Language Learning Methodologies

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METHODOLOGIES

LANGUAGE LEARNING

02.4 CLIL

02.3 Reggio Emilia

02.2 Waldorf

02.1 Montessori

02 Recent methodological trends in preschool education:

01 The natural approach

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Let’s analyse Krashen’s hypotheses first to understand better this methodology:

01 The natural approach

The natural approach is an educative proposal presented in 1983 by Stephen Krashen and Tracy Terrell.

01 The Acquisition-Learning hypothesis: there are two independent systems of foreign language performance: 'the acquired system' and 'the learned system'. The 'acquired system' is the product of a subconscious process (very similar to the process children undergo when they acquire their first language). The "learned system" is the product of formal instruction and it comprises a conscious process which results in conscious knowledge 'about' the language.

'Learning' is less important than 'acquisition'.

Stephen Krashen

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01 The natural approach

02 The Monitor hypothesis: This hypothesis explains the relationship between acquisition and learning. The acquisition system is the initiator, while the learning system performs the role of the 'monitor' or the 'editor', making minor changes and polishing what the acquired system had produced.

The 'monitor' acts in a planning, editing and correcting function.

Stephen Krashen

01 The natural approach

Stephen Krashen

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03 The Input hypothesis: the learner improves and progresses along the 'natural order' when he/she receives second language 'input' that is one step beyond his/her current stage of linguistic competence (i+1). This hypothesis only concerned with 'acquisition', not 'learning'.

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01 The natural approach

Stephen Krashen

Low motivation, low self-esteem, anxiety, introversion and inhibition can raise the affective filter and form a 'mental block' that prevents comprehensible input from being used for acquisition

04 The Affective Filter hypothesis: embodies Krashen's view that a number of 'affective variables' play a facilitative, but non-causal, role in second language acquisition. These variables include: motivation, self-confidence, anxiety and personality traits.

01 The natural approach

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Stephen Krashen

05 Natural Order hypothesis: suggested that the acquisition of grammatical structures follows a 'natural order' which is predictable. This order seemed to be independent of the learners' age, L1 background and conditions of exposure.

The majority of us have had to struggle to be able to understand and speak a language, no matter how much exposure to “comprehensible input” we have had.

Kenneth Romeo admits that Krashen and Terrell were on the right track with their hypotheses related to the natural approach but he asserts that they were too optimistic in their vision. He said that:

01 The natural approach

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Stephen Krashen

Criticism of the methodology

Promoting ubiquitous learning via ICT resources.Providing plenty of comprehensible input through the most appropriate activities.Taking into account the affective filter, keeping them motivated and in a calm environment.

01 The natural approach

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Stephen Krashen

How to applied it to the preschool clasroom?

02.4 CLIL

02.3 Reggio Emilia

02.2 Waldorf

02.1 Montessori

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02 Recent methodological trends in preschool education

The Montessori methodology was created by the Italian physician and educator Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori as early as 1897, after a lot of study at the University of Rome about pedagogy.Her work is based on extensive and objective observation of the children’s behaviour and their reactions to peers and to the adults who surrounded them.

Stephen Krashen

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02.1 Montessori

They are called “guides” or “assistant guides”, and their main task is to observe and record each child’s behaviour and progress and to present them the materials that they have in the classroom.

Teachers:

Stephen Krashen

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02.1 Montessori

There is no correction, no expressions of punishment or reward. The guides just provide a model of good behaviour. Morover, guides show the child the material, ahe he or she can choose to use it whenever he or she wants to, individually or together with other children.

How to teach:

Stephen Krashen

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02.1 Montessori

The classroom is divided into areas: mathematics, language, sensory material, culture and science, and a section called “practical life”. There are also sections in the areas devoted to psychomotricity and to arts and crafts. Children can move freely around and they have full acess to all materials. Children are mixed in the classrooms, generally there are children aged 3 to 6 years-old. This mixture helps them to learn and collaborate with others. Older students help out the younger ones. The main idea is to feel that the whole group is a family and they are learning together as a group.

Classroom:

Stephen Krashen

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02.1 Montessori

In the classroom there is also a large area of books, an area that generally is very popular. These books are not common fairy tales or stories: only real material is allowed. There is no room for fantasy in the pure Montessori education and the use of digital resources is largely discouraged.

Books:

Stephen Krashen

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02.1 Montessori

Following the principles of Montessori methodology, to teach a second language, teachers need to provide concrete and authentic language, materials that can be physically manipulated and they have also to offer activities involving a lot of motion and physical activity. Moreover, Montessori guide teaching in a foreign language should do it as naturally as if dealing with the mother tongue of his or her students.

Second language acquisition:

Stephen Krashen

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02.1 Montessori

This methodology takes the figure of the child as a whole, including his or her developmental stages, emotions, attachments, and reactions. The central focus in the Waldorf approach is to cultivate the students’ imagination and creativity. Therefore. fantasy and imagination are very important elements in the Waldorf schools, which are believed to lead to inner transformation.

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02.2 Waldorf

Important elements:

Develop free human beings who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives.Provide harmony between body, soul, and spirit. Develop creative thinking.Free play is at the heart of the Waldorf early childhood curriculum.

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02.2 Waldorf

Language skills:

While playing, young children are actively acquiring language skills.The teacher uses beautiful articulate speech and rich teacher talk throughout the day. The teacher also sings with children, recites poems and finger plays, and tells stories on a daily basis.

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02.2 Waldorf

Enviroment and materials:

Enviroments are beautiful, rhythmic, purposeful, and inviting.Environments are intentionally non-assertive, meaning that there are no educational objects, devices, or delineated spaces. The materials the children use to play are purposely incomplete: the child assigning the meaning to the object.

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02.2 Waldorf

Self-activities

Active play: one hour every morning, facilitated by the teacher, both indoor and outdoor play.Story time: a daily circle-time story that the teacher initially tells with props, puppets, and/or marionettes, and which the children retell and re-enact.Natural play materials: open-ended, unformed toys that are interactive and non- representational to encourage the child’s imagination.Rhythm: predictable daily activities planned in harmony with weekly and seasonal changes.Home-like environment: the look and work of “home” that give children opportunities toimitate the household tasks.

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02.2 Waldorf

Children can learn a second language through:

Second Language aquisition:

Story time.Dramatisation.Puppets.

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02.2 Waldorf

The Reggio Emilia approach takes its name from the city where it was first implemented, in northern Italy. And it is the result of the concern of the teachers of the area in collaboration with parents. This approach takes families into account very seriously. The major figure of reference as regards the Reggio Emilia approach is the educator and psychologist Loris Malaguzzi.

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02.3 Reggio Emilia

Central roles:

Children.Parents.Teachers.

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02.3 Reggio Emilia

Main concern:

Order.Beauty.Artistic creation.

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02.3 Reggio Emilia

Enviroment and materials:

Children don't need too many materials but the necessary ones to carry out their activities. And all of them are easily reached by the students. There is freedom to move around the classroom at the children’s preference. Reggio Emilia classroms have also an area called atelier, lead by a teacher with an arts background, called the atelierista.

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02.3 Reggio Emilia

Language:

The Reggio Emilia methodology asserts that there are a hundred languages that the child uses to communicate.Communication with the children during and about their creative process while they manipulate materials and make their own creations is essential for the development of language.This communication can take place through the mother tongue or using a second language like English.

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02.3 Reggio Emilia

Literature:

Students can be encouraged to create drawings, clay figures, wire figures of the characters of the books we are teaching to them and describe them in simple sentences. The children learn to express themselves, their inner self, through the description of their creations, carried out individually or in groups.

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02.3 Reggio Emilia

CLIL stands for Content and Language Integrated Learning and it means teaching a specific subject – like arts, maths, science, etc. – through a second language, typically English.

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02.4 CLIL

Teachers:

They don't simply implement CLIL in the classroom without prior proper training, besides being a must that the teacher masters the language and the subject that are intended to be taught.

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02.4 CLIL

Challenges:

CLIL also brings with it complex challenges concerning its implementation and the professional development of teachers. In fact, CLIL teachers need to reflect on their own teaching practice – what actually works and what does not work for their students and why this is so – to engage in self-analysis and self-evaluation.

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02.4 CLIL

Lessons:

Students face a great challenge when learning a subject via CLIL, so we need to be very sensitive to his or her educative and language needs, providing explanations about content and about language whenever necessary. But, above it all, the CLIL lesson must be non-threatening and motivating.

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02.4 CLIL

CLIL in preschool:

Routines – including greeting times, lining up, hygiene, meal times, packing up, quiet time – occupy a big part of the preschool day.Picture books, storytelling, poems and songs are used extensively in a monolingual pre- school environment and play a key role in vocabulary acquisition, learning to follow a narrative and stimulating expressive ability.

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02.4 CLIL

4 C's:

Content: integrating content from across the curriculum through high quality language interaction.Cognition: engaging learners through higher order thinking and knowledge processing.Culture: interpreting and understanding the significance of content and language and their contribution to identity and citizenship.Communication: using language to learn and mediate ideas, thoughts and values.

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02.4 CLIL

Thank you!