In this webinar, we look at how to help young learners improve their pronunciation and speaking skills through fun, hands-on activities.
Most children love to talk, but a foreign language can seem too intimidating to some of them. Caroline Nixon and Michael Tomlinson, authors of six ‘Primary Box’ titles from the Cambridge Copy Collection and of the Primary course Kid’s Box, share some of their top tips on how to get young learners to talk.
Young learners need phonics practice (or ‘speech therapy’) to learn how to reproduce sounds as accurately as possible, as well as ‘talk therapy’ to develop their dialogue and the ability to express ideas. Combined with human interaction, these two therapies enable learners to communicate effectively.
In an ELT classroom, children are sometimes shy and unwilling to participate in speaking activities. Nixon and Tomlinson suggest that the best way of getting young learners involved in speaking activities is through use of songs, because musical activities (especially if they are accompanied with illustrations) can help children to feel relaxed and less anxious. Moving freely around the classroom, dancing or pointing will also help students to memorise the words and their meaning.
While communication activities should be fun in order to engage young learners, they should also be highly structured to give younger learners enough confidence to speak and communicate in English. Working in pairs, for example, builds both student and correction autonomy: students can compare worksheets with minimal teacher interference and ask each other questions. It is important to keep activities personal, e.g. asking about favourite colour or past experience.
To discover more ways to encourage young learners to speak, and which mistakes to avoid in your ELT classroom, watch the webinar recording below!