TT: Young Learners and Learning

As children do NOT learn language through explicit grammar explanations, teachers should

• keep activities short

• avoid grammatical terms and rules that sts will not understand

• use TPR activities

• help learners "notice" grammar by repeating and recycling new langua

Acquisition is the unconscious absorption of language. Children need an environment similar to first language acquisition. 

• true

• false

How do children learn their L1

• By using language in controlled practice activities 

• With lots of opportunities to experiment with the language

• By wanting and needing to communicate

• By listening and taking in language

Ways of learning L2

• Sometimes through exposure but often by being taught a specific language

• Through interaction with a teacher and sometimes classmates

• Family and friends talk to and interact with the child a lot

• Need to produce language soon after it has been taught

To increase learners' exposure to L2, teachers can

• expose students to real English (e.g. songs, stories, videos)

• speak as much English as possible in class

• scaffold learning

• explain grammar explicitly

Match the following

• Vygotsky, 1962

• Children are active learners and thinkers.

• Piaget, 1970

• Children learn through social interaction.

• Bruner, 1983

• Children learn effectively through scaffolding by adults.

Order the skills according to the established order we usually follow when teaching Young Learners a second language:

• Listening

• Reading

• Speaking

• Writing