{"id":4718,"date":"2012-12-08T08:18:02","date_gmt":"2012-12-08T08:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltchat.org\/wordpress\/?p=4718"},"modified":"2012-12-08T08:18:02","modified_gmt":"2012-12-08T08:18:02","slug":"how-can-you-make-teaching-useful-for-reluctant-young-learners-eltchat-summary-04122012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/2012\/12\/08\/how-can-you-make-teaching-useful-for-reluctant-young-learners-eltchat-summary-04122012\/","title":{"rendered":"How can you make teaching useful for reluctant young learners? #ELTChat summary 04\/12\/2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary contributed by Tamas Lorincz – @tamaslorincz<\/a>\u00a0 on Twitter and is reproduced here from his blog with his kind permission.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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What to do with Demotivated Young Learners<\/h1>\n

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I have always wanted to write one of these summaries for the selfish reason that I was certain that this is the best way to have a really good grasp of the width and depth of the conversation. 140-character, abbreviations-ridden tweets fired at an amazing speed always left me feeling somewhat slow. I spend a lot of time lurking and trying to keep up with the conversation, and then formulate\u00a0 a couple of tweets, which, once posted, make little sense even to me, and are way out of context. But without further ado, here\u2019s my (not so brief) summary of the chat, I hope you\u2019ll like it.<\/p>\n

The first topic of discussion on Wednesday, 5th December 2012 was:<\/strong><\/p>\n

How can you make teaching useful for reluctant young learners?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The participants<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Click<\/a><\/p>\n

For the more visually inclined:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Th 50 most frequently used words in this chat. Created with\u00a0worlde<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who are we talking about?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The conversation started off with a little bit of clarification of what we actually mean by young learners. This seems to be a pretty confusing concept. In the end\u00a0Bob\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0suggestion carried the day and most tweets differentiated between VYLs, YLs, and Teens. I also liked the terminology used by\u00a0Carolyn<\/a>\u00a0\u2018pre-literacy\u2019, Early (literate in L1, but acquiring L2) up to about 11, then the rest are \u2018YL\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Jo Hart<\/a>\u00a0expressed succinctly why this is such an important question:<\/p>\n

Adolescent (teens) learners are so different from VYL, YL on one side &
\nadults on other \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>teens maybe have characteristics from both<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this summary I will have a look at five main areas I could identify which were covered in the chat:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. General observations<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Useful resources<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. Tips, hints, ideas<\/strong><\/li>\n
  4. Intriguing questions, issues, concerns<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>General observations<\/strong><\/h1>\n

    Marisa started off with a widely accepted statement:
    \nWe can do a lot of damage by not knowing how YLs & VYLs tick!<\/strong>\u00a0To which\u00a0    Bob<\/a>\u00a0added:\u00a0\u2018Give me a 9-yr-old & I\u2019ll screw him up for good\u2019!<\/strong>\u00a0and this was the sentiment reinforced again by Marisa, who expressed most succinctly what was on our minds throughout the conversation, raising a very important issue about teacher preparation courses.<\/p>\n

    I think YL teachers need to know MORE than Ts of adult ELT learners \u2013 much\u00a0<\/strong>
    \nmore #ELTchat but sadly most elt courses do not equip.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Relationships and the atmosphere<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    A positive, safe learning environment is very important, where mistakes are seen as part of learning.
    \nIt was also agreed that teaching YL is never only about the language,\u00a0    Marisa<\/a>observed:\u00a0Teaching YLs also involves teaching them to think<\/strong>\u00a0to whichDavid<\/a>\u00a0added\u00a0Critical thinking v. important!<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Control and compare<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Sophia<\/a>\u00a0made a very important point\u00a0Controlling and comparing is just soul-crushing<\/strong>\u00a0 \u2013 if the teacher spends the time trying to contol students and evaluate them by comparing them, both sides will suffer.<\/p>\n

    Affective relationship<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Marisa referred to an earlier research of hers\u00a0\u201con YLs and what kind of Ts they like \u2013 most factors are AFFECTIVE<\/strong>\u201d, while it was generally agreed that liking the teacher is an important factor in any teacher-student relationships it is doubly true with younger learners.<\/p>\n

    Another interesting conversation unfolded around the topic of comfort and routine, while it was accepted that children need routine and structure, participants emphasised the importance of variations and flexibility within them to avoid boredom and repetitiveness.<\/p>\n

    Marisa reminded us that it\u2019s also important to know\u00a0\u201cwhat they CAN or CANNOT do at their stage of cognitive development<\/strong>\u201d. Language acquisition is very different according to the brain stage of the child.<\/p>\n

    Attitudes to errors and general behaviour<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Sophia also noted that this was a very\u00a0fragile age for self-esteem<\/strong>, and developing (or at least not damaging) children\u2019s self image is an important role a teacher has to play.<\/p>\n

    \u00a02. Shared resources and materials<\/strong><\/h1>\n

    Jerry<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong>\u00a0My What Students Want<\/a>\u00a0page, another page on\u00a0Motivating\/Engaging<\/a>Students<\/p>\n

    @b<\/strong>rigidwheel<\/strong><\/a>: Using\u00a0IPads \/ iPhones in ESL<\/a><\/p>\n

    Jessica<\/a>:\u00a0Fiona Mauchline<\/a>\u2018s\u00a0webinar on teaching teens.<\/a>Best to get YLs involved in the learning process. Feed their curiousity.<\/p>\n

    Marisa<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0<\/strong>An earlier post about the\u00a0cognitive benefits of different games\u00a0for YLs<\/a>
    \nWikipedia entry on\u00a0    Child development stages<\/a><\/p>\n

    Sue<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0@DAFCampaign<\/a>\u00a0(Disabled Access Friendly) has some\u00a0gr8 resources<\/a>\u00a0for YL\u2019s to challenge them & get them to think<\/p>\n

    Jo Budden<\/a><\/strong>:\u00a0LearnEnglish Teens<\/a>\u00a0tries to cover topics of interest to 13-17 yr olds. This blog post got them commenting!<\/p>\n

    Carolyn<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0LearnEnglish Kids<\/a>\u00a0also has great games to play online. Toy shop is popular<\/p>\n

    <\/strong>Sophia<\/strong><\/a>: I thought this\u00a0post on badges<\/a>\u00a0was really interesting.
    \nI mentioned\u00a0    classdojo<\/a>\u00a0earlier \u2013 it\u2019s a positive and negative points based behaviour management system.<\/p>\n

    English247<\/a>: Day 5 of our #ESL #Xmas Calendar.\u00a0Click here<\/a>\u00a0for today\u2019s free English activity!<\/p>\n

    3. Tips and ideas<\/strong><\/h1>\n

    Perhaps the most useful part of all these conversations is when professionals share their practical tips and ideas to deal with certain aspects of the issue in question.<\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s a selection of a few of them:<\/p>\n

    \u00a0At the beginning of the course<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 student input is key<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    It\u2019s probably easier said than done but the teacher\u2019s task is to set up a natural context for students and help them achieve, they will learn almost anything<\/p>\n

    Start with something you know they\u2019ll all be into then adapt as you get to know them is a sensible suggestion, which then leads to the teacher responding to the class they are teaching, \u00a0and dealing with emergent language dogme style.<\/p>\n

    At the beginning of the lesson<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Encouraging students to identify their own objectives and then giving the teacher regular updates on how they are progressing with attaining them will keep students focused on their goals and put their achievements into perspective.<\/p>\n

    Inviting students to vote on the different topics\/tasks they would complete during the lesson is also highly motivational for young learners.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0During the lesson<\/strong><\/h2>\n