Introduction to Part 1

In Part 1, you will deepen your understanding of the characteristics of children aged 6–12 as learners, and consider the implications of this for teaching English to these learners. This part of The TKT Course: Young Learner Module will help you extend your knowledge and skills in preparation for the first part of the TKT: YL module test, namely, Knowledge of young learners and principles of teaching English to young learners. You can find more information in the TKT: YL syllabus in the module handbook, which is available online.

Specifically, in Unit 1, you will find out more about what makes young learners of English different from older learners, first by looking at the developmental benefits of learning English, and then by looking at ways we can enhance their language learning so that they can have these benefits. Finally, we look at classroom activities which are suitable for young learners, based on their characteristics.

Units 2, 3 and 4 will each introduce one of three kinds of strategy that children can develop through language learning: learning strategies, cognitive strategies and communication strategies. Each unit will explain what these strategies are, consider why they are important, and look at ways to develop and practise them in the English language classroom.

Each unit also includes suggested reader activities for extension, reflection and investigation into your practice. These activities will help you consolidate your understanding and relate your learning to your own classroom context. A range of activities are suggested in each unit, and you can find a sample TKT: YL practice test section on the unit topic at the end of each one. You could use your TKT: YL PD Journal to keep your notes and reflections for the questions and activities organised.

Before you begin, look at the can-do statements. Evaluate your own understanding and skills for each one. After completing Part 1, return to these and re-assess yourself. From that, you can develop an action plan so that you can continue to focus on any particular areas you feel you still need or want to develop.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this unit, you will…

KNOWLEDGE: know how to analyse materials for suitability to a group of children SKILLS: be able to find appropriate solutions to common problems with classroom materials

■ Starter Question

Before you begin this unit, read the starter question and make some notes. Then read the commentary and compare it to your notes.

What kinds of materials are you familiar with, or are available in your teaching context?

COMMENTARY

Learning materials are ‘anything which is used specifically with the intention of increasing pupils’ knowledge and experience of the language’ (Moon, 2000, p. 86); they come in many forms and use different media. They may be developed for language teaching and learning, or they may be designed for ‘real’ purposes. They are often tied to a curriculum or course syllabus, depending on the teaching context, but they may also be additional resources (see Unit 7).

Print-based teaching and learning materials

Courses often follow a coursebook (sometimes known as ‘textbook’), which may include different components such as a Student's Book and Workbook for the children to use, a Teacher's Book, which supports the teacher in lesson planning, and other multimedia resources such as classroom audio (e.g. on a CD or as web-based audio files), video (e.g. on a DVD, as web-based media files or streamed) and other webbased resources which children can use online or which teachers can download and print to use as handouts, flashcards or classroom posters to manage their classes. These kinds of coursebook packages can help a teacher provide a range of different language input and practice activities in a coherent way.

Teachers may also turn to sets of printed photocopiable resources, often for supplementary materials, which can be in the form of handouts, complete lessons or sequences of lessons. An example is ‘Primary Communication Box’ and others in this series of photocopiable resources for primary ELT from Cambridge University Press & Assessment.

Often these kinds of print-based materials are developed for a global market. They are usually written and produced by experienced teachers and writers, and are generally very appealing visually and of high quality.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this unit, you will…

KNOWLEDGE: know more about different purposes for various types of classroombased assessment

SKILLS: be able to identify why teachers use particular classroom-based assessment techniques

■ Starter Question

Before you begin this unit, read the starter question and make some notes. Then read the commentary and compare it to your notes.

What does the term ‘assessment’ mean to you?

COMMENTARY

Assessment is a key part of teaching and learning; it can be defined as: ‘to discover, judge, or form an opinion on learners’ ability, achievement, proficiency or progress either formally or informally’ (TKT Glossary, p. 4).

There are several different kinds of assessment including formal assessment, such as testing, where we assess children individually on their skills and knowledge, and informal assessment, which is carried out without the teacher setting a test: teachers continually assess informally during regular classroom activities, as a part of their everyday classroom practice. This is also known as classroom-based assessment. It may involve the use of classroom activities the teacher uses specifically to assess children, so they are planned as assessed activities which the teacher may observe or collect students’ worksheets from, or it may be through the use of strategies such as monitoring, observing, concept checking, eliciting and other kinds of questioning, which the teacher uses all the time to gain a sense of children's language and skills use. The teacher may plan these strategies in advance of the lesson, for example by scripting some questions to check understanding. We can see, therefore, that assessment can be anywhere from very formal to very informal, unplanned and unstructured.

Assessment may be done at the end of a period of learning, such as a term, course or even unit, in order to fi nd out what was achieved, and not achieved. This is known as summative assessment; it is often formal. This is a fi nal assessment of learning, so it does not infl uence future teaching and learning.

On the other hand, when assessment gives us information to help improve future teaching and learning, it is formative assessment. This is assessment for learning because we can use the assessment to improve teaching as well as learning. This kind of assessment usually happens in the classroom, so it is informal.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this unit, you will…

KNOWLEDGE: know about some characteristics children bring to language learning SKILLS: be able to make connections between activity types and the benefits they bring to the young learner classroom

■ Starter Question

Before you begin this unit, read the starter question and make some notes. Then read the commentary and compare it to your notes.

Why do we teach English to 6–12-year-old children? Note at least three points.

COMMENTARY

Nowadays, children around the world are beginning to learn English from an ever younger age at school and outside of school (extracurricular). This is partly because of a popular belief that starting earlier with English will give children greater linguistic benefit than starting later, so it will allow them to finish school with a higher level of English, ready for their futures as young adults. However, research shows that older learners usually make faster progress and learn more efficiently as they are cognitively more mature, have better learning skills and are more skilled at interaction and communication (see Read, 2003 for a more detailed discussion on this).

Despite this, there are plenty of benefits in other areas to an earlier start. 6–12-yearold children are still developing cognitively, physically, socially and emotionally, as learners, as individuals, and as thinkers; learning English can play a part in this development. Classroom learning at primary level, usually from around 5 or 6 until 10 to 12 years old, is often based around fun and engaging activities which help children develop in different areas, and English language learning also lends itself to these kinds of activities more than to formal desk-based learning. If positive learning conditions are established through such activities, then it is likely that learning English as a foreign language may help children develop positive attitudes and improved motivation for English in preparation for secondary school. Learning English can also help them to develop personal and educational skills as well as the ‘4 Cs’: Communication, Collaboration, Critical thinking and Creativity, which are important to their all-round development and being ready for the 21st-century world.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this unit, you will…

KNOWLEDGE: know about the importance of practice activities in language learning

SKILLS: be able to identify demands and appropriate support for learners when using different language practice activities

■ Starter Question

Before you begin this unit, read the starter question and make some notes. Then read the commentary and compare it to your notes.

Why are language practice activities an important element a language lesson? Note two or three reasons.

COMMENTARY

What is a practice activity?

Simply put, a practice activity is one where learners use the skills and language that are being focused on in the lesson (or series of lessons). This language is often known as target language and may be a grammatical structure, vocabulary items, set phrases, functional language or chunks. The practice may be spoken or written if it is productive, or it may involve listening or reading if it is receptive; it may focus on subskills of these skills.

Why practise?

It seems clear that in order to learn to speak a language, we should use it – consider the expression, ‘Practice makes perfect’. However, in some teaching and learning contexts, language is seen as a subject to study, rather than something we learn to use. In such a situation, learners may practise only rarely and as a result, at the end of their studies they may know a lot about language, but are often less able to use the language in communication with another speaker of that language.

Constructivist learning theories tell us that learners need to be active in the learning process – they are not passive receivers of knowledge, but actively build their understanding of concepts and language. Meanwhile, behaviourist views say we learn from mimicking and memorising language. Interactionists, on the other hand, suggest we learn through communicating and negotiating meaning with others (see Lightbown&Spada, 2021, especially Chapters 4 and 6, for an in-depth look at second language learning theories). While some of these and other theories are more influential than others in modern thinking, we can clearly see the importance for learners to have the opportunity to actually practise using the language, trying it out and getting used to it.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this unit, you will…

KNOWLEDGE: be more aware of a range of focuses of classroom-based assessment

SKILLS: be able to select classroom-based assessment techniques appropriate to the focus of assessment

■ Starter Question

Before you begin this unit, read the starter question and make some notes. Then read the commentary and compare it to your notes.

What can teachers assess in the young learner English classroom? Think of more than one possible focus of assessment.

COMMENTARY

Teachers of English may well feel it is their role to assess their learners’ English – and it is, of course. However, we can and should assess more than just their English language in order to support the teaching and learning process.

Language and skills

We might want to assess learners’ achievement or progress in their use of language through speaking and writing activities, where we can see their productive skills or their understanding of language through receptive skills activities, that is reading and listening. We may also assess the subskills of any of these four main skills, such as listening for specific information, fluency, scanning, use of punctuation, and so on. Example: Playing a card matching game where learners match picture flashcards with their word card assesses vocabulary knowledge and reading at word level.

Learning strategies

Similarly, we can assess children's use of or progress in learning strategies. Giving constructive feedback on their learning strategies will help them become better, more independent learners and, therefore, drive their learning forwards. Many of these skills are transferable to other school subjects, so can support them in their broader education and learning as well.

Example: Reviewing and giving feedback on learners’ vocabulary notebooks or learner-made picture dictionaries assesses this learning strategy.

Cognitive strategies

These are strategies which involve the use of thinking skills. As with many learning strategies, effective use of cognitive strategies not only supports learners’ English language development, it also helps their development overall. We can assess and give feedback to learners on their use of such strategies or on their progress in them, and this allows them to develop further.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this unit, you will…

KNOWLEDGE: know more about the role of language learning in helping children to develop cognitive strategies

SKILLS: be able to identify a range of cognitive strategies and ways of helping children to develop them through language learning

■ Starter Question

Before you begin this unit, read the starter question and make some notes. Then read the commentary and compare it to your notes.

What does the term ‘cognitive strategy’ mean to you? Use a dictionary to check if you need to.

COMMENTARY

Cognition is a word meaning thinking, so cognitive strategies are the mental skills children use in order to process and understand the content or the language they are learning. As children practise using cognitive skills in different ways, they will be able to develop them for use outside of language learning. For example, they might predict what happens next part of the way through a story, or deduce the meaning of an unknown word they hear from the context in which they meet it.

Cognitive strategies are important because they are essential to children's learning in all school subjects. Helping children to develop cognitive strategies while they are learning English therefore plays an important part in children's general development as learners and thinkers. Thinking skills development is seen as one of the ‘4Cs’, which are the four main life skills children need to develop to help them be prepared for their future as adults in the 21st century: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity.

■ Key concepts

Reflect on the key concept question. Brainstorm your ideas, then expand your notes as you read.

What are the cognitive skills and what kinds of strategies might children use to practise them? Try to think of three or four examples.

COMMENTARY

Part of Bloom's Taxonomy, first published in the 1950s, identified cognitive domains and put six related goals in order of complexity. This was later revised and is now often presented in a hierarchical triangle (see Figure 1) to show how the goals build upon one another. For example, as part of the cognitive process of evaluating something, we need first to understand and analyse it.

Part 3 will help you better understand as well as use strategies and activities to teach and manage a young learner classroom effectively. You will deepen your knowledge about how to scaffold children's understanding and use of language through your own use of language and through strategies you may use in the classroom, then consolidate learning using appropriate practice activities. You will also consider strategies and techniques for managing young learners in class. This part of The TKT Course: Young Learner Module will support your knowledge and skills in preparation for the third part of the TKT: YL Module test: Teaching Young Learners. You can find more information in the TKT: YL syllabus in the module handbook, which is available online.

In the first unit of this part of the book, Unit 8, you’ll think about how to support and challenge learners using teacher language and teaching strategies. First, you’ll consider the use of the term scaffolding, both metaphorically in education and in its realworld use. You’ll then reflect on the teacher's role in scaffolding understanding and use of language before looking at strategies a teacher may employ to do this.

Unit 9 looks at practice activities, that is how we can use motivating, effective classroom activities to engage young learners and give them the opportunity to consolidate their language use and understanding through practice in the classroom. You’ll consider specific features of effective practice activities and points to keep in mind when planning them, before looking at examples of activities teachers have found effective in YL classrooms.

In Unit 10, we will focus on managing learning in YL classrooms. You will first think about what the term ‘classroom management’ means, then will consider how teachers can develop a positive classroom atmosphere, which will support children in their learning. Finally in this unit, you’ll look at how teachers can be more effective managers of challenging behaviour.

Towards the end of each unit, you will find follow-up activities, which are designed to deepen and extend your thinking in relation to the unit content. These will help you reflect on the classroom application of your learning in your own context. These are followed by a set of TKT: YL practice questions based on the unit theme. It is recommended that you use your TKT: YL PD Journal to keep and organise your notes.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this unit, you will…

KNOWLEDGE: know when and what kinds of additional resources teachers may plan for to enrich teaching and learning

SKILLS: be able to choose appropriate additional resources for a specific teaching context or moment

■ Starter Question

Before you begin this unit, read the starter questions and make some notes. Then read the commentary and compare it to your notes.

What do you understand by the term ‘additional resources’? Why use them in YL lessons? Write a definition and think of at least two reasons for using them.

COMMENTARY

Additional resources are, simply, learning resources that teachers use in addition to their course material. We sometimes see the equivalent term ‘supplementary resources’. The range of resources teachers might use to supplement their course material is almost limitless, but often they may use realia, flashcards, songs, video and so on. We will look at examples in more detail in the next section.

We saw in Unit 6 that course material often needs adapting and supplementing in order to make it more appropriate for our own learners. This may help us to:

• • engage learners, gain and keep their attention through active participation.

• • add interest, creativity, fun or physical activity to our lessons by balancing sitting time with moving time (stirrers and settlers).

• • add extra language or vocabulary practice activities.

• • provide language practice in a different way, using (a) different skill(s).

• • support understanding of topic, language or vocabulary.

• • extend learning of language or vocabulary, for example using the language in a different context, or adding some vocabulary items, perhaps those which are especially relevant to our own learners.

• • extend learning of content or align it with the curriculum (i.e. add a crosscurricular element).

Above all, additional resources can help develop the whole child, because they can stimulate children in different ways and help develop a wider range of skills than those supported in the course material, including 21st century skills, in particular the ‘4Cs’: critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity.

What are TKT and the TKT: YL specialist module?

The Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT) is a series of modular teaching qualifications which test knowledge in specific areas of English language teaching. It is internationally recognised and has been developed by Cambridge English. In addition to the main modules (Modules 1–3), there are the specialist modules, namely: TKT: Young Learners and TKT: CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning). Candidates can take as many TKT modules as they want, in any order and over any time period.

The TKT: Young Learner Module (TKT: YL) focuses on language learners aged 6–12; the term young learner is used in this book to refer to this age group. Six years old is usually the age when children start formal schooling in many countries, while twelve years old is around the end of primary, elementary or basic schooling. Developmentally, children in this age group are beyond the stage of early childhood, but are not yet adolescent. As such, they have particular developmental needs which are somewhat different from very young children or teenagers.

TKT: YL tests candidates’ knowledge of concepts related to young learner learning and development, as well as knowledge of young learners from a teaching perspective: the planning, teaching and assessment of young learners’ work. There are no entry requirements, such as previous language teaching experience or qualifications, however candidates’ language skills should be at least at a B1 level on the CEFR scale. This is equivalent to Cambridge B1 Preliminary or Cambridge IELTS Bands 4–5, which is an intermediate level of English. Candidates are also expected to be familiar with key language teaching terminology, which can be found in the TKT Glossary on the Cambridge English website.

The TKT: YL test is a paper-based test lasting 1 hour and 20 minutes. It consists of objective tasks, for example matching or multiple choice, with 80 closed questions in total. Candidates respond by selecting answers and marking them on the answer sheet. There are no open response questions where candidates write their answers in words, phrases or sentences. Each question carries one mark, and performance is reported using four bands, which indicate the depth of the candidates’ knowledge.

Introduction to Part 2

Part 2 aims to enrich awareness and skills in planning and preparing lessons for young learners, including analysing, selecting, adapting and supplementing materials and resources for learning.

This part of The TKT Course: Young Learner Module will support your knowledge and skills in preparation for the second part of the TKT: YL Module test: Planning and preparing young learner lessons. You can find more information in the TKT: YL syllabus in the module handbook, which is available online.

In the first unit of this part, Unit 5, we’ll look at lesson planning, thinking about what to take into consideration when planning for young learner lessons. You’ll think about what a lesson plan is, how it might look, and why planning is important, particularly for young learner lessons. Then, you’ll look at what a lesson plan might contain.

Unit 6 turns to classroom materials. You will find out about different types of teaching and learning materials and think about deciding factors when choosing materials. Finally in this unit, you’ll reflect on some issues we may have with materials and how we might change the material to address these issues.

In the next unit, Unit 7, you will find out more about selecting, adapting and supplementing classroom learning resources. This unit will ask you to think about why we use additional resources in young learner classrooms, how we can use them to enrich learning and better meet the needs of our learners. The final section of this unit considers how some additional resources may differ or be used differently with younger and older children in the 6–12 age group.

Towards the end of each unit, you will find follow-up activities, which are designed to deepen and extend your thinking in relation to the unit content. These will help you reflect on the classroom application of your learning in your own context. These are followed by a set of TKT: YL practice questions based on the unit theme. It is recommended that you use your TKT: YL PD Journal to keep and organise your notes.

Part 3 will help you better understand as well as use strategies and activities to teach and manage a young learner classroom effectively. You will deepen your knowledge about how to scaffold children's understanding and use of language through your own use of language and through strategies you may use in the classroom, then consolidate learning using appropriate practice activities. You will also consider strategies and techniques for managing young learners in class. This part of The TKT Course: Young Learner Module will support your knowledge and skills in preparation for the third part of the TKT: YL Module test: Teaching Young Learners. You can find more information in the TKT: YL syllabus in the module handbook, which is available online.

In the first unit of this part of the book, Unit 8, you’ll think about how to support and challenge learners using teacher language and teaching strategies. First, you’ll consider the use of the term scaffolding, both metaphorically in education and in its realworld use. You’ll then reflect on the teacher's role in scaffolding understanding and use of language before looking at strategies a teacher may employ to do this.

Unit 9 looks at practice activities, that is how we can use motivating, effective classroom activities to engage young learners and give them the opportunity to consolidate their language use and understanding through practice in the classroom. You’ll consider specific features of effective practice activities and points to keep in mind when planning them, before looking at examples of activities teachers have found effective in YL classrooms.

In Unit 10, we will focus on managing learning in YL classrooms. You will first think about what the term ‘classroom management’ means, then will consider how teachers can develop a positive classroom atmosphere, which will support children in their learning. Finally in this unit, you’ll look at how teachers can be more effective managers of challenging behaviour.

Towards the end of each unit, you will find follow-up activities, which are designed to deepen and extend your thinking in relation to the unit content. These will help you reflect on the classroom application of your learning in your own context. These are followed by a set of TKT: YL practice questions based on the unit theme.