Helping Children Learn English as a Second Language

By Lauren Lowry

Hanen Certified SLP and Clinical Staff Writer

Nowadays it’s quite common for folks to speak a couple of language. Here in Toronto, there are numerous families who speak a language apart from English at residence with their kids. These youngsters’s first language is the one they converse at residence, they usually then study English as their second language.

The forms of mother or father-child interactions that help kids learn their first language assist them learn their second language as properly.

Parents usually ask how they can help their child study English as a second language. The answer is that the kinds of father or mother-baby interactions that help youngsters learn their first language assist them learn their second language as nicely. A group of American researchers lately wrote an article reviewing what we know about supporting children’s language improvement and how this applies to youngsters who're studying a second language [1]. We’ve created some tips on selling youngsters’s second language learning based mostly on their ideas.

Tip #1: Children be taught greatest during interactions with responsive caregivers

Children learn language as they work together and play with the necessary folks of their lives every day. When caregivers are responsive throughout these interactions, youngsters really feel related to them and are motivated to maintain interacting. Being responsive means letting the kid start and lead the conversation after which responding with curiosity and enthusiasm to regardless of the youngster communicates (with or without words). Research has proven that kids who spend more time in responsive interactions with their mother and father are inclined to have larger vocabularies [1].

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  How you'll be able to help:Carefully observe what catches your youngster’s consideration in the intervening time, wait for your baby to send you a message, and pay attention carefully to what your baby is trying to tell you. Then reply with interest, talking about what he has communicated. This provides your child alternatives to listen to and be taught the phrases that specific his interests.

Tip #2: Children learn phrases for things that interest them

We all learn extra once we are interested in one thing. This additionally applies to studying a first or second language. Studies have shown that children are more likely to learn the names of objects when their mother and father comply with their lead and create responsive interactions based on their baby’s pursuits, as opposed to when their mother and father redirect their baby’s attention to different things [1].

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  How you'll be able to assist:When you see that your youngster is thinking about one thing, turn it into a conversation by talking about it. When you include your youngster’s interests in this means, he will doubtless pay attention to what you might be saying and he's extra likely to be taught new words.

Tip #3: Children learn what they hear most often

In order to study language, youngsters want to hear a lot of language. And for children learning more than one language, because of this they need plenty of publicity to
eachof their languages.

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  How you'll be able to assist:By adding language to your everyday activities and experiences, you naturally improve the amount of language your youngster hears. Any exercise is a chance for language studying – you possibly can talk about what foods you each wish to eat as you prepare snacks, talk in regards to the characters and their actions whenever you share books together, and think of the brand new words your baby can study from a go to to the doctor’s office (stethoscope, thermometer, scale). But bear in mind Tip #1 ̶ you should comply with your baby’s lead so that you just don’t take over the dialog. Your objective is to be a responsive communication companion ̶ not the boss of the dialog!
  

  Parents often marvel if they should cease talking their home language to their child when he begins attending an English daycare or school. There are a few explanation why this might not be a good idea. First of all, dad and mom should communicate to their youngster in a language they are 100% comfy with. If parents aren’t totally fluent in a language, they gained’t present the most effective language input. Also, interactions with the kid may endure as it’s troublesome to be responsive when making an attempt to talk a language with which you are not snug. Finally, analysis has proven that a toddler is susceptible to losing his house language except he continues to listen to it spoken to him and around him [2]. Learning a second language doesn’t imply abandoning the first language. It means providing sufficient publicity to both languages.

  
  

Parents usually wonder if they should cease speaking their residence language to their baby when he starts attending an English daycare or college. There are a few explanation why this might not be a good suggestion. First of all, parents should speak to their youngster in a language they're 100% comfortable with. If dad and mom aren’t fully fluent in a language, they won’t present one of the best language enter. Also, interactions with the kid may undergo because it’s difficult to be responsive when attempting to speak a language with which you aren't comfy. Finally, research has proven that a child is vulnerable to dropping his residence language until he continues to listen to it spoken to him and around him [2]. Learning a second language doesn’t imply abandoning the first language. It means offering sufficient exposure to both languages.

Tip #four: Flashcards aren't the reply!

Think about English listening practice discovered his first language – it was by way of playing and talking with you throughout the day. The identical applies to his second language.

Children learn phrases finest throughout significant activities in everyday life. Think about the way your baby learned his first language – it was by way of playing and speaking with you throughout the day. The same applies to his second language. Trying to show words (for example, by looking at flashcards) is never very enjoyable or motivating for kids. And it’s more doubtless your child will remember new phrases when he hears them throughout significant activities.

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  How you possibly can help:Introduce new phrases if you play and work together along with your child. Use each daily activity as a chance to show your child to new phrases. Examples of day by day actions embody taking part in, looking at books collectively, and routines like meals, bathtub time and getting dressed.

Tip #5: Variety is essential

When it involves studying language, children need selection, together with:

• quite a lot of words - not simply common words they may hear every single day, but also more sophisticated, rare phrases. When mother and father use a wide variety of phrases, their youngsters are likely to develop better communication abilities in a while [3].
• a variety of communication companions – listening to a language from a wide range of totally different audio system helps with language improvement.
• a wide range of examples – hearing a word once isn’t sufficient to construct a toddler’s vocabulary. Children want to hear a phrase a number of times in a number of totally different sentences earlier than they begin to perceive its that means.

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  How you can assist:Emphasize a wide range of words on your youngster, including words that he may not hear throughout everyday conversation. For instance, throughout bathtub time you would introduce phrases like “temperature” and “lather”. While making a snack together, you would say “slice” and “put together”. And be sure to use new phrases in several situations so your baby broadens his understanding of what the phrase means. For example, you can speak concerning the temperature of the water in the bathtub and also the oven temperature. The extra alternatives your youngster has to hear new words, the extra likely it is that he'll add those words to his vocabulary. There are more ideas about serving to youngsters be taught new phrases in our article “”.

Tip #6: Vocabulary and grammar go hand-in-hand

You may suppose that the best way to teach a child a new phrase is to say the word on its own. But hearing a word in a sentence is actually more useful, as the sentence provides the kid clues concerning the phrase’s meaning. For example, if the child simply hears “freezer” whilst you point to the freezer, the child doesn’t know if the word refers to the door of the freezer, the freezer itself or the meals inside. But if he hears: “Let’s put the meat within the freezer. This will make the meat really chilly so it's going to stay fresh. Then we will eat it subsequent week when we want hamburgers once more,” this tells him that “freezer” is the a part of the fridge that is really cold. It also tells him that “freezer” is a noun (the identify of a thing) because there may be already a verb in the sentence (“put”).

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  How you possibly can assist:Using quick, grammatical sentences whenever you speak to a toddler will help build his language skills. Avoid utilizing phrases on their very own or using sentences that don’t have the little grammatical sounds and syllables that make a sentence full. (For example, say “I’m eating my cracker” rather than “Mommy eat cracker”.)

You have all of the tools you should build your baby’s second language. So observe your baby’s lead and have enjoyable! You will construct your youngster’s second language when you have pleasant conversations during everyday actions which include rich vocabulary and grammatical sentences.

For extra information about bilingual improvement, please see our different articles on this subject:

References

1. Konishi, H., Kanero, J., Freeman, M. R., Golinkoff, R. M., Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2014), Six Principles of Language Development: Implications for Second Language Learners.
   Developmental Neuropsychology,
   39(5), .
2. Restrepo, M.A., Morgan, G. P., & Thompson, M. S. (2013). The Efficacy of a Vocabulary Intervention for Dual-Language Learners with Language Impairment.
   Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research,
   fifty six, .
3. Rowe, M. (2012). Best ways to learn English of the Role of Quantity and Quality of Child-Directed Speech in Vocabulary Development.
   Learn English grammar :
   eighty three(5), .

The Hanen Centre is a Canadian not-for-revenue charitable group with a worldwide reach. Its mission is to offer dad and mom, caregivers, early childhood educators and speech-language pathologists with the data and training they should assist young kids develop the absolute best language, social and literacy expertise. This includes children who have or are at risk for language delays, those with developmental challenges such as autism, and those that are creating typically.

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