22/06/2013 22nd BETA-IATEFL Annual International Conference

ELT Tendencies in Pre-school and Primary School

Education

Rumyana TodorovaShumen University,

Bulgaria

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Background information

FLT – factor for a culturally-grounded school education

Emphasis on other cultures and intercultural communication

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Aspects of early FLL Early FLT – from grade 2 (age 8-9) (even

earlier) since 2002/3 in Bulgaria Reasons: Intellectual abilities and emotional drive

for acquiring languages Psychological arguments: child’s brain

has capacity for remembering info more easily

Acquiring skills for learning a FL

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ET 2020 Strategy Start school at an early age Learning from each other

http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/framework_en.htm

‘Having an equal start’ before becoming 1st grade pupils http://www.minedu.government.bg/news-home/2012/12-12-08_pozicia-4godishni.html

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AIMS of pre-school & primary school education

Up to 1970s: communication through the FL

Since 1990s: communication across cultures through FL

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Hints:

Asking for favour Greeting elderly people Greeting their peers Greeting parents Apologizing

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ASPECTS: Cognitive: FL knowledge Emotional: celebration of national

and other countries’ holidays Pragmatic aspects for FLL: knowing

about other people’s cultures through their language

CLIL (Content & Language Integrated Learning)

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COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK (CEF) OF

REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGES (1998). Parametres:

multilingual communicative competence;

life-long language education; constructing curricula; achieving partial competence for

various education goals.

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MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES: Gardner 1983 http://theoriesincareertech.wikispaces.com/Theory+of+Multiple+Intelligen

ce

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Every learner should be taught in different way according to their individual intelligences

FL material presented differently activated in different situations and cultural settings

(see Gardner, H., Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Basic Books, 1983; McCormick, C. B. Child and Adolescent Development for Educators. New York: The Guilford Press, 2007)

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TENDENCIES IN BULGARIA

95% of children b/n the age of 4 & the age for starting compulsory primary education should participate in early childhood education

Children learning from their peers Involving parents actively in early

childhood education

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Primary Education Prerequisites Children’s ways of learning:- holistic;- concrete;- action-based;- by way of imitation (pronunciation,

intonation based on Cartoon Network, friends’ & parents’ way of communication, etc.)

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Goals of early FLL

to understand short adapted and abridged texts while listening to them;

to communicate using simple sentences and phrases;

to understand the main idea while reading short texts;

to use glossaries, tables and graphs that go with course books.

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PREREQUISITES FOR EARLY FL EDUCATION Early foreign language acquisition puts

an emphasis not so much on the acquisition of the language than on the fact that pupils should be aware of the existence of other cultures and should develop competencies for intercultural communication along with the development of their intellectual and linguistic abilities (see Parapulska 2001: 33-36).

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DISADVANTAGES Young children easily distracted; Can’t concentrate for a long time

WAY OUT: They should be taught the FL by using toys &

games with a lot of motion & action

ARGUMENT: Nowadays small kids spend most of their time

watching TV or playing computer games not paying attention to any toys they have

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Using games for young learners of English. Reasons:

children easily distracted can’t concentrate for a long time play not by necessity but for pleasure games provoke curiosity games require discipline and rules games provide easier acquisition of

language material

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source for ‘soft skills’ (e.g. team work, cooperation, concentration, creativity, etc.; priorities of EC strategies for all education levels )

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Children in games are:

Creative even if following rules; Highly motivated; More concentrated; More competitive; Willing to win

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competitiveness (positive & negative)

positive effects on children if played properly (why?)

easier acquisition of language material

adequate reactions depending on situation (positive & negative)

thinking outside the box/frame

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

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Games driving force of human progress;

One of most important components in games related to curiosity(J. Heusinga, M. I. Gurevich http://www.springerlink.com/content/v716822w28380981/).

yet, too many games: stress, boredom & lack of interest

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Evaluate process when using games in FLT together with results

Take into account psychology of games

Re-group children if there are losers in group

THINGS FL TEACHERS DON’T ALWAYS DO WHEN USING GAMES

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EXAMS FOR CHILDREN/YOUNG LEARNERS No more than an hour long

(reason: children’s attention unstable)

Format in accordance with age group characteristics, i.e. in the form of games (interestingness)

Examiners advised to stop exam for a while, take children out, play other games

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CONCLUSIONS

FL games: necessity & challenge Social activities teaching children do

things in team Focus on consideration for others Require different reactions for

different situations in games Proportion of games in FL classroom

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Emphasis on global & constantly changing world by using Internet games

Acquisition of knowledge in other fields

Mastering of reading & comprehension skills – a drawback in Bulgarian educational system

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NEED FOR RETHINKING BG EDUCATIONAL POLICIES

learners’ illiteracy as stated by Bulgaria’s Centre for Demographic Policy in an EC report (see http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=147520)

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Bulgarian children rank second after Belgium, Holland, Denmark & Estonia for using Internet & first in Europe for chatting on Internet

BG children illiterate but great on using Internet

This negative issue should be turned into positive in FLT by using Internet games for words & phrases they can easily identify

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BUT

Not leave them live and dream in their virtual reality

Present real-life situations by playing with toys & games in a guided way

Children of the new era lack these skills and qualities

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LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Teach young learners specificities of different cultures through FL

Teach them to be TOLERANT to the Other

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REFERENCES:

Gardner, H. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Basic Books, 1983.

Hubenova, M. “Foreign language Teaching at Primary School – Intercultural Communication Education” (in Bulgarian). In: Nachalno obrazovanie, No 4-5/2002, 15-19.

Johnson, K., K. Morrow. Communication in the Classroom. Application and Methods for a Communicative Approach. London: Longman. 1981.

McCallum, G. P. 101 Word Games: For Students of English as a Second or Foreign Language. USA: Oxford University Press, 1980.

McCormick, C. B. Child and Adolescent Development for Educators. New York: The Guilford Press, 2007

Martin, C. Games and fun activities. London: CILT, 1995. Parapulska, Y. “Foreign Language Teaching at Primary School” (in

Bulgarian). In: Nachalno uchilishte, VІІІ, No 6/2001, 33-36. Shopov, T. Foreign Language Methodology (in Bulgarian). Sofia:

Kliment Ohridski Univ. Press, 2002.

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REFERENCES: Stoichkov, R. “Foreign Language at Primary School – a

New Beginning” (in Bulgarian). In: Nachalno obrazovanie, No 4/2005, 22-23.

Todorova, R. “Advertisements – Games for Young and Old, but Mostly for Advanced” (in Bulgarian). In: Episkop Konstantinovi chetenia. Shumen, vol. 13. “Igri I igrachki”. Shumen: Konstantin Preslavski Univ. Press. 2008. 110-116.

Todorova, R., Todorov, Z. “Teaching English to Primary School Pupils: A Necessity, a Challenge or a Burden”. In: New Pathways in the Professional Development of Teachers. Eds. T. Janik, P. Knecht. Wien: LIT VERLAG GmbH & Co.KG. 2010. 290-295.

Wright, A., Betteridge, D., Buckby, M. Games for Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

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REFERENCES: http://www.minedu.government.bg/new

s-home/2012/12-12-08_pozicia-4godishni.html

http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/framework_en.htm

http://voices.yahoo.com/early-childhood-foreign-language-development-7843392.html

http://theoriesincareertech.wikispaces.com/Theory+of+Multiple+Intelligence

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REFERENCES: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Wilder_Penfield http://www.coe.int/T/DG4/Portfolio/

documents/case_studies_CEF.doc http://www.springerlink.com/content/

v716822w28380981/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=STYU-iz8bUQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=6SZFY47aIog