Teaching languages to young learners

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Recent years have seen rapid growth in the numbers of children being taught foreign languages at younger ages. While course books aimed at young learners are appearing on the market, there is scant theoretical reference in the teacher education literature. This book offers teachers and trainers a coherent theoretical framework to structure thinking about children's language learning. It gives practical advice on how to analyse and evaluate classroom activities, language use and language development. Examples from classrooms in Europe and Asia will help bring alive the realities of working with young learners of English.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. xi)
• Acknowledgements (p. xvi)
• 1 Children learning a foreign language (p. 1)
• 1.1 Taking a learning-centred perspective (p. 1)
• 1.2 Piaget (p. 2)
• 1.3 Vygotsky (p. 5)
• 1.4 Bruner (p. 8)
• 1.5 From learning to language learning (p. 11)
• 1.6 Advantages to starting young with foreign languages (p. 16)
• 1.7 The foreign language: describing the indivisible (p. 17)
• 1.8 Summary of key learning principles (p. 19)
• 2 Learning language through tasks and activities (p. 21)
• 2.1 The task as an environment for learning (p. 21)
• 2.2 Task demands (p. 22)
• 2.3 Task support (p. 25)
• 2.4 Balancing demands and support (p. 26)
• 2.5 The importance of language learning goals (p. 28)
• 2.6 Defining 'task' for young learner classrooms (p. 29)
• 2.7 Stages in a classroom task (p. 31)
• 2.8 Hani's Weekend: Possible preparation and follow-up activities (p. 32)
• 2.9 Task-as-plan and task-in-action (p. 35)
• 3 Learning the spoken language (p. 36)
• 3.1 Learning the spoken language: guiding principles (p. 36)
• 3.2 Discourse and discourse events (p. 37)
• 3.3 Meaning first (p. 38)
• 3.4 Analysis of a task-in-action (p. 42)
• 3.5 Discourse skills development in childhood (p. 51)
• 3.6 Effective support for children's foreign language discourse skills (p. 58)
• 3.7 Short activities for learning the spoken language (p. 60)
• 3.8 Supporting the spoken language with written language (p. 66)
• 3.9 Using dialogues (p. 68)
• 3.10 Summary (p. 70)
• 4 Learning words (p. 72)
• 4.1 Introduction (p. 72)
• 4.2 Vocabulary development in children's language learning (p. 73)
• 4.3 Organisation of words in a language (p. 81)
• 4.4 Learning and teaching vocabulary (p. 83)
• 4.5 Children's vocabulary learning strategies (p. 92)
• 4.6 Summary (p. 94)
• 5 Learning grammar (p. 96)
• 5.1 A place for grammar? (p. 96)
• 5.2 Different meanings of 'grammar' (p. 98)
• 5.3 Development of the internal grammar (p. 101)
• 5.4 A learning-centred approach to teaching grammar: background (p. 105)
• 5.5 Principles for learning-centred grammar teaching (p. 110)
• 5.6 Teaching techniques for supporting grammar learning (p. 111)
• 5.7 Summary (p. 121)
• 6 Learning literacy skills (p. 123)
• 6.1 Introduction (p. 123)
• 6.2 Literacy skills in English (p. 124)
• 6.3 Factors affecting learning to read in English as a foreign language (p. 134)
• 6.4 Starting to read and write in English as a foreign language (p. 139)
• 6.5 Continuing to learn to read (p. 150)
• 6.6 Developing reading and writing as discourse skills (p. 154)
• 6.7 Summary and conclusion (p. 157)
• 7 Learning through stories (p. 159)
• 7.1 Stories and themes as holistic approaches to language teaching and learning (p. 159)
• 7.2 The discourse organisation of stories (p. 160)
• 7.3 Language use in stories (p. 163)
• 7.4 Quality in stories (p. 166)
• 7.5 Choosing stories to promote language learning (p. 167)
• 7.6 Ways of using a story (p. 169)
• 7.7 Developing tasks around a story (p. 175)
• 7.8 Summary (p. 179)
• 8 Theme-based teaching and learning (p. 180)
• 8.1 Issues around theme-based teaching (p. 180)
• 8.2 Theme-based teaching of a foreign language (p. 181)
• 8.3 Planning theme-based teaching (p. 184)
• 8.4 Learning language through theme-based teaching (p. 191)
• 8.5 Increasing target language use in theme-based teaching (p. 195)
• 8.6 Summary (p. 197)
• 9 Language choice and language learning (p. 199)
• 9.1 Introduction (p. 199)
• 9.2 Patterns of first language use in foreign language classrooms (p. 200)
• 9.3 Dynamics of language choice and use (p. 205)
• 9.4 Taking responsibility, making choices (p. 209)
• 9.5 Summary (p. 213)
• 10 Assessment and language learning (p. 214)
• 10.1 Issues in assessing children's language learning (p. 214)
• 10.2 Principles for assessing children's language learning (p. 218)
• 10.3 Key concepts in assessment (p. 222)
• 10.4 Teacher assessment of language learning (p. 228)
• 10.5 Self-assessment and learner autonomy (p. 233)
• 10.6 Use of assessment information (p. 238)
• 10.7 Messages from assessment (p. 240)
• 11 Issues around teaching children a foreign language (p. 241)
• 11.1 Review of ideas (p. 241)
• 11.2 The need for research (p. 242)
• 11.3 The need to develop pedagogy (p. 243)
• 11.4 Teaching foreign languages to children (p. 246)
• References (p. 247)
• Index (p. 256)