10.
Providing learners with a record of their achievement will happen at the
end of the learning process. This is known as ______:
a. Formative assessment.
b. Summative assessment.
c. Diagnostic assessment.
Answer key
Contents, resources, and recommended learning activities
Week 11
Unit 5. Techniques for Teaching Children
5.1 Teaching Listening
Note. Taken from Picture of a teenager listening to music by using headphones
[Photography], by Freepik, w. d., freepik, CC BY 2.0
Teaching listening to young learners can be challenging but is crucial, as it is a
key receptive skill and the primary source of input for acquiring a new
language. Nunan (2011, p. 48) states that “listening provides learners with
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models that they can follow when the time comes for them to speak”. Then the
importance of applying effective strategies that help young learners learn the
language by appropriately developing the listening skill.
Nunan presents different activities to be used in the classroom which provide
positive results. Among those activities we have the following:
Figure 10
Listening activities.
Note. Adapted from Teaching Listening to Young Learners (p. 51), by Nunan, D., 2011,
Anaheim University Press.
The following information provided by Nunan (2011, p. 55) explains the
purpose of each activity:
• TPR: Focuses on listening and physical actions using commands and
games like Simon Says.
• Stories: Engage learners with drawings, puppets, and predicting events in
repetitive, familiar stories like Goldilocks.
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• Songs and Rhymes: Songs like The Itsy-Bitsy Spider reinforce vocabulary
through rhythm, repetition, and actions.
As you just read, one of the activities is listening to and retelling stories.
Students need to be exposed to stories and storytelling because they are
fundamental to early learning. But, as Nunan states, simply reading a story
aloud to the students is not enough since it is necessary to involve them as
much as possible in the story. Then how can teachers make it possible? Well,
there are some suggestions involving learners in a story-based lesson such as
making children draw characters or scenes from the story, telling students a
story using puppets, and making them sequence pictures from a story,
arranging them in the correct order, or predicting the sequence before hearing
the story.
To have a clear idea about the use of activities that involve physical actions, I
invite you to watch the following video which is focused on TPR: Total Physical
Response (TPR) - Teacher Training film no. 8
Now that you have finished watching the video, it is important to give your
opinion about it. Please use your notebook or a Word document.
An additional activity that can help young learners to improve the listening
activity is listen and repeat. Scott and Ytreberg (1990) states that the activities
that involve learners to listen and repeat provide them the opportunity to
practice with sounds, stress, rhyme and the intonation which are parts of the
language. Then the idea of using story refrains can help to reach this goal. A
good example of it is the following: Michael Rosen performs We’re Going on a
Bear Hunt
What do you think about this story refrain? How would you use it in the class
with your students?
Note: Please complete the activity in a notebook or Word document.
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5.2 Teaching Speaking
Note. Taken from Tres niña sonriente linda en chismes de camisetas coloridas -
aislado en blanco [Photography], by valuavitaly, w. d., freepik, CC BY 2.0
Communicating in the target language is challenging because, as Nunan
(2011) explains, it requires mastering four types of competencies:
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Figure 11
Competences
Note. Adapted from Teaching Speaking (p. 64), by Nunan, D., 2011, Anaheim University
Press.
All these competences will help students to become fluent conversationalists
but mastering them will take a long time. For this reason, it is important to
consider different aspects to teach speaking to young learners effectively in
order to provide them with a strong background which will help them to
succeed in the future. To reach this purpose Nunan suggests the disguised
drills and dictogloss techniques as well as the use of songs and rhymes.
Now, let’s watch a video on a different activity that can help students improve
their speaking skills: Using puppets to get children talking in English.
As you watched in the video, the use of puppets can be a great resource for
making young learners speak while having fun. What do you think about it?
How would you use puppets to make your students speak?
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Note: please complete the activity in a notebook or Word document.
Recommended learning activity
Dear student, let’s continue learning by participating in the activity
described below:
Create a lesson plan that focuses on the improvement of both skills
"listening and speaking".
Note: please complete the activity in a notebook or Word document.
Contents, resources, and recommended learning activities
Week 12
Unit 5. Techniques for Teaching Children
5.3 Teaching Reading
Note. Taken from A young boy studying at the library [Photography], by Pressphoto, w.
d., freepik, CC BY 2.0
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Nunan (2011) claims that reading, which is considered a literacy skill, is an
unnatural act since all people learn to listen or speak in their native language
but not everyone learns to read. Then why is it important to read? The author
provides the following reasons:
Figure 12
Reasons for teaching reading
Note. Adapted from Teaching Reading (p. 81), by Nunan, D., 2011, Anaheim University
Press.
This chart demonstrates that reading gives students many advantages in
Spanish and English. It then emphasizes the importance of teaching children
to read in a foreign language, applying the most relevant techniques to help
obtain the desired results.
Nunan proposes the following activities:
• Word games (They may involve using cards that include words to learn. For
example, memory games).
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• Phonics (Activities such as categorizing words by initial sounds or creating
sound banks help learners recognize patterns in words).
• Readers and storybooks (They are essential tools for all stages of reading
development, incorporating principles from oral language teaching, such as
repetition, meaningful content, and context to aid comprehension).
Now, I suggest you watch the following video to have more ideas about
additional strategies for teaching reading to young learners.
Strategies for Teaching Reading 1: Teaching Reading to Young Learners
Once you have finished watching the video, you are ready to answer the
following questions:
• According to the Dr. Ray Mackay, why is it not important to encourage
students to read aloud?
• According to the Dr. Ray Mackay, is it necessary to prepare pupils for the
content of the text they are going to read?
Note: please complete the activity in a notebook or Word document.
5.4 Teaching Writing
Note. Taken from Eruditos elementales [Photography], by Pressphoto, w. d., freepik, CC
BY 2.0
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Writing is also considered as an unnatural skill since not all people learn to
write. This ability requires a lot of practice over many years (Nunan 2011). But
why is it important to be able to write? The author provides the following
reasons:
Figure 13
Reasons for teaching writing
Note. Adapted from Teaching Writing (p. 95), by Nunan, D., 2011, Anaheim University
Press.
Working on all of the previously mentioned activities will be possible by
developing the writing skill effectively. Therefore, it is important that teachers
apply effective strategies that help learners to succeed in this field. Nunan
(2011) suggests the following writing tasks:
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Figure 14
Writing tasks
Note. Adapted from Writing Tasks for Younger Learners (p. 99), by Nunan, D., 2011,
Anaheim University Press.
Now, for having additional ideas that can help students to become effective
writers, I invite you to visit the following website: Teaching Elementary School
Students to Be Effective Writers Likewise, I recommend you watch the
following video about the: Instructional Strategies for Teaching Writing to
Elementary Students
As you read information in the article about teaching elementary schools
students to be effective writers, four different strategies are mentioned to
make students learn about the writing process. Select one strategy and write it
in your notebook or Word document.
In the video related to instructional strategies for teaching writing to
elementary students, the speaker refers to scaffolding instruction. Why does
she mention it?
Note: answer the question in a notebook or Word document
Another interesting strategy that can be very useful to make students have fun
while writing is by creating story books. It can be done by using tools like Story
Jumper which has been created with this purpose.
Now that you checked the story jumper tool, what can you tell me about it?
How would you use it with your students?
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Recommended learning activity
Dear student, let’s continue learning by participating in the activity
described below:
Create a lesson plan that focuses on the improvement of both skills
"reading and writing".
Note: please complete the activity in a notebook or Word document.
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Contents, resources, and recommended learning activities
Week 13
Unit 5. Techniques for Teaching Children
5.5 Teaching Vocabulary
Note. Taken from Random letters spelling 'Happy Birthday' used as a birthday card or
wrapping paper, transparent pattern, vector illustration, steps 10 [Illustration], by
Tatsiana Selivanava, w. d., shutterstock, CC BY 2.0
Although vocabulary represents the basis for the development of the four main
skills, according to Nunan (2011), it is complicated to acquire. When teaching
children, it is important to keep in mind different issues. For example, children
should not be expected to learn things in a second language that they have not
yet learned to do in their first language. It is also necessary to make learners
aware of the different grammatical functions of a word.
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