ELTWeekly Vol. 5 Issue#6 | February 18, 2013 | ISSN 0975-3036
TESOL is hosting an online seminar on the topic ‘The Keys to Success in Teaching English to Young Learners’ on Wednesday, April 24 at 10.30 am ET.
About the seminar
English education is increasingly beginning at the primary level, but starting earlier does not necessarily produce better English speakers. This virtual seminar shows how EFL teachers can take advantage of the flexibility of young minds and the malleability of young tongues to grow better speakers of English. The presenter will explain the keys to success for teaching young learners English as an international language that includes taking a developmentally appropriate approach and building 21st century skills to prepare children for the world they live in.
Key learnings
Participants will
- explore the rationale behind starting English at earlier ages in foreign language contexts
- discover how to utilize the characteristics of young learners for effective classroom practice
- develop an approach for teaching English to young learners appropriate for their context
- learn how to incorporate 21st century skills in the EFL classroom for young learners
Discussion Questions
- Why does the age for beginning compulsory English education keep getting lower around the world?
- Is starting English instruction earlier really better?
- What are similarities and differences between teaching young learners EFL vs. ESL?
- What approaches are the most effective for teaching children a foreign language and why?
- What approaches are needed for teaching English as an international (rather than foreign) language?
About the speaker
Dr. Joan Kang Shin is the Director of TESOL Professional Training at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Country (UMBC). In this position she administers numerous online professional development programs for EFL teachers in over 100 countries, including her own online courses “Teaching English to Young Learners” and “Teaching English to Teens.”
Dr. Shin is also Project Director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Secondary Teacher Education and Professional Training for English Language Learners (STEP T for ELLs) Program, an in-service professional development program for secondary math, science, and social studies teachers.
As an English Language Specialist for the U.S. Department of State, she conducts numerous face-to-face EFL teacher training programs every year in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East as well as large-scale online teacher training events through webinars and digital videoconferencing to hundreds of English teaching professionals worldwide.
Dr. Shin is co-author of a new professional development textbook titled Teaching Young Learners English and is a series editor for a groundbreaking six-level primary English series for National Geographic Learning called Our World, which will be launched in 2013.
Register for TESOL’s ‘The Keys to Success in Teaching English to Young Learners’ Online Seminar