CC BY
211PEDAGOGICAL SCIENCES
TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR TO YOUNG LEARNERS
Podavets O.,
senior lecturer of the Foreign Languages Department, Kostanay Regional University, Kostanay city, Kazakhstan
Gerok-Yerzhanova O. the senior lecturer of the Foreign Languages Department, Kostanay Regional University; Kostanay city, Kazakhstan
Abstract
The authors made an attempt to review the methodology of English teaching and learning process, to arise the problems that the young kids meet while learning, to consider the best ways of teaching grammar to young learners from the authors' point of view.
Keywords: Methods, methodology, strategy, English language teaching and learning process, acquisition, pre-viewing, while viewing and post-viewing.
English is becoming increasingly popular. A lot of people need it for studying or working purposes. The number of people learning English is rising throughout the world. However, we are going to speak about young learners. In spite of existed and used methods of English teaching all young learners aim the problem of grammar acquisition. Speaking about teachers of English in Kazakhstan we should mention that there is no one methodology used by all them, that's why we try to consider the main components of teaching process.
We are interested in methodology of teaching English grammar. What's teaching grammar? Teaching grammar is a process, which has been a problem for many language teachers around the world. Besides, teaching grammar to young learners is of great interest. That's why we paid great attention to teaching grammar to children by means of cartoons. Taking into consideration all these facts we made up our minds to use the most interesting and colorful cartoons produced by Disney company, but it'll be the next publication because we need to study theoretical material thoughtfully.
Let's consider all the peculiarities of young learners! The young language learners are those who are learning a foreign language and who are doing so during the first 6 or 7 years of formal schooling. Lynne Cameron defines young learners as "those between five and twelve years of age" [1; 20]. Scott and Ytreberg understand young learners as "pupils (...) between five and ten or eleven years old" [2; 7]. However we shouldn't forget about the fact that there is a big difference between a five-year old child and an eleven-year old because of the most sensitive period, when the young learners acquired their native language, they can speak, read and write in it.
Those opinions give some important notes about children's special characteristics in learning the language. They are as the following:
1. They have a very short attention and concentration span.
2. They use language skills long before they are aware of them.
3. When working or playing they like to be accompanied with others. Most of them do not like to work alone.
Children sometimes have problems to distinguish the real world from the imaginary world and of course, they can't always understand the world of adults. The teacher needs to use the instructions in an appropriate way and use the language and phrases so that the children can easily get the message. Firstly, a teacher of English should keep an eye contact with children and secondly, the teacher should go down to eye level of children and not rise above them in order to create the trustful atmosphere.
The essentials for children's daily communication are not the same as for adults. That's why teachers often use the English language in a playful and exploratory way [3; 8].
Children need physical movements and real activities to stimulate their thinking, they tend to be keen and enthusiastic learners if they are taught using fun activities or being involved in activities: they love to play, and learn best when they are enjoying themselves.
Children respond the language well through concrete things (visual things) rather than abstract things. They learn by mimics, using gestures and body movements. The physical world is very important and dominant at all times.
Making lessons more interesting for them is one of the most necessary and essential parts in teaching grammar. As for the aims of teaching English to young learners they should:
• encourage open-mindedness and tolerance by learning different ways of thinking and learning.
• improve creativity.
• improve cognitive skills and support abstract thinking.
These following strategies try to introduce some language skills or components in an action. Using them the teachers can develop and improve listening and speaking skills that can be an option to learn grammar patterns easily. After considering psychological peculiarities and complexity of grammar comprehension by young learners we decided to consider the following
strategies of teaching grammar to young students which exist in the teaching English methodology throughout the world.
Let's consider the first strategy: Demonstration.
Demonstration includes the use of real objects, performing actions, using gestures, and facial expressions-mime. It is used for presenting words like a toy, a book or a hat. Demonstration can be used for sentence patterns that stand for concrete ideas. For example, saying "I am looking at my watch", or "I am cleaning the Blackboard" while performing these actions. The teaching strategy includes the teacher's demonstration and students' repetition with feedback from the teacher. Demonstration is important. Demonstration builds connections between new knowledge and what the child already knows.
The second strategy is Choral Drill
In Choral Drill the children all chant together following along as the teacher leads. It is the repeating of poems, nursery rhymes, the alphabet, an alphabet song, sentence patterns, and vocabulary lists. Children repeat the melody and rhythm. Choral Drill presented speaking aloud and verbatim memorization. This occurred in unison or in the form of echo recitation. The purpose was for transfer to the long-term memory. Current brain research supports the idea of speaking aloud generates more electrical energy in the brain than just thinking about something [5]. Choral drill is also a powerful way to cause overlearning to occur. Over-learning, that is, continuing to recite after something is memorized, creates deeper memory traces that make for longer retention [6].
Strategy 3: Look and Say
Look and Say is the technique of students listening to the teacher and looking at the object or print, then repeating a word or sentence after the teacher. Children either watch as the teacher points to the words on the chalkboard or individually point to the print on a page or in a textbook.
Strategy 4: Pictorial Illustration
Pictorial illustration is the use of blackboard drawings, diagrams, sketches, match-stick figures, photographs, maps, and textbook illustrations. These are used for presenting words and structures that stand for concrete ideas.
Strategy 5: Verbal Illustration
Teachers at each level used Verbal Illustration. Sometimes this was simply giving a phrase or sentence that showed the typical use of the word in context, as in "the sky is blue".
Strategy 6: Association
Association was used for presenting vocabulary items. Teachers used Association for synonyms, antonyms, and simple definitions. For example, blossom — flower (synonym), diligent — hardworking (synonym), fresh — stale (antonym), lad — means a boy (definition).
Strategy 7: Questioning
Questioning is another strategy that is used in lessons at all levels. It is used in the introduction. The questioning section of the lessons appeared to be for the purpose of developing thinking processes for concept formation.
Strategy 8: Storytelling is effective for early foreign language classes
Storytelling can be effective for teaching English to young learners for the following reasons:
• The purpose of telling a story is genuinely communicative.
• Storytelling is linguistically honest. (It is oral language, meant to be heard.)
• Storytelling is real! (People do it all the time!)
• —Storytelling appeals to the affective domain.
• Storytelling caters to the individual while forging a community in the classroom.
• Storytelling provides listening experiences with reduced anxiety.
There are many methods of teaching grammar to young learners. The principal methods of teaching grammar are as following: Grammar-Translation, Direct, Audio-lingual and Communicative Language Teaching. It is evident that we can use other new and innovative approaches to teach grammar such as Silent Way, Total Physical Response, Community Language Learning, Natural Approach and Suggestopedia.
A well-known way to create meaningful context for teaching English is through using media, which can be delivered through a wide variety of print, audio, and visual formats. Integrating videos into lessons creates enticing visuals and a special interactive environment in the EFL/ESL classroom. Teaching English through videos also allows teachers to be creative when designing language lessons. It is possible to state the advantages of videos via using the terms diversity, facilities and creativity. Videos can be useful particularly to create learner curiosity and arouse interest. Video appeals to different senses via 'sound, image, color and shape' at the same time. Besides image and sound, video also offers facilities, which are play transcripts, subtitles and captions. According to Canning-Wilson that: "video is at best defined as the selection and sequence of messages in an audio-visual context". What's about video approach? There are two layers to video lessons. One is related to your teaching goals. Will you show your students a video for listening, vocabulary or grammar practice? What is the language element you want them to learn? The second layer is the structure of the lesson itself. Even if you are sure you want to show a video to improve listening comprehension, it's not as simple as just pressing "play". Each video lesson must be accompanied by its own lesson plan, and the lesson plan must be targeted to meet your teaching goals. [7]
Harmer J. had also mentioned that there are three basic types of video which can be used in class.[4]
1. Off-air programmes
2. Real-world video
3. Language learning videos
Let's consider these components.
Off-air programmes: Programmes which are recorded from a television channel are called off-air programme. Some of them are extremely difficult for students to understand, especially where different accents are used.
Real-world video:According to Harmer J. there is no reason why teachers and students should not separately use published videotape material such as feature films or wildlife documentaries, etc.
Language learning videos: Harmer J. had remarked that the main advantage of language learning videos is that they have been designed to student with potential abilities. However, the danger of language learning video is that they fail the quality test because the production is poor, and the situation and the language are inauthentic. The teacher's choice, therefore, has to be limited to those sequences which the students will accept and enjoy [4; 125].
After studying the types are started learning the activities of 3 level model: pre-viewing, while-viewing and post - viewing activities.
Pre-viewing activities
The pre-viewing activities would be like the warm-up exercises that we usually have for other types of activities. If the goal is to teach vocabulary through a video, then in the pre-viewing activity should introduce new vocabulary, in context, in conversations, through matching exercises; guess the meaning of the word activity, etc.
If the goal is to practice grammar, then the previewing activity should be a review of the tense on grammar point. Some great activities for pre-viewing practice are games; fill in the blanks exercises, or any of the grammar worksheets that can easily be found.
Viewing activities
Viewing activities consist of tasks that students must complete while watching the video and these should also be targeted to goals.
When practicing grammar
Because of their very nature (songs are usually short and often repeat phrases, words, and structures), music videos are the best for practicing grammar. The most common type of viewing activity with music videos is a gap-filling exercise, but teachers can get creative and try some others.
Post-viewing activities are a nice way to wrap-up the video lesson and a great opportunity to consolidate
everything which learners have learned in a production or performance activity.
When focusing on vocabulary
First you introduced some new words, and then your students saw how they were used in the video. This is a time for your students to use these new words themselves. Divide them into pairs, and ask them to write a conversation or report using this new vocabulary. If your goal was to teach vocabulary related to weather, and you showed a video of a TV weather report, ask your students to write the weather forecast for next weekend.
When focusing on grammar
If the goal was to offer some extra grammar practice, ask your students to produce something that specifically requires them to use this grammar point.
We studied theoretical material concerning the teaching grammar to young learners and it was difficult for us to cover the all necessary items, which we tend to apply in our practical research and we plan to work out the lesson plans taking into account all above mentioned on the base of the Disney cartoons.
REFERENCES:
1. Cameron L., Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge University Press,2001.
2. Scott Wendy A., Ytreberg Lisbeth H., Teaching English to Children. Harlow: Longman, 1990
3. Philp J., Oliver R., & Mackey, A. Second language acquisition and the young learner: Child's play? Amsterdam, 2008.
4. Harmer J., The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Longman, 2001
5. Bower B.2003.Learning to read evokes hemispheric trade-off. Science News,162(21),p324-325.
6. Banich, 1997. Neuropsychology: The neutral bases of mental function. Boston: Houghton-Miffin.
7. Christine Canning-Wilson Practical Aspects of Using Video in the Foreign Language Classroom. online http://iteslj.org/Articles/Canning-Video.html.
DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIO-PERSONAL COMPETENCIES OF STUDENTS IN THE PROCESS OF
EXTRAUDITIVE ACTIVITIES
MaginV.
Professor,
North Caucasus Federal University, Stavropol
РАЗВИТИЕ СОЦИАЛЬНО-ЛИЧНОСТНЫХ КОМПЕТЕНЦИЙ У СТУДЕНТОВ В ПРОЦЕССЕ
ВНЕУЧЕБНОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ
Магин В.А.
доктор педагогических наук, профессор, Северо-Кавказский федеральный университет, Ставрополь
Abstract
The article presents an analysis of the essence of social and personal competencies. Their theoretical basis is revealed. The components of these competencies are described. ays of their formation and development. Empirical
