Teaching English to Young Learners
2007-2008 series
A series of connected workshops forming this year's IH YL Teacher Development Course. There will be 8 two-hour sessions.
Participants may enrol for all eight sessions, or for individual sessions. However, it should be noted that the sessions are designed as a cohesive series forming a course in Teacher Development for teachers of Young Learners.
Teachers attending the whole course of eight sessions will receive a certificate at the end of the course. Certificates will not be issued for single sessions.
Displays of English
Next session...
YL 8 -- Friday 16 May 2008 10.00-12.00
Would our young learners be keener to write in English if they knew their work was going to form an important part of an exhibition? Would they be more interested in perfecting their pronunciation if they knew that classroom speaking activities were a rehearsal for a public performance?
In this session, with a view to increasing their motivation we consider ways of providing our pupils with a greater audience and a wider readership for the English they produce. We shall look at examples of work done by young learners and discuss how to set up and stage this type of work in class.
Management Issues with YLS
YL 1 -- Friday 16 November 2007 10.00-12.00
What is a disciplined class? Do we all have the same definition of what it should be?
This workshop will look at how to create an atmosphere of mutual respect and learning along with providing teachers with ideas and techniques on how to deal with difficult or disruptive learners through effective classroom management skills.
Reading in Class
YL 2 -- Friday 14 December 2007 10.00-12.00
Do your pupils groan when you ask them to read the texts in their course book? How do you know that they are actually reading when the room goes silent and all you can see are the tops of their heads? Is time spent on reading in class time well spent? In this highly practical session we shall consider some of the "problems" of getting young learners to read in class. We shall look at some tried and trusted techniques for engaging our pupils in reading and a selection of fun activities for getting them to notice the language used in texts.
Teaching Very Young Learners (5-7 year olds)
YL 3 -- Friday 18 January 2008 10.00-12.00
Many teachers are asked to teach 5-7 year olds without being able to answer the following questions: What can we expect from them? How much can they cope with in English? How can we provide successful and motivating tasks for them if we don't know their limitations?
This session will look at the characteristics of the learners in this age group and address basic principles for teaching such young learners and hopefully, by the end of the session, equip the participants with some successful and stimulating task types / activities.
Using stories and drama in the language classroom
YL 4 -- Friday 15 February 2008 10.00-12.00
Stories are the most realistic way to integrate language if the learning process is to be a reflection on first language acquisition. Stories help us, as teachers, to provide a meaningful and memorable context for the children in our classes.
This session will look at how to integrate stories for language purposes, building lexis and developing awareness in our learners of the world around them.
Working with minimum materials
YL 5 -- Friday 7 March 2008 10.00-12.00
This session will look at ways to integrate Dogme style teaching through games. (No photocopies or little bits of cut up paper that we always drop or loose!) Every teacher of young learners needs a good repertoire of short and snappy games that can be integrated into lessons - games that not only offer effective language practice but which also afford regular and necessary changes of pace and focus and at the same time help the learners to focus on the content rather than the props around language learning.
You'll leave the session with 20 such games, none of which requires photocopies or extra resources!
Arts and Craft in the language classroom
YL 6 -- Friday 4 April 2008 10.00-12.00
Getting a young learner to make or create something is always a memorable process for the child.
This session will focus on ideas and practical suggestion for incorporating arts and craft work in the language classroom with very young learners.
Developing writing and using L1 as a teaching tool
YL 7 -- Friday 25 April 2008 10.00-12.00
Many teachers are different opinions about the use of L1 in the classroom. This session aims to provide suggestions and practical ideas on how to get the most out of this resource but at the same time encourage L2 learning.
These questions will be covered in the session:
- How can we make use of L1?
- How can we adapt materials to use in the classroom?
- How can we encourage the learners to develop their writing skills in L2?
Displays of English
YL 8 -- Friday 16 May 2008 10.00-12.00
Details above.
See also
Previous "Young Learners" series
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