The Similarities and Differences between Very Young and Young Learners

The children students can be divided into two by their age: Very young and young learners. “Young Learners” are defined between 7–12 years old, while the “Very Young Learners” are defined as under 7 years of age (Slatterly & Willis, 2001). They have both similarities and differences by their age, level, and skills while learning a foreign language. In this essay, it will be discussed their similarities, differences, and which learner group is harder to teach personally and why.

Firstly, they are curious, enthusiastic, eager to gain new experiences, active, and have energy (Değirmenci & Uysal, 2015). Thinking about these features, they are also motivated, because they want to learn. They are also creative, and it is better to make use of their imagination and energy in different activities (Değirmenci & Uysal, 2015). Using Total Physical Response (TPR) by James Asher (1977) is useful to teach English for very young learners, because they are active. On the contrary, they have minimum concentration, they are easily distracted and have very short attention spans. To not lose their attention, 5–15 minute activities are best to engage them in learning.

When it comes to their differences, their concentration time, skills, and themes change. For example, at 5–7 ages, their concentration time is 5–10 minutes long, but at 8–10 ages their concentration time is 10–15 minutes long (Shin, 2006). Their skills are also different: very young learners cannot draw well, generally do not know how to read and write, and cannot understand grammar as it is abstract. But young learners can do them well.

Personally, very young learner group looks less comfortable for me. I have not any experience about teaching, so I can only predict that it will be more comfortable teaching English to young learners.

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REFERENCES

Asher, J. J. (1977). Learning Another Language through Actions: The Complete Teacher’s Guidebook.

Değirmenci Uysal, N., Yavuz, F. (2015). Teaching English to Very Young Learners. Procedia — Social and Behavioral Sciences, 197, 19–22.

Shin, Joan. (2006). Ten helpful ideas for teaching English to young learners. English Teaching Forum. 44. 2–7.

Slatterly, M., & Willis, J. (2001). English for primary teachers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.