Teaching English to Pre-School Children and Children in a Primary School

     Printed pictures are available for the teacher to use in the classroom. However, they cannot cover the teacher’s needs in these materials. So he should make pictures. The teacher either draws or paints them himself or asks some of his pupils to do this.  He can also use cut-outs (pictures cut Out of some periodicals).

     Photographs. They are of two kinds: black-and-white and coloured. One can use photographs which are on sale, e. g., “Views of Moscow” or have them taken, e. g., “We are going on a hike”, or “Our family”.

     Albums. An album is a book of pictures or photographs which is used for developing pupils’ language skills. It usually contains textual material to supply pupils with necessary information, and in this way make their work easier in describing these pictures.

     Maps and plans. In teaching English the maps of Great Britain, the USA, and other countries where English is spoken may be used. The plans, for example, of a house, a building, a piece of land with measurements may be a help in comprehension and thus stimulate pupils’ speaking.

     Slides. A slide is a glass or plastic plate bearing a picture. Slides are usually coloured and used in sets to illustrate a story; the teacher can utilize slides for developing hearing and speaking skills.

     Filmstrips. A filmstrip  represents a series of pictures, as a rule, situational pictures in certain sequence which a learner sees while listening to a story from the teacher or the tape to reproduce it later. Special filmstrips are available. They last about 5-10 minutes and can be used with synchronized tapes. When a picture appears on the screen, the tape is heard. See, for example, “Great Britain”, “London”.

     Audio materials. Tapes and records or discs belong to audio materials. Tapes are usually prepared by the teacher (he selects the material and the speaker for recording). Tapes

and records  are used for teaching listening comprehension, speaking, and  reading aloud.

     Audio-visual materials. Sound film loops and films are examples of audio-visual materials:

     Sound film loops are becoming popular with the teachers. They are short (each lasts 1.5-1.7 min.) and the teacher can play the film loop back as many times as necessary for the pupils to grasp the material and memorize it.

     Films. Specially prepared educational films for language teaching have appeared, e. g., “The Mysterious Bridge”, “Robert Burns”, “Australia”, “New York”, “Winter Sports”.

     Young children like to sing and play various games, that is why songs and games should constitute an important part of teaching materials. Folksongs and popular current songs develop a feeling for the distinctive culture being studied. They furnish a frame work for pronunciation practice. Games give an opportunity for spontaneous self-expression in the foreign language and can be used as a device for relaxation.

     Practical and educational functions of teaching materials are as follows:

     Teaching materials used in various combinations allow the teacher to develop his pupils’ oral-aural skills. Recorded materials can provide the teacher and the pupil with an authentic model, tireless and consistent repetition and many different voices.

     These materials are valuable for presentation, exercises, revision, testing, etc.

     Visual materials have an important role to play in the development of hearing and speaking skills. Carefully devised they help to get rid of the necessity for constant translation and assist the teacher in keeping the lesson within the foreign language.

     By portraying the context of situation, the gestures and expressions of the speakers, and even their personalities, visual aids allow immediate understanding and provide a stimulus to oral composition.

     Especially important are graded materials designed for the teaching of reading. Graded reading materials are essential at every stage from the introduction to reading in association with audio and visual “props”, through the elementary stage of reading familiar material to intensive and extensive reading.

     Graded materials are also important for the development of writing skills. Appropriately designed and selected these materials are needed to cover all stages from the introduction to writing through copy writing, memory writing and dictation to guided composition, and finally to free composition. Visual aids can provide a useful stimulus for writing, especially at the stage of guided composition.

     Teaching materials can also be used to assist in the general development of the pupil’s personality, and this is of great educational   value.

     Teaching materials acquire special importance in gaining cultural aims. From the earliest stages, thanks to visual aids, pupils are introduced to the foreign country and its people.

     In this connection it is necessary to mention the qualities teaching materials should possess:

     Authenticity. Whatever is presented to the pupils, whether linguistic or cultural material, it should be an authentic representation of the language or culture of the foreign country (countries).

     Clarity. The materials must possess clarity of exposition which leaves the pupils in no doubt as to their meaning.

     Practicality. To provide maximum help to the teacher, the materials must be practical in use, economic of cost and time, easy to store, and immediately accessible.

     Appropriateness. To fulfil the role of motivating the learner and sustaining his enthusiasm, teaching materials must be appropriate to the age, interests, and abilities of pupils. They must also be appropriate to the functions which are required of them, i. e., whether the teacher needs them for presentation, exercises, testing, etc.

     In conclusion it may be said, according to A. Spicer, “The purpose of teaching materials is not to usurp the role of the teacher, nor even to make his work easier. Their main purpose is to make it possible for the teacher to teach more effectively, more interestingly, and more economically. It is equally important that the materials should help the pupil to learn more easily and more rapidly.”

     It is well known that in our country much attention is given to foreign language learning. Educational researchers, methodologists and teachers are striving to improve teaching methods is this field. For this purpose new teaching materials have been produced.

     As a result the teacher has Teacher's Book, Pupil's Book, visual, audio-visual, audio, and other materials at his disposal.

     For teaching English two sets of teaching materials are suggested which cover six years (5—10 forms) of the essential course in ten-year schools: (1) teaching materials by S. K- Fo-lomkina, H. M. Weiser, E. I. Kaar, A. D. KJimentenko, and (2) teaching materials by A. P. Starkov, R. R. Dixon, Z. V. Starkova. Teaching materials by both groups of authors include: teacher's books, pupil's books, sets of wall-charts or albums, filmstrips (or slides), sound film loops, long-playing records and supplementary readers. Although both sets of teaching materials are based on scientific principles as to the selection of linguistic material, topics to be covered and terminal behaviour at the end of the course, however, they differ in many respects.

     The main difference lies in the organization of teaching beginners. S. K. Folomkina, H. M. Weiser, E. I. Kaar start by teaching beginners all the language skills, i. e., hearing, speaking, reading, and writing simultaneously, although they give seven introductory lessons which are to be conducted orally. A. P. Starkov, R. R. Dixon, Z. V. Starkova start with the oral introductory course and teach hearing and speaking first for more than a term.  During the oral introductory course, beginning with the fifth lesson, pupils start writing English letters and combinations of letters. They begin reading at the 40^th class-period.

     Another difference is in the arrangement of the material in pupil’s books. A. P. Starkov and R. R. Dixon adhere strictly to the arrangement of the material by “topics”. S. K. Folomkina, H. M. Weiser, A. D. Klimentenko do not observe the topical arrangement of the material in pupil’s books, though they cover the topics set by the syllabus.

     They differ in their introduction of new material. S. K. Folomkina, H. M. Weiser, E. I. Kaar, A. D. Klimentenko use oral presentation of linguistic materials. Pupils grasp the vocabulary or grammar items by ear so as to assimilate them mainly for auding. Oral work at linguistic material does not exceed one class-period, as a rule.

     The second group of authors follows the oral approach in teaching linguistic material, i. e., pupils can use the material in auding and speaking before they can read and write it.

     One more difference is in the use of the mother tongue in teaching English. They both admit the use of the mother tongue for presenting linguistic material whenever it is necessary to ensure comprehension of what pupils learn. As to translation exercises for developing pupils’ language skills, they are used in pupil's books by the first group of authors, and are not utilized by the second.

     They differ in presenting grammar too. The first group of authors presents the   material    in   sentences   which are followed by grammar rules in the mother tongue in the pupil’s books and exercises. A. P. Starkov, R. R. Dixon presents the material in structural groups. However, grammar rules are not excluded from teaching. In learning grammar material pupils pass through the following stages: (1) they assimilate a structural group; (2) they learn how to use the new words in the grammar structures; (3) they utilize the structures in a logical sequence in speech; (4) they speak within the situations offered, using the linguistic material covered.

     There is a considerable difference in the authors’ approach to the development of speaking and reading skills. S. K- Folomkina, H. M. Weiser, E. I. Kaar, A. D. Klimentenko, for instance, give preference to monologue as a form of speech that should be developed . A. P. Starkov, R. R. Dixon, Z. V. Starkova prefer developing dialogic speech first. In both systems oral language in its two forms, dialogue and monologue, is developed. As to general approach to teaching speaking and reading they have but little in common, and especially at the junior stage (5-6 forms).

     Gradually the difference in these two sets of teaching materials becomes less striking since they both should meet the school syllabus requirements. Both sets of teaching materials are now in use in schools. Thus teachers of English have received new teaching materials and, therefore, they can teach more effectively than they could before. However, we could expect better results in language teaching if teachers were more fully informed about teaching aids and teaching materials and the methods they should apply, if they were more selective in the choice of methods and techniques.

     “Иностранные языки в школе” can supply teachers of foreign languages with useful information from various fields, namely, linguistics, psychology, methodology, teachers’ experience, etc. Those who are interested in foreign language teaching abroad can find useful information in the following journals: “The English Language Teaching”, “The Modern Languages” (Great Britain), “The Modern Language Journal”, “Language   Learning”   (USA).

     One more problem should be touched upon in connection with teaching aids and teaching materials. That is the problem of implementing them into school life. Indeed it is not sufficient to have new textbooks, teacher’s guides, and other teaching materials which meet modern requirements. It is necessary that the teacher can digest all this and use the new teaching materials. The problem, as practice proves, is much more difficult than one might imagine. Its solution depends on many factors, and among them:

     1. Thorough comprehension of the methodological credo of the authors by the teacher. To understand   a   system of teaching reflected in textbooks or other teaching materials the teacher should read about the system and, what is more desirable, listen to the authors when they give an interpretation of their system. The stranger the system of teaching is, the more interpretation it requires. Complete assimilation is attained, however, when the teacher uses the system for a number of years and strictly follows the recommendations 
given by the authors. If the teacher does not use a new text book in the way he ought to, the textbook, as a rule, does not work. For instance, the series of textbooks for teaching 
English in schools compiled by A. P. Starkov and R. R. Dixon is highly  appreciated  by one group  of  teachers,  namely, by   those  who  have  grasped   the  authors’   methodological 
credo and follow their system of teaching, and at the same time is fully rejected by another, who either had no opportunity to study it or who accept the system of teaching reflected in the series of textbooks for teaching English compiled by S. K. Folomkina, H. M. Weiser, E. I. Kaar, A. D. Klimentenko.

     2. The teacher’s ability to free himself of the methods and techniques he has become used to and acquire new ones. For example, for many years teachers have presented new 
words as isolated units, writing them down on the blackboard so that pupils can see the words, read and put them down in their vocabulary notes. They got used to the system. Then they had to give up this system to adopt the new one, the oral approach or the oral presentation of words, as is recommended in both series of English textbooks.  Some teachers could easily accept the new approach. Some coped with it. And finally, there are teachers who cannot give up presenting new words the way they did before. They go on with the old approach to vocabulary instruction. For many years teachers have widely used translation as a type of exercise for consolidating linguistic material and in reading texts. They got accustomed to translation and liked it. And now they had to restrict the usage of translation and use instead various exercises within the English language utilizing audio-visual aids and materials as both sets of teaching materials require.

     3. The teacher’s qualification, his desire to be on top of his job, to seek new methods and techniques in language teaching and not only to accept those recommended. Such teachers always read journals and books on methods; they attend lectures and seminars for foreign language teachers.

Consequently, to solve the problem it is necessary:

     - to help teachers in comprehending the modern trends in foreign language teaching in general, and in assimilating the methodological credo of the authors of the textbooks 
they use, in particular;

     - to help teachers in accepting new approaches to foreign language teaching through exchange of experience in order to show them how to apply new methods and techniques of teaching and what results can be achieved;

     - to improve teachers’ training in   teachers’ colleges and  at  refresher  courses.

     The sooner teachers of foreign language acquire skills in handling teaching aids and in utilizing new teaching materials, the better results in language learning may be expected. 

Control questions: 

1. What teaching aids do you know?
2. What teaching materials do you know?
3. What are programmed materials?
4. What are visual materials?
5. What are audio materials?
6. What are audio- visual materials?

 
 

Recommended literature: 

1. Пассов Е.И.  Основы коммуникативной методики  обучения иноязычному общению. – М., 1989.

2. Поляков О.Г. Профильно-ориентированное обучение английскому языку//ИЯШ. № 2 – 2004.стр.6

3. Гальковская  Н.Д., Никитенко З.Н. Теория и  практика обучения ИЯ. Начальная  школа. Методическое пособие.  М., 2004. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

    Lecture 10 

THE ROLE OF EXTRA-CURRICULAR WORK IN LANGUAGE LEARNING IN SCHOOL. 

Plan: 

1. The role of extra-curricular work in language learning in school.
2. How to organize extra-curricular work in foreign languages.
3. The contents of extra-curricular work and how to conduct it.

 

     At present the Soviet Union is extending its international, economic, political, scientific, and cultural ties. The practical knowledge of foreign languages becomes therefore a necessity.  Thus, the aims of foreign language teaching in schools are to develop pupils’ ability to speak and read in a foreign language. The curriculum emphasizes it. It is obvious that extra-curricular work is of great importance under such conditions: it gives an opportunity to create a language atmosphere for pupils; besides, pupils consider the language not as a school subject but as a means of communication, they use it to understand or to be understood in a situation where only English could be used, for example, when corresponding with children of foreign countries, meeting a foreign delegation, seeing sound films in the English language, listening to English songs, issuing school wall-newspapers, etc. Extracurricular work helps the teacher to stimulate his pupils’ interest in the target language. The language becomes alive to them. Extra-curricular work is of great educational value. The teacher can give his pupils a broader knowledge in geography,   history,   literature and art of the English-speaking countries.

     Finally, extra-curricular work in a foreign language helps the teacher in fostering proletarian internationalism. Correspondence with the children of foreign countries provides the fulfillment of this task to a certain extent.

     The experience of the best school teachers proves that extra-curricular work can be of great value and it is helpful in all respects if it is carefully organized, the material is thoroughly selected, and if the teacher can encourage his pupils to work hard at the target language by using modern methods and techniques of teaching. 
 
 
 

HOW TO ORGANIZE EXTRA-CURRICULAR WORK IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES. 

     In organizing non-class activities for pupils the teacher should bear in mind that work of this type differs greatly from that carried out during the class period both in form and content, though it is closely connected with it. Indeed, the class-work must prepare pupils for non-class activities. For example, during the lessons pupils in the 5^th, 6^th forms assimilate the following sentence patterns.

     Give me (him, her, us) ... a ... .

     Take ...! Have you ...? Is it a ...?

     Has he   (she) ...?

     During extra-curricular work the teacher suggests the pupils should play lotto or a guessing game where these sentence patterns are needed.

     Extra-curricular work is voluntary. However, for those who wish to take part in this work it becomes obligatory. Since through extra-curricular work the teacher can raise the level of the pupils’ command of the language in general, it is bad practice to draw only the best, bright pupils into the work, as some of the methodologists and teachers recommend. No marks are given to the participants for non-class activities, although the teacher keeps a careful record of the work done by each of them. The results of extra-curricular work done can be evaluated when the school holds contests, pioneer assemblies, reviews of wall-newspapers, amateur art reviews, pleasure parties, etc., in the foreign language.

     Since extra-curricular work is voluntary and based upon pupils’ activity, initiative and creativeness, the Young Pioneer and Young Communist League Organizations should render help to the teacher to carry out this work. The teacher recommends various kinds of non-class activities to his pupils, selects the material and elaborates methods and techniques as to how this or that work should be carried out. The Young Pioneer and Young Communist League Organizations choose participants in accordance with their aptitude, and keep a record of the work done. Extra-curricular work may be closely connected with the work of the Young Pioneer Unit. It cannot be fulfilled, however, within the framework of the Unit only.