Practical cases Practical case number 1: Teaching English to very young

learners, that is 3, 4 and 5, is not an evident task. What considerations have to be

taken into account when teaching at these ages?
The mastery of the English language is an objective to be achieved during the basic
education as English has become a global language used around the world for
everyday communication. For this reason, the Educational System in Spain includes
English as a foreign language in its curriculum from an early stage, that is in infant
education. This is described by the current laws in education which outline the
necessity of students to become communicatively competent in English.
The main goal when learning a language is to achieve communicative competence,
which means the knowledge and ability to use the language for communication in an
appropriate and accurate way. In order to acquire this, the domain of the 4 skills is
required, those being listening, speaking, reading and writing.
English is introduced now in infant education, that is at the age of 3, in accordance
with the decree 127/2012 of the Valencian Community. This early exposure will improve
their oral skills and will facilitate the acquisition of the four main linguistic skills in the
future, helping children to become communicatively competent.
This indicates that English teachers need to be ready to teach very young learners,
which is not an evident task. In order to succeed, we have to bear in mind some
aspects which we are going to mention here.
First of all, we have to take into account the main physical, cognitive, social and
emotional characteristics of children at these ages as they are going to condition our
teaching practice. With these in mind, we will able to plan objectives and contents.
Concerning the physical characteristics of children aged 3, 4 and 5, who are
developing the fine and gross psychomotor skills. Activities need to be adequate to
their psychomotor capabilities, as we cannot expect 3 years-old to cut, write and draw
well.
Regarding childrens social and emotional characteristics, we can say that learners
at this period are self-centered, they like and need external approval and praising. This
means that children need to be told when they are doing well, reinforcing their selfesteem and self-confidence.

Now we focus on the cognitive characteristics and how to adapt our lessons taking
into account these factors. Children at the age of 3, 4 and 5 are in Piagets preoperational stage, in which students learn by observation, through images, symbols
and concepts, reflecting and creating schemes. For all these reasons, our lessons
cannot be abstract but manipulative and visual, working on topics that children can
understand and find in their environment (activities connected to their experiences and
knowledge). Furthermore, their attention span is short, consequently lessons should be
dynamic, including short and varied activities.
In this period we need to promote significant learning through meaningful activities
they can relate to their environment or the things they know. Apart from this, to foster a
positive attitude towards the foreign language is also another main objective. We can
motivate children motivated to learn English through the use of challenging, creative,
lively and significant activities. It is to highlight that motivation to learn the FL comes
from the interest of the task and not from the future utility of the language itself.
The main linguistic objective is that learners understand and produce simple
messages in English. At this period, the oral comprehension is higher than the oral
production, as foreign language learners follow the same first language acquisition
process, in which oral comprehension comes before oral expression, respecting
childrens silent period. It is important to the language teacher to remember that young
children need to be repeatedly exposed to new language and may spend a long time
absorbing it before they actually produce it. It is not a good idea to try to force them to
speak in the target language as they can create a lot of emotional stress. By repetitive
songs, chants, games and plenty of choral work children will be able to produce
language without the stress of having to speak individually. Another way to make them
react to language is by means of the TPR. In the 1960's, the psychologist James Asher
began experimenting with a method he called Total Physical Response. This approach
supports that memory is stimulated and increased when it is closely associated with
motor activity, following the basic principles of language acquisition in young learners.
Similarly, in the TPR approach, the teacher directs commands requiring physical
actions and learners act in response by performing a gesture or physical movement. In
this sense, oral comprehension is emphasized over oral production and students are
not required to speak until they feel naturally ready or confident enough to do so,
respecting the silent period.
We can say that TPR is widely acclaimed as a highly effective method in the
instruction of young learners. If we bear in mind the needs of children at these ages,
we will see the TPR approach fulfill the requirements of these stages. It simulates the

natural way children learn their native language, respects the silent period of the pupils
at early stages, creates an effective and stress-free listening period in combination with
physical responses and the TPR activities tend to be fun and allow children to react
physically to language, using their bodies and moving as they usually like. Moreover,
this approach suits the kinesthetic type of learners who process information and
knowledge through bodily sensations and enjoy performing and moving while they are
learning.
In order to include some TPR activities in our lessons, we can work with action
songs, always trying to find a gesture for every concept or item of vocabulary. Then, we
can find listening and performing or miming activities to revise and consolidate
vocabulary, through stories, games and plays.
Another point is that the lesson must be structured, for this purpose we must
establish routines which make them feel sure since the preschool child needs a
relaxing and good atmosphere. As a result the classroom should be inviting and
attractive, offering a familiar and comfortable atmosphere. Moreover, students are
creative, imaginative, and curious. All this suggests that our lessons should include
games, storytelling, art, music, the new technologies. Finally, we can provide the
children with picture books, posters, puppet stages, mirrors, cameras, and tape
recorders can all be used to encourage language development.
As a conclusion, we can say that teachers need to know all these factors and
considerations in advance in order to be able to design their objectives and implement
their methodology in pre-school classes. The FL has to be taught in a natural way and
it must be adapted to the process of maturing of the students.