NEWS Younger children learn foreign languages more easily by connecting vocabulary with books, movement and everyday places. During a workshop, teachers at Skärpeskolan in Örnsköldsvik received further training in how to teach English to young children on a scientific basis.
Karyn Sandström, Associate Professor at the Department of Language Studies.
ImageHans Karlsson"Associative learning involves linking vocabulary to the environment. By teachers using English orally everywhere in school and getting pupils to use it, even those who have not yet learned to read are included", says Karyn Sandström, Associate Professor at the Department of Language Studies.
Not everyone working as a teacher today has had the opportunity to study how students learn a foreign language. The initiative for the further education programme was taken by Annika Lundell, who works as a primary school teacher and was previously a lecturer at the Department of Language Studies.
An important lesson was that we should capture all possible occasions where our pupils can use English in natural contexts
"It was great to participate in Karyn's workshop. She presented what the research says about language learning for young children and how we can use this knowledge in our teaching. We teachers need input to develop in our profession. English for younger school ages has been forgotten for many years when it comes to further education. Karyn's workshop gave us inspiration and courage to dare to change and develop, based on the didactic questions what, how and why. This workshop was a perfect start to our development work with linguistic diversity", says Annika Lundell.
Among other things, the training taught teachers how to create interactive activities that support language learning. For example, teachers can read aloud from picture books written in English in an interactive way, and then follow up on vocabulary learning in the playground, gymnastics hall or canteen.
"We were so inspired to work with picture books in our teaching. These picture books will now be purchased for the school – and used. An important lesson was that we should capture all possible occasions where our pupils can use English in natural contexts, for example during movement breaks, in the forest, during theme work, in the hall and in the canteen", says Annika Lundell.
Eleven teachers took part in the training programme, all of whom are teachers in one of the year groups from pre-school to the second year of primary school.
"It is an advantage that those who participated work well together and can link ideas to their activities. One example is when we discussed how to use the mouth to make different language sounds in English – if all the teachers have the same way of practising, it will be consistent for the pupils", concludes Karyn Sandström.
