LIST OF CONTENTS
List of contents…………………………………………………………………..3
Introduction……………………………………………………………………...5
Chapter 1 The way children learn languages
1.1 Mother tongue acquisition………………………………………....6
1.2 Foreign language learning………………………………………...8
1.3 The role of the teacher…………………………………………….9
1.4 Motivation…………………………………………………….10
Chapter 2 The role of the active methods in teaching young learners
2.1 Characteristics of the active methods…………………………… .11
2.1.1 The Audiolingual Method……………………………….. .12
2.1.2 The Storyline Approach………………………………… ..13
2.1.3 The Total Physical Response…………………………….. 15
2.1.4 The Natural Approach…………………………………… .16
2.1.5 The Communicative Language Teaching Approach……....17
2.2..The importance of Total Physical Response activities
in the learning process to young learners………………………..19
2.2.1 The role of games and songs in teaching English
to children………………………………………………...20
2.2.1.1 What is the game?………………………………..20
2.2.1.2 What is the song?……………………………...…20
Chapter 3 Song and games in the classroom
3.1 Characteristics of the groups………………………………….….23
3.1.1 The plan of the lesson……………………………………..24
3.1.2 Comment on the lesson plan………………………………26
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...27
References……………………………………………………………………...28
Appendix 1……………………………………………………………………..31
Appendix 2……………………………………………………………………..32
Appendix 3……………………………………………………………………..33
Appendix 4……………………………………………………………………..34
Appendix 5……………………………………………………………………..35
Appendix 6………………………………………………………………..…36
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever imagined revising your knowledge of the English language by singing songs, playing games or telling a story about “The Ugly Duckling” or ”Little Red Riding Hood”? Have you ever considered teaching your students using a vast array
of active, and attractive methods?
This paper will bring you in real, and maybe a little bit “a magical world of English language teaching”.
This diploma thesis concetrates on teaching English to young learners.
The theoretical part of the thesis deals with the way the children aquire language in general. This section also focuses on the role of the methods in teaching to children in
a young age. What is more, the great emphasis will be put on the most important factors concerning using games and songs in teaching English to young learners.
The practical part of the thesis presents a lesson plan based on games and songs.
All in all, the diploma thesis is going to demonstrate that the active methods, especially using games and songs are effective and useful in most areas of teaching a language to children at a young age.
