TEACHING ACROSS AGE LEVELS

CHILDREN TEENAGERS ADULTS

Popular tradition would have you believe that It is of course too absolute Although many of the
children are effortless second language learners and to consider that a child "rules" for teaching
far superior to adults in their eventual success. On ceases to be a child at the children can apply in
both counts, some qualifications are in order. age of puberty and that all some ways to teaching
First, children's widespread success in acquiring of the rules of adult adults, the latter age
second language belies a tremendous subconscious teaching suddenly apply! group pose some
effort devoted to the task. As you have discovered in It is therefore appropriate different, special
other reading, children exercise a good deal of both to consider briefly the sort considerations for the
cognitive and affective effort in order to internalize of variables that apply in classroom teacher.
both native and second languages. The difference the teaching of "young Adults have superior
between children and adults (that is, persons beyond adults", "teens", and high cognitive abilities that
the age of puberty) lies primarily in the contrast school-age children whose can render them more
between the child's spontaneous, peripheral attention ages range between successful in certain
to language forms and the adult's overt, focal twelve and eighteen or so. classroom endeavors.
awareness of and attention to those forms. Therefore, The "terrible teens" are an Their need for sensory
the popular notion about children holds only if age of transition, input can rely a little
"effort" refers, rather narrowly, to focal attention confusion, self- more on their
(sometimes thought of as "conscious attention" to consciousness, growing, imaginations ("imagine"
language forms. and changing bodies and smelling a rose vs.
Second, adults are not necessarily less successful in minds. What a challenge actually smelling a rose).
their efforts. Studies have shown that adults, in fact, for the teacher! Teens are Their level of shyness
can be superior in a number of aspects of acquisition. in between childhood and can be equal to or
They can learn and retain a larger vocabulary. They adulthood, and therefore greater than that of
can utilize various deductive and abstract processes to a very special set of children, but adults'
shortcut the learning of grammatical and other considerations applies to cognitive abilities, they
linguistic concepts. And, in classroom learning, their teaching them. Perhaps can at least occasionally
superior intellect usually helps them to learn faster because of the enigma of deal with language that
than a child. So, while children's fluency and teaching teenagers, little isn't embedded in a
naturalness are often the envy of adults struggling is specifically said in the "here and now" context.
with second languages, the context of classroom language-teaching field So, as you consider five
instruction may introduce some difficulties to children about teaching at this variables that apply to
learning a second language. level. Nevertheless, some children, keep in mind
Third, the popular claim fails to differentiate very thoughts are worth some specific
young children (twelve to thirteen) and the whole verbalizing, even if in the suggestions and caveats.
range of ages in between. There are actually many form of simple reminders. 1. Adults are more able
instances of six-to-twelve-years-old-children 1. Intellectual capacity to handle abstract rules
manifesting significant difficulty in acquiring a second adds abstract operational and concepts. But
language for a multitude of reasons. Ranking high on thought around the age of beware! As you know,
that list of reasons are a number of complex personal, twelve. Therefore, some too much abstract
social, cultural e political factors at play in elementary sophisticated intellectual generalization about
school education. processing is increasingly usage and not enough
Teaching ESL to school-age children, therefore, is not possible. Complex real-life language use can
merely a matter of setting them loose on a plethora of problems can be solved be deadly for adults, too.
authentic language tasks in the classroom. To with logical thinking. This 2. Adults have longer
successfully teach children a second language requires means that linguistic attention span for
specific skills and intuitions that differ from those metalanguage can now, material that may not be
appropriate for adult teaching. Five categories may theoretically, have some intrinsically interesting
help five some practical approaches to teaching impact. But the success of to them. But, again, the
children. any intellectual endeavor rule of keeping your
1. Intellectual Development will be a factor of the activities short and
An elementary school teacher once asked her attention a learner places sweet applies also to
students to take a piece of paper and pencil and write on the task; therefore, if a adult-age teaching.
something. A little boy raised his hand and said, learner is attending to self, 3. Sensory input need
"Teacher, I ain't got no pencil". The teacher, to appearance, to being not always be quite as
somewhat perturbed by his grammar, embarked on a accepted, to sexual varied with adults, but
barrage of corrective patterns: "I don't have a pencil. thoughts, to a weekend one of the secrets of
You don't have a pencil. We don't have pencils." party, or whatever, the lively adult classes is
Confused and bewildered, the child answered, "Ain't intellectual task at hand their appeal to multiple
nobody got no pencils?" may suffer. senses.
Since children (up to the age of about eleven) are still 2. Attention spans are 4. Adults often bring a
in an intellectual stage of what Piaget (1972) called lengthening as a result of modicum of general self-
"concrete operations", we need to remember their intellectual maturation, confidence (global self-
limitations. Rules, explanations, and other even but once again, with many esteem) into a
slightly abstract talk about language must be diversions present in a classroom; the fragility
approached with extreme caution. Children are teenager's life, those of egos may therefore
centered on the here and now, on the functional potential attention spans not be quite as critical as
purposes of language. They have little appreciation can easily be shortened. those of children. Yet we
for our adult notions of "correctness", and they 3. Varieties of sensory should never
certainly cannot grasp the metalanguage we use to input are still important, underestimate the
describe and explain linguistic concepts. Some rules of but, again, increasing emotional factors that
thumb for the classroom: capacities for abstraction may be attendant to
* Don't explain grammar using terms like "present lessen the essential nature adult second language
progressive" or "relative clause." of appealing to all five learning.
* Rules stated in abstract terms ("To make a senses. 5. Adults, with their
statement into a question, you add do or does") 4. Factor surrounding ego, more developed abstract
should be avoided. self-image, and self- thinking ability, are
* Some grammatical concepts, especially at the upper esteem are at their better able to
levels of childhood, can be called to learner's pinnacle. Teens are understand a context-
attention by showing them patterns ("Notice the ing ultrasensitive to how reduced segment of
at the end of the word") and examples ("This is the others perceive their language. Authenticity
way we say it when it´s happening right now: I´m changing physical and and meaningfulness are
walking to the door"). emotional selves along of course still highly
* Certain more difficult concepts or patterns require with their mental important, but in adult
more repetition than adults need. For example, capabilities. One of the language teaching, a
repeating certain patterns "without boring students" most important concerns teacher can take
may be necessary to get the brain and the ear to of the secondary school temporary digressions to
cooperate. Unlike the scene with the little boy who teacher is to keep self- dissect and examine
had no pencil, children must understand the meaning esteem high by: a) isolated linguistic
and relevance of repetitions. avoiding embarrassment properties, as long as
2. Attention Span of students at all costs; b) students are returned to
One of the salient differences between adults and affirming each person's the original context.
children is attention span. First, it is important to talent and strengths; c) Some implications for
understand what attention span means. Put children allowing mistakes and general classroom
in front of a TV showing a favorite cartoon and they other errors to be management can be
will stay revited for the duration. So, you cannot make accepted; d) de- drawn from what we
a sweeping claim that children have short attention emphasizing competition know about differences
spans! But short attention spans do come into play between classmates, and; between children and
when children have to deal with material that to them e) encouraging small- adults. Some
is boring, useless, or too difficult. Since language group work where risks management "do's" and
lessons can at times be difficult for children, your job can be taken more easily "don'ts"
is to make them interesting, lively and fun. How do by a teen. 1. Do remember that
you do that? 5. Secondary school even though adults
* Because children are focused on the immediate students are of course cannot express complex
here and now, activities should be designed to becoming increasingly thinking in the new
capture their immediate interest. adultlike in their ability to language, they are
make those occasional nevertheless intelligent
* A lesson needs a variety of activities to keep interest diversions from the "here adults with mature
and attention alive. and now" nature to cognition and adult
* A teacher needs to be animated, lively and immediate communicative emotions. Show respect
enthusiastic about the subject matter. Consider the contexts to dwell on a for the deeper thoughts
classroom a stage on which you are the lead actor; grammar point or and feelings that may be
your energy will be infectious. While you may think vocabulary item. But as in "trapped" for the
that you're overdoing it children need this teaching adults, care must moment by a low
exaggeration to keep spirits buoyed and minds alert. be taken not to insult proficiency level.
* A sense of humor will go a long way to keep children them with stilted language 2. Don't treat adults in
laughing and learning. Since children's humor is quite or to bore them with your class like children
different from adults', remember to put yourself in overanalysis. by: a) calling them
their shoes. "kids"; b) using
* Children have a lot of natural curiosity. Make sure "caretaker" talk (the way
you tap into that curiosity whenever possible, and you parents talk to children);
will thereby help to maintain attention and focus. c) talking down to them.
3. Sensory Input 3. Do give your students
Children need to have all five senses stimulated. Your as many opportunities as
activities should strive to go well beyond the visual possible to make choices
and auditory modes that we feel are usually sufficient (cooperative learning)
for a classroom. about what they will do
* Pepper your lessons with physical activity, such as in and out of the
having students act out things (role-play), play games, classroom. That way,
or do TPR activities. they can more effectively
* Projects and other hands-on activities for a long way make an investment in
toward helping children to internalize language. their own learning
Small-group science projects, for example, are process.
excellent ways to get them to learn words and 4. Don't discipline adults
structures and to practice meaningful language. the same way as
Sensory aids here and there help children to children. If discipline
internalize concepts. The smell of flowers, the touch problems occur
of plants and fruits, the taste of foods, liberal doses of (disrespect, laughing,
audiovisual aids like videos, pictures, tapes, music - all disrupting class, etc.),
are important elements in children's language first assume that your
teaching. students are adults who
* Remember that your own nonverbal language is can be reasoned with
important because children will indeed attend very like adults.
sensitively to your facial features, gestures, and
touching.
4. Affective Factors
A common myth is that children are relatively
unaffected by the inhibitions that adults find to be a
block to learning. Not so! Children are often
innovative in language forms but still have a great
many inhibitions. They are extremely sensitive,
especially to peers. What do others think of me?
What will so-and-so think when I speak English?
Children are in many ways much more fragile than
adults. Their egos are still being shaped, and therefore
the slightest nuances of communication can be
negatively interpreted. Teachers need to help them to
overcome such potential barriers to learning.
* Help your students to laugh with each other at
various mistakes that they all make.
* Be patient and supportive to build self-esteem, yet
at the same time be firm in your expectations of
students.
* Elicit as much oral participation as possible from
students, especially the quieter ones, to give them
plenty of opportunities for trying things out.
5. Authentic, Meaningful Language
Children are focused on what this new language can
actually be used for here and now. They are less
willing to put up with language that doesn't hold
immediate rewards for them. Your classes can ill
afford to have an overload of language that is neither
authentic nor meaningful.
* Children are good at sensing language that is not
authentic; therefore, "canned" or stilted language will
likely be rejected.
* Language needs to be firmly context embedded.
Story lines, familiar situations and characters, real-life
conversations, meaningful purposes in using language
- these will establish a context within which language
can be received and sent and thereby improve
attention and retention. Context-reduced language in
abstract, isolated, unconnected sentences will be
much less readily tolerated by children's minds.
* A whole language approach is essential. If language
is broken into too many bits and pieces, students
won't see the relationship to the whole. And stress
the interrelationships among the various skills
(listening, speaking, reading and writing), or they
won't see important connections.
It takes a very special person to be able to teach
children effectively. Along with all these guidelines, an
elementary school teacher develops a certain
intuition with increasing months and years of
experience. If you don't yet have the experience, you
will in due course time. Meanwhile, you must begin
somewhere, and these rules of thumb will help.

(Excerpt from the book “Teaching by principles”, written by the professor and linguist Henry Douglas Brown.)