Нова українська школа: методика навчання англійської мови в 1-2 класах закладів заглобальної середньої освіти на засадах компетентнісного підходу - Карпюк О. Д. 2020

5.4. Learning to Learn
5. Teaching and Developing Skills
Part I. From Theory to Practice

Young children are self-educators if they are provided with enabling experiences. From about 5 years old, many children show signs of wanting to do things for themselves. Many of them already want to become independent, saying things like Let me try. I can do it. They are active agents in their own learning and develop personal strategies to help them progress (including language-learning strategies, which — with adult help — they can reuse to acquire English).

By the age of 6, without being formally taught, children have managed to develop a range of self-learning strategies with which to learn many things. ’Learning to learn’ involves knowing and being able to use these self-learning strategies effectively. Effective learning at this age forms the foundations for lifelong learning.

By the age of 7, many of the self-learning strategies for acquiring language are in place, since children are by now fluent their own language speakers. Children who already read and write in their own language have also acquired some self-learning strategies for coded their language literacy.

As teachers, we need to foster young children’s ability to self-learn, helping them to work out how to transfer their self-language-learning strategies to absorb English successfully. By now, children will already have unconsciously transferred their strategies to pick up spoken English, but they need help to do the same when learning how to read and spell and later create written English.

Children need time to find out how to use their strategies to solve problems, self-manage and persevere to achieve progress.

To achieve it, there has to be volition, and for this children’s inner drive needs to be ignited and continually stoked. To successfully ’orchestrate’ self-learning, teachers also have to monitor progress and assess by summarising, recalling and talking over how things were done and what was achieved. Listening to each other’s reflections, ideas and questions is important, because — apart from being able to tell everyone about what they are thinking — children learn from watching and imitating their peers.

What children learn is important, but developing and becoming aware of their self-learning (and self-language-learning) strategies is even more crucial if children are to become lifelong learners — including learners of English.

The young child is becoming aware of how he or she learns, and is able to talk about this. The child is beginning to ’think about thinking’ (metacognition), and needs to be listened to as he or she unconsciously reuses, adapts and broadens his or her self-learning strategies to acquire English. This growing awareness means that the child is developing strategies to self-assess and also assess the abilities of other children.

Teachers should always value children’s answers and points of view as this increases self-esteem and confidence. Children also need to be given time to reflect and reply. Children need to feel valued; it gives them energy to persevere and develop their autonomy and ownership. It also helps them understand their identity within the family, school and beyond.

How children learn is more important than what they learn. By showing children that we value their learning processes, we help them to reach confidently for opportunities to learn.

Young children come to English lessons wanting and expecting to quickly read and write in English like they do in their own language. For some, it is disappointing and frustrating that it takes time before they can express their thoughts and feelings in English. Emotional well-being underpins all development. Thus the teacher has to find a balance between motivation and the ’feel-good’ factor, remembering that cognitive intelligence is stable, but emotional intelligence has to be learned with help. Emotional control and management develop with a child’s maturity. If an intelligent young child is emotionally not at ease, very little learning will take place.

Motivation is vital for success in language learning. Being a learner is not always easy; it requires effort at all ages. When children are motivated, they build up self-confidence and self-esteem, which stimulates and in turn remotivates. Motivation helps children resist other attractions and encourages them to focus.

Learning English is not only about acquiring knowledge. For children who have passed beyond the egocentric stage of development, feelings become more complex and involved, and ways of socialisation become wider and more profound. Other children’s thoughts and words begin to influence a child’s feelings. Without emotional and physical well-being, children find it difficult to develop the self-confidence to learn. Feeling positive underlies the attitudes and volition needed to persist with learning. Self-esteem, based on how others see us, is closely linked with motivation.

We can help children be more positive by the type of assessment we use with them, such as our choice of language when praising and encouraging.