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Play with English

Title
Play with English
Authors
Um, Hye-Kyung
Issue Date
2013
Department/Major
외국어교육특수대학원 TESOL학과
Publisher
이화여자대학교 외국어교육특수대학원
Degree
Master
Advisors
Candice A. MacDonald
Abstract
It is of common belief in Korea, the younger the age at which students begin learning English, the better. To meet this need I have created a textbook with an aim to have student learn English in a fun manner in naturalistic settings based on the Communicative Language Teaching Approach revolving around real-life activities. Ideally, children learning foreign languages should begin before puberty; this is referred to as the critical period for language acquisition. At this time language learning is relatively easy and met with a high degree of success. In this period children are able to achieve native- like ability in the target language (Marinova-Todd, Marshall, & Snow, 2012). While these young learners (YLs) are at an age at which language can be absorbed, they cannot be taught grammar and form the way older learners conventionally would. Learning English naturally through games and songs are some of the many ways to approach teaching this target group; however, in Korea, many YL classes are not structured in this way. For instance: “Games may be defined as a form of play governed by certain rules or conventions” (Byrne, 1986, p423). Also, games are meant to be enjoyed and can be used to provide the learners with opportunities to use language rather than simply practice and focus on fluency rather than accuracy (Byrne, 1986). On the other hand, Paul (2003) states that in Asian English as a Foreign Language teaching environments, “the teachers may feel obligated to teach, or say things like: “Go home and memorize for next week’s test!” It seems rather obvious that YLs will not only be stimulated by test-driven environments but they will likely bore, lose interest in the class and even in the language itself. My textbook aims at a fresh approach to introduce language communicatively and in fun and entertaining ways. My target students are 7 year-old children who attend English kindergarten. Twelve students are in the class. Some students have a lot of experience learning English, while others have had negative experiences due to teachers using boring textbooks. The learners’ level is L2 Emerging, which is defined as being able to “give examples of effects of modifying a variable using illustrated word blanks and sentence frames in small groups” (WIDA 2010, p. 40). The reason I chose this target group is because I like working with children and have been teaching children in my Sunday school for 3 years. Moreover, based on my past teaching experience, many young learners feel learning English is tedious. For these reasons I decided to create a “fun” textbook for my target audience. I want my students to look forward to my class. By incorporating a lot of exciting and engaging activities in a comfortable classroom environment, I hope to provide my students with classroom materials that will enhance their English learning and motivate them as well.
Description
☞ 이 논문은 저자가 원문공개에 동의하지 않은 논문으로, 도서관 내에서만 열람이 가능하며, 인쇄 및 저장은 불가합니다.
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외국어교육특수대학원 > TESOL학과 > Theses_Master
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