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Teach English in Niangziguan Zhen - Yangquan Shi

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Adults and children are both equally capable of acquiring and learning English as a second language but they approach the process of learning a second language differently. Newport (1990) found that certain psychological and social factors were closely linked to the rates at which adults and young learners learned and produced a second language. Adults had certain inhibitions about practicing speaking a new language and cared about others’ reactions to their speech while children were less intimidated and were able to communicate more freely. Young children are egocentric, they see themselves as the center of attention, but not for the purpose of gratification. They benefit from individual praise and enjoy the direct attention. Adults on the other hand are extremely aware of the social group they are part of, and teachers need to ensure they all feel safe to take risks and make mistakes as part of the learning process. Trust and equity in the classroom is essential between the teacher and the adult learners. Similarly keeping an open approach, being highly interactive and tactfully managing children’s mistakes will help in teaching young learners. Learning abilities in adults do not decline with age, only health, vision and hearing are the ones influenced. Generally speaking adults are more motivated than children when learning a second language , as they are learning the same for a specific purpose be it for work or pleasure. Adults and children learn differently as in the way that their brain processes the new information. Children learn the new language in a more intuitive way, using the “deep motor area” of the brain which relates to functions done almost unconsciously like brushing teeth or wearing clothes (Malone, 2019). Children also rely on short term memory systems as opposed to adults who want long-term memory retention. Adults focus on the structure of the new language using a more active part of the brain, in order to grasp it more accurately than merely for basic communication. Adults in fact have higher cognitive abilities and their neural systems are able to understand semantic linguistic connections and grammatical rules when learning the new second language (Valipour & Asl, 2014). Children and adults aspire for different levels of proficiency when learning a second language. Simple syntax and a small range of vocabulary fulfil the communication needs of children while adults who have pre-existing language skills want a greater range of vocabulary, language competency and expressiveness when communicating. Even the lessons affect the way that children and adults learn a second language. Songs, story-telling, reading books, communication through play and verbal drilling are ways in which children acquire and learn a second language. Teachers need to keep in mind that children have a much shorter attention span than adults, they have high levels of energy and need frequent movement breaks. Rhyme, alliteration, chunking of words into syllables, labeling of items in the room, reading stories with themes or proverbs are strategies used to teach young learners. Adults on the other hand need to see how language learning applies to real life situations they face and constantly connect lessons and data with the funds of knowledge they have from past life experiences and their native language. Since adults are more autonomous and goal oriented, they may first want to know the purpose of learning something. Teachers need to take feedback from adults on the usefulness of topics being covered and if necessary modify lessons to suit the needs of the group or individual. Valipour and Asl(2014) in their study also noticed that children were able to pronounce new words of the second language, English more easily than adults who found it more difficult to learn new pronunciations. At the end of their study they noted that children learned fared better in the pronunciation part of the process while adults were able to apply grammatical rules of the new language English more effectively. References CCU online (Oct 6, 2011). How adults learn compared with Younger Learners. Colarado Christian University, Adult and Graduate Studies Blog. Retrieved from https://www.ccu.edu/blogs/cags/2011/10/how-adults-learn-compared-to-younger-learners/ Malone.J (2019) Young Children Vs Adults Learning a Second Language. The Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.theclassroom.com/young-adults-learning-second-language-6635123.html Newport E (1990). Maturational constraints on language learning. Cognitive Science 14 11-28. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15516709cog1401_2 Valipour.V & Asl.H.D (2014) DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CHILDREN AND ADULTS IN FOREIGNLANGUAGE PRONUNCIATION AND GRAMMATICAL RULES LEARNING. Indian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Life Sciences Vol. 4 (S3), pp. 195-198. Retrieved from http://www.cibtech.org/sp.ed/jls/2014/03/JLS-026-S3-036-VALIPOUR-DIFFERENCES-LEARNING.pdf


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