Strategies

Children benefit tremendously from guidance and assistance from adults and more capable peers while engaged in activities that are meaningful and culturally relevant. The preschool environment is ideally suited for developing first and second languages because language is used in concrete, conversational, and meaningful interactions.

Social Strategies

Young English Learners will make use of various strategies in order to interact with their peers.

Child's Strategy: Join a group and act as though you understand what is going on, even if you do not.

Example: The child may nod as a way to participate in the conversation or repeat a word a peer said.

Corresponding Teaching Tip: When children are engaged in cooperative learning or play, serve as an interpreter for both the fluent English speaker and the child learning English.

Example: "Sara is building a tunnel. You like to play with Sara. You pushed your car through the tunnel."

The chart below contains a listing of additional SOCIAL strategies used by the child as well as informative teaching tips used to match these strategies.

Cognitive Strategies

While learning their second language, young English Learners will also make use of various strategies in order to communicate with others.

Child's strategy: Learn and use some expressions you understand.

Example: I want ______ (juice, toy, to play) please.

Corresponding Teaching Tip: Use speech and phrases that are predictable and repetitive.

Example: "Let's ______. (read, play, clean up)" "It's time to _____. (eat, sleep, go home)"

The chart below contains a listing of additional COGNITIVE strategies used by the child as well as informative teaching tips used to match these strategies.

Additional Teaching Strategies

Another way to present the various strategies that a teacher can use to support second language learners is presented in the chart below. These strategies relate to the different stages of learning a second language. While these strategies will support all children as they progress in their language development, some are particularly crucial to offer to children at specific stages of their second language acquisition, as the checkmarks indicate.

An important point to keep in mind is that a child may move in and out of these different stages, depending on the content being discussed and the context in which it is presented. For example, when a teacher talks about farm animals, the child may have few context cues to assist in comprehension and may be functioning at the observational and listening stage in this situation. Or, when the child is looking at farm animals depicted as a cartoon or in abstract art drawing, the child may have difficulty recognizing the animal and labeling it.

But, while on a field trip to the farm, more context cues might enhance the child’s communication. These cues might include: the sight of real animals, the smell of the farm, noises of farm animals, and the farmer talking in the child’s home language. A child’s communication may sound more telegraphic or even fluid at the farm. Teachers, therefore, should tailor the type of supportive strategies they use to fit each lesson or activity.

The chart below contains strategies for responding to the stages that children move in and out of as they learn a second language.