Teach English in Nianzi Zhen - Hanzhong Shi

One of the pillars of language appears to be an insurmountable challenge with no end for language learners but is also an awarding one that opens the heart of the language: vocabulary. With multiple, controversial estimates, with debates on what a “word” is, putting the number of words a native English speaker knows from around 20,000 active vocabulary words and 40,000 passive vocabulary words to 20,000/120,000 for highly educated speakers, and with some saying 5,000/20,000 words are needed for L2 language proficiency, this can seem arduous and never-ending, enough to scare young EFL learners. Despite this, young learners are in a good position to absorb many words in activities instead of necessarily using flashcards, and the younger they are, the more receptive they are to certain games that may annoy adult learners with overuse. With special care from the teacher, unlocking vocabulary word-by-word can be a fun and rewarding experience for both parties, unlocking a new world to learners everywhere. First, a teacher should know the tricks and methods they can use to teach vocabulary. One of these is picking up new words in a language-immersion setting. While adults can and do still pick up new words by hearing them in native contexts, young learners with their developing brains are especially receptive to subconsciously picking up words as they are already doing this with their native language. The teacher will have to watch their vocabulary to keep it simple for the students to aid this process, but so long as the teacher is careful not to overload the students this can be an educational boon. Another method is through using their creative and physical sides to aid introduced vocabulary memorization. While adults and teenagers would be embarrassed to act out an elephant to remember the word “elephant”, really young learners love this. Activities can be done where students and the teacher act out the words to make the classroom livelier and help embed the words. This can be extended to creative activities like art projects, activating their creative sides. Language theories proclaim that activating these active and creative sides of the brain can assist in activating the linguistic side, aiding vocabulary memorization. In addition, songs and chants can also be used, keeping a fun atmosphere and turning memorizing words into a game. With all this said, it is important that the words the teacher introduces stick to a central theme, like sports, animals, etc. When the words are related, practice situations and activities can be implemented to use to practice and ingrain the vocabulary; when they are not, it will be hard to make practice sentences or connect them in the brain, turning the vocabulary learning akin to flashcard learning which young learners are not receptive to nor does it play to their strengths. These are all strategies teachers can use to teach vocabulary or are factors affecting vocabulary learning in young EFL learners, but one should not forget to consider what “knowing a word” means. Turning the attention to “knowing” the words themselves, to know a word, one has to be able to pronounce it, use it, spell it, and recognize it in both written and spoken formats. We could simplify this to considering a word’s audio component, written component, and correct usage. Between the first two, among young EFL learners, the audial component is the one that’s more quickly picked up and more important to know. Young EFL learners are very receptive to an active, lively, non-quiet classroom that exposes them to the words and practice situations, while they would get bored quickly with solitarily working on written material and long homework more apropos to older learners. In addition, their writing and reading skills are still developing, so one cannot expect a young learner to write and read as well as they can speak, at least compared to older and adult learners with longer attention spans and more refined literary skills. Moreover, referencing the active and passive vocabulary above, 5 active vocabulary words are more useful than 20 passive ones (which tend to be literary-only terms anyway,) especially for young learners whose language needs will focus on audio active words at that stage. In addition, in the starter and lower levels young EFL learners are at, correct pronunciation is very important; they need it for a solid standing for their future language learning. Overall, much of the focus of language learning in the classroom of young EFL learners will be more effectively given to the audio component of words. Reading, writing, and spelling are still very important skills to teach. Nonetheless, this all culminates to the requirement to maximize young learners’ language learning through the audio part of the language and not accidentally handicapping the classroom by focusing heavily on spelling and writing. If the students at their age level are going to naturally have a hard time writing five sentences in a row in their native language, with spelling and letter sizing mistakes, they should not be expected to be better in English. To reiterate, writing and reading are still skills equally important to speaking and listening skills, and the teacher should teach the words by showing the written form along with pronouncing it and have activities that practice written recognition through word-picture recognition and the like, but the teacher must focus a class on teaching 10-20 animal vocabulary words and having the students being able to pronounce it correctly, not focusing on mainly correcting “elephent” and “kat” and drilling spelling. A good audio basis will give the young learners a strong foundation to build from with future audio and literary learning when their brains are more developed being learning more through written works. Teaching vocabulary can be a long task that terrifies learners and teachers alike, but with well-crafted activities and careful consideration of all the factors and what is important for young EFL learners, it can be an entertaining one that opens a whole new world to so many at such a young age.