Teaching English Language in Preschool and Early School Age

Course Overview

Students become familiar with the characteristics and aims of playful teaching and the concept of acquiring the English language appropriate for the youngest of ages. Besides total physical response, game-like learning and ways of introducing early literacy, students also acquire knowledge and skills from multimedia teaching as a presumption of contemporariness in English language learning. Students become capable of using the English language as a dominant medium of communication in preschool and early school age. The programme opens with the necessary understanding of developmental stages according to Piaget and the importance of the environment according to Vygotsky and his Social Constructivism. Furthermore, before dealing with the practical solutions, it is necessary to understand how languages are learned and what the practical implications of the theories of second language acquisition are. Another very important issue is the understanding and appreciation of learner differences and how to plan for a lesson taking these differences into account. Students discuss the characteristics and specificities of this learner group, as well as how to tackle their strengths and challenges with an emphasis on how to turn these challenges into advantages. We look at the practical matters of organizing lessons with and without a coursebook, a wide range of interactive, playful and evocative tasks and activities and dedicate the last portion of the course to the ways of teaching language skills, grammar and vocabulary in a fun and engaging context.