Teach English in Minsheng Zhen - Bazhong Shi

Sharing stories forms an intrinsic part of what it means to be human, and it’s important for a child’s healthy development and future success that he or she learns how to partake through reading from a young age. However, it’s easy for the rules and restrictions of the classroom, as well as the demands on attention that modern life brings, to take the joy out of reading. There are a number of tactics to combat this and to create a deep-rooted love of reading in children that will prove highly beneficial, both personally and professionally, later in life. The task of instilling the desire to read begins with parents. Demonstrating a love of reading in front of one’s child can subconsciously render them more receptive to reading for pleasure themselves. Moreover, research (1) has shown that reading to children at a young age has a significant, positive effect on their reading and cognitive skills: the traditional concept of ‘storytime’ is highly enjoyable for children and will foster a fascination with stories that is more likely to last through their teenage years. This practice can usefully be applied in the TEFL classroom, where stories become an excellent method by which to introduce the grammar and vocabulary of the target language into the child’s environment right from the start of their language-learning journey. In my experience as an ESL schoolteacher, repeatedly reading to children in English helps them get to grips with the accent of a native speaker and the pronunciation of tricky words. It’s important to note that the reading material must be of an suitable level for its target group in order for the students to gain, and not lose, confidence in their burgeoning English abilities. Furthermore, this practice of reading should be regular, consistent, and marked by appropriate praise and support. For example, in the Japanese junior high school where I work, the students’ timetable includes a daily English reading time of ten minutes, during which time 5 minutes of reading in English is followed by a short ‘question time’ period when children can check the meanings of new words and talk about their books with their teacher and each other. Their progress through increasingly challenging levels of reading material is noted with stickers and certificates, and students stuck on a particular level are able to be identified and given extra support. This incentivisation for the students to challenge themselves and ascend the levels has noticeably improved their appetite for reading. Of course, teachers must ensure that children are rewarded for progression through levels, rather than having achieved a specific level, as those still reading at a lower level or progressing more slowly than their classmates may otherwise feel discouraged. Another way to inspire a passion for reading is to expose children to a variety of different types of reading material. At home, this might mean ensuring a mix of genres in the stories parents read to their children; in the TEFL classroom this could involve switching between classic English fairytales, storybooks, and simple biographical accounts of the lives of inspirational women and men. Children who are less passionate about fictional stories may be drawn in by these real-life accounts, and vice versa. Thus they will learn that reading can open up multiple different worlds to them, and that every interest can be explored through reading. Finally (although there are many more potential strategies that might be employed to encourage children’s reading, dependent on the context and nature of the child) the local or school library should not be a daunting place, but rather a safe haven where children feel free to take risks, make mistakes and seek information for themselves. As the child grows older and becomes more independent, there are fewer opportunities for parents and teachers to direct and guide their reading habits and the child must themselves nurture the planted seed of reading. Parents should furnish their child with a library card at the earliest opportunity, encouraging them to spend time after school or in the holidays exploring their own interests and increasing their breadth of knowledge. At this stage, certain books should not be favoured over others: although some parents may not wish to see their child exclusively reading comic books, for example, these can provide an enthralling route into the complex ideas and vocabulary of more established literature. At school, the library should be an inviting environment, if possible furnished with mixed media and offering games and reading activities to entice students to pick up a text. TEFL books, which many children might shy away from due to a lack of confidence, can be presented as windows to another world, prominently displayed near the focal point of the library and illustrated with posters and photographs to evoke the new and exciting perspectives to which a knowledge of English gives access. If children keep their books a little over the arranged lending period, it’s best not to intimidate them with fines or levies but instead to welcome this as a sign of sincere engagement with the text (of course, there may be occasions when sanctions have to be made!). References (1) Reading to Young Children: A Head-Start in Life, Victoria Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Accessed on 26 July 2019. www.education.vic.gov.au/documents/about/research/readtoyoungchild.pdf.