Characteristics of Young Learners and Implications for Teaching Young Learners

陳佳燕

Abstract：Teaching young learners is much more difficult for teachers because learners at this age have their own characteristics and needs and are difficult to manage. For example， they are more easily distracted， they may suffer from more peer pressure and they have less knowledge about the world， which results in their great curiosity about this world and anything new. In order to get along well with young learners and teach them effectively， it is necessary to explore these characteristics and draw implications from them. Therefore， this paper intends to explore the three most important factors which make teaching young learners different from teaching adults and gives suggestion to the teacher of young learners.

Key words： children characteristic emotional metalanguage person-centered

As Halliwell （1992） mentioned that “young children do not come to the language classroom empty-handed. They bring with them an already well-established set of instincts， skills and characteristics”＼+①， which should be identified and made the most of. Young learners in this paper will refer to learners in primary school， namely approximately aged seven to twelve.

First of all， primary learners are very emotional. Entering primary classroom， it is common to see children are exciting and energetic and usually they are not able to discipline themselves. Young learners are enthusiastic for learning and curious about the world around them＼+②（Harmer， 1991：38）. However， primary learners have a very short concentration span. They can be easily distracted and are hardly concentrated on one thing for long， let alone the tasks they find difficult.

Therefore， in the light of this characteristic， “a rich diet of learning experiences” should be provided， which tries to engage students （Harmer， 1991：39）＼+③， satisfy the curiosity of the learners and thus to keep motivate them.

Secondly， unlike adult learners， “children do not find it as easy to use language to talk about language. They do not have the same access as older learners to metalanguage that teachers can use to explain about grammar or discourse＼+④” （Cameron， 2001）. According to Piagets stages of development of children， the young learners discussed in this paper are mainly at the concrete operational stage （12-15 years）. At this stage， “l(fā)earning is logical but depends on concrete referents”. Thus， it is hardly possible for primary learners to learn to analyze sentence structures and other grammatical points， which is still beyond their cognitive ability. “Their understanding comes not just from explanation， but also from what they see and hear and， crucially， have a chance to touch and interact with”＼+⑤（Harmer， 1991：38）. Showing real objects to teach new words is a good example of this.

Apart from learning from objects and grasping meaning from the environment， Halliwell （1992：8） showed that children have an instinct for interaction as well as talking.＼+⑥In addition， Harmer demonstrated that young children “often learn indirectly - that is they take in information from everything around them rather than only focusing on the precise topic they are being taught” （Harmer， 1991：38）. ＼+⑦

All in all， both conscious direct learning and subconscious indirect learning are helpful for internalizing a new language.

Besides， the last characteristic of young learners at this age is person-centered. Hamer claimed that “they have a need for individual attention and approval from the teacher” and “they are keen to talk about themselves， and respond well to learning that uses themselves and their own lives as main topics in the classroom”＼+⑧（Harmer， 1991：38）.

What implications can be drew to the teaching young learners from this characteristic？ To begin with， Lewis （2007） suggested that teachers should be interested in students lives. “Ask questions about the student. How do they feel？ What do they think？ Treat the teen as a mature thinker， even if the ideas he or she expresses are very dogmatic and one-sided”＼+⑨（Lewis， 2007：10）.

In addition， make the most of this egocentrism to teaching. “To understand young teenagers， it is important to know that the most important thing in their lives at this point is themselves. This natural egocentrism is paired with lots of emotion. Young teenagers will feel that nobody understands them because they feel nobody has ever felt the way they do. This can lead to quite a bit of melodrama-a characteristic which can be very useful in a language classroom if it is organized in an unthreatening way”＼+⑩ （Lewis ， 2007）.

What is more， teenagers strive to be independent. They want more responsibility. Grant this responsibility and all the rights and obligations it implies， but hold students accountable for both their work and their behavior. Negotiate rules with the students. Let them have input， and then hold them to the decisions that have been made.＼+B11 （Lewis ， 2007：9）

Another suggestion from Lewis （2007：9） is that “in talks with teenagers， one of the most important points they make is that they want to be treated with respect. To condescend or ‘teach down to teenagers will have a very negative effect on discipline.＼+B12”. However， “treat teen with respect， but take advantage of the fact that you are the adults to maintain control. Despite teen rebelliousness， you are still the authority figure and you need to make clear that the respect you show to them must be returned back to you in the form of appropriate classroom behavior. In other words， be friendly， but dont expect to be your students friend.＼+B13” （Lewis 2007：9）.

All in all， “as a teacher， you walk a fine line with this age group. You must give them responsibility， or else they may be offended and withdraw. However， it would be equally problematic to treat teenagers as adults. They still need guidance.＼+B14” （Lewis， 2007：7）.

In conclusion， the young learners are very emotional. They are enthusiastic and lively but at the same time they have a very limited attention span. Given this， a constant change of activity is needed to keep motivate them. Besides， at the concrete operational stage， the young learners are still unable to analyze language. In this case， conscious direct learning as well as subconscious indirect learning can be made full use of to help teaching young learners. Finally， the young learners are very person-centered. Thus， teachers should show their interest in students lives， make the most of this egocentrism to teaching， give the young learners responsibility as well as treating them with respect.

[Annotaion]

①Halliwell， S.， & Halliwell， S. （1992）. Teaching English in the primary classroom （pp. 130-131）. London： Longman.

②Harmer， J. （1991）. The practice of English language teaching. London/New York.

③Harmer， J. （1991）. The practice of English language teaching. London/New York.

④Cameron L， 2001. Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge： CUP.

⑤Harmer， J. （1991）. The practice of English language teaching. London/New York.

⑥Halliwell， S.， & Halliwell， S. （1992）. Teaching English in the primary classroom （pp. 130-131）. London： Longman.

⑦Harmer， J. （1991）. The practice of English language teaching. London/New York.

⑧Harmer， J. （1991）. The practice of English language teaching. London/New York.

⑨Lewis， G. （2007）. In Teenagers， Oxford； New York： Oxford University Press.

⑩Lewis， G. （2007）. In Teenagers， Oxford； New York： Oxford University Press.

B11Lewis， G. （2007）. In Teenagers， Oxford； New York： Oxford University Press.

B12Lewis， G. （2007）. In Teenagers， Oxford； New York： Oxford University Press.

B13Lewis， G. （2007）. In Teenagers， Oxford； New York： Oxford University Press.

B14Lewis， G. （2007）. In Teenagers， Oxford； New York： Oxford University Press.

[Reference]

[1]Cameron L， 2001. Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge： CUP.

[2]Harmer， J. （1991）. The practice of English language teaching. London/New York.

[3]Halliwell， S.， & Halliwell， S. （1992）. Teaching English in the primary classroom （pp. 130-131）. London： Longman.

[4]Lewis， G. （2007）. In Teenagers， Oxford； New York： Oxford University Press.

（作者單位：廣東外語外貿(mào)大學南國商學院，廣東 廣州 515041）