Náležitosti

1.1 8-to-10-years Old Children 
As it is important to characterize the target age group before a course-planning 
phase, for the purpose of the research, Scott and Ytreberg´s description of this particular 
age group was adopted. These authors enumerate that: 
These children are relatively mature children with an adult and a childish side: 
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Their basic concepts are formed. They have very decided views of the world. 
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They can tell the difference between the fact and fiction. 
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They ask questions all the time. 
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They rely on the spoken word as well as the physical world to convey and 
understand meaning. 
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They are able to make some decisions about their own learning. 
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They have definite views about what they like and do not like doing. 
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They have a developed sense of fairness about what happens in the classroom 
and begin to question the teacher´ s decisions. 
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They are able to work with others and learn from others. 
(Scott and Ytreberg 1990, 3) 
To have a complete picture Opal Dunn further points out
Without knowledge of a child´s various stages of cognitive, emotional, 
physical, and social and language development, and an ability to recognize these 
stages, it is difficult for a teacher to plan an effective programme… Activities, 
beyond the child’s level of development, are difficult and often result in a 
restless classroom, or discipline problems in large classes. (1983, 8)
At this stage it is necessary to define the main areas of children´s development. The 
useful comments on this topic were found in Opal Dunn (1983), Scott and Ytreberg 
(1990), and Seefeldt´s (1980) methodology books and on the Internet web pages listed 

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in the bibliography. For the purpose of the research, firstly cognitive development, 
secondly social and emotional development, and thirdly language development of eight-
to-ten year olds will be discussed briefly. The last chapter will concentrate on the topic 
of ´Motivation´ in general terms of language learning, which will be narrowed to 
developing pronunciation.