Ministry of higher and secondary special education of the republic of uzbekistan samarkand state institute of foreign languages

Special features of teaching through age and suggested methods and approaches

As it has been obvious from the previous research results, teaching learners any foreign language requires more campaign and effort from the teachers. The representatives of any age group require to be treated respectively and various materials are found to be appealing for different age group learners accordingly. Below some special approaches and suggestions that may be found useful in terms of teaching different age levels.
Some facts about young and adult learners
• Young learners will achieve better proficiency in pronunciation and native like
• Adult learners are better at structure and vocabulary
• Both kinds of learners will undergo three steps : the silent period, the use of formulas, and structural or semantic simplification

Teaching Children
• Do not explain grammar using ‘grammatical’ terms such as present progressive, past tense, etc.
• Rules stated in abstract terms should be avoided (such as: add do/does…etc.)
• Some grammatical concepts could be presented to upper level of childhood using patterns and examples (e.g.: This is the way we say it when it’s happening right now: I’m walking to the door)
• Certain more difficult concepts or patterns require more repetition than adults
Attention Span
• Short attention span will come into when children deal with material that to them is boring, useless or too complex.
• Teachers need to make the materials interesting, lively, and fun

How do we make our materials interesting for children?
• Activities should be designed to capture their immediate interest -à because children are focused on immediate here and now
• A lesson needs a variety of activities to keep interest and attention alive
• A teacher needs to be animated, lively and enthusiastic about the subject matter
• A sense of humour will go a long way to keep children laughing and learning -à put yourself in their shoes
• Children have a lot of natural curiosity