The best way to engage the elementary school students in
English class
041048 Ayano Chihara
Introduction
These days, more and more people think that it is important for the pupils
to study English. There are a lot of primary schools which have started to teach
English. One of the purposes of teaching English at primary school is that
teachers can train the attitudes so that pupils are interested in other people and
can express their own feelings and so on. English activities should be interesting
for the sake of helping them study English.
Student – centered learning
Student-centered lesson happens when the students can enjoy learning and
practice with activities which suitable for their own levels. It is important for
students to learn language in this way because if there is only Teacher-centered
learning, the students may not be engaged.
Student-centered learning
・ The students can enjoy themselves
・ They can learn actively and of their own accord
・ Their eyes shine brightly
Teacher-centered learning
・ The teachers can plan a lesson carefully
・ They can use time efficiently
・ They can teach clearly and logically
・ The students behave well and do not chat so much
Advantages and Disadvantages of TCL and SCL
Both Student-centered learning and Teacher-centered learning have advantages
and disadvantages, so we need to be aware of not only the advantages of
Student-centered learning but also the advantages of Teacher-centered learning.
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Studentcentered
Learning
(SCL)
・
・
Teachercentered
・
・
Learning
(TCL)
Advantages
It is possible for the
teachers to use time more
effectively because the
students can learn
language that they need
It is good chance for the
students to think for
themselves and learn to
grow on their own.
The teachers can teach
the key points clearly.
It is effective to teach
many people at once
Disadvantages
・The students may be likely to
regard the activities as games and
not useful.
・The teacher does not ‘teach’ and
as such, some students may stop
respecting the teacher – they may
see the teachers only as guide.
・ The teachers can adapt the
lesson to the average students,
so the students of higher level
and lower level may be bored.
Besides, we should not distinguish fun from learning because only teacher
centered learning may not engage the students, and only enjoying activities may
not ensure that the students learn meanings or patterns. If we divide class into
some stages or into groups, this will be better to motivated students but this will
be not good for to the lower students because they often prefer to play games.
In the Student-centered lesson, we have some stages and we regard them as
The Questioning Cycle. This cycle will help the teachers to understand what
stages the students are at.
Notice
↓
Want
↓
Challenge
→
Link
↑
Succeed
↑
Play
→
Noticing
The students notice new words or patterns while they are playing.
The teachers include them in activities and make the students notice them
but the teachers do not “teach” these words or patterns in this stage.
The example of activity is “flash cards” or teacher explanation.
Wanting
If the students enjoy the activity if they think that they want to find out what
these new words and patterns mean. This is like Engage of ESA.
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Challenging/taking a risk
If the students have techniques for trying to find out the meaning of the
new word or patterns, they are likely to try. The aim is to start experiment
with the new language and patterns in a controlled way.
Playing/experimenting
The students will learn with a lot of activities – often in less controlled
ways, trying to find out the meaning, making mistakes, meeting many
examples of the new pattern, and using it to express their own feelings.
Succeeding
if the new language target is at an achievable level, the students can be
successful in understanding and using individual words.
Linking
If our language syllabus fits together well, and if the students do activities
where the new language target is mixed with targets already learned, the
students are more likely to link it into the mental model they are building
up as they try to make sense of the world of English.
Some different approaches to language teaching in Japan
Grammar – Translation
Method
/ Reading Method
(文法訳読教授法)
Direct Method / Natural
Method
Oral Approach /
Audiolingual Method
・ This method was used in Europe to learn
Latin in medieval times and the main point is
the explanation of grammar, reading the
textbook.
・ It seems that this method is may be
impractical in some ways because it focuses
on reading than listening or speaking.
・ This method tries to help students learn in
the way that the infant learn language
naturally.
・ The teachers must not use the native
language and they will direct the students
through the skills in this order.
1) listening 2) speaking 3) reading 4) writing
・ Habbard said that this method is widely
used at the time of writing and a very large
number of textbooks are based on it.
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Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT)
Total Physical Response
(TPR)
Natural Approach
・ The teachers direct the students in the
same way as Direct Method.
1) listening 2) speaking 3) reading 4) writing
・ To acquire the ability of communication, it is
important for the teacher to know not only
grammar but also use appropriate language.
・ According to Canale, we need 4 abilities.
1) Grammatical Competence (文法的能力)
2) Discourse Competence (談話的能力)
3) Sociolinguistic Competence (社会言語的能
力)
4) Strategic Competence (方略的能力)
・The example of the activities are Problem
Solving, Information Gap and Role Play.
・ James J. Asher who was a psychologist
suggested that the teachers make students
learn English using their five senses.
・ It is important for the students to all for
responding to obey the order of the teacher.
・ This method takes over from TPR and it is
thought that listening is more important than
speaking.
・ There is o mental pressure for the students
in this method because the teachers don’t
practice which focus on automatic repetition
and patterns, and then they give the
linguistic materials which is hosen to the
students.
・ The teachers use paraphrase to make sure
that the students really understand and the
teachers repeat to practice, taking a hard
look at a plan.
Conclusion
To engage the students, the teachers should plan carefully and should
use not only the Student-centered learning but also Teacher-centered learning
because they have both advantages and disadvantages. They can teach English
by mixing both of advantages.
Moreover, it will be good for the students if the teachers mix TPR and Natural
Approach.
They will maybe engage a lot of students and the teachers can indicate that
learning English is fun.
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References:
David Paul (2003), Teaching English to Students in Asia Longman
Tuyoshi Kanemori (2003), The English Education at elementary school.
Kyouikushuppan
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