Young English Language Learners

 

Characteristics of Young ELLs

There are some important characteristics of young English language learners that may be useful for educators to keep in mind.
Young children’s first language is not yet fully developed
As Chomsky (1969) demonstrated, children between 5 and 10 years old are still acquiring the structures of their first language. For children younger than 5, many aspects of their first language have not yet fully developed. So while older learners have the foundation of a fully developed first language when they begin acquiring a new language, younger English language learners are working toward two milestones at the same time: the full development of their native language and the acquisition of English.
While children are perfectly capable of acquiring two or more languages, and there is no evidence that this process produces any negative consequences—in fact, in many parts of the world it is the norm, rather than the exception, for children to grow up bilingual or multilingual (De Houwer, 1999)—educators must keep in mind that young children do not have a fully developed native language on which to base the learning of a second. Children may not know certain vocabulary words, grammatical structures, or other language features in their native language before they learn them in English, in which case merely translating a word or phrase may be of little help to them.
Children need to develop their native language(s) along with English
Educators must consider that young English language learners’ primary mode of communication with their parents, extended families, and community members is their native language. Children are socialized into their communities, learn how to interact in socially appropriate ways, and receive nurturing and develop self-esteem through interactions with their parents and families. In order to develop their native language skills fully, young English language learners need support in both their native language and English. Ideally, those who work with young ELLs should be able to speak the native language(s) of the children. However, because many classrooms include children who speak a variety of languages and because bilingual teachers are not always available, this support may need to be provided by bilingual paraprofessionals or by parent and community volunteers. Children should be provided with opportunities for meaningful interaction in both languages, including verbal interaction and engagement with printed materials such as books and other media. In as many ways as possible, programs for young ELLs should support children’s native languages.

Early stages of learning
Children move through a number of stages when learning English as a new language. Some go through these stages more quickly than others, and children will sometimes have the characteristics of more than one stage at the same time as they transition between stages. Understanding a child’s stage of learning is important for planning appropriate activities.
Early childhood professionals play a role in helping children progress to higher stages; however, each child’s English development will follow its own timetable. Planning and programming should be based around each child’s abilities and developmental level. The association Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) identifies five developmental stages for learning a new language.

How long does it take for children to learn English?
There is a commonly held belief that young children can learn to speak English in just a few months, unlike adults, who may take years. Research shows that this is not true; young children learning English can take years to become as competent in English as their peers whose first language is English.

• It takes approximately three to four years in school for young children learning English to accumulate an English vocabulary size comparable to their English-speaking peers, and even longer for them to produce sentences free of grammatical errors.

• It can take from five to seven years in school for young children learning English to master complex academic English skills, both spoken and written, that are the same as their peers who speak English as their first language.

This common misconception most likely comes from our low conversational expectations for children. When adults speak to young children, they often ask questions requiring yes or no answers, refer to things in the child’s immediate environment and compensate for any communication problems. This means that a young child can know very little English and may still appear competent because she or he can easily guess how to respond.

Why do some children learn English faster than others?
Individual children vary in how quickly they acquire English, even when they are in the same learning setting. These individual differences can be due to such things as the following.

• Language aptitude: Language aptitude is a kind of learning skill, a set of verbal and memory abilities that varies between individuals. Children and adults with high language aptitude tend to be faster second language learners. Language aptitude is thought to be an inherent characteristic. You cannot increase a child’s language aptityde.

•  Age of acquisition: Starting to learn English early—before the ages of six to eight years old—is better for developing pronunciation and grammar. Starting to learn English a little later—after six to eight years of age—results in faster vocabulary growth and development of skills such as storytelling. There is no age within the childhood years when it is ‘too early’ or ‘too late’ to learn another language.

• Socio-economic status: A family’s socio-economic status is measured primarily through the parents’ levels of education and income. Children from newcomer families where the parents have post-secondary education tend to learn English faster because these parents often have higher language and literacy skills in their home language.

• Quality and quantity of English exposure: English language learning children vary in the English they experience outside the classroom, and this has a measurable impact on a child’s development. For example, the more books read in English and the more English-speaking friends they have, the more practice children have with English, and the more English vocabulary they will build.

 Research shows that if young children continue to build their home language at the same time as learning an additional language, development of both languages is enhanced. Therefore, it is important for early childhood professionals to encourage families and communities to support children’s home language development and maintenance. Early childhood professionals can encourage parents to:

• talk to children in the language the family and community members know best—the home language

• provide many and various opportunities for children to hear and use their first language at home and in the community

• take children to events where their home language is spoken and discuss what took place with the children when they return back home

• find or make books in their home language

• use pictures in books as prompts when talking with children in their home language

• sing songs, recite rhymes and tell stories in their home language

• play games from their culture while using their home language

• use their home language even when talking about television shows and videos the children watch in English.