Teachers teaching preschool children learning English for the first time need not understand the children’s native language to know how to go about it. Many languages are taught to children just the way English is. Predictably, children learning English for the first time tend to be nervous, silent and observant. The ultimate goal is to have them talking. There are three techniques to achieving this, parallel talk, self talk, and total physical technique.
Parallel talk technique
This is a technique where an adult or a teacher describes or voices out what the child is doing or seeing. The teacher acts like a broadcaster. While the child is playing the teacher can describe in English what the child is doing. This betters the teacher/child interaction and also helps the child increase their vocabulary in a natural context of play (Bleile 128)
Self talk technique
This is a technique where the teacher describes to the child what the teacher is doing. Alternatively, the teacher can ask the child to describe what he/she the child is doing It is also using positive words like “I can do this.” Self talk helps children acquire higher self awareness which is critical if they are to learn effectively. Self talk helps children increase their self-efficacy. Child’s attitude in the learning process is very important and teachers should take it into account (Lee.168)
Total physical technique
This technique involves children listening to an instruction in English then the child and the teacher responds with a corresponding action. For example, the teacher says, “Stand up and jump” then both the teacher and children stand and jump to demonstrate what the words mean in action. This technique is very effective in teaching verbs (Asher 254)
Research shows that to teach English to children learning it as a second language, the teacher does not have to know much of their native language. Teachers should exploit these three techniques of teaching, parallel talk technique, self-talk technique and total physical response technique.
Work Cited
Asher, J. The Total Physical Response Technique of Learning. The Journal of Special Education,vol.3, no. 3, 2016, p. 254
Bleile, Ken M. The Manual of Speech Sound Disorders: A Book for Students and Clinicians. , 2015.
Lee, Gek L. Teaching English to Students from China. Singapore: Singapore Univ. Press, 2003
