Didactics of English for Young Learners
Keywords |
Classification |
Keyword |
OFICIAL |
Didactics |
Instance: 2016/2017 - 2S
Cycles of Study/Courses
Acronym |
No. of Students |
Study Plan |
Curricular Years |
Credits UCN |
Credits ECTS |
Contact hours |
Total Time |
MEBI |
6 |
MEBI - Study Plan |
1 |
- |
9 |
78 |
243 |
Teaching language
English
Objectives
Main objectives are:
1. to understand what it means to be a teacher of young learners;
2. to develop understanding of key concepts and theories underlying approaches and methods of teaching
foreign languages young learners;
3. to develop competences for the practical application of the above.
Learning outcomes and competences
Intended learning outcomes (knowledge, skills and competences to be developed by the students). By the end of this curricular unit, students should:
1. be able to understand the primary educational context, curricula, learning objectives and stakeholder
involvement in order to determine appropriate conditions for learning English as a foreign language;
2. have a deeper insight into the underlying principles of methodological approaches to teaching English to
young learners by drawing on key aspects of child development;
3. be able to examine approaches and techniques for teaching young learners with a view to their practical
application in the classroom;
4. have developed intellectual and practical skills related to the analysis and construction of coherent
lesson plans ;
5. have demonstrated their ability to design a range of practical classroom activities and materials for
future use during their teaching practice.
Working method
Presencial
Program
- The classroom community and beyond: learning from, with and about each other;
- Intercultural education for children
- Attitudes and approaches to teaching children;
- Appropriate methodology and techniques;
- Thinking skills;
- Scaffolding learning;
- Teaching vocabulary;
- Language skills development;
- Cross-curricular activity-based learning;
- The role of literature;
- Drama;
- Sound, rhythm, music and songs;
- Planning units of work and lessons;
- Task and materials design;
- Teaching resources;
- Classroom management;
- Dealing with discipline;
- Learner autonomy: learning how to learn;
- Assessment.
Mandatory literature
Brewster, J. Ellis, G & Girard, D.; The Primary English Teacher’s Guide, Pearson Education Limited, 1992
Cameron, L.; Teaching Languages to Young Learners., CUP, 2001
Lightbown, P. & Spada, N.; How Languages are Learned, OUP, 1993
Nunan, D.; Teaching English to Young Learners , Anaheim University Press, 2010
Pinter A.; Children Learning Languages, CUP, 2011
Pinter A; Teaching Young Language Learners, OUP, 2006
Complementary Bibliography
Bland, J. (ed); Teaching English to Young Learners: Critical Issues in Language Teaching with 3-12 year olds, Bloomsbury, 2015
Ellis, G. & Brewster J. ; The New Storytelling Handbook for Primary Teachers, Penguin, 2002
Fleetham. M.; How to create and develop a thinking classroom, LDA, 2003
Gibbons, P.; Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning, Heinemann, 2002
Halliwell, S. ; Teaching English in the Primary School, Longman, 1994
Ioannou-Georgio, S. & Pavlou, P.; Assessing Young Learners., OUP, 2005
O’Reirdon, Terry & Roffey; .Young Children and Classroom Behaviour, David Fulton Publishers, 2001
Kang Shin, J. & Crandall, J. ; Teaching Young Learners English: From Theory to Practice, Heinle, 2014
Mourão, S. ; Real Books in the Primary Classroom, Mary Glasgow, 2004
Puchta, H. & Williams, M; Teaching Young Learners to Think, Helbing Languages, 2011
Vale, D & Feunteun A.; Teaching Children English, CUP, 2001
Wray, D. & Medwell, J.; Teaching Primary English: The State of the Art., Routledge, 2004
Teaching methods and learning activities
The course combines theoretical and practical lectures on all key syllabus areas using PowerPoint presentations with individual and group tasks and private study. Active participation and reflection is expected of students. Course assessment is continual with no final exam. Evaluated components consist of: seen and unseen written tests; micro-teaching; practical coursework (construction of lesson plans which include a theoretical rationale and teaching materials).The Moodle platform is used to disseminate course information, consolidate and supplement class materials, and encourage discussion in forums. The medium of instruction of the course and assessment procedures are in English.
keywords
Humanities
Evaluation Type
Distributed evaluation without final exam
Assessment Components
Designation |
Weight (%) |
Prova oral |
20,00 |
Teste |
40,00 |
Trabalho escrito |
40,00 |
Total: |
100,00 |
Amount of time allocated to each course unit
Designation |
Time (hours) |
Estudo autónomo |
85,00 |
Frequência das aulas |
78,00 |
Trabalho de investigação |
80,00 |
Total: |
243,00 |
Eligibility for exams
All students are required to attend 75% of classes, with exceptions according to FLUP regulations. Official worker students are not required to attend lessons but must take all components of continual evaluation on the dates specified in the course timetable.
Calculation formula of final grade
Continuous Assessment:
Written tests: 40%
Written coursework: 40%
Micro-teaching: 20%
Absence from any element of evaluation without written justification from official sources (medical or otherwise) will lead to a mark of 0 (zero) being attributed to that element.
If the final average mark is below 9.5, the student may repeat ONE written test or peice of work for which they had a negative mark. The result of this one element will be used with the results of all other elements to calculate a new average and final mark. If this final mark is 9.5 or above, the student passes the course.
Classification improvement
According to FLUP regulations
Observations
Students who do not pass this curricular unit cannot proceed to the final teaching practice in Semester 3.