First Language Development of Preschool Children and English TeachingA Case Study.docx

First Language Development of Preschool Children and English TeachingA Case Study.docx

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FirstLanguageDevelopmentofPreschoolChildrenandEnglishTeachingACaseStudy

Chapter1Introduction

1.1ResearchBackground

Withtheeconomyandinformationglobalization,English,asoneofthemostsignificantinformationcarriers,hasbecomeaninternationallanguagethatisbroadlyusedindifferentfieldsofhumanlife.WithChina’sentryintoWTO,theglobaleconomicintegrationhasquickeneditsstep.Sino-foreigncooperation,culturalexchangeandcontacthavebeenallapproachinganewheight.Sucharapiddevelopment,eitherathomeorbroad,makesgreaterdemandsforcultivationavastnumberofhigh-qualifiedgraduates,whichinturnmakesEnglishlearningandteachingasaforeignlanguageinChinabecomemoreandmorepopularandoutstanding.

SecondLanguageteachingisahotissueconcernedbymanylanguagescholarsandlearnersinChinainrecentyears.LearningEnglishasasecondlanguagehasinducedsomuchinteresttoparents,adultsaswellasmanyscholars.Parentswanttheirchildtospeakasecondlanguagetohaveabetterdevelopment.Adultswanttheirchildtospeakasecondlanguageforabetterjoborgainachancetogoabroad.Thus,thereisanurgentdemandforlanguageteaching.

Basedontheresearchabroadandhome,atheorycalledtheCriticalPeriodHypothesisdemonstratedthatageisoneofthemostimportantfactorsaffectinglearners’individualdifferencesinforeignlanguagelearning.Becauseofthisagefactor,manypeoplethinktheearlierchildrenlearnasecondlanguage,thebettertheywillgraspit,Theybelievethevestyeartobegintostudysecondlanguageisthetimewhenchildrenbegintolearnnativelanguage.AnditisbelievethatlearningaforeignlanguagefromthechildhoodhasbecomethehottrendinChina,whichattractedtheattentionofmanyresearchersandappliedlinguisticsaswell.Besidesvariousteachingmaterialsandtheteachingapproachesforchildrenemerged,todayresearchershavebeguntolookintohowteachingintheclassroom.

Thisstudypresentsacasestudyoftwoteachers’teachingprocessesandaimstogetaninsightintotheteachingproceduresandteachingtechniques.

1.2SignificanceoftheStudy

TeachingEnglishasaforeignlanguageinpreschoolhasbecomeanincreasingtrendinmanydifferentcountriesacrosstheworld.Kindergartensallovertheworldoffertheopportunityofsecondlanguagelearning,usuallyofEnglishlanguage.ForChinesestudents,theclassroomistheirmainlanguageenvironmentforEnglishstudy.ClassroomteachingisthemostimportantwayforstudentstolearnEnglish.ThereforeclassroomcommunicationisacrucialprocessinteachingandlearningEnglish.Childrenareexpectedtogrowuphappilyatschool,butactuallythechildrengetmoreblamethanpraise,theygetbored.Sowemustpaymoreattentiontopreschooler’sEnglishEducation.ItisnotaquestionofwhetherornottoteachpreschoolersEnglish,buthowtoteachiteffectively.

InChina,therehasbeenmuchresearchonpreschoolEnglishteachingmethod.However,studiesonteachingprocesshavebeenrarely.Theauthorinvestigatedtwoteachers’fourEnglishlessons;wecancollecttheteachingproceduresandteachingtechniquesandanalyzeittosummarizeasuitablewaytoteacherpreschoolEnglishlesson.WhenteachingchildrenEnglish,teachersshouldpaymoreattentiontotheirinterests.Interestisthebestteacherforchildren.

ThisstudylaysabasisforfurtherstudyonpreschoolEnglishclassroomteaching.

1.3StructureoftheThesis

Thisthesisconsistsoffivechapters：

Chapteroneintroducestheresearchbackgroundforthepresentstudy,thesignificanceofthestudyandthestructureofthethesis;

Chaptertwooutlinestherelativetheories,basedonwhichthestudyiscarriedout;

Chapterthreepresentsthedesignofthestudy,includingtheresearchsetting,researchquestions,subjects,instrumentsandthedatacollectionandanalysisprocedure.

Chapterfouranalyzestheresultsanddiscussesthefindingsofthestudy;

Chapterfivedrawsaconclusionfromthestudy,includingthefindings,thepedagogicalimplicationsandsuggestions,thelimitationsofthepresentresearch.

Chapter2LiteratureReview

2.1FirstLanguageDevelopmentofPreschoolChildren

Allnormalchildrenacquirethelanguagethattheyhearspokenaroundthemwithoutspecialinstruction.Theystarttalkingatroughlythesameageandtheygothroughthesamestagesoflanguagedevelopment

Achildacquiresalanguagebysomestepsingeneral.WecanseefromtheexplanationofLanguageMilestoneasfollows:

6Months:

Cooingchangestodistinctbabblingbyintroductionofconsonants.

1Year:

Beginningoflanguageunderstanding:

One-wordutterances.

12-18Months:

Usesinglewordsfromarepertoryof30-50words（simplenouns,adjectivesandactionwords）,butcannotyetjoinwordsinphrases.

18-24Months:

Usetwowordsphrasesfromavocabularyof50toseveralhundredswords;understandbasicsyntax.

2-3Years:

Newwordseveryday;threeormorewordsinmanycombination;manygrammaticalerrorsandidiosyncraticexpressions;goodunderstandingoflanguage.

3Years:

Fullsentences,fewerrors;vocabularyofaround1,000words.

4Years:

Closetoadultspeechcompetence.

AmericanlinguistChomskytheorizesthatchildrenarebornwithgeneticallypreprogrammedwaystolearnlanguage.Duringthecriticalperiod,childrenlearntouselanguagejustastheylearntowalk.Theirskillsevolvenaturally,followinginnatepatterninthebrain.Wecanfindevidenceforthisbyobservingchildrenaroundtheworld.Inanylanguageandculture,babiesbegintobabbleat6months.Attheendofthefirstyear,theysaytheirfirstword.Attheendoftheirsecondyear,theybegintousetwo-wordcombination,andbythetimetheyare4or5yearsoldtheyhavebeginmasteringbasicgrammar.ItisalsosupportedbyFinnegan（1992:

19）.

2.2ThePsychologicalCharacteristicsDevelopmentofPreschoolChildren

AccordingtoPidget,preschoolchildrenareatthepre-operationalstage.Atthebeginningoflanguagelearning,intelligenceisdemonstratedthroughtheuseofsymbols.Languageusematures,andmemoryandimaginationaredeveloped.Ego-centricthinkingpredominatesandthinkingisdoneinnon-logical,on-reversiblemanner.Preschoolchildrenarelikelytocenterontheirperceptions,especiallyconcreteobjectsinsteadofviewingthingsfromothers’pointsofview.

Preschoolchildren’smentalactivitiesandbehaviorsareunintentional.Tocontrolandregulatetheirmindandbehaviorsisstillweakforthem.Theyaresusceptibletodistractingthings.Theycanonlyconcentrateforashorttime.AccordingtoCooper,MoodleyandReynell（1978）,children’sattentiondevelopsastheygrowolder.Inthekindergarten,the3-year-oldscansustaintheirattentionfor3-5minutes,the4-year-oldsabout10minutes,andthe5-year-olds10-15minutes.Thepraiseandsupportfromtheteachercanserveasanimportantsourceforself-regulationinthekindergarten.Ifteachersareencouraginganddisciplinary,childrenaremorelikelytodeveloppositiveself-esteemwhilebecomingmoreresponsible,andwillfollowthroughonassignedactivities.

Generallyspeaking,preschoolchildrenhavesomepsychologicalcharacteristicswhichcanfacilitatetheleaningofaforeignlanguage.

2.3FLAofPreschoolChildrenandEnglishTeaching

2.3.1CriticalPeriodHypothesis

TheCriticalPeriodHypothesisthatinchilddevelopmentthereisaperiodduringwhichlanguagecanbeacquiredmoreeasilythanatanyothertime.AccordingtothebiologistLenneberg,thecriticalperiodlastsuntilpuberty（around12or13years）,andisduetobiologicaldevelopment.Lennebergsuggestedthatlanguagelearningmaybemoredifficultafterpubertybecausethebrainlackstheabilityforadaptation.This,hebelieves,wasbecausethelanguagefunctionsofthebrainhavealreadybeenestablishedinaparticularpartofthebrain;thatis,becauselateralizationhasalreadyoccurredbythistime.

Thebrainconsistsoftwomainparts,thelefthemisphereandtherighthemisphere.Itisthoughtthatdifferentbodilyfunctions（e.g.speech,hearing,sensations,actions）aregraduallybroughtunderthecontrolofdifferentareasofthebrain.Thedevelopmentofcontroloverdifferentfunctionsindifferentpartsofthebrainisknownaslateralizationorcerebraldominance.Thosepartsofthebrainwhichcontrollanguageareusuallyinthelefthemisphere.OneareainthelefthemisphereisknownasBroca’sarea,orthespeechcentre,becauseitisanimportantareainvolvedinspeech.Damagetothisareaofthebrainwillleadtodifferenttypesofaphasia.AnotherareacalledWernicke’sareaisthoughttobeinvolvedinunderstandinglanguage.Theexactroleofthesetwoareasinlanguageisnotyetfullyunderstoodhowever.

Itisgenerallyagreedthatyoungerpeoplelearningasecondlanguagetypicallyachievefluencymoreoftenthanolderlearners.

2.3.2SLAFeaturesofPreschoolChildren

Secondlanguageorforeignlanguageisusuallyweakerthanthefirstlanguage,mothertongueornativespeaker.AccordingtoStern（1983:

12-15）thatasecondlanguageisanylanguageacquireslaterthannativelanguage.

Acquiringlanguageisanamazingprocessineverychild;thereisnobiologicalbasis-notinthelipsorthebrain-forpreferringoneparticularlanguageoveranother.SupportingbyFineganet.al（1992:

15）whichsayitisaccuratetosaythatalllanguageareaboutequallychallengingtoacquireasamothertongue.Thegeneralobservationsinchildlanguageacquisitionareasfollows:

（a）theabilityonacquirealanguageisafundamentalhumantrait;（b）byabouttheageofsix,thechildrenhaveacquiredmostofwhattheyneedtoknowaboutt