Teach English in Sanjia Zhen - Jincheng Shi

Throughout the undertaking of this TOEFL course, I have also been teaching English to a class of kindergartners of ages ranging from 3 to 5 year old as part of an apprenticeship. At first, I was just following the lesson plans provided by my employer without really seeing the logic behind them, wondering if they were just a series of songs, games and activities in simple English that could be cobbled together by just anyone. However, as I learned more and more about the ESA methodology from my online course, I started to discern a pattern in the lesson structure that I would later be able to use to create my own lesson plans when I found the supplied material lacking or unfit for the needs of my class. First of all, it is worth noting that when teaching to such young kids, our main priority should be letting the children absorb English phonology, in order to become accustomed to its intonation patterns and pronunciation in the period of their life when they are most receptive to language, so that English will not sound as alien as it can for older learners that have never experienced it. In terms of skill development, we will only be dealing with one receptive skill (listening) and one productive skill (speaking), as the learners will usually be too young for reading and writing, even in their own language. It also goes without saying that kindergarten students are not yet privy to the abstract concept of grammar, so most of their learning will happen by modeling the teacher. Consequently, the topics of the lessons should cover basic vocabulary and sentences that children are familiar with in their everyday routines, thus limiting the teaching materials to flashcards representing different situations (e.g., the different kinds of weather) and well-known objects (best implemented with realia). The teaching equipment should also include various toys to be used for activities and a whiteboard, which can be useful for impromptu drawings or to pin flashcards with magnets so that they are visible during language drills and games. We must also not underestimate the role of discipline with students this young, who can be quite unruly and disruptive if not sufficiently motivated. A strategy I have found effective would be focusing the first lessons on maintaining a manageable teaching environment in class by teaching students different chants designed to show the children how to sit properly and to encourage them to speak English and not their own language, rewarding the complying students with emphatic shows of praise (enthusiasm is crucial to properly engage with young students). It is also a good idea to implement a more long-term reward system to help keep motivation levels high throughout the lessons, for example handing out stickers at the end of the week to students that were well-behaved and have shown interest in the activities. Let’s now examine a typical ESA lesson plan aimed at kindergartners. We should write them while bearing in mind an ideal length of thirty minutes, as a longer period would be too demanding of the children’s attention span. For the Engage phase, I have found that the best way to start lessons with young children is to sing a song they know very well from past lessons, ideally ones that stimulates them physically as well as mentally (e.g., a song that requires them to pantomime a feeling followed by a physical activity, such as “If you’re happy, clap your hands”), or to ask each of them simple questions about topics that have already been covered (“How is the weather today?” “How are you?” “What colors do you like?”). Proper games should be saved for the Study and Activate phases, as they are the core activities in this kind of learning environment, requiring the most concentration and thinking. In the Study phase, we can use flashcards, realia, songs and pantomime to introduce topics. For example, to make the children familiarize with English phonics, my lesson plans used a combination of flashcards representing animals or objects that correspond to a phoneme and a gesture, usually taken from the American Sign Language, to help retain the information (for example, Alligator for æ, with hands opening and closing to imitate the mouth of the animal). After drilling a series of new vocabulary flashcards, “Swat it!” is a good and simple game to have the kids use their newly-acquired knowledge, played by laying the cards on the ground, handing a flyswatter to a child and having them repeat and swat the card the teacher calls out. Of course, given their young age and limited vocabulary, the games should always be explained using as few words as possible and by acting out what the teacher wants the students to do. The Activate phase can be pretty limited, especially in the first lessons where the children learn basic vocabulary and fixed sentences through modeling, limiting their ability to create their own sentences, as more advanced students would do. However, there are definitely ways to have the children produce their own language. An example would be, after a Study phase where the teacher says “I like green, red, etc…” and while pointing at colors, an Activate phase where the teacher asks each student “What color do you like?” and lets the student choose their own color and say “I like X”. In conclusion, teaching English to kindergartners is definitely possible and even advisable, as young children still learning their own mother tongue are in their most linguistically receptive period of their life. However, choosing the right teaching methodology is key, even more so than when teaching adults, and well-calibrated, short ESA lesson can definitely make the best strategy.