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