Teach English in Tongcheng Zhen - Yuncheng Shi

Teaching English as a foreign language in a kindergarten should be reviewed from several perspectives. Primarily the type of the kindergarten and the type of the pupils should be taken into account. The type of teaching techniques will be different in an English kindergarten placed in a non-English speaking country and in a kindergarten where the pupils have English classes only a few times a week. In both cases the children’s nationality and native language should be noticed. As a three years experienced teacher working in a British international preschool placed in Bulgaria I will analyze the question “How to support English learning students in the kindergarten?”. In this type of kindergarten children are placed in an English speaking environment and are exposed to the English language constantly. Pupils are encouraged to use the language in any type of communication linked to their daily routine. There are two main types of pupils attending such a preschool. Most of them are Bulgarians and their mother language is Bulgarian, they speak English in the kindergarten. The second type are foreign students whose native language is not Bulgarian and they speak English in the kindergarten, inevitably they start to speak Bulgarian at some point in order to communicate with the other students, and at home they speak their native language. When graduating the kindergarten the pupils are expected to speak and understand the English language and to be able to use it in common situations. Regarding to the fact that the students are very young, different and varied techniques should be applied in the learning process, mostly playful and fun activities. The content and the lesson themes should be adapted to their age and social environment. The first and most important mission of the teacher is to bond with the students and establish a daily routine in order to put the students in a safe and positive learning environment. Thus the students will feel safe to express themselves and more willing to try new things. Positive reinforcement strategies, such as rewarding good work and effort, is a great way to not only make students feel safe but also build a rapport with their teacher. It’s also very important to give students time to finish their work and patiently wait to answer the questions. Correcting errors should be made with comparison. Bearing in mind that the pupils’ native language is not English, the lessons should be as visual as possible and the level of the teacher’s language should be adapted to their age and social experience. Providing students with easy access to the English language is essential to increasing vocabulary awareness and building confidence. For example creating a visual wall where words are accompanied by a picture to help students match meanings with words is a great way to expand their vocabulary daily. One of the most beneficial for the young learners teaching techniques is “Teaching by doing”. It is of no importance whether is a craft activity, a game or just organizing the classroom and arranging the toys the ESL teacher should speak out loud everything he/she does and demonstrate concepts multiple ways to increase student understanding and reach multiple learning styles. Using visuals, close activities and graphic organizers can all aid English learning students in their learning journey. The same content can be taught multiple times using different strategies such as singing, videos, actions, stories, etc. The young learners’ teacher should not only be a teacher but also an actor/actress, a singer and an author. Teaching through different topics every week or a month is a strategy I find very useful with young learners. As their mother tongue is not English most of the pupils will have gaps of missing vocabulary at home and vice versa. All the students need to retain recently acquired English vocabulary by relating it to their own real-life experiences in order to store it in their long-term memory. That is why the lessons should be connected to their social environment or cultural background and the children should be engaged in role play activities such as “At the market”, “At home” “Celebrations”, etc. It is essential to have a book or a story that accompanies the topic of the week so the students are introduced to the new vocabulary in an engaging way. The stories are also very important for building awareness of alliteration, rhymes, structure and building vocabulary of new words and phrases. Another very important feature of kindergarten teaching that should be taken into account is the individualized needs of the students and the importance of differentiation – not just for the students who have special needs but also for mainstream students that find themselves below, at and above grade level. Differentiation goes so much further than having high, medium and low leveled worksheets and activities. Students should be allowed to choose how to display their own learning. Providing students with choice will increase their engagement. Finally yet importantly – incorporating technology. We live in a digital world - kids nowadays are growing up in a world dominated by technology tools and apps. Incorporating digital tools and technologies into the curriculum and lesson plans is a great way to reach and engage digitally-savvy students in more creative ways. Teaching young learners is very challenging and yet rewarding.