher does not correct any oral errors made by the students and allows them to use their mother tongue along with the foreign language to communicate on the lesson. (Larsen- Freeman 2000:110)

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2.2.4 Songs Songs are a powerful and almost inexhaustible source of English vocabulary. They are a basic teacher‟s help in teaching in kindergarten based on the Audio-lingual method. Songs are drills but sung. The form of the drill is incorporated into the song and therefore more interesting for children. Songs are even better than typical drills for they are easily remembered and stay in children‟s minds for long (Cant and Superfine 1997). There are songs for practically every topic covered during the English course in kindergarten. The best example would be Super Simple Songs which is basically a set of songs grouped by themes which create a ready curriculum. Below are the lyrics of one of the songs:

One little pumpkin smiling, smiling. (Hold up one finger and then make a smiley face!) One little pumpkin smiling, smiling. One little pumpkin smiling, smiling. One little pumpkin is happy. (Smile and put your fingers on your cheeks.)

Two little pumpkins pouting, pouting. (Hold up two fingers and then frown and look down.) Two little pumpkins pouting, pouting. Two little pumpkins pouting, pouting. Two little pumpkins are grumpy. (Cross your arms and frown.)

Three little pumpkins yawning, yawning. (Hold up three fingers and then cover your mouth with your hand as you yawn.) Three little pumpkins yawning, yawning. Three little pumpkins yawning, yawning. Three little pumpkins are sleepy. (Stretch and yawn like you are falling asleep.)

Four little pumpkins crying, crying. (Hold up four fingers and pretend to wipe a tear from your eye.) Four little pumpkins crying, crying. Four little pumpkins crying, crying. Four little pumpkins are sad. (Wipe tears from both eyes with both hands.)

Five little pumpkins laughing, laughing. (Hold up five fingers and then hold your tummy as you pretend to laugh.) Five little pumpkins laughing, laughing.

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Five little pumpkins laughing, laughing. Five little pumpkins are playing. (Run around the room!) 3

Usually each song has a choreography for the children to understand the lyrics better and to have more fun singing. Songs, as a technique of teaching, are a very effective way of teaching kids. They teach pronunciation, vocabulary and phrases.

2.2.5 Chants Just like songs chants are another sort of drills. The text of a chant is rhythmical and often rhymed. Chants also can be divided into themes and they sometimes have a simple choreography. The main difference between songs and chants is that chants focus mainly on pronunciation or just „making‟ English sounds. Here is an example of one:

Hickory dickory dock A mouse runs up the clock The clock says one The mouse runs down Hickory dickory dock

(Cant and Superfine 1997)

This chant is a traditional chant and it was chosen because it shows how chants can be used to teach children. For example, the one above could be used to present what „up‟ and ‟down‟ means and by saying it children will practice some English sounds, for example „r‟. The fact that chants are rhymed makes them almost as easy to learn as songs. By remembering chants the students are able to memorize the lexical items better.

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Retrieved from www.simplesongs.com on 5.05.2011

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2.2.6 Puppets As it was mentioned before young children have a short attention span (Harmer 2003) so every inventive technique of teaching is welcomed. Puppets are one of such techniques. They are used in stories, songs, chants, roleplay and pairwork.

It is true that what teachers say to the children with the help of puppets and how they interact or lead short dialogues could be easily done without using any extra help but this form of leading a dialogue is more interesting and more engaging for children than if they were just talking to the teacher. It triggers their imagination and because of the slight sense of unreality they feel more comfortable to interact with the puppet using English language. (Reilly and Ward 2003). They are also listening more intently to understand what is going on in the classroom. The fact that the puppet is out of the ordinary in the classroom makes the children interested and eager to speak English with it. To teach with the help of puppets, the teacher does not necessarily have to have them made; the other way of teaching with the use of puppets is to make them with the students and teach them such expressions as “draw”, “cut”, “stick” etc. (Cant and Superfine 1997:49)

2.2.7 Flashcards Flashcard‟s main goal is introducing vocabulary. Working with young learners a teacher must own a huge amount of colorful flashcards concerning all the themes covered in the syllabus. They can be used to introduce vocabulary from the songs before children sing them and in various exercises such as guessing the name of the thing on the flashcard, describing the color of the thing, as a memo game etc. Flashcards are a useful tool also because they are easy to make and relatively cheap. Teachers can make their own flashcards or simply buy them. They are so useful because with their use the teacher can show nearly every piece of vocabulary that is taught to YL. (Cant and Superfine 1997:38) 18

Working with children requires creativity and energy. Apart from the methods and techniques listed above children love any type of active tasks containing jumping, clapping, shouting, running, walking and dancing. (Brown 2007:65-68)

2.2.8 Games Games are by far the most joyful of all the techniques already listed. That fact makes them also very effective since the students forget that they are learning because they are totally focusing on having fun and winning the game. In other words, games provide positive classroom atmosphere and an effective learning environment (Cant and Superfine 1997:9). What is also important, is that games are a useful tool on many stages of the lesson. They can be used as:  A warm-up at the beginning of the lesson  An introduction of a topic  A review of lexical items  A kind of a drill making the students to repeat and learn lexical and grammatical items  A cool-off in the end of the lesson

Here is a list some important criteria that a proper game used in teaching English should meet:  The games should have linguistic relevance.  They should have an aim and a purpose.  All the children should be able to participate.  The games should be easy and quick to set up and carry out.  They should be fun for the children. (Cant and Superfine 1997:9)

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3 Syllabus design In this subchapter the syllabus design will be described. Since in the empirical part of the thesis the syllabus is going to be analyzed, it is important to present some details on how it is actually created. When creating a syllabus one must take into consideration a number of criteria. However, before they are going to be described the term “syllabus” must be explained. Syllabus is a list of items that need to be learned put in an appropriate sequence. There are many different types of language syllabus and they all can be a base for a new course book. (Harmer 2003:295)

3.1 Syllabus criteria There are four main syllabus creating criteria. The syllabus designer must take them all into consideration as they will help not only to assess whether the particular item should be placed in the syllabus but also where exactly it should be to make the syllabus a useful tool in teaching. The criteria are as follows:  Learnability – some lexical or grammatical items are easier to learn than others. Thus the designer puts them on the beginning of the syllabus and then gradually increases the difficulty level.  Frequency – this criteria allows the designer to decide which lexical and grammatical items are used most frequently and thus which of them should be taught first.  Coverage – by this criteria the designer may decide to teach some grammatical items before others because they are more useful, for example, the designer might want to teach the students the going to future form before present continuous in the future reference if he thinks it could be used more often.  Usefulness – this criteria refers to the lexical items that are most frequently used in a given situation; in other words, such lexical items as pencil or table are used very often because they are useful in classroom situations. They are the easiest 20

to talk about at the beginning. (Harmer 2003:296)

3.2 Types of lesson syllabus As it was mentioned before, there is a number of different types of lesson syllabus. Below there is a list of the most common ones: 1. The grammar syllabus – the commonest type of syllabus, introduces the grammar structures gradually leading to the understanding of the grammar system. 2. The lexical syllabus – since idioms, phrasal verbs and many other different collocations exist it is difficult to create a lexical syllabus that would not be connected to the grammar one. There are also many possible ways of organizing a lexical syllabus and one of the most successful ones is dividing the words by topics (e.g. family life, religion, music). 3. The functional syllabus – this kind of syllabus divides the language into functions such as for example requesting or offering and builds the vocabulary and grammar around them. 4. The situational syllabus – very similar to the functional syllabus but instead of functions it consists of situations: at the bank, at the supermarket etc. 5. The topic-based syllabus – a syllabus based on a list of topics such as sport, living, law and justice etc. The lessons are focusing around that topic which allows the students to stay interested with the topic and to learn the vocabulary quicker and easier. 6. The task-based syllabus – a syllabus based on a list of tasks. Each topic is focusing around them. (Harmer 2003:296-299)

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It is easy to notice that the types of syllabus listed above used separately would be incomplete. That is why the multi-syllabus syllabus exists. It usually consists of two or more of the syllabuses listed above and the most common place to find it is in the course books.

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4 Conclusions The theoretical part of the thesis is divided into four chapters. The first focuses on the Young Learners (YL), the second is about methodology, the third describes the types of lesson syllabuses and the fourth contains the conclusions. In the first chapter the general features of YL and individual differences between learners were described. Then the Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the MI theory were presented. In the end, some useful information on YL motivation were shown. We have come to the following conclusions:

1. YL are eager to learn new things and are particularly capable of adopting languages. They love imitating others and are very creative during the process of language creating. 2. YL have limited attention span and every one of them learns differently due to the fact that according to the NLP and the MI theory different people learn better by different exercises i.e. they learn better from the exercises that meet their „primary representational system‟ and their Intelligence type. 3. YL are highly motivated to learn due to the fact that they are still learning about the world that surrounds them and everything is new and exciting for them.

The second chapter began with the definition of methodology and the list of methods useful in teaching English to YL. Then Audio-Lingualism and the TPR were described in greater detail, as they are the key methods in teaching YL. Furthermore, we have discussed the techniques used in teaching English in kindergarten and these are songs, chants, puppets, flashcards, games In the third chapter, the term syllabus was described along with the criteria for creating a syllabus and different types of lesson syllabus.

This theoretical part is the base on which the empirical part of the thesis is going to be built.

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Chapter II Empirical Research 2.1 The purpose of the research The purpose of the research that is going to be conducted is to prove that the methods currently used in teaching young learners are effective and engaging. Listed below are the questions the research will attempt to answer: 1. Are the methods used in teaching English to young learners in kindergarten effective? 2. Is the syllabus for kindergartens effective? Does it allow children to use all their cognitive skills? 3. Are the teachers really engaged in their work with young learners thus making the syllabus and the methods effective?

The research will try to assess the syllabus of teaching English to Young Learners in kindergarten in Bielsko-Biała, Poland; in two kindergartens – number 37 and 54. Specifically the effectiveness of the methods used. It will also attempt to check if the methods and the syllabus allow children to use all their cognitive skills i.e. the research is going to check if the syllabus is flexible enough to allow the children to use all their creativity, energy and will to learn and to acquire the language.

2.2 Procedures and methods In this chapter the participants and the setting of the research are going to be described.

For the purpose of the research I have been working with a teacher of English teaching young children in kindergarten. I have also been observing the lessons she carried out and the student's response for the methods she used. What is more, I was able to lead a few lessons myself.

24

The teacher as well as the students are Polish and the students are learning English as a second language. I have been observing the lessons since September 2010 and I am going to describe the setting for this particular case.

TEACHER

She has been teaching children for 10 years. She passed the TOEFL exam in the United States of America and she has also got the Helen Doron Early English Certificate. She has been teaching children in kindergarten for two years now. She created the syllabus for kids in kindergartens using her Helen Doron experience and the Super Simple Songs CD-s which are the base for every topic. CHILDREN – Young Learners

A group taking part in an English lesson consists of five to twelve children of the same age, therefore there are six groups in one kindergarten: two groups of four- , fiveand six-year old children. Each group has a slightly different syllabus due to their age. The interdependence will be described further in the text. As it results from the observation of the learners during the lessons, all children have the features described in the first chapter as general features of young learners.

LESSON

One lesson lasts 30 to 45 minutes maximum and the duration time depends on the age of the group; the older the group is – the longer the lesson can be. The lessons take place in one of the rooms in kindergarten, therefore the atmosphere of the place is pleasant and beneficial for the students. The teacher sits with the students in a circle and leads the lesson using different methods and materials.

25

2.3 Data collection As it was mentioned earlier, the main method used in the research was observation. Apart from this passive form I have also collected the following research instruments:  a questionnaire for the teachers  analysis of the syllabus  analysis of the observation charts

2.4 Discussing the data In this chapter the collected data will be described and the results of the research will be shown. Firstly, the teachers‟ questionnaire is going to be analyzed to see how the teachers assess the effectiveness of their teaching methods and the children‟s satisfaction. Than the syllabus will be discussed to check if it is sufficient for the learners. Finally, the observations are going to be described and there is also going to be a comments section below the chapter.

2.4.1 QUESTIONNAIRE The questionnaire was filled by 7 teachers of English. All of them teach English to YL in kindergartens or in schools of English in Bielsko-Biała, such as, for example, Helen Doron schools. It was meant to check how the teachers assess the effectiveness of the methods used in teaching English to young learners. Below the analysis and the results of the questionnaire can be found.

2.4.1.1 Quantitative analysis All of the teachers who were filling in the questionnaire teach young learners. The diagram below shows for how many years have the teachers been teaching children.

26

Figure 1How many years have the teachers been teaching children

As it can be noticed the majority of teachers – 57% - have comparatively small teaching experience and only 14% have been teaching children for more than 5 years. The reason for the lack of longer experience in teaching children might be the fact that teaching English in kindergartens is a relatively new business in Poland. However, even one year is sufficient to measure and notice progress of students and effectiveness of the methods used.

2.4.1.1.1. The most commonly used methods According to the questionnaire the usual lesson for young learners lasts 30-45 minutes maximum. As far as the materials are concerned, question number 4 asked to list the materials used in teaching English to young learners, the diagram below shows the answers:

27

Figure 2 Number of teachers using particular methods

The diagram shows that the most common methods are chants, CD-s with songs, games and worksheets. Flashcards and puppets seem to be also used often but the books and DVD-s do not appear very popular. The reason for that is most probably the fact that many kindergartens in Poland lack suitable equipment such as TV or a DVD player and also that since there is not an official program for English in kindergartens there are not many suitable DVD materials or books for such young learners.

2.4.1.1.2. Effectiveness of the methods used The next and by far, the most important question was about the effectiveness of the methods used and the answer can also be seen on a diagram.

Here is what the numbers on the diagram refer to: 1 – not effective 2 – quite effective 3 – effective 4 – very effective

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Figure 3 The effectiveness of the methods

The results are pretty similar to those from Figure 2. It is logical that the teachers use those methods which are effective. The fact that there is not a method that would be not effective is the answer for the first research question. Nevertheless, the opinions shown so far were only expressed by the teachers. Further the children‟s and parents‟ minds will be presented as well starting with the children.

Figure 4 Which method is YL's favourite and how does it respond with it's effectiveness?

29

On the diagram – Figure 2 - the children‟s opinions are compared with the effectiveness of the methods. As it can be seen, what young learners like best are games and songs and the second place goes to flashcards. The diagram shows a certain dependence: methods that students like best are the most effective. All in all, Figures 2 to 4 seem to agree that games, songs and flashcards are three most effective and liked methods of all.

2.4.1.1.3 Parents' opinions The questionnaire also contained a question which asked if the parents notice progress in their children‟s English. The majority of teachers (85%) answered „yes‟. According to them children tell their parents about their lessons and carry the worksheets from English classes home to share their experiences with their parents. One of the teachers wrote that parents tell her that children sing English songs at home. The parents are also informed each month what their children will be learning about on English classes so if they know English they can check their children's knowledge.

That leads to two conclusions: 1. Parents are definitely aware of their children's progress. 2. If he children sing English songs and use English words at home it means the methods used to teach them are definitely effective.

2.4.1.1.4. Teachers assessing their students' progress In question number 9 the teachers were asked to assess their pupils‟ progress in English. One of the answers poses as the best conclusion here. It says that the progress is not significant but it is noticeable. That means the children are learning slowly but carefully. Other answers suggested that the students remember the vocabulary and even try to use it and that they sing songs actually understanding the meaning of the words. 30

2.4.1.1.5. Three rules making the lesson effective In the last question the teachers were asked to list three pieces of advice for people who want to prepare a good lesson for young learners. The answer that occurred most frequently was related to the YL short attention span. The teachers advised to prepare a busy lesson, full of activities, tasks and games. They wrote it should be entertaining and make the students do many things on their own rather than just keep them passive. Apparently, it is also good to have some surprises at hand and a good reward system to motivate the students better. All the answers show that the teachers are well aware of what makes a successful lesson and if only they stick to the advise they gave that means they care for the lesson to be engaging and fun for the students.

2.4.1.2. CONCLUSION In this subchapter the questionnaire has been described and analyzed. With the help of diagrams it has been established that the majority of methods used in kindergarten is effective, that the children like the methods and enjoy learning English, that they make progress noticeable not only by the teacher but also by their parents and that the teachers really care about their pupils‟ English and they make sure the lessons are attractive and entertaining.

2.4.2 SYLLABUS In this subchapter the syllabus of teaching English to young learners in kindergarten is going to be analyzed in order to answer the second research question i.e. to check if the syllabus is sufficient for the learners and if it is effective.

First of all, teaching English in kindergarten is not compulsory that it why the official syllabus does not exist. However, that does not mean that the lessons are chaotic. The teacher I have been working with created her own syllabus and this is the syllabus that is going to be analyzed. 31

2.4.2.1 General information about the syllabus Basically, the syllabus consists of language units that are to be covered each month by the students. The language units involve vocabulary, grammar units, songs, what the learners will hear on the lesson and what they will learn to say. As it was mentioned before, there are three age groups in each kindergarten: the four-, five- and the six-year old children. This fact is also visible in the syllabus where each group has slightly different language units to be covered. The number and difficulty of the units depends on the age of the learner. The four-year old children, for example, have the most basic set of phrases to learn and vocabulary units to remember while the six-year olds‟ version is extended.

2.4.2.2. Comparison of the syllabus charts Since all the syllabus charts are similar let us compare the October syllabus chart for four-year old children with the one for six-year olds. Below, there is a table of two sections taken from the October syllabus chart. They are the most important parts and the analysis is going to focus on them specifically since the “I hear” section is very similar on each chart. Another reason is that the research is going to focus mainly on Young Learners‟ active participation in the lesson.

Topic

Hello! Bye, bye!

4 year olds

4 year olds

6 year olds

6 year olds

“I can say, I can sing”

“I hear”

“I can say, I can sing”

“I hear”

Hello Peppa!

OK., let's say hello

Hello Jackie! Bye, bye Jackie!

OK., let's say hello

Bye, bye Peppa!

to Peppa!

Good morning!

to Jackie!

Good morning!

I'm Agata - and

I‟m (Ola), what‟s your name?

I'm Agata - and

I‟m (Ola)

you?

My name is (Agnieszka).

you?

Hello (Agnieszka),

say - I'm ….

How old are you?

say - I'm ….

I‟m (Ola)

Come in / go out

Where do you live?

Ask each other-

“Knock, Knock Hello”

I‟m (5). I live in (Bielsko-

What's your name?

song

Biała). “Hello Hello” song

Colors

Blue, red, yellow,

Let's sing,let's

Blue, red, yellow, purple, pink,

and answer- My

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purple (revision)

play,let's learn

orange, brown, green

name is….

“I see something blue”

together

(revision)

asking and

new colors: white, black

answering "can

“I see something blue” song

you…?"

Apple, banana, pear,

Spaghetti, French fries,

Do you like…?

orange (revision)

watermelon, apple, pear,

Yes, I do / No, I

New words: bread,

orange, banana, tomato, potato

don't

milk, honey, cheese,

(revision)

plum, strawberry,

New words: broccoli, ice

cherry, tomato, potato

cream, juice, doughnut,

song

Food

popcorn, pizza, soup, bread, egg, cheese, cake “Do you like Broccoli Ice Cream?” song Counting

1-10 (revision)

1-10 (revision)

“One potato, Two

New: 11-15

potatoes” song

Conclusions: 1. The two basic skills are being developed From what can be seen in the table it is clear that the syllabus makes the children develop the two basic skills that are speaking and listening. The language units that are being developed are adjusted to the learners‟ age and to what the children are capable of saying and understanding. That is why the 4 year olds have in their section only the sentences allowing them to say “hi” and “good bye” and to introduce themselves. In the case of 6 year olds it is clearly visible that the material is a little bit more demanding. Apart from saying hi and good bye and introducing themselves they are also required to ask questions to their peers and to answer a question in Present Simple tense. All that shows that the syllabus was thought over and is not random. It takes into consideration the children age and abilities. 2. Same topics – different range of language units to learn As it can be seen from the table the topics are the same for both four- and sixyear olds. What changes is the range of vocabulary and grammar units the children 33

know and are to learn. 6 year olds are capable of remembering more words than 4 year olds simply because of the age difference and because they have been learning English longer. The positive thing is that the syllabus does not stop on the 4 year old level to the end of the kindergarten just revising it but it enhances the knowledge allowing the learners to develop their minds.

3. A lot of material is repeated regularly This system puts emphasis on repetition and as it was mentioned in the first chapter children have a short memory, they are quick to learn but also quick to forget what they have already learned if it is not repeated. The syllabus was established to teach but also to make sure the students will remember what they have learned. That is why the system might be very effective in teaching English to young learners.

4. Lack of the continuations of the songs What may seem one of the weakest points in the program is lack of songs‟ continuations, for example, there is a song about numbers 1-10 but there is not one about numbers 1-20. This may not seem important but as it will be mentioned in the “Observations” chapter songs help children remember the vocabulary incomparably better than just flashcards or games.

All the program charts can be found in the Appendix if needed for further analyzing.

2.4.2.1. CONCLUSION In this chapter the syllabus of teaching English to young learners in kindergarten has been analyzed. The following conclusions have been derived: 1. The syllabus was thought over and is not random. It takes into consideration the children age and abilities. 34

2. The syllabus does not stop on the 4 year old level to the end of the kindergarten just revising it but it enhances the knowledge allowing the learners to develop their minds. 3. The syllabus was established to teach but also to make sure the students will remember what they have learned. That is why the system might be very effective in teaching English to young learners. 4. It may be helpful to record the continuations of the songs used in the syllabus.

2.4.3 OBSERVATIONS In this subchapter the course of the lessons observed will be described and analyzed to check whether the syllabus is used in practice as well as it is written or is it just theoretical. Another purpose of the chapter is to answer the research question number 3 – Are the teachers really engaged in their work with young learners thus making the syllabus and the methods effective?

For the purpose of the research the observations of the English lessons in kindergarten has been lead since October 2010. However, not all the observation charts will be analyzed for it will not be necessary to prove the points of the research. Since not on every lesson every method and material is used 10 charts are going to be the subject for analyzing in this subchapter.

2.4.3.1 Observation charts – quantitative analysis First of all, the charts confirm that a usual lesson in kindergarten lasts about 30 minutes and that the maximum number of students on the lesson is 15. Second of all, the most important part of the chart is “The course of the lesson” and the column “Level of students' satisfaction with the method used” and these are the parts that are going to be analyzed more specifically than the others. 35

2.4.3.1.1. Types of interaction occurring on the lessons Looking at the table with “The course of the lesson” the first column shows that on the lesson every kind of interaction occurs. The teacher interacts with the students and the other way round and the students interact with each other. That shows that the lesson has been carefully prepared to allow the students to fully develop their cognitive skills.

2.4.3.1.2. Acivities Just above the interactions, time of every single activity can be found. As it can be seen every activity is shorter than 5 minutes and the number of activities done on the lesson ranges from 7 to 10 which is quite an amazing result for a 30 minute lesson. The reason for that is of course the students' short attention span. Three next columns describe in detail what kind of activities have been done on the lesson, what the teacher does and how students respond. One of the good things that can be noticed there is that the teacher finds enough time on the lesson to practice, for example, counting with every student individually. That allows the teacher to see the progress and also to help those students who have problems.

2.4.3.1.3. Level o students' satisfaction with the methods used based on the observation charts The most important column is the last one - “Level o students' satisfaction with the method used”. Since the first research question asks about the effectiveness of the methods and the analysis of the questionnaire shows that the methods liked the most by the students are the most effective, this column is a useful tool in checking if the methods are both liked and effective. Below there is a table which contains the data on the level of students‟ 36

satisfaction with the methods used on the lessons.

Songs, games, flashcards and puppets are the four most successful methods of all. The data confirm the conclusions drawn in previous chapters.

37

Chapter III - Conclusions The theoretical part of the thesis was divided into four chapters. The first focused on the Young Learners (YL), the second was about methodology, the third describes the types of lesson syllabuses and the fourth contains the conclusions. In the first chapter the general features of YL and individual differences between learners were described. Then the Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the MI theory were presented. Then some useful information on YL motivation were shown. In the end the syllabus design was described. The following conclusions were made:

1. YL are eager to learn new things and are particularly capable of adopting languages. They love imitating others and are very creative during the process of language creating. 2. YL have limited attention span and every one of them learns differently due to the fact that according to the NLP and the MI theory different people learn better by different exercises i.e. they learn better from the exercises that meet their „primary representational system‟ and their Intelligence type. 3. YL are highly motivated to learn due to the fact that they are still learning about the world that surrounds them and everything is new and exciting for them

The purpose of the research which was carried out was to check whether the methods used in teaching English in kindergarten are effective. The research also attempted to answer the following questions:

1. Are the methods used in teaching English to young learners in kindergarten effective? 2. Is the syllabus for kindergartens effective? Does it allow children to use all their cognitive skills? 3. Are the teachers really engaged in their work with young learners thus making the syllabus and the methods effective?

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The analysis of the questionnaire, the syllabus and the observation charts allowed to prepare the answers to the questions based on the results. All the conclusions from the empirical part of the thesis have been divided into three groups:

I Answering the research question 1 we can present the following conclusions: 1. According to the Figure 3 based on the questionnaire, there are not any ineffective methods used in teaching English to young learners. As far as the methods that are used are concerned, Figure 4 shows that the methods used most frequently are also liked best by the students and thus effective. Those methods are games, flashcards, songs and puppets. 2. The questionnaire shows that children sing English songs and use English words at home which is an argument for the effectiveness of the methods. II Answering the research question 2 we can present the following conclusions: 1. The syllabus was thought over and is not random. It takes into consideration the children age and abilities. 2. The syllabus does not stop on the 4 year old level to the end of the kindergarten just revising it but it enhances the knowledge allowing the learners to develop their minds. 3. The syllabus was established to teach but also to make sure the students will remember what they have learned. That is why the system might be very effective in teaching English to young learners. 4. It may be helpful to record the continuation of the songs used in the syllabus. III Answering the research question 3 we can present the following conclusions: 1. Creating the syllabus, making the materials and finding proper CD-s with songs that children love is one of the arguments for the positive answer for this question. 2. According to the last question from the questionnaire, the teachers are well aware of what makes a successful lesson and if only they stick to the advise they gave that means they care for the lesson to be engaging and fun for the students. 39

All in all, I believe the research managed to answer the questions and to prove that the methods used in teaching English to young learners are effective, the syllabus was thought over, is engaging and allows the children to develop their cognitive skills and the teachers truly care about their students. The research tools: the questionnaire, the syllabus charts and the observation charts were a useful help in finding out the answers for the questions. I hope no further research needs to be done. Nevertheless, all the information in the empirical part and in the Appendices may be used for any further study.

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Summary in English The topic of this thesis concerns the methods used in teaching English to young learners, specifically young learners in kindergartens. In the first chapter all the useful theoretical terms were explained and described. The chapter is an introduction to the empirical part of the thesis. In this chapter Young Learners (YL) were described in detail along with all their features and motivation. The methods and techniques which are commonly used in teaching English to YL were described next. The empirical part of the thesis, based on a descriptive research focuses on the effectiveness of the methods used in teaching English in kindergartens, the effectiveness of the existing program and the engagement of the teachers in providing English lessons to their students. All of the focal points are put in a form of research questions which are answered further on in the empirical part. The chapter describes and analyzes the research tools as follows: the questionnaire, the program charts and the observation charts and contains derived conclusions. The third chapter serves as the final conclusion of the thesis. It contains all the conclusions that were made in the empirical part, all grouped in form of answers to the research questions asked in the beginning of chapter two.

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Summary in Polish Tematem niniejszej pracy są metody używane w nauczaniu młodych uczniów języka angielskiego. Termin „młodzi uczniowie” odnosi się przede wszystkim do dzieci uczących się języka angielskiego jako języka obcego w przedszkolach. Temat został uznany za ciekawy, ze względu na brak oficjalnego programu nauczania języka angielskiego w przedszkolach. Jak powszechnie wiadomo, język angielski pojawił się w Polskich przedszkolach stosunkowo niedawno, dlatego też metody i program są ciągle jeszcze sprawdzane i modyfikowane. Jednakże istnieje możliwość iż nauczanie języka angielskiego w przedszkolach stanie się obowiązkowe i dlatego warto zobaczyć co w tym polu zostało już osiągnięte, jakie metody są wykorzystywane oraz sprawdzić czy są one skuteczne. W pierwszym rozdziale pracy, który jest rozdziałem teoretycznym, opisani zostali młodzi uczniowie – ich cechy, zachowania i typy motywacji; zostały opisane wszystkie metody i techniki wykorzystywane w nauczaniu języka angielskiego w przedszkolach oraz wytłumaczone zostały wszystkie potrzebne dalej w pracy pojęcia. W rozdziale drugim, który jest rozdziałem empirycznym, można znaleźć opis i analizę badań przeprowadzonych w celu dowiedzenia iż metody, z których korzysta się przy nauczaniu języka angielskiego w przedszkolach są skuteczne. Właśnie w tym celu przeprowadzona została ankieta z nauczycielami i zostały przeprowadzone obserwacje lekcji języka angielskiego. W ostatnim rozdziale znajdują się wnioski końcowe, czyli inaczej mówiąc odpowiedzi na pytania z części empirycznej pracy. Rozdział ten jest podsumowaniem całej pracy.

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Bibliography 1. Brewster J., Ellis G. and Girard D. 1991 The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. Penguin 2. Brown H.D. 2007 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Longman 3. Cant A, Superfine W. 1997 Richmond Developing Resources for Primary. Richmond Publishing 4. Celce-Murcia M. 2001 Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, 3rd Edition. Heinle ELT 5. Cross K. 2007 Introducing English as an Additional Language to Young Children: A Practical Handbook. Paul Chapman Publishing 6. Gardner H. 1993 Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Basic Books 7. Goleman D. 1997 Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Bantam 8. Halliwell S. 1992 Teaching English in the Primary Classroom. Longman 9. Harmer J. 2003 The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman 10. Reilly V., Ward S.M., Maley A. 2003 Very Young Learners. Oxford 11. Scott W, Ytreberg L.H. 1990 Teaching English to Children. Longman. 12. Vale D., Feunteun A. 2007 Teaching Children English. a training course for teachers of English to children. CUP 13. Cohen L., Manion L. and Morrison K. 2007 Research Methods in Education. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group 14. Richards J.C., Rogers T.S. 2001 Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. CUP 15. Larsen-Freeman D. 2000 Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (2nd Edition). Oxford 16. ELT Acronyms http://www.europa-pages.com/uk/ELT-Acronyms.html 17. Krashen S. D., Terrell T.D. 1996 The Natural Approach: Language Teaching Methodology. Bloodaxe Books Ltd.

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Table 1 taken from http://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/extra/images/2009/09.06.06.03.jpg This Is Your Brain…This is Your Brain on Fire…Any Questions. Gray S. F. Yale National Initiative, Curriculum Unit 09.06.06 Table 2 taken from Brown 2007:170

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List of tables Table 1 Activities for different intelligencies - Gray (2006) ............................................. 8 Table 2 Three views of motivation. Adapted from Brown (2007:170) ............................. 9 Figure 1How many years have the teachers been teaching children .............................. 27 Figure 2 Number of teachers using particular methods .................................................. 28 Figure 3 The effectiveness of the methods ..................................................................... 29 Figure 4 Which method is YL's favourite and how does it respond with it's effectiveness? .................................................................................................................. 29

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Appendix OBSERVATION CHART 1

Date: 11 Oct 2010

Topic: I see something blue Number of students: 8

Age: 4

years old Time of class: 30 minutes Aims of the lesson: revision of colors, numbers and actions teaching new vocabulary from topic “Actions” accustoming children to English Intended outcomes: Students can: 

say hallo and goodbye



introduce themselves



list 4 colors



list 4 different kinds of food



count to 10



name the actions concerning the topic “Movements”

Problems which occurred: 

pronunciation mistakes; children had problems with pronouncing words and phrases correctly

How were they dealt with: 

the teacher was consequently correcting major pronunciation mistakes

Materials used: CD with songs, flashcards, games, puppets, blocks

46

The course of the lesson: Time Type of interactio n

Type of activity

What teacher does?

3 min T-S/S-T

Warm-up Greetings

Greets children using a puppet. Prompts students to say “Hello”, to introduce themselves to the puppet and then to say “Bye bye”.

Say “Hello” to the puppet. Introduce themselves. Say “Bye bye”

4 min T-S/S-S

Song

Asks the students to get up and make a circle. Plays a song “Knock, knock Hello”. Sings the song with the students using gestures and making faces.

Get up and make a circle. Sing the song with the teacher copying the gestures and the faces.

2 min T-S/S-T

Naming the colors

Asks the students to sit down. Shows the students flashcards with colors and asks them to name them.

Sit down. Name the colors.

Plays “I see something blue” song. Asks the children to sing and to look for the things that are blue, red, yellow and purple in the classroom.

Sing the song. Run around the classroom looking for the colorful things.

What students do?

Level of students' satisfaction with the method (1-10)

7

8

7

4 min T-S/S-T

Song

2 min T-S/S-T

Revision

Shows food flashcards to children and Name the foods. asks them to name the foods.

6

3 min T-S/S-T

Revision

Asks the students to jump, run, clap, stand up/sit down in order to check if they remember what it means.

8

5 min T-S/S-T

4 min T-S/S-S 3 min T-S/S-T 1 min T-S/S-T

Asks the students to stand up. Explains the students the activity they Introduction are going to take part in. of new words Shows what does it mean to walk, hop, swim, tiptoe, sleep and stop and asks the students to follow her movements. Song

Jump, run, clap, stand up/sit down. Stand up. Follow the teacher. Show the movements. Repeat the words.

Plays “Walking, walking” song. Sing the song and show Asks the students to sing and show the the movements. movements.

9

8

10

Cool off

Asks the students to sit down. Sit down. Asks the students to count to ten using Count to 10. blocks.

8

Ending

Says goodbye. Gives all the students that behaved properly a stamp.

10

Say goodbye. Take the stamps.

47

OBSERVATION CHART 2

Date: 13 Oct 2010

Topic: Actions

Number of students: 7

Age: 4

years old Time of class: 30 minutes Aims of the lesson: revision of colors, numbers and actions practicing new vocabulary from topic “Actions” to accustom children to English Intended outcomes: Students can: 







list 4 colors






count to 10





misbehavior



pronunciation mistakes; children may have problems with pronouncing words and phrases correctly


the misbehaving students were put in the corner or were asked to leave the classroom



the teacher consequently corrected major pronunciation mistakes


48

The course of the lesson: Time Type of Type of activity interactio n

What teacher does?

What students do?



Song



4 min T-S/S-T

Counting

Asks the students to sit down. Shows them flashcards with numbers and asks them to count with her. Asks each of the children to count alone.

Sit down. Count with the teacher. Count alone.

4 min T-S/S-T

Song

Plays “Seven steps” song. Sings and counts with children.

Sing with the teacher. Count from 1-7 and 71.

2 min T-S/S-T

Revision

Shows food flashcards to children and asks them to name the foods.

Name the foods.

Revision

Asks the students to jump, run, clap, stand up/sit down, tiptoe, swim, stop, sleep, walk and hop in order to check if they remember what it means.

Jump, run, clap, stand up/sit down, walk, swim, tiptoe, hop, sleep, stop.

3 min T-S/S-T

4 min T-S/S-S

3 min T-S/S-T

4 min T-S/S-S 3 min T-S/S-T 1 min T-S/S-T

Warm-up Greetings

Song

Plays “Walking, walking” song. Sing the song and Asks the students to sing and show show the movements. the movements.

Level of students' satisfacti on with the method (1-10)

7

8

8

8

7

9

10

Cool off

Asks the students to sit down. Shows them colorful blocks and ask them about colors.

Sit down. Answer teacher‟s questions.

7

Ending

Says goodbye. Say goodbye. Gives all the students that behaved Take the stamps. properly a stamp.

10

49

OBSERVATION CHART 3

Date: 18 Oct 2010

Topic: Food


Age: 4

years old Time of class: 30 minutes Aims of the lesson: revision of colors, numbers and actions practicing new vocabulary from topic “Actions” learning new vocabulary from topic “Food” accustoming children to English Intended outcomes: Students can: 







list 4 colors






count to 10





misbehavior









Materials used: CD with songs, flashcards, games, puppets

50

The course of the lesson:

What students do?


Greets children. Asks students about their names and about their age.

Answer teacher‟s questions. Introduce themselves and tell how old they are.

7

Song

Asks the students to get up and make a circle. Plays a song “Hello, Hello”. Sings the song with the students using gestures and making faces.


Song

Plays “Seven steps” song. Sings and counts with children.

Sing with the teacher. Count from 1-7 and 7-1.

Time Type of interactio n

Type of activity

3 min T-S/S-T

Warm-up Greetings

4 min T-S/S-S

4 min T-S/S-T

What teacher does?

4 min T-S/S-T

Counting

Asks the students to sit down. Sit down. Gives each 10 blocks and asks Count with the teacher. them to count with her. Count alone. Asks each of the children to count alone.

2 min T-S/S-T

Revision

Shows food flashcards to children Name the foods. and asks them to name the foods.

2 min T-S/S-T

Shows the students flashcards Introduction with foods. of new words Teaches them the new ones. Asks to repeat. Game

4 min T-S/S-T 3 min T-S/S-T 4 min T-S/S-S 1 min T-S/S-T

Learn the new words. Repeat after the teacher.

Mixes the flashcards. Take turns and pick up one Asks each student to pick one at a flashcard. time and say what is it. Say what is on the flashcard. Asks them to take turns.

Colors

Shows them colorful blocks and ask them about colors.

Answer teacher‟s questions.

Song

Plays “Walking, walking” song. Asks the students to sing and show the movements.

Sing the song and show the movements.



Ending

8

8

8

7

8

8

7

10 10

51

OBSERVATION CHART 4

Date: 6 Dec 2010

Topic: Christmas


Age: 5 years

old Time of class: 30 minutes Aims of the lesson: revision of colors, food and numbers learning new words concerning Christmas accustoming children to English Intended outcomes: Students can: 







ask each other about their names and age



list 10 colors



name the food



count to 13



list Christmas things

Problems that occurred: 

misbehavior






problems with counting





the teacher helped the children who had troubles counting




Materials used:

52

CD with songs, flashcards, games, blocks, puppet The course of the lesson: Time Type of interactio n

3 min T-S/S-T S-S

4 min T-S/S-S

3 min T-S/S-T

4 min T-S/S-T

4 min T-S/S-T

4 min T-S/S-T

Type of activity

What teacher does?

What students do?

Greets children with Peppa puppet. Asks students about their names and about their age. Asks them to ask each other.

Say Hello to Peppa. Introduce themselves and tell how old they are. Ask each other about their names and age.

Asks the students to get up and make a circle. Plays a song “Hello, Hello”. Sings the song with the students using gestures and making faces.


Revision

Shows the children flashcards with colors. Asks about the colors. Play “I see something blue” song.

Answer teachers questions. Sing the song. Look for the colorful things in the classroom.

Revision

Shows the students flashcards with numbers. Plays “Ten in the Bed” song. Sing and count with children.

Sing with the teacher. Count.

Revision

Shows food flashcards. Answer the teacher. Asks students what they can see. Sing with the teacher. Plays ”Are you hungry” song. Sings with children.

Warm-up Greetings

Song

Shows the students flashcards Learn the new words. with Christmas vocabulary. Repeat after the teacher. Introduction Asks them what are the things on of new words flashcards. Teaches the children new words.

4 min T-S/S-T

Song

1 min T-S

Ending

Plays “Rudolph the red nosed reindeer” song. Asks the students to listen.

Listen to the song.

Says goodbye. Gives stamps.

Say goodbye. Take stamps.

Level of students' satisfacti on with the method (1-10)

6

8

9

8

7

9

9

10

53

OBSERVATION CHART 5

Date: 6 Dec 2010

Topic: Christmas


Age: 4 years

old Time of class: 30 minutes Aims of the lesson: revision of colors, numbers and actions learning new words concerning Christmas accustoming children to English Intended outcomes: Students can: 







list 6 colors



name the actions



count to 10



list Christmas things

Problems that occurred: 

misbehavior






problems with counting









Materials used: CD with songs, flashcards, games, blocks, puppets

54


Type of activity

3 min T-S/S-T S-S

Warm-up Greetings

4 min T-S/S-S

3 min T-S/S-T

4 min T-S/S-T

5 min T-S/S-T

What teacher does?

What students do?

Greets children with Peppa puppet. Asks students about their names and about their age

Say Hello to Peppa. Introduce themselves and tell how old they are.

Song

Asks the students to get up and make a circle. Plays a song “Knock, knock, hello”. Sings the song with the students using gestures and making faces.


Revision

Shows the children flashcards with colors. Asks about the colors. Plays “I see something blue” song.

Answer teachers questions. Sing the song. Look for the colorful things in the classroom.

Revision

Shows the students flashcards Sing with the teacher. with numbers. Count. Plays “One Potato, Two Potatoes” song. Sings and counts with children.

Shows the students flashcards Learn the new words. with Christmas vocabulary. Repeat after the teacher. Introduction of Asks them what are the new words things on flashcards. Teaches the children new words.

5 min S-S

Worksheet

4 min T-S/S-T

Song

1 min T-S

Ending

Gives the students worksheets with Christmas vocabulary and numbers. Asks them to color the pictures and count the reindeer and the presents. Asks the students to tell what they have done.

Color the pictures. Count the reindeer and the presents. Tell what they have done.


6

8

9

8

9

9

Plays “Rudolph the red nosed Listen to the song. reindeer” song. Asks the students to listen.

9

Says goodbye. Gives stamps.

10

Say goodbye. Take stamps.

55

OBSERVATION CHART 6

Date: 3 Jan 2011

Topic: Weather

Number of students:13

Age: 6 years

old Time of class: 30 minutes Aims of the lesson: revision of colors, food and numbers teaching new vocabulary from topic “Weather” revision of letters A-L accustoming children to English Intended outcomes: Students can: 










list 10 colors






count to 15


misbehavior












Materials used: CD with songs, flashcards, games, puppets

56


Type of activity

What teacher does?

Warm-up Greetings

Greets children using a puppet. Prompts students to say “Hello”, to introduce themselves to the puppet and then to say “Bye bye”. Asks the students to ask each other about their names and age.

Say “Hello” to the puppet. Introduce themselves. Say “Bye bye”. Ask each other about their names and age.

Song

Asks the students to get up and make a circle. Plays a song “Hello Hello”. Sings the song with the students using gestures and making faces.


4 min T-S/S-T

Song



2 min T-S/S-T


Name the foods.

Revision

Plays “Do you like broccoli ice-cream?” song. Sings with students making gestures and faces.

Sing with the teacher repeating the gestures and faces.

3 min T-S/S-T

4 min T-S/S-S

3 min T-S/S-T

5 min T-S/S-T

Song

8

9

8

8

Plays “How's the weather?” song. Asks the students to sing and answer the questions.

Sing the song and answer the questions.

Cool off

Asks the students to sit down. Asks the students to count to fifteen using flashcards.

Sit down. Count to 15.

8

Ending



10

Song

1 min T-S/S-T

7

7

Shows the students flashcards: Repeat after the teacher. sunny, rainy, snowy, cloudy. Introduction of Says the words out loud. a new topic Asks the students to repeat. Teaches the students how to ask about the weather.

4 min T-S/S-S

3 min T-S/S-T

What students do?


7

57

58

OBSERVATION CHART 7

Date: 3 Jan 2011

Topic: Animals


Age: 4

years old Time of class: 30 minutes Aims of the lesson: revision of colors and actions learning new vocabulary from topic “Animals” to accustom children to English Intended outcomes: Students can: 







list 4 colors






count to 10






list 8 animals


misbehavior






problems with remembering new words





the teacher helped the children who had troubles remembering new words




Materials used: CD with songs, flashcards, games

59


Type of activity

3 min T-S/S-T

Warm-up Greetings

4 min T-S/S-S

Song

What teacher does?

What students do?

Greets children. Asks them about their names.

Greet the teacher. Introduce themselves.



Level of students' satisfactio n with the method (1-10) 6

8

4 min T-S/S-T

Counting

Asks the students to sit down. Sit down. Shows them flashcards with Count with the teacher. numbers and asks them to count Count alone. with her. Asks each of the children to count alone.

4 min T-S/S-T

Song

Plays “One Potato, Two Sing with the teacher. Potatoes” song. Count from 1-7 and 7-1. Sings and counts with children.

8

2 min T-S/S-T

Revision

Shows colors flashcards to Name the colors. children and asks them to name the colors.

8

3 min T-S/S-T

Song

Plays “I see something blue” song. Sings with children.

9

4 min T-S/S-S

Shows the students flashcards with animals. Introduction Tells them what they are and of new words what sounds they make. Asks them to repeat the sounds and the names of the animals.

Sing the song. Look for colorful things in the classroom.

8

Repeat the sounds and the name of the animals. 8

4 min T-S/S-T

Cool off

Plays “Walking, Walking” song. Sing the song. Run around the classroom.

10

1 min T-S/S-T


10

Ending


60

OBSERVATION CHART 8

Date: 5 Jan 2011

Topic: Shapes


Age: 5

years old Time of class: 30 minutes Aims of the lesson: revision of colors, numbers and food practicing new vocabulary from topic “Weather” learning new vocabulary from topic “Shapes” accustoming children to English Intended outcomes: Students can: 










list 10 colors






count to 13



name the words concerning the topic “Weather”


misbehavior






troubles in counting









Materials used:

61

CD with songs, flashcards, games, puppets


3 min T-S/S-T

Type of activity

Warm-up Greetings

What teacher does?

What students do?

Greets children. Asks students about their names and about their age. Asks the students to asks each other.

Answer teacher‟s questions. Introduce themselves and tell how old they are. Ask each other. Get up and make a circle. Sing the song with the teacher copying the gestures and the faces.


7

4 min T-S/S-S

Song

Asks the students to get up and make a circle. Plays a song “Hello”. Sings the song with the students using gestures and making faces.

4 min T-S/S-T

Song

Plays “Ten in the bed” song. Sing with the teacher. Sings and counts with Count from 1-10. children.

8

8

7

4 min T-S/S-T

Counting

Asks the students to sit Sit down. down. Count with the teacher. Shows them flashcards. Asks them to count with her from 1-13

2 min T-S/S-T


Name the foods.

Revision

2 min T-S/S-T

Plays “Are you hungry?” song. Sing with the children.

Sing the song.

Song

3 min T-S/S-T

4 min T-S/S-T

4 min T-S/S-S

1 min T-S/S-T

Shows the students flashcards with shapes. Introducing new Tell them how they are words called. Asks the children to repeat and show. Song

Song

Ending

8

8 Repeat after the teacher. Show the shapes. 7

Plays “The shape song” Sings showing the shapes.

Sing the song with the teacher showing the shapes.

Plays “Walking, walking” song. Asks the students to sing and show the movements.

Sing the song and show the movements.



7

10

10

62

OBSERVATION CHART 9

Date: 10 Jan 2011

Topic: Shapes


Age: 5

years old Time of class: 30 minutes Aims of the lesson: revision of colors, numbers and food practicing new vocabulary from topic “Weather” practicing new vocabulary from topic “Shapes” accustoming children to English Intended outcomes: Students can: 










list 10 colors






count to 13



name the words concerning the topic “Weather”


misbehavior






troubles in counting









63

Materials used: CD with songs, flashcards, games, The course of the lesson: Time Type of interactio n

3 min T-S/S-T

Type of activity

Warm-up Greetings

What teacher does?

What students do?

Greets children. Asks students about their names and about their age. Asks the students to asks each other.

Answer teacher‟s questions. Introduce themselves and tell how old they are. Ask each other. Get up and make a circle. Sing the song with the teacher copying the gestures and the faces.


7

4 min T-S/S-S

Song

Asks the students to get up and make a circle. Plays a song “Hello”. Sings the song with the students using gestures and making faces.

4 min T-S/S-T

Song

Plays “Ten in the bed” song. Sing with the teacher. Sings and counts with children. Count from 1-10.

8

8

4 min T-S/S-T

Counting

Asks the students to sit down. Shows them flashcards. Asks them to count with her from 1-13

2 min T-S/S-T

Revision

Shows food flashcards to Name the foods. children and asks them to name the foods.

7

2 min T-S/S-T

Song

Plays “Are you hungry?” song. Sing with the children.

8

3 min T-S/S-T

practicing new words

4 min T-S/S-T

Song

4 min T-S/S-S

Song

1 min T-S/S-T

Ending

Sit down. Count with the teacher.

8

Sing the song.

Shows the students flashcards Show the shapes. with shapes. Tell how they are Asks them how they are called. called. Plays “The shape song” Sings showing the shapes.

Sing the song with the teacher showing the shapes.

Plays “Walking, walking” song. Sing the song and show Asks the students to sing and the movements. show the movements. Says goodbye. Gives all the students that behaved properly a stamp.


7

7

10 10

64

OBSERVATION CHART 10

Date: 7 Feb 2011

Topic: Around us


Age: 4 years

old Time of class: 30 minutes Aims of the lesson: revision of colors, numbers and actions teaching new vocabulary from topic “Around us” accustoming children to English Intended outcomes: Students can: 







list 4 colors






count to 10







the teacher was consequently correcting major pronunciation mistakes


65


Type of activity

What teacher does?

Warm-up Greetings



4 min T-S/S-S

Song



2 min T-S/S-T

Naming the colors

Asks the students to sit down. Shows the students flashcards with colors and asks them to name them.

Sit down. Name the colors.

4 min T-S/S-T

Song



2 min T-S/S-T


Name the foods.

Revision

3 min T-S/S-T

Revision

Plays “Walking,Walking” song.

Sing,jump, run, clap, stand up/sit down.

3 min T-S/S-T

4 min T-S/S-T

Game

1 min T-S/S-T

7

8

7

9

6

Shows the students flashcards Repeat the words. with sun, moon, sky, cloud, Introduction stars, tree, flower, leaves, of new words grass. Asks them to repeat the words.

10

8

Mixes the flashcards. Gives each student one. Asks them to tell which one they have.

Take one flashcard. Say what they have got.

Cool off

Asks the students to sit down. Asks the students to count to ten using blocks.

Sit down. Count to 10.

8

Ending



10

5 min T-S/S-S

3 min T-S/S-T

What students do?


8

66

Questionnaire 1 How many years have you been teaching children? 1-3 How old are the children you teach? 3-7 How long does a usual lesson last? 30-45 minutes What kind of materials do you use during the lessons? CD-s with songs and chants Flashcards Puppets Others: Chants, worksheets, games Please mark the effectiveness of the materials you use: Very effective Effective Quite effective Not effective books flashcards

yes

puppets

yes

songs

yes

chants

yes

drama

yes

worksheets

yes

games 

yes

yes

Could you describe how your students respond to the materials you use?

They mostly like the materials I use on the lessons, they seem to be interested in the topic. They touch them and always want to interact with them in some way. They like new things. 

Which of the methods/materials is their favorite? Do they have a common one or does it depend on individual opinion?

67

They all like songs, games and drama :) It‟s more of a group thing at this age.



Do parents notice progress in their children's English?

Yes, they say that they notice it. 

How would you assess your students' progress in English? Quite good. They remember the vocabulary from previous lessons and they usually can repeat the sentences they‟ve learned earlier.



List three most important things that a teacher needs to be aware of to provide a successful English lesson for children under the age of 10.

1. Small pupils get bored very quickly, they need to be interested in topic. 2. Teacher should not only use books and workbooks during the lesson but provide students with games, songs etc. 3. Teacher should be nice, keep smiling, speak loud and clearly.

Questionnaire 2 1. How many years have you been teaching children? a. 1-3 b. 3-5 c. >5 2. How old are the children you teach? a. 3-7 b. 7-13

68

3. How long does a usual lesson last? a. 30-45 minutes b. 45 minutes c. An hour 4. What kind of materials do you use during the lessons? a. Books b. CD-s with songs and chants c. Flashcards d. Puppets e. Others: Chants, worksheets, games 5. Please mark the effectiveness of the materials you use: Very effective Effective Quite effective Not effective books flashcards

_______ ________

puppets songs

_______ ________

chants

_______

drama worksheets games 

_______ ________


Children like the materials very much. Their favorite are games and songs. They also like flashcards. Usually children are eager to learn and they have a lot of fun on the lessons. 


I think they like songs best but I would also say they love games. It‟s difficult to say which one is better for them. They have their absolute favorite songs such as for example “Walking, walking” and that is because the song allows them to walk and then run around the classroom. I would say they have common favorite things rather than individual. 

Do parents notice progress in their children's English? The parents come to me and say their children sing English songs at home so I think they notice that their child actually benefits from the lesson. The kids learn how to say

69

their names and how to answer the basic questions and they like to share what they have learned with their parents. They see the progress and I guess they are glad because I‟m still teaching the children  

How would you assess your students' progress in English? I would say that most of the kids manage to follow the program of which I am proud of. Of course there always are kids who have problems in learning but it doesn‟t happen too often. Children who learn according to the program make progress after every English lesson. The program is designed for them to always repeat what they‟ve already learned and to learn something new.



List three most important things that a teacher needs to be aware of to provide a successful English lesson for children under the age of 10. 

Always prepare a busy lesson plan so the kids don‟t have time for behaving badly.



Make the lesson funny and entertaining, colorful and engaging. Make the kids DO and not just sit and listen.



Have fun with them. They will copy you and you‟ll spend some nice time together learning.

70

Questionnaire 3 1. How many years have you been teaching children? a. 1-3 b. 3-5 c. 5 2. How old are the children you teach? a. 3-7 b. 7-13 3. How long does a usual lesson last? a. 30-45 minutes b. 45 minutes c. An hour 4. What kind of materials do you use during the lessons? a. Books b. CD-s with songs and chants c. Flashcards d. Puppets e. Others: Chants, worksheets, games 5. Please mark the effectiveness of the materials you use: Very effective Effective Quite effective Not effective books

>

flashcards

>

puppets

>

songs

>

chants

>

drama

>

worksheets

>

games 

>


71

They usually play and enjoy the games. 


They usually prefer games and songs. 

Do parents notice progress in their children's English? Parents usually notice the progress.



How would you assess your students' progress in English? The progress is rather high.




The willingness, patience, some ideas for classes.

72

Questionnaire 4 6. How many years have you been teaching children? a. 1-3 b. 3-5 c. 5-7 7. How old are the children you teach? a. 3-7 b. 7-13 8. How long does a usual lesson last? a. 30-45 minutes b. 45 minutes c. An hour 9. What kind of materials do you use during the lessons? a. Books b. CD-s with songs and chants c. Flashcards d. Puppets e. Others: Chants, worksheets, games 10. Please mark the effectiveness of the materials you use: Very effective Effective Quite effective Not effective books flashcards

v v

puppets

v

songs

v

chants

v

drama

v

73

worksheets games 

v v


My students do not like to using books during the lesson but they love to learn trough playing. When a game, song or even flashcards appear on the lesson, the students are much more interested and active. 


I believe it depends on individual opinion but all of my students like games and songs (not all of them to the same degree). The rest of the teaching methods or materials are not good enough for all students. Some of pupils like them and some of them are bored during working. 

Do parents notice progress in their children's English? Many parents do not know English language so they are not able to notice the progress. What is more, only a few parents ask how their child is doing.



How would you assess your students' progress in English? Each student is individual and it is impossible to judge them as a whole. I have very talented students who made a great progress during the learning process but there are also students who have huge problems with language and their progress is less visible but of course their knowledge is better than it was.




short attention span of young learners, learning trough playing is much more effective than traditional learning, short exercises - many of them are better than long exercises

74

Questionnaire 5 1. How many years have you been teaching children? a. 1-3 b. 3-5 c. >5 2. How old are the children you teach? a. 3-7 b. 7-13 3. How long does a usual lesson last? a. 30-45 minutes b. 45 minutes c. An hour 4. What kind of materials do you use during the lessons? a. Books b. CD-s with songs and chants c. Flashcards d. Puppets e. Others: Chants, worksheets, games 5. Please mark the effectiveness of the materials you use (in the table) Very effective

Effective

books

Quite effective Not effective ------------

flashcards

_______

puppets songs

-------------

chants

-------------


------------------------


75

Children want to sing songs, play games they like working with flashcards and worksheets especially if they are colourful and catch attention. They also enjoy time when I‟m reading stories from books. 


Each child is an individual, but I think they like singing and playing games the most. 

Do parents notice progress in their children's English? Parents notice that children enjoy English lessons, because of their showing interest in English also at home. Parents are informed by children what they were doing each day during lessons. They(kids) have positive feelings about the subject.



How would you assess your students' progress in English? Children show engagement and are willing to learn more. They make progress, want to get to know new words.




The teacher: must be able to attract children‟ attention, should use variety of techniques(games, songs)and resources - colourful flashcards etc. , should focus also on the way lesson is organized –coordinate conducting exercises with discipline

76

Questionnaire 6 1. How many years have you been teaching children? a. 1-3 b. 3-5 c. >5 2. How old are the children you teach? a. 3-7 b. 7-13 3. How long does a usual lesson last? a. 30-45 minutes b. 45 minutes c. An hour 4. What kind of materials do you use during the lessons? a. Books b. CD-s with songs and chants c. Flashcards d. Puppets e. Others: Chants, worksheets, games 5. Please mark the effectiveness of the materials you use (in the table) Very effective Effective Quite effective Not effective books

_______

flashcards

________

puppets

________

songs

_______

chants

_______


________


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Games and any other activities other than filling the exercices in the book stimulate children. they regard it as fun, and are very willing to participate and cooperate with each other. 


Every student loves games, especially hangman They also adore games that require running, or jumping, moving in general. 

Do parents notice progress in their children's English? .I guess they do. And, what's more important, they notice that children like English classes, and sometimes even can't wait for them.



How would you assess your students' progress in English? I believe that the progress is not particularly significant, but noticeable.



List three most important things that a teacher needs to be aware of to provide a successful English lesson for children under the age of 10. Lessons must be entertaining. The teacher must not treat learning English as the prime purpose in life. The teacher must praise their students and motivate them.

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Questionnaire 7 1. How many years have you been teaching children? a. 1-3 b. 3-5 c. >5 2. How old are the children you teach? a. 3-7 b. 7-13 3. How long does a usual lesson last? a. 30-45 minutes b. 45 minutes c. An hour 4. What kind of materials do you use during the lessons? a. Books b. CD-s with songs and chants c. Flashcards d. Puppets e. Others: DVDs,games,worksheets 5. Please mark the effectiveness of the materials you use: Very effective Effective Quite effective Not effective books flashcards

v v

puppets

v

songs

v

chants

v

drama Dvd-s games workheets

v v v

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


smile and clap when they see them Ask for some of them 


flashcards, games, songs It‟s a group thing – depends on group‟s age 

Do parents notice progress in their children's English? YES



How would you assess your students' progress in English? They sing songs understanding the text They try to use new words They compete in vocabulary games




Interesting lesson‟s plans – new and old vocabulary (30/70%) Changing actions, themes and tempo during each lesson Games, surprises and awards system in order to keep them focused and motivated

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Methods of Teaching English to Young Learners

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