Teach English in Qingtuo Zhen - Linyi Shi

Ability to speak English nowadays is an important life skill in order to interact in the society. English has become a necessity for modern society in global life. In Globalization, English is a link between people all around the world (International). As a result, today there is no single field of our life that does not involve English terminologies. The community is trying to understand English even though it is only limited by knowing the meaning of the words. Learning languages (include English) generally for young learners is easy to be learned. As a human, we can speak our first language (mother tongue). We acquire our first language without a lot of significant difficulties. We don't even remember and don't feel that we have learned a language because we do not have to learn it formally, memorize many words, structures, and various other learning activities. There are several advantages of children in learning languages, compared to adults: 1. Children are always curious about new things and not ashamed to ask. For example, if they hear the word "Oh my God" they will immediately ask what it means. 2. Children have tendencies to imitate their surrounding, either from other children or adults (caregivers, family members, or teachers). For example, if the children observed people in their environment said 'please', 'sorry', 'excuse me' or 'thank you' in various contexts, they would also imitate the use of the same phrases in the same or similar situations. 3. Children do not have any linguistic barriers because of the mastery of incomplete mother tongue. That is, if they learn English, they will be able to accept English as is, without having to compare it with their mother tongue. Children are basically active learners. Therefore, English learning for children must be in accordance with the characteristics of the child (concrete activities) and must be enjoyable such as through playing, singing and communicating every day. As an English teacher, we need to pay attention to the language use in the class: 1. Must be simple and clear, 2. Motivating students to speak English, 3. Walking around the classroom to help students who get difficulties, 4. Using various techniques and activities so students don't get bored, 5. Giving students to move to practice what they learn, 6. Creating an enjoyable situation to develop a positive attitude towards English. We can use pictures and objects around the class. 7. Preparing everything before teaching (activities, media, teaching materials). Here are the methods of teaching English for young learners: 1. Total Physical Response Method This method was developed by James Asher, the psychology professor at San Jose State University in California. This is a suitable method for teaching English in early childhood and also for adults where learning is more focused on physical movement activities. In the TPR method, Asher said that the more frequent or more intensive memory get stimulation, the stronger the memory association is related and the easier to recall (recalling). We do this activity verbally with motion activity (motor activity).Furthermore, Asher also concluded that the emotional factors are very effective in children's language learning which means learning languages by physical movement will reduce the pressure of learning a language. He believes that with happiness in children (positive mood) will have a good impact on children's language learning. The teacher gives simple instruction and the children physically respond to this:jump, run, take the ball etc 2. Teaching English by using songs This is one method to teach English by singing or using songs as the media. The advantages of teaching English using songs: 1. It will motivate children to enjoy learning English. 2. By singing children become easier to understand the teaching material delivered. The ability of teachers to choose songs and create movements will also have a good impact on the process of learning English in early childhood. 3. Children will be happy, not bored, and interested to participate in the learning process. 3. Teaching English by using games Benefits of using games in English learning: 1. The learning process becomes more interesting 2. Student learning process become more interactive 3. The time of the learning process will be more effective 4. It can improve student language ‘skills 5. The learning process can occur anywhere and anytime 6. The role of the teacher can be more positive and productive 4. Teaching English with stories Another fun way to improve English skills is by reading short stories. Good short stories paint a picture in the children's head. Reading stories is a great way to improve your vocabulary. Short stories also use language naturally with simple sentences, so they're great for improving our language skills fluency. We can use short stories for teaching English for young learners. It can help children to read and easy to understand the story. Here the steps of teaching English using stories: 1.Using the media such as puppets, doll, toys etc. teacher must memorize the story first 2.Creating a fun, make children curious about the stories we will read 3.Before telling a story, make an agreement with the children that no one asking before the teacher completes the story. 4.Reading the story with good expression, low and high tones voice, try to make a different sound for each character of the story 5.After the teacher read the story, ask the children to review the storytelling and also we can open the question and answer session.