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Post by kristine14 on Nov 3, 2014 19:01:08 GMT -5
What are some differences between teaching adults and teaching children? What are some things you might want to take into account when working with children versus adults? What are some ways to modify your instruction? Feel free to add any experiences =)
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kara
New Member
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Post by kara on Nov 7, 2014 0:14:03 GMT -5
Children are capable of picking up languages much easier than Adults, a child before puberty can pick up a new language way faster and more naturally than an adult as well. However, children are not able to focus to the capacity that adults can, and children also (depending on their age and personal ability) cannot sit down and learn grammar rules for reading and writing. This would perhaps be an adults only strength over a child learner, patience and focus. Yet, children can memorize the language and produce it much more naturally. (which is amazing)
Children also are much more emotional and impressionable. It is important not to be to harsh or correct them so often (its not good to over correct adult learners either), as they will get discouraged. Same goes for teenagers learning a second language. Developing good time management as a teacher serves as an excellent tool, since young students will loose focus after a long period of time. changing up lessons and playing games are an easy and extremely usefull tool for teaching people of all ages.
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Post by kristine14 on Nov 12, 2014 13:26:52 GMT -5
Kara, you're right, children do acquire language better or easier than adults. Adults are able to focus or understand more abstract ideas (pragmatics).
Children can be more emotional and sensitive so we need to be more empathetic to their needs. Sometimes we forget that adults can get frustrated and discouraged as well. As a teacher we need to be patient and understand to students of all ages.
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Maria
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Posts: 28
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Post by Maria on Dec 10, 2014 14:42:40 GMT -5
Children are still in Piaget's intellectual stage called "concrete operations" so it's important to approach rules, explanations, and other abstract talk with extreme caution. Their attention span is a significant difference compared to teaching adults. You can't have lessons that are too boring, useless, or difficult, activities should be designed to capture their immediate interest so their enthusiastic to learn. Be patient, animated, have a sense of humor, switch things up if student lose focus, and tap into their curiosity.
Adults are equipped with superior cognitive abilities that make them more successful in the classroom. Most of the rules for younger ages can be used here with some tweaks. Their not as dependant so sensory input and attention spans don't require as much maintenance. Instead it's more important to focus on pushing them to think abstractly so they can better understand a context-reduced segment of language. Give your students lots of opportunities to make choices so they can effectively perticipate in their own learning process.
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Post by ayteama on Dec 11, 2014 17:51:41 GMT -5
Firstly, Children's natural ability to acquire new languages is stronger than adults.
Secondly, the child has spontaneous peripheral attention to language forms but, the adult has overt focal awareness of and attention to those forms.
Thirdly, children differ a lot in their intellectual development, attention span, sensory input, and affective factors.
Fourthly, Children are focused on what is new language can be used for here and now. They don't have a long-term vision behind learning a second language.
Fifthly, Adults are more able to handle abstract rules and concepts, they have longer attention span, they have a modicum of general self-confidence inside the class, and they are more likely to understand a context-reduced segment of language.
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