Proper Teach of English to ESL Students

Teaching English to Young Learners

Whether it teaching young children who are born and whose parents are native to the United States or another English-speaking country or whether it be a situation where either the parents and/or the child are not born in the United States, teaching English to younger learners can be a challenge and it needs to be done in certain ways to be as effective and efficient as it can and should be. This report will cover the subject of using context to teach unknown or unfamiliar words. Specifically, there will be a focus on the teachings and assertions of Nation when it comes that subject. The deliverable for this report will be the planning of a day where the desired concepts from Nation and other sources will be used to construct the general framework and habits that will be used to teach students unknown words as well as helping themselves through things like context. Examples will be given along the way. The general selected tactics will be described and then a summary about how precisely to proceed will come. While there are other ways to drill and teach unknown words, helping students to teach themselves will help optimize how much and how well they learn outside of a formal learning environment or even with a parent or older person present.

Tactics That Can Be Used & Relevant Facts

Nation's primary assertion was that context can be useful. However, Nation also asserted that a systematic framework and approach can and should be used in terms of teaching English in general (Nation, 1990). Pinter (2006) made sure to emphasize "communicative" and "content-based" language teaching. While she was in Canada and a lot of these other sources are in the United States or perhaps Europe, her points seem to true across international and cultural lines. As noted elsewhere in this report, those lines can exist within single countries (Pinter, 2006). Further, a lot of the concepts used for younger learners in this report can be used on older learners. AN example of an older English learner would be someone that is an adult but is just now learning English due to being new to the country or they simply have not taken the time to learn English and have spoken a different language for the earlier times in their life. However, the perspectives and tendencies of children are different and the learning methods used must and should reflect that (Curtain & Dahlberg, 2009).

Nunan authored a fairly controversial yet very exhaustive amount of research on the subject of teaching English, when is the optimal time to do it, how it should be done and so forth. The points he covered in his book included a defining of what a young learner is, the developmental stages that are passed through as one learns English or another language, the main challenges encountered while teaching English and so forth. In answering those questions, Nunan has some very specific things to say about younger learners. These include the following:

Young learners are typically in preschool or otherwise within their first year of learning (e.g. Kindergarten, Preschool or very early elementary school)

They approach language from a holistic point-of-view. This means that they understand meaningful messages but cannot yet put them in language format some or all of the time.

Their level of awareness is fairly low and the same is true regarding their understanding of learning and the process therein.

Their language and reading skills are limited across the board, first language or not They are generally more concerned about themselves rather than others

They tend to have very little knowledge about the broader world and environment in which we live

They engage in and enjoy fantasy, imagination and movement (Nunan, 2011).

One huge part to any system like that would be the use of formulaic sequences. Of course, English is very complex and those that learn it later in life or in a piecemeal fashion after they have mastered another language struggle with the syntax and format that most English speakers used. This, of course, is why it is fairly easy to tell if someone is new to speaking English even if they have the words down very well. A sub-topic of mastery when using the formulaic sequences is the formation of idiomatic language. This subtopic includes the use of idioms, collocations and sentence frames in the proper order and format. There was a ramping up of this focus starting around 2000 according to Wray (2000). To echo the above, there are phrases and sentences in the United States or other areas that can technically be said more than one way but are said a certain way because that is the expected cultural formatting and order of things. That can be a tough pill to swallow because it effectively says "that's just the way it is said" rather than explaining why it is said that way when it could be said other ways. Indeed, it often comes down to societal and cultural norms. Those norms can even very from culture to culture within the United States and in other countries that speak English (Wray, 2000). However, some cultures will take a very different approach. For example, people learning a language in China (even if it is English) will tend to rely on Confucianism and other Eastern-oriented methods and ideologies (Du, Yu & Li, 2014).

The concept of using formulas when teaching language is anything but new. However, it can sometimes be hard to define instances of formulaic language and when they just happen to occur naturally on their own. Indeed, they tend to look very much the same whether they are formulaic or not. Even so, it is beyond a doubt that putting things in formula form allows people to use the patterns as a means to gain mastery and to engage in practice. Over time, it becomes less of a chore and a drill and more of what naturally comes forth when a person is trying to communicate. Indeed, there are some general approaches or desirable results to formulaic sequences. These include the following:

Pattern practice drills using fixed routines. This allows and encourages a development of confidence and fluency

Controlled variation using substitution drills to demonstrating that chunks of learning completed are not just invariable routines but are instead sentences with open slots that can be filled with a choice of words or phrases

An increasing of the variation allows the learner to more fully analyze the pattern

An increased vocabulary, even if the person is unable to use all the words in sentences early on A pragmatic use of lexical terms including institutionalized utterances

There will tend to be a balance between lexical terms, institutionalized utterances and the patterns for the same

The research about this subject stretches back chronologically to at least 1975. The names of the researchers in question includes Aijmer (1996), Becker (1975), Bolinger (1976), Coulmas (1978, 1994), Hatch et al. (1979), Howarth (1998a and 1998b), Hudson (1998), Lattey (1986), Moon (1992, 1998a and 1998b), Nattinger & DeCarrico (1992), Van Lancker (1987) and Yorio (1980). Throughout that same research, there are terms that need to be defined and clarified and many sets go together. They are as follows:

Amalgams/Gambits -- Preassemble or prefabricated speech patterns or routines

Automatic/gestalt -- Ready-made expressions

Chunks/holistic -- Ready-made utterances

Cliches/holophrases -- Recurring utterances

Coordinate constructions/idiomatic -- Rote

Collocations/Idioms -- Routine Formulae

Composites/Irregular -- Schemata

Conventionalized Forms/Lexical Phrases -- Semi-pre-constructed phrases that constitute single choices

Fixed Expressions & Idioms/Lexicalized Sentence Stems -- Sentence Builders

Formulaic Language/non-compositional -- Stereotyped Phrases

Formulaic Speech/Non-Computational -- Stereotypes

Formulas/Formulae/Non-Productive -- Stock Utterances

Fossilized Forms/Non-Propositional -- Synthetic unanalyzed chunks of speech

Frozen metaphors/petrification

Frozen/phrases/praxis (Wray, 2000).

Another major part to the English-learning equation is that "lexical knowledge is an important predictor of success" (Verhallen & Schoonen, 1998). Further, it is said in the same Verhallen study that "children from language minorities are often at a disadvantage educationally" (Verhallen & Schoonen, 1998). Moreover, there are several different explanations for all of being the case and this includes socioeconomic status. However, the general L2 status of students, regardless of background, is seen as the primary factor that should be focused on. Just one instance that proved that was seen through a study of forty students that were both Turkish and Dutch and that could speak both of the relevant languages. Indeed, it was found that "there are important differences between the available lexical knowledge in L1 and L2 children allot to L1 words less extensive and less varied meaning aspects than to L2 words, L2 being the language of education" (Verhallen & Schoonen, 1998). Further, it was said "the overall conclusion is that the L1 knowledge of the bilingual children cannot counterbalance their poor lexical knowledge in L2 (Verhallen & Schoonen, 1998).

When it comes to getting students to the proper level of L2 language learning, some people are apt to make a simple dichotomy between "learned" and "not learned." However, a more realistic and honest approach is to look at the learning in terms of stages and interim levels of learning. Much like grade levels are defined with terms and levels like preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade and so forth, the same has to be true of learning English or whatever language is being talked about. Further, there has to be a building on prior lessons. Rather than learning a word or set of words and they forgetting about them, there has to be a building on the prior lessons. For example, learning what a "house" is can be one thing. However, using the word "house" as a foundation to teach "home," "domicile," "residence" and so forth is a good way to learn the new words faster while not forgetting the prior iterations of the words. The way in which this is all done has to execute with a mind towards what is happening in the minds of children as they age. There is what is called the syntagmatic/paradigmatic shift whereby the student may or may not reflect any change in their ostensible learning progress but the way in which they use association will greatly change and shift. A major way to latch onto and use this shift is to make sure that a student is always learning and is always challenged. If they are not challenged, there will be a lot of valuable time and resources (both mental and time-based) that are wasted and this should not be allowed to occur (Verhallen & Schoonen, 1998).

One major way to help children learn anything, whether it be English or anything else, is through the use of stories. Indeed, it was noted earlier that students are very introspective, very engaged in fantasy and so forth and this can be taken advantage of while the stage is in process. However, not just anyone can step in and use a story in a way that a child will accept and embrace. Indeed, a person telling a story has to build up the story in the proper way. The quality of the overall story should be as high as possible. When speaking of foreign people that are learning English as a second language, the context of the story matters to them as well. As such, doing a story that is culturally or societally relevant to them would be a wise idea. One major reason that stories are helpful is that there is a timeline of events in a story. When it comes to teaching English, this matters a great deal because tense, how the verbs are used, how the nouns are used and how other written devices are used all matter a great deal. If they are used properly in the story and the story grabs their attention, this can help them to learn how to speak in the proper context and format when it comes to how the story should be laid out chronologically and story-wise. To be sure, the thematic structure for a timeline will vary as the timeline progresses and English leaners can be made to catch onto this and thus themselves learn the proper patterns and methods of speaking and writing (Cameron, 2001).

A proper story will come in the following format:

Opening

Introduction of Characters

Description of the Setting

Introduction of a problem

A series of events

The resolution to the prior events/problem discussed

The closing

The moral to be learned and taught (Cameron, 2001).

When it comes to language use in stories, there are some components that need to be there. These components would include:

Parallelism

Rich Vocabulary

Alliteration

Contrast

Metaphor

Intertextuality

Narrative/Dialogue (Cameron, 2001).

If done correctly, a good story will engage the reader while at the same time teaching them language. A story that has associated artwork and imagery such as pictures, the cover art or something of that nature can help to teach the language without the child knowing they are being taught. This would mean choosing stories that are the best based on their "realness," their structure and how much they would help the children being read to. Questions that should be asked include:

"Real" books for specially written books?

Will the content engage the readers?

Are the values and attitudes embodied in the story acceptable?

How is the discourse organized?

What is the balance of dialogue and narrative?

How is language used?

What new language is used?

What language learning opportunities exist in the story?

What activities can be used to assist and buttress the learning? Examples would be preparation activities, core activities and follow-up activities.

What tasks can be developed around the story? Examples would include listening skills, discourse skills and focused reading skills practice.

One major challenge when it comes to L2 (learning) teaching is that there is not really a standardized way in which that type of reading and learning is taught as it relates to consciousness. Of course, it would be optimal if there was a single way in which everyone did it so that everyone could be learning and networking about the same overall method rather than talking and working together but with separate frameworks and mindsets. While there are still some gray areas and room for development, there are four overall ideas that should be mentioned as being pretty firm and defined:

Consciousness as intentionality: This would be the distinction between intentional and incidental

Consciousness as attention: The basic idea here is that learning without some form of attention is basically not possible

Consciousness as awareness: This would show the difference between explicit learning and implicit learning. The former would be when learning is realized fully at the time of it being taught. Implicit is when the learning is absorbed but not fully recognized until it is thought of or re-taught later on within the learner's learning experiences, both formal and informal.

Consciousness as control: The main point to learn here is that attention and control are not the same thing. Having someone's attention does not mean that they are under anyone's control. The attention may be forced but it may not be. This can hold true even for the very young as well as adults and those in between (Hulstijn & Schmidt, 1994).

Also useful to keep in mind are the settings in which learning takes place. While a traditional learning setting may be preferable or the "usual" thing, there are more than one type of settings where learning can be very present and very effective. The settings that can exist include laboratory-like settings, naturalistic settings and classroom/pedagogical settings. The middle of those two, that being naturalistic, is the most motivational but it is far from being the most official of the three. Two things to know relative to that are the learners process meaning before form and form cannot be attended to before information content. One should also consider learning is it compares to basic psychology. Indeed, there are differences between acquisition and learning. There is also rule learning and item learning. Learning what a boat is and what it does, after all, is different than learning cultural or societal norms such as saying certain things like "thank you" or "I'm sorry" when the time or event calls for it (Hulstijn & Schmidt, 1994).

While one might think that there has been and will continue to be a large interest in the perfection and improvement of this subject, this has not always been the case. Indeed, Nikolov and Curtain from Poliglotti (2015) reflected on the fact that many people that said that the early learner subject was not worthy of following or joining because it was "dead" or "pointless." However, things have changed because young learners are now ostensibly "alive and kicking" (Poliglotti, 2015). However, things can vary greatly from country to country. In many countries, official languages are taught as foreign languages, albeit in different formats and frameworks based on the countries in question. For example, there would be a variation in how the "native" language is taught in areas like Austria, Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Some countries are multi-lingual so that can make things even more complex. For example, Canada is covered with people that speak English but many others (mainly in the Quebec area) speak French. In Brazil, Spanish is quite common but so is Portuguese. Further still, the advanced and protracted teaching of younger people is very entrenched and defined. Sweden is a good example of this in motion (Poliglotti, 2015).

Something that can throw a wrench in the efficacy and long-term effects of early language learning is what happens down the road after the early language learning takes place. Indeed, a lack of continuity and environmental factors that impede or even roll back the progress made in early learning environments can be vexing and frustrating for many educators. One major thing that impedes the learning of English is the propensity of families of learners to speak mostly or even only Spanish to the children when they are not within the learning environment. While no sane person would (or should) suggest that people disregard and ignore the language and culture they come from, it is still very important to know and master the dominant language of an area. For example, speaking fluent Spanish in areas like Miami and parts of Texas or Arizona (e.g. El Paso or Phoenix) might be useful, the dominant language in the United States is English and this will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future. While Latinos and other Spanish-speakers will make up an ever-growing portion of the population, those that speak English will far outstrip Spanish-speakers or any other language for many years to come. Regardless of the languages involved, both the teachers and the parents should be enforcing and reinforcing the idea that knowing the prevalent language in an area should be expected and considered advantageous (Poliglotti, 2015).

A final source for this report also explored some of the other terms and concepts that can be taken to heart. Those include the following:

Knowledge: Knowing of social groups and their products or practices

Skills of interpreting and relating: Ability to interpret a document or event of another culture and being able to relate it to one's own culture

Skills of discovery and interaction: Ability to acquire new knowledge of a culture and cultural practices and the ability to operate knowledge, attitudes and skills under the constraints of real-time communication and interaction.

Critical Cultural Awareness: An ability to evaluate, critically and on the basis of explicit criteria, perspectives, practices, products in one's own and other cultures and countries

It is important to know that the role of language is therefore to develop skills, attitudes and awareness of values just as much as to develop a knowledge of a particular culture or country (Byram, Gribkova & Starkey, 2002).

When it comes to the evidence regarding context usage as a means to figure out what a word means, there are a lot of studies and opinions on that subject. One method was explained by Sadeghi and Nobakth (2014) when they sought out to prove that using the same basic words in alternating and difference sequences has a good effect on the overall retention and learning of new works in students that are learning English. While the null hypotheses were proven to be true, the two research questions were both negative in their results. This is not to say that there are negative results. Students do learn using the process described above but the overall performance of the lesson plan is no better than more traditional lesson plan approaches, at least based on the results in this study. A different study done by Webb in 2008 found that there was indeed a statistically difference. Obviously, both groups cannot be right. At least that is the way it seems. The fact that Webb's study was done in Japan and the Sadeghi study was done in Iran. As such, the differing cultures, societal norms and such may provide an explanation for such a result. Indeed, intelligence tests in the United States are quite often poor to downright shoddy at keeping consistent in multiple countries. Indeed, the culture and norms in the Middle East (Iran) will be different than those in Asia (Japan) (Sadeghi & Nobakht, 2014).

In terms of other tactics and results that are happening in the field, there is plenty of information. As authored by Pacheco and Goodwin (2014), it is stated that middle school students use things called "morphemes" to ascertain what a word means. For example, if the study sees "pre" as part of a word, that would almost certainly mean "before" or "prior" in some form or another. Preview, for example, is a way to look at a printed document before it actually prints. Similarly, the word "biometric" can be split into "bio," "metri" and "ic." The "bio" part is surely a reference to biology. Taking this a bit further, students can make up words that are entirely fictional but yet their intended meaning is fairly easy to figure out based on the subcomponents of the word (Pacheco & Goodwin, 2013).

A huge part of teaching English in the right way and at the right pace is to raise the language awareness of teachers before they enter the field. As stated in the study, that can be a bit of a mountain to overcome. The authors specifically say "During this study, the target language awareness training session was offered by the university supervisor in order to improve the student teachers' target language use in the classroom. (Tuzel & Ackan, 2009).

Analysis & Lesson Plan

Given all that was found during the review of the literature, the author of this report would compose a lesson plan and strategy using the following strategies and frameworks:

The first strategy will be to use a singular program through all stages of early learning and one that will interact properly with stages that will come later such as in middle school and high school. For example, if there is a learning program that properly uses the learning faculties of elementary school students and there is a related (and similar) program that can be used at the middle and high school levels, that would optimal as compared to programs that are very different or that start/stop at different levels. After all, if the elementary program stops at a 8th grade level but the middle school one starts at a 6th grade level, there will be some wasted time.

The second strategy may be a solution to issues like those just discussed with the first and that is to not dare treat students as if they are the same level because they almost certainly are not. Indeed, you could probably put a new English learner in the same group at a lower level but that would be exceedingly unwise as the children get older. Children should be with peers at their level and they should be taught what they are missing (and in the right way) until they are truly ready to move on. As long as the teaching is being done in a way customized to the child, it should only be a matter of time. If there is a learning disability or something like that going on, that should be dealt with directly.