Teaching English to Young Children
English is a complex language to learn as a second language. There are many things that we must know to be able to learn English correctly such as grammatical form, tenses, spelling and pronunciation. English language has more tenses to use compared to the Indonesian language. For example, a child talks about his lunch. Child: “Mummy, I want to eat a french toast. I like French toast. Yesterday, I ate French toast. I will eat French toast for my breakfast tomorrow. I am eating French toast right now.” In English language, a word can change when we use a different tense, but in Indonesian language, the word remains the same. For example. Child: “Ibu, saya mau makan roti Perancis. Saya suka roti Perancis. Saya makan roti Perancis kemarin. Saya akan makan roti Perancis untuk sarapan besok. Sekarang saya sedang makan roti Perancis.”
To young children who learn English as a second language, tenses are quite confusing for them. The best way to introduce tenses to children is by giving a good example when we talk to them. Children learn by repetition and by imitating adults. When they hear English spoken correctly, after time, they will be able to automatically use tenses in English language.
They are many things we need to consider when introducing English language to young children who learn English as their second language. Most of children have a short attention span, we are lucky if they can keep still for 30 minutes to listen what we are teaching. Young children who have never been exposed to English language before will not have any familiar vocabulary in their mind. We must introduce English words slowly as we do not want to confuse them. The best way, to introduce English to young learner is by giving visual cues. For example, when teaching a child to learn a new word, such as ‘book’, we should show a book to the child, and then emphasise the work ‘ book’ several times. After this they can connect the object and the word. There are many types of visual cues such as cards and pictures, sign language or gestures. Beside giving visual cues, we can also use ‘hands on’ activities such as using building blocks, playing with cars etc. Children learn best when they have activities that are fun and enjoyable. When we are preparing materials for children, make sure that the teaching aids and materials are interesting to the children. Use objects and actions which the child is exposed to most often to increase motivation. Present them in ways which are visually attractive and in ways which children can manipulate them. Create multiple opportunities throughout the day to practice. Daily activities can be useful to teach new words to a child, ie during lunchtimes, at the supermarket etc.
Teaching English to young learners can be challenging to parents and teachers due to a child’s short attention span and misbehaviour. But if we can find the child learning style, we might have the solution to get the child to learn. Every child have different a learning style. Some learn by listening, to songs they like, some are able to follow instructions and engage in discussion. Some children learn by observing, and are able to quickly remembers logos and signs. Some children learn by kinesthetic. They like to move around, touch things and learn through demonstration. Finding the best learning style for our children can save a lot of time because we have found an effective way for our children to learn. The best way to find a child’s learning style is by observed them in daily activities, what they like to do, and what works best for them. Good luck parents, and lets start to introduce English as a second language to our children.
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