parents booklet speaking english
TRANSCRIPT
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8/8/2019 Parents Booklet Speaking English
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Speaking English with your child
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SpeakingEnglishtosupportyourchildForthemostpart,itisparentswhoteachtheiryoung
childrentospeaktheirhomelanguage.Throughout
thefrsttwoyearsolie,itisotenthemothersvoiceand
herspecialwayotalking,calledparentese,thatteaches
youngchildrenaboutlanguageandhowtotalk.Parents,evenwithabasicknowledgeoEnglish,
cansuccessullysupporttheiryoungchildlearning
Englishbyre-usingandadjustingmanyothesesame
parentesetechniques.ParentsmayworryabouttheiraccentinEnglish.Young
childrenhavearemarkableabilitytoaltertheiraccent
tomatchtheEnglishotheirsurroundings.Youngchildren
needtoeelIcanspeakEnglishandIlikeEnglish
andtheirparentssupportcanhelpthemachievethis
romtheirfrstlessons.
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Whatisparenteselanguage?
Parentese isa ormo talkingthattunesintoand adjusts t
o
ayoungchilds language,providing dialogue with thechild
andshepherdingthem totheir nextlevelocompetence.
Womenappearto be innateuserso parentese; somemen
seem tonditmoredicultunless theycan centretheirt
alk
around specicobjectsapicturebookor agame. Howev
er,
childrenespeciallyboys needmalerolemodels as men
uselanguage dierently.Mentendtotakeamoretechnica
l
approachtousinglanguage andchatter less.
Parents,using asoter,caringvoiceandsimplerlanguage,
unconsciouslyshepherdtheiryoungchildthrough
anactivityby:
arunningcommentary(talkingal
oud)onwhat
isgoingon: Lets put ithere. There.Look.
Iveputitonthetable. Whichonedoyoulike?
[pause]Oh,I likethisone. Theredone
repeatinguseullanguagemore o
tenthan in
adulttalk:repetition introduced naturallyhelps
thechild toconrmwhattheyare picking up itis
notboring orthechild, eveni itisortheparent
refectingbackwhattheirchild ha
ssaidandenlargingit:
Child:Yellow; Parent: You like theyellowone.Hereit is.
Herestheyellow one.Letssee.yellow, redandheres the
brownone.Ilikethebrown one,doyou? [pause]
talkingmoreslowlyandstressing
newwordsnaturally
without alteringthemelodyothe language.Whichrhym
e
shallwesaytoday? Youchoose. [pauseorchildto selec
t]
Whyparents helpisbest
Parents canocusontheir ch
ild,spendingsome
one-to-one timewiththem.
ParentscanftEnglishsessio
nsintoanypartotheir
daytosuittheirchildandthemselves.
Parentscanregulatetheleng
tho anEnglishsession
andselectactivitiestofttheirchildsneeds,
interests
andabilitytoconcentrate.
Parentsknowtheirchildintimatelyandcanintuitively
judgethetypeo Englishtalkingsuitable or
their
individualwaysopickinguplanguage.
Parentscanbestinterpretthe
irchildsmoodsand
respondtothem. Childrenhavedayswhent
hey
eagerlyabsorblanguageandotherswhent
heyfnd
itdifculttoconcentrate.
Parentscanintroducemore
un,astheyareworking
with anindividual,notaclass.
ParentscanintroduceEnglish
cultureintoamilylie,
sobroadeningtheirchilds outlook andunde
rstanding
otheirowncultureaswellasthingsEnglish
.
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UsingEnglishByusingsimpleEnglishwithplentyofrepetition,parentshelptheirchildtobeginthinkinginEnglishduringactivitieswheretheyfeelsecureandcanpredictwhatisgoingtohappen,likegamesorrhymetimes.YoungchildrenwanttobeabletotalkinEnglishabout:
themselvesandwhattheylike:Ilike; Idontlikeyukwhattheyhavedone:Iwentto;Isaw; Iatehowtheyandothersfeel: Iamsad; shes cross
Parentscanhelpbysharingpicturebooksormakingtheirownbooksusingdrawingsorphotographs.Youngchildrenlearningtheirhomelanguagebecomeskilledintransferringalittlelanguagetomanysituations:Allgone.IfadultstransferEnglishphrasesinthesameway, youngchildrensooncopythem.WhenchildrenneedtopractiseschoolEnglish,usephraseslikeWhatsyourname?Howoldareyou?Whatsthis?Thats apencil.ParentscanturnthisintoafunactivitybyusingatoythatspeaksonlyEnglish,askingitthequestionsandpretendingtomakeitanswer.
usingthesamephraseseachtimetomanageEnglishsessionsaswell asactivitiesandgames.Aschildrensunderstandingincreases,thesebasicphrasesareenlarged:LetsplaySimonsays.Standthere.Infrontofme.Thatsright.Areyouready?addingacialexpressionandgesturetoaidunderstandingusingeyecontac
tinone-to-oneexchangestoreassureandalsotoencourageahesitantchildtospeakpausingoralongertimeaschildrenneedtothinkaboutwhattheyhearbeoretheyarereadytoreply.Whenspeakingisstilllimited,exaggeratedpausescanaddunorholdinterestinagame.
Someparentsfnditembarrassingtodramatiseanduseparentese.However,orthechild,itmakespickingupEnglisheasierastheyareamiliarwiththesenaturalmini-lessonsintheirhomelanguage.Onceyoungchildrenbegintospeak,parentsinnatelyeellessneedtouseparentese,exceptwhenintroducingnewlanguageoractivities.
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Asyoung childrenbecomemore
competent
speakers,they mayincludeaword
intheirhome
languagewithinan Englishphras
eHeseating
a()becausetheydo notyetknow
theEnglish
word. Itheadultrepeatsthephra
sebackusing
onlyEnglish,thechildcanpickup
theEnglish
word.Hes eatingaplum. Aplu
m.
Whentotranslate
Youngchildrens abilitytounderstands
hould
notbeunderestimated; theyunde
rstandmuch
morethantheycansayinEnglish.
Intheir
homelanguageyoungchildrena
reusedto
understandingonlysomeothe w
ordstheyhear
and fllingintherestromthespe
akersbody
languageandcluesaroundthem
togetmeaning.
Whereparenteseis used,theyap
peartotranser
theseskillstoworkingouttheme
aninginEnglish.
Whenbothnewconceptsandne
wlanguageare
introducedatthesametime, itma
y benecessary
togiveaquicktranslationonce,u
singa whisper,
olloweddirectlybytheEnglish.I
translation
isgivenmorethanonceandagai
nin ollowing
sessions,achildm
ay getusedtowaitingorthe
translationinsteadousing hisor herowncluesto
understandtheEnglish.
Englishsessions
Englishsessionsmaylastromjustaew
minutesup toabouttenandcantake
placeonceortwiceaday,dependingon
circumstances.ThemorerequentlyEnglish
isused,thequickeritisabsorbed.
DuringEnglishsessionsparentsneedtoocus
on theirchildwithoutanyinterruptions.Young
childrencometoloveEnglishsessions, because
orthemEnglishisaspecial time withtheir
parentsundividedattention.
Youngchildrenarelogicalthinkers:they
needtohaveareasonorspeakingEnglish,
since boththeyandtheirparentscanspeak
the homelanguage.
Theymayfnditdifculttoswitchromtheir
homelanguageintoEnglish, soitisimportant
tosetthescene:In threeminuteswearegoing
tohaveourEnglish time.Settingthescene
orEnglishtimemightinvolvemovingto a
special placeinthe room:Letssit onthe
sofa. Now, lets talkin English.Warming up
inEnglishbycounting or sayingaamiliar
rhymealsohelpstoswitchintoEnglish
beoreintroducingsomenewactivity.
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Childrenpickuplanguagewhenthetalkisbasedaroundanactivity
inwhichtheyarephysicallyinvolved.Itheyhavealreadybeen
introducedtotheactivityintheirhomelanguageandunderstoodthe
content,theyeelmoresecureandcanconcentrateonunderstanding
andpickinguptheaccompanyingEnglish.WheresessionsareinonlyEnglish,activitiesneedtobeshorter
sincechildrensattentionspanisgenerallynotaslongasinthehome
language.ListeningonlytoEnglishcanbetiring.Encouragementandprais
e
Youngchildrenlookortheirparentspraise.Theyneedtoeelgood,
andknowtheyaremakingprogressinEnglish.Continuouspositive
support,encouragementandpraiserombothmotherandather,
aswellastheextendedamily,helpstobuildupsel-confdenceand
motivate.Intheearlystagesolearning,encouragementisespecially
importantandpraiseoranysmallsuccessmotivates.Thatsgood.
Ilikethat.Welldone!StartingoinEnglishisthetimewhenyoungchildrenneedparents
supportthemost.Oncetheyareabletospeak,reciterhymesand
havememorisedsomestories,thesupportneednolongerbeso
intensive.Bythisstage,Englishphrases,rhymesandstoriesarelikely
tohavebeenplayullytranserredintoamilylie.In-amilyEnglishcan
bebondingandislikelytostay.Thiscanbethebeginningopositive
lielongattitudestoEnglishandothercultures.Itisnowgenerally
acceptedthatlielongattitudesarelaiddowninearlychildhood
beoretheageoeightornine.Tofndoutmore,visitwww.britishcouncil.org/parents
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The United Kingdoms international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.
A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).
One of a series of booklets commissioned by the British Council to support parents.
Written by Opal Dunn, Author and Educational Consultant from the UK