Laboratorio di lingua inglese 3 Listen and do 1
Each time you speak in English you are giving your pupils an opportunity: to acquire the language to absorb the sounds and patterns of the language naturally They don t need to speak immediately, they need to understand just enough to follow your instructions. 2
Giving instructions in English It is very easy to use your mother tongue when asking children to sit, stand, or move around in preparation for another activity. It is often easier and quicker. But your aim is to teach them English, not to be quick. At first, while telling them what to do in English, you can use gestures and demonstrate what you want them to do. After a few days, they will understand without your gestures, and they will have learnt a lot more English. 3
Meaning, not grammar If there is no context, there is no meaning Use English to communicate with your pupils. They will guess the meaning from the context, later they will remember and learn the words Use pictures and gestures with new words Meaning is more important than structure Focus on vocabulary; don t worry about grammar Teach and use lots of chunks (phrases), rather than single words, as these combine vocabulary and grammar 4
The four skills We divide language ability into 4 skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing Listening and reading are receptive they relate to understanding Speaking and writing are productive they relate to meaning creation When people learn languages they understand more than they can produce This is true for learners of all ages This is true for all languages (mother tongue included) 5
The four skills Young children don t read or write (or, not very well). Their listening skills are better than yours! Children learn best by listening and watching, then taking action It is normal for young children to understand spoken words, but be unable to respond verbally. They can respond instead with actions and gestures 6
Listening How do we know if a child understands when s/he listens? He or she can DO something carry out instructions (e.g. stand up, touch something) identify something (e.g. colour in a picture correctly) make something He or she can SAY something remember or suggest a word, e.g. chocolate repeat a phrase, e.g. I m here when the roll is called 7
Listening The main types of listening exercise are... Listen and identify Children point to things Listen and do Children do actions Total Physical Response Listen and make Children follow instructions and make something Listen and repeat Children listen and try to imitate as well as they can Listen for information Children listen to discover information, perhaps to complete a picture or a written text Listen to stories Children listen for pleasure 8
Listening and identifying There are generally two stages to listen and identify activities. 1. Talk to the children about the things you want them to learn the names of: Look, here s my bag. Now, what have I got in here? There s a book, that s my English book... And my pencil box, with my pencils in it... Look... I ll open it. Here are my pencils... some coloured pencils. One, two, three, four pencils... 2. Ask the children to point to or show you the things when you name them 9
Listening and identifying Page 22 / CD track 15 10
Listening and identifying Now listen to a teacher in class He has put two pictures on the board. One is a picture of a boy, the other is a picture of a girl. They are both alike, both wearing the same colours, carrying the same schoolbags, doing the same things. But there are a few differences. 11
Listening and identifying Page 22 / CD track 16 12
Listening and identifying He wants the children to hear the words HE and SHE, and associate them with the boy and the girl (grammatical awareness) Similar exercise: distinguish singular vs. plural using cards with one or more items on He also wants the children to absorb where colour adjectives come in English (=exposure to language) You don t teach grammar explicitly, but you can help children discover meanings and acquire a feeling for what is grammatically accurate 13
Listening and identifying For listen and identify activities you can use: The classroom and all the things the children can see, such as wall charts, pictures, and picture cards Cuisenaire rods or coloured bricks or blocks for colour words or size words Objects that you/children bring in Objects that children draw or make from paper, plasticine, or other craft materials 14
Total Physical Response Total Physical Response is a teaching method in which children listen and follow a whole sequence of instructions, doing what the teacher says. It s a good way to start using English for communication in the classroom. The teacher tells the pupils what to do, using clear pronunciation and natural intonation (the first time you use TPR you can explain in the mother tongue before you start) helps them understand by gestures or by doing the actions. The pupils have to listen carefully to the instructions can do the actions as a group or individually do not have to speak (but often do!) understand because the movement and language go together. (video) 15 "The Total Physical Response Approach to Second Language Learning" by James J. Asher. The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Jan., 1969), pp. 3-17
TPR activities 1 (actions) The most basic TPR is when children copy the teacher and listen to what she says. Page 24 / CD track 18
TPR activities 2 (vocabulary) You can use TPR activities for (topic-based) vocabulary practice. TEACHER: Now... listen carefully. Now everyone who s wearing jeans... stand up. (Child wearing jeans stands up.) TEACHER: OK. Good. Now... Now, if you are wearing a T- shirt, come up here. Lucy with seven to eight year olds. (Track 19) You could do something similar to practise colours: If you are wearing something blue, put your hand up... If you've got on something green, stand on one leg... 17
TPR activities 3 (games) Simon says is a very popular action game. tell the children to listen carefully - they can only move when you say Simon says explain that if you don t say Simon says, they must keep still tell them if they move when you do not say Simon says -they are out (eliminated from the game) TEACHER: Put up your hands (No one moves.) Simon says... put up your hands. (Children put hands up) TEACHER: Very good. Simon says... put your hands on your heads. Brian with eight to nine year olds. Page 30 / CD track 26 18
TPR activities - 4 (songs) If you re happy and you know it... -Clap your hands -Stamp your feet -Snap your fingers -Blow a kiss - Shout hurray -... (x2) If you re happy and you know it, and you really want to show it, if you re happy and you know it (action above) 19
TPR activities arranging the class: giving instructions in English 20
Teacher talk recalling routines Teachers ask questions but answer them themselves! This helps the pupils to learn the words which go with the actions What do we do when we are learning a new song? when we are having a story? when we're reading a big book? after cutting out and sticking? at the end of the lesson? when we're going to play 'follow the leader? everybody stand up come up and sit on the mat come and stand round the board everyone come out here to the front clear everything up nicely line up - one behind the other get our/your bags line up in rows beside our/your tables push the front desks/tables back line up quietly by the door Page 25-26 21
Listening and performing - Miming When children are familiar with the vocabulary used for a particular topic, you can introduce mime. Miming = acting silently, without speaking Miming is more complex than simple TPR activities: TPR involves children doing everything you say, while mime gives them more freedom to be creative. They have to listen carefully when you describe what they have to mime They have to decide how to perform what you describe ( allow for some thinking time) They don t have to speak 22
Listening and performing - Miming Mime is very suitable for stories: as you read, ask the children to mime key actions. You can also let individuals /pairs/groups mime and let the rest of the class guess what they are doing. Give VYLs one instruction at a time. Increase the number of instructions in a sequence as learners progress Listening and miming helps children understand when they are learning rhymes and chants 23
Listening and performing Page 27 / CD track 23 SEE ALSO: «Here we go round the mulberry bush» song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgrtdwiur-u 24
Listening Some things to remember about listening The things we listen to vanish immediately When we listen, we tend to remember the general idea (=the gist), but not the details We usually have to listen several times in order to remember details When we listen, we focus on key words and expressions, not on every word When we listen, we rely on context, gesture and facial expressions to understand 25