THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING

ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS II

Editors:
Prof. Dr. Birsen TÜTÜNIŞ
Assist. Prof. Dr. Manolya SAĞLAM

Authors:
Dr. Bengü AKSU ATAÇ
Dr. Birsen TÜTÜNİŞ
Dr. Carol GRIFFITHS
Dr. Ceylan YANGIN ERSANLI
Dr. Esim GÜRSOY
Dr. Gonca EKŞİ
Dr. Işıl Gamze YILDIZ
Dr. Manolya SAĞLAM
Dr. Şule ÇELİK KORKMAZ
Nur CEBECİ

Ankara, 2023
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS II
Editors:
Prof. Dr. Birsen TÜTÜNIŞ
Assist. Prof. Dr. Manolya SAĞLAM

English Language Teaching Book Series

Series Editors: Serkan GÜRKAN

Language Editor: Dr. Zoe MARLOWE

ISBN
978-625-

© Copyright 2023, Eğiten Publishing Org. Tic. Ltd. Şti.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
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 PREFACE

The term young learner is interpreted differently around the world.

Cambridge English Teaching Framework defines a young learner as a
child who is in their first six years of formal education, from the age of
6 to 12 (p.6). According to the Cognitive Development Stages proposed
by Piaget, the ages between 7-11 years is the Concrete Operational Stage
when children begin to think logically about concrete events. In most
countries it is the schooling age.
Theory and Practice of Teaching Young Learners Book II covers the
theoretical and practical aspects of teaching English to the age group 7-12.
This age group, with their energetic and physically active characteristics
needs to be taught with special care and attention. The authors of this
book, intended to guide the teachers teaching this group with a variety of
practical class activities supported by the theories put forward in the field
of teaching English to the speakers of other languages (TESOL).
Chapter 1 covers the theoretical background of teaching English as
a foreign language to the age group 7-12. Cognitive Development stages,
sociocultural theory, developmental and psychological education, a broad
understanding of how young learners learn, the theoretical background of
language teaching are the issues touched upon. Sample classroom activi-
ties and teaching techniques are also given. Discussion questions lead to
critical thinking on the issues stated throughout the chapter.
Chapter 2 covers the Secondary School Curriculum and Principles of
the Ministry of National Education (MONE) in Turkish context compared
with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
(CEFR) and the European Language Portfolio. Suggested Testing Tech-
niques for the Assessment of Language Skills are listed. The chapter also
gives practical tasks for English Books & Themes in Ministry of Educa-
tion (MEB) approved books for 5th and 6th Grades.
Chapter 3 gives a comparison of child and adult learning giving ex-
amples of young learners’ characteristics. The author stresses meaning-
ful learning and gives examples of activity-based classroom activities
for meaningful learning. The activities like storytelling, games, songs,
arts and crafts are recommended to create fun and a positive classroom
environment. The author also stresses the importance of authenticity in
stories which provide examples of daily language, expressions, habits and
behaviors of the native speakers that lead to intercultural understanding.

III
 Chapter 4 de!nes drama and gives information about the scope and
the historical overview of using drama and dramatic activities in English
Language Teaching. "e authors di#erentiate the types of dramatic activ-
ities and drives attention to the signi!cance of using drama activities in
language teaching. "ey give examples of dramatic activities that could be
implemented into young learners’ English classes.
Chapter 5 de!nes the 21st Century skills and focuses on critical think-
ing skills, problem solving, creative writing, communication and collab-
oration. "e ability to apply self-discipline and logic to problem-solving
makes critical thinking one of the most important cognitive abilities. "e
author gives sample young learners’ class activities using reading, writ-
ing, listening and speaking skills.
Chapter 6 focuses on Content and Language Integrated Learning
(CLIL) which makes foreign language learning more enjoyable. CLIL cre-
ates a high level of motivation so long as it does not cause struggling with
cognitively challenging knowledge. "e authors give sample classroom
activities following 3Cs (content, communication, cognition, culture/
community). A Clıl sample lesson plan is also provided.
Chapter 7 deals with classroom management in detail. "e di#erence
between discipline and positive discipline is explained. And suggestions
on how to deal with student misbehaviour is given with examples. Teach-
ers are advised to decode the messages behind the misbehaviours. "e au-
thor suggests that reward-punishment system does not help children de-
velop self -regulative skills in managing their behaviour. "e importance
of regulating emotions is also mentioned. Some problems emerging from
Turkish elementary EFL classes are given and the readers are expected to
!nd solutions.
Chapter 8 focuses on learner di#erences and de!nes individual dif-
ferences, learning styles and strategies. Multiple intelligences are listed
and sample class activities are given. "e VARK model which stresses the
visual, aural/auditory, read/write and kinesthetic learning styles activi-
ty samples for young learners’ classes are given. Key features of lifelong
learning are given and class activities for autonomous learning are point-
ed out. While the authors point out the importance of lifelong learning,
they state the challenges as well.
Prof. Dr. Birsen TÜTÜNIŞ
Assist. Prof. Dr. Manolya SAĞLAM

IV
 CONTENTS
PREFACE........................................................................................... III

Chapter 1 ............................................................................................. 1
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Dr. Birsen TÜTÜN$%

Chapter 2 ............................................................................................. 11
SECONDARY SCHOOL ENGLISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUM
Dr. Manolya SA&LAM

Chapter 3 ............................................................................................. 41
FUN IN PRIMARY ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES
Dr. Esim GÜRSOY

Chapter 4 ............................................................................................. 67
THE USE OF DRAMA IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
Dr. Işıl Gamze YILDIZ
Nur CEBEC$

Chapter 5 ............................................................................................. 91
TEACHING ENGLISH AND DEVELOPING 21ST. CENTURY SKILLS
FOR YOUNG LEARNERS
Dr. Bengü AKSU ATAÇ

Chapter 6 ............................................................................................. 107

CONTENT AND LANGUAGE INTEGRATED LEARNING (CLIL)
Dr. Gonca EK%$
Dr. Ceylan YANGIN ERSANLI

Chapter 7 ............................................................................................. 127

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Dr. %ule ÇEL$K KORKMAZ

Chapter 8 ............................................................................................. 155

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES: INTELLIGENCE, STYLE,
STRATEGIES, AUTONOMY AND LIFELONG LEARNING
Dr. Carol GRIFFITHS
Dr. Birsen TÜTÜN$%
V
VI
 Chapter 1
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Dr. Birsen TÜTÜNİŞ

Before reading (Pre-chapter) questions:

1- What are the characteristics of Young
Learners?
2- How do young learners learn?
3- How can we design our teaching activities
for Young Learners aged 7-12?

What we will see in this chapter: At the end of the chapter, readers will
be able to:
• What are the characteristics of • de!ne the characteristics of young
young learners (aged 7-12)? learners,
• How do young learners (aged • have information about the
7-12) learn? cognitive development of young
• How can we design our teaching learners,
activities for young learners (aged • Have information about
7-12) ? the sociocultural theory,
• Sample activities for young developmental and psychological
learners’ classes. education,
• Digital tools and class activities. • Notice the relationship between
• Discussion questions the theoretical background and
language teaching techniques,
• have a broad understanding of how
young learners (aged 7-12) learn.

Key Words: TEYLs, MoNE, CEFR, ZPD, TPRS

1
 1. Introduction
Young learners pick up any language easily since they do not bother
about making mistakes. It is claimed that (Lenneberg,1967) there is a crit-
ical period before puberty in which children can acquire native like pro-
!ciency in a foreign language. "is proposal was not accepted since there
are cases for adults who have native like pro!ciency in a foreign language
despite their age. "ere is not much evidence to support the critical period
hypothesis (Garton, Copland & Burns,2011). However, it is accepted that
early age foreign language acquisition lead to native like pronunciation
(Pinter,2006).
English language teaching usually starts at primary school, but some
private institutions who believe in the claim” the younger, the better”
start at kindergarden and increase the class hour per week up to 17-20
hrs. Some schools do some of the subjects in English as well (Content
and Language Integrated Learning/ CLIL). Teaching English to Young
Learners (TEYLs) programmes throughout the world are conducted in
many di#erent forms depending on the National Educational Policies
(NEP). In India and Kenya English becomes the medium of instruction
(ESL), whereas in Turkey, and in many other European countries English
is taught as a foreign Language (EFL).
In Turkish context, the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) de-
cided to start English language teaching in the 2nd grade of the primary
education. English is taught as a foreign languages and is one of the sub-
jects to be taught throughout the primary, lower secondary and upper
secondary schools. In 1990s, there was an immersion programme before
the lower secondary schools where students studied just English but later
on it was decided that students should study English and other subjects
and English achievement levels should be designed according to the CEFR
(Common European Framework of Reference) levels troughout their ed-
ucation.
Teacher professionalism requires the values, skills and knowledge
necessary for teaching, especially teaching young learners. "e theoret-
ical knowledge about how young learners learn, how their characteristics
e#ect their learning, pedagogical knowledge on how to keep young learn-
ers engaged in learning a foreign language, and the skills of management
all have an impact on the success of a foreign language programme de-
signed for young learners. In some contexts, there is a misunderstand-
ing that if you know some English, you can be employed as an English
teacher for young learners. Pre-school or Primary English teachers need
to understand how children make sense of the world and how they learn.

2
A well-educated English teacher would possess the theoretical and peda-
gogical knowledge required for teaching young learners. "e knowledge
about Piaget’s Cognitive Development "eory (1922); Vygotsky’s Socio-
cultural "eory (1928), Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD, 1928); and
Sca#olding tasks (Bruner,1983,1990) would help a young learners’ teacher
understand the characteristics of their students.
2- Theory and practice of teaching English to young learners
Jean Piaget is best known for his research on children’s cognitive de-
velopment. Piaget studied the intellectual development of his own three
children and created a theory that described the stages that children pass
through in the development of intelligence and formal thought processes.
"e four stages of Piaget’s theory are as follows:
Sensorimotor stage: "e !rst stage of development lasts from birth
to approximately age 2. At this point in development, children know the
world primarily through their senses and movements.
Preoperational stage: "e second stage of development lasts from
the ages of 2 to 7 and is characterized by the development of language and
the emergence of symbolic play.
Concrete operational stage: "e third stage of cognitive develop-
ment lasts from the age of 7 to approximately age 11. At this point, logical
thought emerges, but children still struggle with abstract and theoretical
thinking.
Formal operational stage: In the fourth and !nal stage of cognitive
development, lasting from age 12 and into adulthood, children become
much more adept at abstract thought and deductive reasoning.
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Stages, retrieved 19.12.2022)
Lev S. Vygotsky, was a Soviet psychologist, known for his work
on psychological development in children. He is known for his concept
of the zone of proximal development (ZPD): the distance between what
a student (apprentice, new employee, etc.) can do on their own, and what
they can accomplish with the support of someone more knowledgeable
about the activity. Also in+uential are his works on the relationship be-
tween language and thought, the development of language, and a general
theory of development through actions and relationships in a socio-cul-
tural environment
(Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotsky,19.12.2022).

3
 Beginning around 1967, Bruner turned his attention to the subject of
developmental psychology and studied the way children learn. He coined
the term “sca#olding” to describe an instructional process in which the in-
structor provides carefully programmed guidance, reducing the amount
of assistance as the student progresses through task learning. Bruner’s
work also suggests that a learner (even of a very young age) is capable of
learning any material so long as the instruction is organized appropriately,
in sharp contrast to the beliefs of Piaget and other stage theorists. :https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Bruner retrieved 21.12.2022)
Our target learners here are at the third stage (Concrete Operation-
al Stage) according to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. As men-
tioned above, at this point, logical thought emerges, but children still
struggle with abstract and theoretical thinking. "erefore, English lan-
guage teachers need to sca#old and design their classroom activities ac-
cording to young learners’ characteristics which could be listed as follows:
-"ey see the di#erence between fact and !ction.
-"ey are physically active.
-"ey can work with others.
-"ey understand symbols.
-"ey start to understand abstract things.
-"ey like digital activities.

Activity 1: Scaffolding
In education, sca#olding is the technique of helping
learners move towards better understanding of
the subject being taught like; asking prompting
questions, building upon what they already know
etc.

Procedure
Teachers brings in a box of toy animals and tells students that this
box is a zoo. Teacher puts her hand in the box and says: “ "is is a big
animal. It has small ears but a big nose. It is brown. It loves honey. What
is it?” Students guess, teachers says : Yes/No. Takes it out. It is a BEAR.

4
 Activity 2: Pair and/or group work
Students are asked to read the tra,c signs and
then work in pairs to prepare a poster.

Procedure
Teacher gives each group one +ash card of tra,c signs and asks them
to write what that sign means. "ey can colour the sign and design their
own poster. Groups stick their posters on the wall and talk about them.

Activity 2: Wordwall activity

Students are asked to match the words with the
pictures at a limited time. It could be individual
or group work.

Procedure
Teacher prepares the wordwall activity. (https://wordwall.net/re-
source/26760139/ingilizce/classifying-animals)
Teacher asks the students to come to the board and do the matching
one by one or in pairs. Animals, for example could easily be prepared with
google pictures. Teacher can also make use of the ready - made ones ( see
the link above.)

Animals: horse, lion,rabbit, Gira!e, parrot, snake, crocodile

Birds reptiles herbivores Carnivores

5
 3- Storytelling
Storytelling is one of the e#ective techniques to be used while teach-
ing young learners. In fact, whatever the age is, learners enjoy listening to
stories. Teachers telling real life stories are highly successful in motivating
their learners. As Shin & Candall (2014) state “storytelling is an authen-
tic form of communication that is a part of every culture” (p.14). TPRS (
Teaching Pro!ciency and Reading through Storytelling), for example, was
developed as a classroom technique by Blaine Ray (1990), while teaching
Spanish in a California high school (https://hlr.byu.edu/methods/con-
tent/text/storytelling-text.htm). As a technique it is based on the philos-
ophy that stories provide an e,cient tool for language acquisition. Blaine
was in+uenced by Asher’s (1970) Total Physical Response (TPR) technique
and Krashen’s (1980) “Comprehensible Input” language acquisition theo-
ry. (https://study.com/learn/lesson/comprehensible-input-hypothesis-ex-
amples.html). TPRS classroom techniques can be listed as follows:
 establish meaning,
 teach the vocabulary,
 introduce the characters (main and parallel)
 start your story,
 ask yes/no questions to check comprehensıon,
 ask students to take the role of story characters and act out while
you are telling the story,
 use the structures and repeat the chunks.
 Harmer (2007) claims that three things need to be present in or-
der for children to acquire a language:
 1- Exposure to the language,
 2- motivation to communicate with it,
 3- opportunities to use the language.
Storytelling as a technique, if used properly encourage children to
use the language and communicate with it.

6
 Activity 3: TPRS
Teacher establishes meaning and introduces the
characters. He/she asks “yes/no” questions.

Procedure
Teacher comes in with pictures and puppets. She/he tells the class
that they are going to listen to a story titled “CLEVER PRINCE”. "en,
shows the picture of a royal family; the King, the Queen and the Prince.
Next, she/he shows the picture of the palace. Students repeat a-er the
teacher for correct pronunciation. "en the teacher asks yes/no questions.
Teacher teaches the other words: monster, wise man, mirror… in the same
way. "en he/she starts telling the story showing the pictures and asking
yes/no questions. "e story:
"e King, the Queen and the Prince live in a castle. "ey are happy. A
wise man comes and tells the King:” You must send your son to the moun-
tains. A monster is sitting on your treasure. He must get it”. "e King is
sorry but the Prince says OK. Mother Queen cries but she gives him a
bag. "ere are……. in the bag. "e teacher shows the pictures of the items
in the bag and asks yes/no questions. "e Prince goes up the mountains.
He takes the mirror from his bag and shows it to the Monster. "e Mon-
ster is scared and he runs away. "e Prince takes the treasure.

( Google pictures retrieved 24.12.2022)

7
 Teacher tells the story again, asks yes/no questions. When he/she is
sure of full comprehension, he/she gives students the text and asks them
to read. "en he/she gives masks and asks them to do role play. As group
work, the teacher can ask them to choose one object from the bag and use
that one to kill/scare the monster.

Activity 4: Creating a story book

Using the apps; Powtoon/powtoon.com
or Book Creator/ bookcreator.com
students can create their own or any story read
in class.

Procedure
Teacher turns on bookcreator.com and shows the students how they
can create their books. He/ she creates one for the story read in class. "e
procedure is as follows:
1- Press start making new books.
2- Choose a new book (the empty one).
3- Press + button on the right and choose images. Write “royal fam-
ily” pictures will come. Choose one for your book cover.
4- Go to + button again, press “text”, and write the beginning of the
story on the first page. You can add pictures. You can save and do many
pages
5- At the end of the book, you can add activities like crossword puz-
zle or matching words with pictures.
You can do similar things with “powtoon” but this time you can add
sound, music and video. Both apps have videos of how to create. (https://
www.powtoon.com/labs/tutorials/ )
Conclusion
In this chapter, we have visited the theories on how young learners
learn and what the characteristics of young learners are. Piaget’s Cog-
nitive Development stages are given brie+y and the third stage which is
directly related to the age group of the contents of this book is given in
relation to the characteristics of this age group (7-12). English teachers
for young learners need to be knowledgeable about the theoretical issues
so that they can manipulate their classroom activities according to this
age group. "e characteristics can be listed as; physically active, work-
8
ing with pairs but not that cooperative yet, beginning to understand ab-
stract things, starting to see the di#erence between fact and !ction and
are highly involved with technology. Being knowledgeable about Bruner’s
“sca#olding” technique, teachers of young learners can easily assist their
learning and create an enjoyable classroom environment.
We have presented TPRS as a teaching technique and provided a
sample lesson plan. Storytelling is the most powerful technique for teach-
ing this age group. Students are motivated and engaged which end up
with long term learning. Storytelling activity can be followed by reading,
writing and role-play activities. Project work on stories like creating vid-
eos and books, will also enhance learning since learners will be actively
involved and will enjoy the process. Making masks, sock puppets, stick
puppets or other arts and cra-s activities will also keep young learners
busy in learning English.
(How to Make Sock Puppets | Fast and Easy DIY | Fun Sock Creations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Nh0n2LcU7I )

Discussion Questions
1. Vygotsky believes that development cannot
be separated from its social context? Do you
agree? Why or why not?
2. Vygotsky thinks that language plays a central
role in mental development. How and why?
Explain.
Out-of-Class Tasks
1. Design a lesson plan for teaching English to
a 8 year old child who does not know any
English.
2. Design an English story book for a 7-year-
old child.

9
 REFERENCES

Bruner, J. (1983). Child’s Talk: Learning to Use Language. New York: Norton.
Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of Meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lenneberg,H.E. (1967) Biological Foundations of Language, John Viley& Sons Inc.
USA Copland, F., Garton,S.,Burns,A. (2011) Investigating global practices in
teaching young learners, British Council.
Pinter, A. (2006) Teaching Young Language Learners, A. Pinter. Oxford Univer-
sity Press, Oxford.
Shin, J. K.& Candall, J.A. (2014) Teaching Young Learners English: From "eory
to Practice, National Geographic Learning, Heinle.
Vygotsky,L in Johnson,P.A. (2014), Education Psychology:"eories of Learning
and Human Development,National Science Press.
Erin DeFrance on 10/03/2022, What Is Sca#olding? Exploring "is Child Devel-
opment Concept, https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/
what-is-sca#olding/ ( retrieved 21.12.2022)
Piaget,J. in Simply Psychology (2022), https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.
html, retrieved 25.12.2022
Ray,B. (1980) https://www.youtube.com/@blaineray723 https://www.tprsbooks.
com/what-is-tprs/

10
 Chapter 2
SECONDARY SCHOOL ENGLISH LANGUAGE
CURRICULUM
Dr. Manolya SAĞLAM
Before reading (Pre-chapter) questions

1. What does the term Secondary School English

Language Curriculum remind you of?

2. What does the term Common European Framework

of Reference for Languages (CEFR) remind you of?

3. Do you think English language teachers should

study Common European Framework of Reference
for Languages (CEFR)? Why? Why not?

4. How can language teachers use Secondary School

English Language Curriculum in their teaching
practices?
What we will see in this chapter (to be At the end of the chapter, readers will
used in the introduction): be able to:

• What are Ministry of Education • de!ne Ministry of Education

Secondary School Curriculum and Secondary School Curriculum and
Principles? Principles
• Scope and brief historical overview • have information about Common
of Common European Framework European Framework for
of Reference for Languages (CEFR) Languages (CEFR)
• Council of Europe Tools for • identify Council of Europe Tools
Language Teaching: Common for Language Teaching
European Framework (CEF) and
• carry out the assessment of Young
European Language Portfolios
Learner Literacy related to the
(ELP)
CEFR
• Assessment of Young Learner
• apply tasks for English Books
Literacy Linked to the Common
& "emes in accordance with
European Framework of Reference
Ministry of Education (MEB) for
for Languages (CEFR)
5th and 6th Grades.
• Tasks for English Books & "emes
Approved by Ministry of Education
(5th and 6th Grades).

11
 1. Introduction
"e growth of English as a global language displays the importance
of teaching, and teaching English at early ages. In order to teach English
to young learners, di#erent kinds of program models and teaching prac-
tices have been used for many years. "ey have been developed related to
situations under the improvement of programming, planning and appli-
cation. Young learners learn better when they experience the language in
a natural, social, relevant and contextualized way. Moreover, they learn
better when they are active in the activities which are experiential, inter-
esting, and enjoyable, supported appropriately and applied in a relaxed
and warm learning atmosphere by the teachers. "us, teaching and learn-
ing a foreign language in a good way in process needs curriculum and
principles such as Ministry of Education Secondary School Curriculum
and Principles.
In the process of learning, teaching and assessment, the Common
European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is used in order
to overcome the related issues more e#ectively. CEFR makes it easy for
practitioners and learners to know what to do and how to do it. It encour-
ages teachers and students to think about what they will do when they
speak, listen, read and write, and how they set their objectives and mark
their progress e#ectively. It helps teachers and students about arranging a
good language learning environment. Furthermore, when the education
o,cials, examiners, course book writers, publishers and practitioners
agree on objectives and work together consistently, learners will under-
stand better and achieve the goals. "us, CEFR creates a good route in the
learning and teaching process.
2. Ministry of Education Secondary School Curriculum
and Principles
Part 2 is adapted from Ministry of Education English Course Curric-
ulum/Milli E.itim Bakanlı.ı (MEB) $ngilizce Dersi Ö.retim Programı,
2018.
English language curriculum has been reviewed according to the
general objectives of Turkish National Education described in No.1739
in the Basic Law of the National Education accordingly, with the Main
Principles of Turkish National Education.
2.1. Major philosophy of the curriculum
"is part is adapted from Ministry of Education English Course Cur-
riculum, 2018.

12
 English language curriculum has been redesigned according to the
latest trends, innovations and needs of students in English Language
Teaching. "e reviewed and most recent version of the curriculum con-
sists of two main dimensions and three sub-dimensions. "e !rst main
dimension contains values education, primary skills, testing, evaluation
and suggestions. "e second main dimension contains each grade’s lan-
guage skills and their linguistic comprehensions, evaluation and modern-
ized form of contexts, tasks, activities, functions and forms.
"e current version of the curriculum has been updated by paying
attention to the views of teachers, parents and academicians. Moreover, it
has been revised in accordance with the pedagogic philosophy of values
education and teaching and learning of four main language skills includ-
ing listening, speaking, reading and writing by focusing on the improve-
ment of the knowledge of students.
While designing the latest version of English language curriculum,
attention was paid to the principles and de!nitions of the Common Eu-
ropean Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR). In designing the
Learning, Teaching and Assessment, all of the principles were written ac-
cording to CEFR. "e CEFR especially emphasizes the needs of students
in order to make them be involved in the real-life language practices for
improving their +uency, pro!ciency and retention in authentic commu-
nicative environment in language learning process (CoE, 2001). Because
of the inability to address all students’ needs, using only one method in
learning and teaching processes is not enough. "us, an eclectic meth-
od including mixed instructional techniques for di#erent learner groups
who are at di#erent stages has been adopted that allows students to use
the language in communication rather than learning just the topic. (CoE,
2001). "erefore, students improve their language use competency by ex-
periencing the language in their daily life reality.
Because of CEFR’s considering the language learning as a lifelong en-
gagement, it is essential to develop positive attitudes for students starting
from the early stages to learn English. "erefore, the latest curriculum
supplies and encourages enjoyable, active and motivating learning envi-
ronments in which young learners feel the relaxed atmosphere and are
backed up in learning processes. In order to emphasize the communica-
tive nature of English, genuine materials, role-plays, dramas, and prac-
tical activities are applied. How and when to use the language skills is
arranged according to the levels of young learners. "roughout the all
stages, appropriate learning tasks supply the students with problem-solv-
ing skills and communicative competence in order to improve their learn-
er autonomy.
13
 2.2. General objectives of the curriculum
"is part is adapted from Ministry of Education English Course Cur-
riculum, 2018.
In today’s economic, political and social Turkish society, it is neces-
sary that people should communicate e,ciently on an international level,
and having the ability to use English is a main factor in this process. In
order to teach a subject meaningfully, materials should be used in ac-
cordance with the students’ daily lives. Language learning must be im-
plemented in context; it should have interaction with every day activities
rather than the abstract theories in order to have true communication in
real life (Hymes, 1972; Widdowson, 1978).
"e new curricular model is based on communication for language
learning by focusing on students’ needs, wants, opinions, beliefs and their
relationships. "e communicative approach requires authentic usage of
the target language in an interactive context in order to create real mean-
ing rather than focusing on grammatical structures and linguistic func-
tions (Larsen-Freeman and Anderson, 2011; Richards, 2006). Moreover,
learners/users are involved in activities that entail real communication
among peers, students and teachers in group works, games and collabo-
rative learning process. Teaching tools and classroom materials are taken
from actual, authentic materials in order to teach English as it is used in
normal life.
According to Cameron, because being motivated to learn is basic for
success, the curriculum’s purpose is to make English learning enjoyable,
fun, and interesting taking into account the di#erent levels of students
(2001).
"e curriculum is related to students’ attitudes toward language
learning in and outside the classroom, and also it relates to shaping the
experiences of students’ in-class tasks and schoolwork (O’Malley and
Chamot, 1990; Oxford, 1990, 1996). Learning strategies are utilized in
di#erent dimensions
Boyut
in the curriculum. "e !rst one is that teachers
and book authors are supplied with tasks and contexts including inter-
esting, achievable, relevant topics and practicable activities according to
students’ levels. "e second dimension is that classroom instruction and
the assignments include methodologically well-prepared instruction and
carefully chosen assignments (Cohen, 2011). "e third dimension is relat-
ed to testing and evaluation involving the positive and useful washback
e#ect. Consequently, all of these lead to students to experience a wide
range of learning strategies, methodologies and evaluation perspectives
in process.
14
 2.3. Key competences in the curriculum
"is part is adapted from Ministry of Education English Course Cur-
riculum, 2018.
All of the key competences in educational programs in European
Union (EU) emphasize the main skills that the learners get during for-
mal education. Using key competences involving knowledge, skills and
attitudes began with European Commission in EU countries in order to
help learners realize their personal improvement and professional growth
in accordance with the society. European Commission frames the key
1
competences according to three kinds of skills such as traditional skills
including communication in mother tongue and in foreign languages;
2
digital skills including literacy and basic skills in math and science and
3 horizontal skills including learning to learn, social and civic responsi-
bility, initiative and entrepreneurship as well as cultural awareness and
creativity.
"e goal of EU countries in educational programs through using key
competences and sub-competences is to:
1) prepare efficient learning materials and contexts for the learners
2) diminish the rate of early school-leaving
3) increase the joining in early childhood education
4) improve teachers’ and shareholders’ support mechanisms
"us, the Ministry of National Education has reviewed the whole ed-
ucational programs extensively including English curriculum in order to
supply the learners with key competences.
2.4. Values education in the curriculum
"is part is adapted from Ministry of Education English Course Cur-
riculum, 2018.
Universal and local values in the educational program are very cru-
cial for all of the individuals in society. It is described in Basic Law of
the National Education No.1739 and in modern related literature (UN-
ESCO, 1995), values attributes to the beliefs of people and society which
are framed by universal and national tendencies. "e latest curriculum
is based on values education containing companionship, collaborative
learning, justice, honesty, self-control, autonomous learning, patience, re-
spect, responsibility, love of teaching, love of learning, altruism, the goals
of the country and patriotism. All of these values are integrated into top-
ics, themes and activities in the curriculum.
15
 In learning and teaching processes the teachers and material design-
ers should pay attention to students’ learning levels, age groups, psycholo-
gy, sociological levels and ethical issues in order to choose the appropriate
texts, visuals and properties.
2.5. Testing and evaluation approach of the curriculum
"is part is adapted from Ministry of Education English Course Cur-
riculum, 2018.
"e construction of testing, assessment and evaluation is one of the
most crucial aspects of the curriculum because of the necessity to include
pedagogic substructures and objectives. "is situation may direct the
teachers and students in both the teaching and learning process that is
not explained directly in the curriculum. Such divergence may cause an
Fark
instructional phenomenon which is regarded as negative and harmful
washback (Özmen, 2012). "us, learning teaching and testing should be
considered as a whole, constantly a#ecting each other in forming teach-
ers’ instructions and students’ learning strategies, and also parents’ atti-
tudes about important and valuable educative circumstances.
When looking at the situation from this perspective, the testing pro-
cedure in new curriculum cannot be di#erentiated from learning and
teaching. Testing, assessment and evaluation processes are framed theo-
retically according to CEFR which emphasizes the many kinds of assess-
ment and evaluation techniques. "e curriculum focuses on alternative
and process oriented testing practices. Furthermore, it is stressed that stu-
dents are encouraged and supposed to monitor their own improvement
and success in their communicative competences (Bachman, 1990; CoE,
2001). Each unit contains an achievement list in order to be received by
the students, which then turns into self-assessment forms and re+ection
papers in an action-based perspective. A-er their learning in the class,
students can ask themselves “What did I learn?”, “How much did I learn?”,
“How can I apply the things I learnt at school to my real life?”. "us, the
curriculum provides a change to students in order to have a connection
with their daily lives and evaluate themselves.
"e curriculum not only has process-oriented testing techniques, but
also has formal evaluation competences including written and oral ex-
ams, quizzes, homework, performance assignments and projects to do an
objective entry for students’ success. In fact, the prominent philosophy of
the curriculum about testing, testing procedures, summative and forma-
tive assessment, product-based and process-oriented tests are to;

16
 1) comprehend four language skills and de!nite assessment of lan-
guage components
2) alter students’ learning styles and cognitive features
3) be in compatibility with learning and teaching methodology ac-
cording to curriculum
4) be in accordance with the students’ improvement in their charac-
ter and understanding process
5) create an atmosphere for favorable and useful washback e#ect
6) contain self-assessment, re+ection and feedback and
7) help students to identify their weak and strong points.
1
Formative assessments whose aims are to facilitate the language
learning of students generally include low stakes examinations which
have little or no score value. For that, students can be asked to do a post-
er related to the topic and summarize the lesson they studied. On the
2
other hand, summative assessments generally include the evaluation of
the students’ learning at the end of the course. Summative assessment
should be in line with the nature of learning and teaching according to
curriculum and the practicing teacher. Moreover, summative assessment
can include doing and designing a project and pencil-paper examination.
Consequently, all of these testing techniques and assessment emphasize
that curriculum includes both product and process oriented components
(Brown and Abeywickrama, 2010).
3. Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages (CEFR)
Part 3 is adapted from Common European Framework of Reference
for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR), 2001.
"e Common European Framework ensures a widespread funda-
mental component in order to elaborate language syllabuses, curriculum
principles, examinations, textbooks and other things like these across Eu-
rope. It de!nes levels of pro!ciency which let learners’ progression to be
measured according to their levels.
CEFR aims to overcome the barriers among professionals in Europe
about communicating with each other in modern languages from di#er-
ent educational systems.
CEFR ensures the means for educational managers, course designers,
teacher trainers, and teachers etc. in order to consider the practices for
coordinating their attempts to meet learners’ needs.
17
 Due to focusing on a common base for goals, content and method-
ological components, CEFR will increase the transparency of syllabuses,
courses and competencies. "us, it enhances the international co-opera-
tion in the !eld of modern languages and helps learners understand the
quali!cations in di#erent learning contexts in accordance with European
mobility.
From an intercultural view, it is a central aim for language education
to ensure the language and cultural development of learners and their
personalities.
3.1. The aims and objectives of Council of Europe Language
Policy
"is part is adapted from CEFR, 2001.
CEFR serves the overall aim of the Committee of Ministers in order
to constitute a strong unity among its members and continue this aim in
adoption of common action for cultural domains.
"e basic principles of the Committee of Ministers (member govern-
ments) of the Council of Europe for a common and quali!ed program are
to;
FR
1) enrich the heritage of di#erent languages and cultures in Europe
and develop them in mutual understanding.
2) facilitate the communication and interaction among the people
in Europe in order to promote European mobility, cooperation, mutual
understanding and respect for each other’s beliefs and ideas
3) adopt and develop national policies in the modern language
learning and teaching process by arranging appropriate cooperative and
coordinating policies
4) support the national and international association of governmen-
tal and non-governmental institutions about the development of teaching
and evaluation methods and using materials in modern language learn-
ing
5) establish an e#ective European information exchange system in-
cluding language learning, teaching, researching and making full use of
information technology.
Consequently, attention is paid to all of these components by member
governments and non-governmental institutions in order to encourage
and support each other in accordance with these fundamental principles.

18
 3.2. Why is Common European Framework (CEF) needed?
"is part is adapted from CEFR, 2001.
CEF is needed to;
1) intensify language learning and teaching in member countries for
greater mobility, more powerful interaction, e#ective communication, ac-
cess to information, respect to identity and cultural diversity and mutual
understanding
2) achieve the aims and reach the goals in life-long tasks, and facili-
tate the educational system from pre-school to adult education;
3) develop CEFR for language learning in all stages in order to fa-
cilitate cooperation among varied educational institutions from di#erent
countries;
4) supply a basic component for mutual recognition of language
quali!cations;
5) help learners, teachers, course designers, syllabus designers, ad-
ministrators for their coordination.
3.3. For what uses is CEF intended?
"is part is adapted from CEFR, 2001.
"e uses of Framework include:
1) "e planning of language learning programmes in terms of:
- their assumptions related to prior knowledge and their articu-
lation with earlier learning, especially the interaction between primary,
secondary and higher education;
- their goals;
- their content.
2) "e planning of language certi!cation in terms of:
- the content of syllabus for exams;
- assessment criteria for positive achievement rather than negative
de!ciencies.
3) "e planning of self-directed learning, including:
- making learners aware of their learning and knowledge;
- self-setting of valuable and bene!cial objectives;
- material selecting;
19
 - self-assessment.
4) Learning programmes and certi!cation can be:
- global;
- modular;
- weighted;
- partial.
When we consider the role of a common framework at more ad-
vanced levels, we should consider the changes according to the needs of
learners and the context where they live, work and study.
3.4. What criteria must CEF(R) meet?
"is part is adapted from CEFR, 2001.
CEF should be transparent, comprehensive and coherent in order to
realize all of its functions and principles.
Being transparent includes clear information, formulation and expla-
nation, and it should be available and comprehensible for users.
Being coherent includes:
- the identifying of needs;
- determining the objectives;
- de!ning the content;
- selecting or creating the material;
- establishing of learning and teaching programmes;
- teaching and learning methods;
- evaluating, testing and assessing.
CEF should be +exible, open, dynamic, multi-purpose, user-friendly
and non-dogmatic in learning, teaching and the practicing process.
3.5. A brief overview of CEFR
"is part is adapted from CEFR, 2001.
"e Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:
Learning, Teaching, Assessment is abridged as CEFR, CEF and CEFRL.
It draws an outline in order to describe the learners’ achievements in the
learning and teaching process of foreign languages in Europe, and also
increasingly in other countries.

20
 "e CEFR proposes to make it clear and simple for educational insti-
tutions and employers to admit, employ and evaluate the quali!cations of
language. It supplies the learners with a method of learning, teaching and
assessing. It was united by the Council of Europe as the key part of Lan-
guage Learning for European Citizenship Project between 1989 and 1996.
"en, in November, 2001, European Union Council Resolution advised
the use the CEFR for setting up language ability systems. "e six reference
levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) are regarded as the European standards for
grading the learners’ language pro!ciency.
"e CEFR pays attention to knowledge, skills and communicative
competences.
"e CEFR includes three main dimensions such as:
Language activities: "e CEFR separates the language activities into
four types.
"e !rst one is reception including listening and reading.
"e second one is production including spoken and written.
"e third one is interaction including spoken and written.
"e fourth one is mediation including translating and interpreting.
Domains: Communicative competences in general and in particu-
lar are developed through producing or receiving various texts in di#er-
ent contexts which re+ect the various perspectives of social life. "ey are
called domains by CEFR. "e main four domains are 1) educational; 2)
occupational; 3) public; and 4) personal.
Competences: In process, a language user can build, improve and
empower competences in the domains listed above. CEFR helps to de-
scribe the domains in di#erent competences by providing a set of six
Common Reference Levels which include A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2.
3.5.1. Common reference levels
"is part is adapted from CEFR, 2001.
Table 1. Common Reference Levels: global scale
Level Group Name/Level Frequency/Description
> Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read.
> Can summarise information from di#erent spoken and written
sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent
C2
Mastery presentation.
Proficient user
> Can express him/herself spontaneously, very +uently and
precisely, di#erentiating finer shades of meaning even in more
complex situations.

21
 > Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and
recognise implicit meaning.
> Can express him/herself +uently and spontaneously without
Advanced
much obvious searching for expressions.
C1 E#ective
> Can use language +exibly and e#ectively for social, academic
Proficient user Operational
and professional purposes.
Control
> Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex
subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns,
connectors and cohesive devices.
> Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both
concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in
his/her field of specialisation.
B2 > Can interact with a degree of +uency and spontaneity that
Independent Vantage makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible
user without strain for either party.
> Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and
explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and
disadvantages of various options.
> Can understand the main points of clear standard input on
familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.
> Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in
B1
an area where the language is spoken.
Independent "reshold
> Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar
user
or of personal interest.
>Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions
and brie+y give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.
> Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related
to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and
family information, shopping, local geography, employment).
A2
Waystage > Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple
Basic user
and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters.
> Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background,
immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.
> Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very
basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type.
> Can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer
A1 Breakthrough
questions about personal details such as where he/she lives,
Basic user
people he/she knows and things he/she has.
> Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks
slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.

"e estimated time for each CEFR level is as below:

A1 (beginner): It takes about 90-100 hours to reach A1.
A2 (elementary): It takes about 100-150 hours to reach A2 from A1.
B1 (intermediate): It takes about 160-240 hours to reach B1 from A2.
B2 (upper intermediate): It takes about 180-260 hours to reach B2
from B1.
C1 (advanced): It takes about 200-300 hours to reach C1 from B2.
C2 (pro!cient): It takes about 300-400 hours to reach C2 from C1.
22
 3. Council of Europe Tools for Language Teaching
"is part is adapted from CEFR, 2001.
"e European Language Portfolio (ELP) was developed by the Lan-
guage Policy Programme of the Council of Europe. ELP aims to support
the development of learner autonomy, plurilingualism, intercultural
awareness and competence and to allow users to record their language
learning achievements and their experience of learning and using lan-
guages (https://www.coe.int/en/web/portfolio).
"e European Language Portfolio is related to the work of the Educa-
tion Department which is part of the Directorate of Democratic Partici-
pation within the Directorate General of Democracy and Human Dignity
(DGII) of the Council of Europe. DGII supports the Council of Europe
in !elds that are very important for the sustainability of democracy. It
provides respect for human dignity without discriminating the human
rights standards, and it improves the working of democratic institutions,
and empowers the democratic competencies of Europe’s citizens and their
wishes about being active in the democratic process (Directorate General
of Democracy and Human Dignity). "us, it supports the respect for di-
versity in Europe’s societies, in a spirit of solidarity and tolerance, on the
basis of the human rights and legal standards of the Council of Europe
(https://www.coe.int/en/web/democracy-and-human-dignity/home).

Figure 1. General of Democracy and Human Dignity

(https://www.coe.int/en/web/democracy-and-human-dignity/home).
23
 3.1. European Language Portfolio (ELP)
"is part is adapted from CEFR, 2001.
ELP is a tool created in order to improve learner autonomy and re-
sponsibility and self-awareness of the learners, and also a document in
which learners can record their language learning and experiences and
re+ect on them (Council of Europe, 2000). ELP formed by the Council
of Europe plays an important role in the improvement of foreign lan-
guage learning and teaching processes. It supplies learners and teachers
with many concepts and tools (Kohonen, 2002). Moreover, it facilitates
language learning because of giving a chance to learners about evaluat-
ing, describing and depositing their language pro!ciency levels (Pawlak,
2009).
Little (2005) states that it consists of three components:
1) Language Passport summarizes the person’s (owner of the lan-
guage) linguistic identity through recording second languages (L2s)
which have been learnt, formal language’s quali!cations which have been
succeeded, important experiences of L2 use, and assessment of pro!cien-
cy L2 levels of the owner;
2) Language biography sets the target of language learning, moni-
tors the progress, localizes the improvement of language learning skills,
and records and re+ects on language learning and intercultural experi-
ences;
3) Dossier includes a selection of work of the owner about his or her
L2 capacities and achievement.
ELP has two functions. One of them is reporting function including
product aspect of foreign language learning, and the other one is peda-
gogic function including process aspect of language learning (Kohonen,
2004).
ELP aims to educate students in order to become autonomous and
life-long learners having the ability of assessing their pro!ciencies in dif-
ferent language skills, and communicating this knowledge to institutions
for gaining more education, future employers, and other interested par-
ties (Mansilla and Riejos, 2007).
ELP promotes the language teaching process by paying attention to
statements as below (Little and Perclova, 2001):
1) how I organize my teaching
2) how I prepare my teaching

24
 3) how I use the textbook and
4) how I assess my learners.
ELP and CEFR have common standards facilitating the recording,
planning and con!rming of lifelong language learning in teaching and
learning processes in di#erent educational institutions in Europe and the
world (Glover, Mirici and Aksu, 2005).
Consequently, ELP and CEFR play an important role in users’ learn-
ing and teaching process about understanding, using the language, re-
cording, re+ecting on capacities, self-awareness and assessment.
3.2. The ELP in Turkey
Turkey as a member of the Council of Europe has arranged its lan-
guage teaching and learning programs according to standards of the
Council of Europe. Turkey has been applying the ELP in many di#erent
schools in the teaching and learning process by improving students’ au-
tonomy and autonomous learning. In the learning and teaching process,
Turkey applies the activities and assess the users’ language pro!ciency
according to the components and principles of CEFR.
4. Assessment
Part 4 is adapted from Common European Framework of Reference
for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR), 2001.
Assessment is used in the sense of assessment of the pro!ciency of
the language user. Assessment includes all forms of language tests and
many other forms such as checklists and informal teacher observation
which are not described as tests. Evaluation is a broader term than assess-
ment. All assessment is a form of evaluation; however, a number of things
in a language programme are evaluated other than learner pro!ciency.
"ese can include some components such as e,cacies of certain methods
and materials, the type and quality of discourse in the programme, being
satisfaction of learners and teachers, e#ective teaching and other similar
things.
"ere are three concepts which are traditionally regarded as funda-
mental for assessment and related to each other and CEF. "e !rst one is
validity including the context which is concerned and should be assessed,
the information obtained accurately by the user according to his/her lan-
guage pro!ciency. "e second one is reliability including two separate
(real or simulated) administrations of the same assessment. "e third one
is the accuracy of decision including the relation to a standard in assess-
ment.
25
 CEF is concerned with the two questions in assessment such as what
is assessed and how performance is interpreted and the extent of common-
ality between the two tests. So it outlines three main ways about using
CEF:
1) For the determination of the content of tests and examinations
(what is assessed):
2) For describing the criteria in order to determine the obtaining of
a learning objective (how performance is interpreted):
3) For de!ning the pro!ciency levels in existing tests and examina-
tions and thus making it easy to do comparisons in di#erent systems of
quali!cations (how comparisons can be made).
4.1. The Framework as a resource for assessment
"is part is adapted from CEFR, 2001.
In communicative assessment “Communicative Language Activities”
play an important role for language users in language use processes. Valid
assessment entails the exempli!cations of relevant types of discourse in
speaking testing. First of all, a Conversation can be used. It functions as
a warm-up activity. "en, an Informal Discussion can be done including
topical issues. It is followed by Transaction phase including a face-to-face
speaking activity or simulated telephone information-seeking activity.
"en, it is followed by a Production phase including a written Report in
which the user writes a Description of his/her academic !eld and plans. In
brief the process is as below:
Interaction Production
(Spontaneous, short turns) (Prepared, long turns)
Spoken: Conversation Description of his/her academic field
Informal discussion
Goal-oriented cooperation
Written: Report/Description of his/her
Academic !eld
“Communicative Language Competences” gives information about
the construction of the test items or spoken test phases to reveal the con-
!rmations of related linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competenc-
es.

26
 4.2. Descriptions of communicative activities
"is part is adapted from CEFR, 2001.
Descriptions of communicative activities can be utilized in three dif-
ferent ways
related to the gaining of objectives.
1) Construction: includes scales for communicative activities in or-
der to describe the explanation of an assessment task.
2) Reporting: includes the scales for communicative activities to re-
port results.
3) Self- or teacher-assessment: includes the de!nitions for commu-
nicative activities which can be used for Self- or teacher-assessment in
di#erent ways:
a) Checklist: for continuous or summative assessment at the end of
a course.
b) Grid: for continuous or summative assessment and rating a pro-
!le onto a grid of elective categories such as discussion, conversation, ex-
changing information according to various levels (B1, B1+, B2, B2+).
4.3. Types of assessment
"is part is adapted from CEFR, 2001.
"ere are a number of signi!cant variations related to assessment.

Table 1. Types of assessment

1 Achievement assessment Pro!ciency assessment
(An assessment of certain objectives and the (An assessment of what somebody can
taught ones related to week’s/term’s work, the do or knows about the application of the
syllabus, and the course book.) subject in real life.)
2 Norm-referencing (NR) Criterion-referencing (CR)
(Can be related to demographic cohort, a group (the shows the continuum of
of learners taking a test.) pro!ciency (vertical) and relevant
domains (horizontal) about topic thus
demonstrating the results of individuals
related to criteria.)
3 Mastery learning CR Continuum CR
(Includes minimum competence standard or cut- (An approach including individual ability
o# points for master and non-master learners.) as a reference for de!ning continuum of all
relevant degrees of ability related to area.)
4 Continuous assessment Fixed assessment points
(An assessment by the teacher and learner of (Related to grades of an exam or other
class performances related to works or projects assessment taking place on a certain day.)
throughout the course.)

27
5 Formative assessment Summative assessment
(Related to ongoing process of gathering (Sums up attainment with a grade at the
information together about strengths and end of the course.)
weaknesses of the learners.)
6 Direct assessment Indirect assessment
(Assesses what the learner is actually doing such (Uses a test generally on paper through
as discussing, observing, comparing, matching.) assessing the skills.)
7 Performance assessment Knowledge assessment
(Entails the learner for providing a language skill
(Entails the learner for answering the
sample such as speaking or writing in a direct questions related to various item types
test.) including linguistic knowledge and control.)
8 Subjective assessment Objective assessment
(A judgement made by an assessor.) (An assessment not including subjectivity
and including the items having one true
answer such as multiple-choice tests.)
9 Checklist rating Performance rating
(Means judging the learner relevant to a list of (Related to the performance of the learner
points including a speci!c module or level.) in the activities.)
10 Impression Guided judgement
(A subjective judgement based on the experience (Judgement subjectivity is decreased to a
of the learner.) large extent by complementing impression
with conscious assessment in relation to
speci!c criteria.)
11 Holistic assessment Analytic assessment
(Related to making a global synthetic judgement. (Includes looking at di#erent aspects one
Di#erent aspects are weighed intuitively by the by one, such as what is looked for and how
assessor.) a band, grade or score is arrived at.)
12 Series assessment Category assessment
(Includes a series of separated assessment tasks, (Includes a single assessment task which
such as role- plays with teachers and learners help create di#erent discourse.)
including holistic grade on a labelled scale of
-5;1-5 for example.)
13 Assessment by others Self-assessment
(Is related to judgments made by teachers or (Related to judgments about an
examiners.) individual’s own pro!ciency.)

4.4. Suggested Testing Techniques for the Assessment of

Language Skills
Suggested Testing Techniques for the Assessment of Language Skills
are listed in the table below in Ministry of Education English Course
Curriculum/Milli E.itim Bakanlı.ı (MEB) $ngilizce Dersi Ö.retim Pro-
gramı, 2018.

28
 Table 2. Suggested Testing Techniques for the Assessment of Language Skills
Language Testing Techniques Suggestions for Test
Skills

Collaborative or singular drama performances • Make sure you have

Speaking (Simulations, Role-plays, Side-coaching), prepared a reliable assessment
Debates, Group or pair discussions, Describing a rubric to assess students.
picture/video/story, etc., • Anxiety and inhibition
Discussing a picture/video/story, etc., Giving short may cause problems: Provide
responses in specific situations, Information gap, a relaxing atmosphere in
Opinion gap, testing.
Reporting an event/anecdote, etc., • Encourage self- and peer
Short presentations, assessment if applicable (for
Talking about a visual/table/chart, etc. higher proficiency grades).

Listening Di#erent variations of matching (…the sentences • Include both bottom-up and
with paragraphs … pictures with the sentences, top-down listening techniques.
etc.), •Bottom-up techniques
Discriminating between phonemes, Identifying typically focus on sounds,
interlocutors’ intentions and implicatures, Listen words, intonation, important
and perform/complete an action (E.g.: Listen grammatical structures, and
and draw/paint, listen and match, listen and put other components of spoken
the correct order, listen and spot the mistake, language.
etc.), Listen and tick (the words, the themes, the • Top-down techniques
situations or events, the people, etc.), Omitting are concerned with the
the irrelevant information, Putting into order/ activation of schemata, with
reordering, Recognizing phonemic variations, deriving meaning, with global
Selective listening for morphological structure and understanding, and with the
a#ixation, True/False/No information, interpretation of a text.
Understanding overall meaning and supporting
details,
Recognizing specific information, Questions and
answers.
Di#erent variations of matching (…the sentences • Include both bottom-up and
Reading with paragraphs, … pictures with the sentences, top-down reading techniques.
etc.), Finding specific information, Finding a •Bottom-up techniques focus
title to a text, Identifying the gist and supporting on morphological dynamics,
details, Intensive reading, Read and perform / words, collocations, key
complete and action (E.g.: Read and guess the grammatical structures, and
meaning of lexemes, Read and draw/paint, Read other components of written
and solve the riddle), language.
Solving a puzzle, Spotting text mechanics • Top-down techniques are
(reference, substitution, various types ellipses), concerned with the activation
True/False/No information, of schemata, with deriving
Transferring the text to a table/chart (Information meaning, with
transfer), global understanding, and
Understanding the author’s intention, Questions with the interpretation of a
and answers. text.

29
 Describing a picture/visual/video, etc., Filling in • Make sure you have
Writing a form (hotel check in form, job application form, prepared a reliable assessment
etc.), rubric to assess
Note taking/making, students.
Preparing an outline, • Provide a Genre (what to
Preparing a list (shopping list, a to-do list,) write), Audience (whom to
Reporting a table or a chart, write) and Purpose (why to
Rephrasing, write) for each writing
Rewriting, assessment task.
Writing short notes, entries and responses, Writing • Encourage self- and peer
a paragraph, e-mail, journal entry/etc., assessment if applies (for
Writing a topic sentence/thesis statement higher proficiency grades).
Samples Summarizing a text (listening/reading and • O#er authentic or real-like
for writing), tasks in order to promote
Integrated Taking notes (listening and writing), Reporting an communicative testing.
Skills event (listening/reading and speaking), • Avoid o#ering tasks beyond
Paraphrasing (listening/reading and writing), students’ current intellectual
Preparing a mind-map (reading/listening and and cognitive maturity.
writing), • Provide samples to trigger
Cloze/C-test (reading and writing), task completion via linguistic
Dictation (listening and writing), performance.
Reading a text and present it (reading and
speaking),
Writing a text and present it (writing and
speaking),
Outlining a reading text (reading and writing)
Alternative Portfolio Assessment, • Determine initially the
Assessment Project Assessment, content, criteria for task
Performance Assessment, inclusion, describe criteria
Creative Drama Tasks, for grading and the analytic
Class Newspaper/Social rubric carefully, and present
Media Projects, those aspects to the students
Journal Performance, etc. before the application. Make
sure students understand
and accept the rules of
application.
• Encourage the inclusion of
all language skills in portfolio
content with equal weight
and value.
• Note that portfolio
assessment procedure would
be incomplete and thus
useless without feedback.

30
 5.Themes and tasks/activities in 5th grade curriculum
approved by Ministry of Education
"is part is adapted from 5th grade English Teaching Programme,
Ministry of Education English Course Curriculum/Milli E.itim Bakan-
lı.ı (MEB) $ngilizce Dersi Ö.retim Programı, 2018.
5th Grade Curriculum aims to increase students’ curiosity in learning
the target language and enable the students to use it in their normal life.
Themes in 5th Grade Curriculum are appropriate for their age group
and they are related to:
- the city where the students live
- hobbies
- daily works
- health problems
- social activities
- sports activities
- emotions.
By using these themes/topics, it is aimed to teach basic related words
with their correct pronunciation to students.
Moreover, functions play an important role in the curriculum. "e
functions related to themes in the curriculum are as below:
- greeting
- asking permission
- expressing personal thoughts
- likes
- needs
- de!ning the amounts
- telling the work they do regularly
- telling the time
- telling what they are doing at that moment
- giving directions.
It is aimed to realize these functions with a communication-oriented
approach by using visual, audio and audio-visual tools.
31
 In order to attract the attention of this age group, it is preferred to use
some texts and tools such as stories, poems, songs, fairy tales, cartoons,
picture dictionary, posters, maps, post cards, lists, menus and other sim-
ilar tools.
In the language learning and teaching process, reading and writing
activities are accomplished in a form limited to the sentence level with
the studies in its context. It is aimed for 5th grade students to learn the
language with pleasure by using games, daily life activities, drawing and
painting, role-playing, listening, speaking and narration.
Tasks/Activities in 5th Grade Curriculum are appropriate for their
age group and they include:
- arts and cra-s
- drawing and coloring
- drama (role play, simulation, pantomime)
- games
- making puppets
- labeling
- matching
- questions and answers
- competitions,
- songs, chants, rhymes
- information transfer
- reordering
- story telling
- true/false/no information.
Activity 1: Using puppets for teaching the hobbies
Kukla
By using puppets, students can be aware of the
importance of using the language. "ey speak in
English. "ey use their hands and improve their motor
skills. Furthermore, they enjoy and have fun. "ey are
motivated to take part in the lesson.

32
 Procedure
"e teacher help students make a puppet. For making a puppet, stu-
dents can use paper, colorful papers, pencils, crayons, scissors and tape.
If they want, they can bring fabric puppets to school. "ey can create a
puppet as they like or they can just draw puppets’ faces on their !ngers
and use them as a puppet. "en, two students come to the board and start
a dialogue by using their puppets as if the puppets are talking with each
other. "ere is a conversation between the students as below:
A: Hello, how are you?
B: Hello, I am !ne, thank you. How are you?
A: I am !ne, thank you. What is your hobby?
B: My hobby is riding a bike. What is your hobby?
A: My hobby is listening to music. Do you like swimming?
B: Yes, I like swimming. Do you like reading a book?
A: Yes, I like reading a book. What do you like more?
B: I like playing volleyball. What do you like more?
A: I like playing football.
"e dialogues can go on like that. Students can ask many questions
to each other including their hobbies. "e teacher guides the students at
that time and help them when they need. "e teacher is also a facilitator
to students. Consequently, puppets back up the learning process and the
students enjoy this activity at the same time.

33
 Figure 2. Using Puppets in English Classes
https://www.momsandcrafters.com/farm-animal-finger-puppets/

6. Themes and tasks/activities in 6th Grade Curriculum

approved by Ministry of Education
"is part is adapted from 6th Grade English Teaching Programme,
Ministry of Education English Course Curriculum/Milli E.itim Bakan-
lı.ı (MEB) $ngilizce Dersi Ö.retim Programı, 2018.
6th Grade Curriculum aims to increase students’ interest in learning
the target language and enable the students to use it in their real life. "e
topics elected for the 6th graders aim to develop students’ basic charac-
teristics about imagination and creativity. "e themes are chosen based
on the social, cognitive and a#ective development of students. Achieve-
ments in the curriculum are determined according to an action-orient-
ed teaching model that enables students to express themselves and their
thoughts with the necessary simple and useful language functions in dai-
34
ly language. It is planned that students communicate about the past and
present through using language functions including the topics.
Themes in 6th Grade Curriculum are appropriate for their age group
and they are related to:
- life
- food
- environment
- city and country life
- weather
- occupations
- personal tastes
- daily life
- fun
- democracy.
Furthermore, it is aimed to educate students as responsible individ-
uals towards the environment and society in which they live, with the
themes of environment and democracy. "rough the elected themes, ac-
tivities and projects, it is aimed to make students love the language, learn
the target language in an enjoyable way, and help students develop a pos-
itive attitude toward the language. By doing so, it is also aimed to teach
students to use the language as a tool in their normal life rather than
memorizing the rules just for taking marks in the exam.
Reading and writing activities are also limited to sentence level with
the studies in this context. "rough using di#erent kinds of activities
such as games, dramas, puppets, simulations, animations, listening and
understanding skills and manual skills, it is aimed to teach students in an
active and funny way,
Tasks/Activities in 6th Grade Curriculum are appropriate for their
age group and they include:
- arts and cra-s
- drawing and coloring
- information/opinion gap
- drama (role play, simulation, pantomime)
- games
35
 - !nd someone who…
- making puppets
- labeling
- matching
- questions and answers
- competitions,
- songs, chants, rhymes
- making puppets
- information transfer
- reordering
- story telling
- true/false/no information.
Activity 2: Using drawing, coloring and simulation
for teaching the occupations

By using drawing, coloring and simulation, students can

learn occupations. "ey obtain the knowledge about
doing a job and how to do it. "ey also learn the related
words and their pronunciation. Furthermore, students
use body language and simulate the actions of related
occupation.

Procedure
"e teacher asks students to draw the picture of their favorite occu-
pation/job and color it. Students draw and color it and think about the
characteristics of doing this job and write them on their notebooks. "en
they come to the board, show the picture to their friends and tell the char-
acteristics of the occupation in English. Two of the examples of telling
their favorite jobs are as below:
Student A: Hello, I am doctor Jane Happy,
: I wear white coat.
: I work at hospital.
: I treat people.
: I like doing my job.

36
 Student A can also simulate the doctor and shows the moves of a
doctor to her friends.
Student B: Hello, I am teacher John Star.
: I wear white coat.
: I work at school.
: I teach English to my students.
: I like doing my job.
Student B can also simulate the teacher and shows the moves of a
Taklidini yapmak
teacher to his friends.
Students’ verbal productions can continue like that. Other students
come to the board and show their favorite job to their friends. Students
can ask questions to each other about their favorite occupations. "e
teacher guides the students at that time and help them when they need.
"e teacher is also a facilitator to students. Consequently, drawing, color-
ing and simulation develop the learning process.

Figure 3. Using Drawing and Coloring in English Classes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wihxQaK05Ds

Conclusion
In this chapter, we aimed to explain the principles of Ministry of Ed-
ucation Secondary School Curriculum and the components and charac-
teristics of Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
37
First of all, we start with major philosophy of the curriculum of Ministry
of Education Secondary School Curriculum and state that it has been re-
vised in accordance with the pedagogic philosophy of values education
and teaching and learning of four main language skills including listen-
ing, speaking, reading and writing by focusing on the improvement of the
knowledge of students. Next, we clarify the general objectives, key com-
petences and values education in the curriculum. A-er that, we explained
Scope and brief historical overview of Common European Framework
of Reference for Languages (CEFR). "en, we look at Council of Europe
Tools for Language Teaching. We state the importance of Common Eu-
ropean Framework (CEF), European Language Portfolios (ELP) and As-
sessment of Young Learner Literacy Linked to the Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Finally, we explain the
Tasks for English Books & "emes Approved by Ministry of Education
(5th and 6th Grades) in order to show the di#erent ways about teaching.
Consequently, each part explains the components of the quali!ed Sec-
ondary School English Language Curriculum.

Discussion Questions
1. As a prospective language teacher, in which
ways do you think 5th Grade Curriculum can be
applied to language classes?
2. As a prospective language teacher, in which
ways do you think 6th Grade Curriculum can be
applied to language classes?
Out-of-Class Tasks
1. Design a speaking based activity for 5th grade
young learners by using authentic materials.
2. Design a speaking based activity for 6th grade
young learners by using authentic materials.

38
 REFERENCES

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university press.
Bakanlı.ı, M. E. (2018). $ngilizce dersi ö.retim programı (ilkokul ve ortaokul 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ve 8. sını+ar)/Ministry of Education English Course Cur-
riculum, 2018.
Brown, H. D., & Abeywickrama, P. (2010). Language assessment. Principles and
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Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching languages to young learners. Cambridge, England:
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Cohen, A.D. (2011). Strategies in Learning and Using a Second Language (2nd ed.)
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Council of Europe. Council for Cultural Co-operation. Education Committee.
Modern Languages Division. (2001). Common European framework of
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Directorate General of Democracy and Human Dignity, Council of Europe Por-
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Kohonen, V. (2002). "e European language portfolio: From portfolio assess-
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pereen yliopiston julkaisusarja, 27, 77-95.
Kohonen, V. (2004). On the pedagogical significance of the European language
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nen & V. Kohonen (Eds.),Future perspectives in foreign language educati-
on (pp.27-44).
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Anderson, M. (2011). Techniques and principles in langu-
age teaching (3rd ed.). London, England: Oxford University Press.
Little, D., & Perclová, R. (2001). European language portfolio: guide for teachers
and teacher trainers. Council of Europe.

39
Little, D. (2005). "e common European framework of reference for languages
and the European language portfolio: Involving learners and their judge-
ments in the assessment process. Language Testing 22(3), 321–336.
Mansilla, P. U., & Riejos, A.R. (2007). "e European framework of languages: A
piloting sample of cross-curricular strategy. Higher Education in Europe,
32(2/3), 193-202.
O’Malley, J. M., & Chamot, A. (1990) Learning strategies in second language
acquisition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Oxford, R.L. (1990) Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should
Know. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
Oxford, R.L. (Ed.). (1996) Language Learning Strategies around the World:
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Özmen, K. S. (2012). A study of the washback e#ect of exams and associated tea-
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Pawlak, M. (2009, March 31-April 4). Promise and challenge of introducing the
European language portfolio. Paper presented at the 43rd IATEFL Confe-
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Richards, J. C. (2006). Communicative language teaching today. New York, NY:
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land: Oxford University Press.

40
 Chapter 3
FUN IN PRIMARY ENGLISH LANGUAGE
CLASSES

Dr. Esim GÜRSOY

Before reading (Pre-chapter) questions

1. What are children’s characteristics?
2. How can we make best use of children’s
characteristics in the classroom?
3. How do children learn best?
4. When should we use fun activities (at the
beginning, during or at the end of the lesson?)
5. What might be some concerns the teachers have
when creating fun in the classroom?

What we will see in this chapter: At the end of the chapter, readers will
be able to:
• Children’s characteristics
• Identify children’s characteristics
• Contextualized learning and giving
• Compare child and adult learners
a purpose for learning
• Practice creating a context for
• Child-adult di#erences
meaningful learning
• Creating fun in the classroom:
• Use storytelling, games, songs, arts
Using storytelling, games, songs,
and cra-s to create a fun, positive
arts and cra-s … to teach English
classroom environment.
to children

41
 1. Introduction and Definition of Key Terms in the chapter
Teaching English to children has now been widely practiced around
the globe. Despite the earlier debates about an early start in learning for-
eign languages (e.g.: Muñoz, 2006; Nikolov, 2002) many countries in Eu-
rope (Turkey, Holland, Poland, Croatia ….) and Asia (Korea, Taiwan …)
are introducing English as early as primary school (Butler, 2011; Enever,
2012; Garton 2011) and it is strongly suggested by EU policy group that it
starts even earlier in pre-school (Enever et al., 2009). Due to the pressures
coming down from the policy makers as a result of the global economy, in
addition to the pressures coming up from parents, foreign language teach-
ing at early years of schooling has gained popularity (Enever & Moon,
2009). However; teaching children, characteristically being di#erent from
adults, required di#erent skills, techniques and materials, which created
a need for understanding the developmental changes, the instincts they
bring into the classroom as well as characteristics of child learners.
Children (between the ages of 7-12) are in the period of concrete op-
erations according to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, and thus,
can only understand information that is presented in a concrete manner,
enabling the learner to see, touch and do. In addition, they are also de-
veloping emotionally, physically, socially and linguistically which has an
e#ect on the use and selection of activities and teaching techniques. On
top of these factors, children bring their natural instincts into the class-
room (Gürsoy, 2015b; Halliwell, 1992). "e foreign language child learn-
er has already had the experience of acquiring his/her mother tongue.
"e in-built capacity and mechanisms to learn/acquire a language still
exist when they start primary school. "ese attributes, together with child
characteristics, build the frame of language learning context for children.
"e major problem for teaching English to young learners is their
lack of need for learning a foreign language (Gürsoy, 2011). Especially
in foreign language learning contexts like Türkiye, there is no purpose
for the child learner to practice the foreign language outside of the class-
room. "us, the teaching process is much harder for teachers to organize
and carry on. As young learners wouldn’t be able to develop hypothetical
thinking in primary school or until the age of 11-12, any extrinsic moti-
vation such as !nding a better job, studying abroad, earning more money
is meaningless as they point to an inde!nite time in the future. "e future
is abstract therefore, beyond young learners’ comprehension or interest.
Hence, students need a purpose that they can relate to and coming from
the “here and now” (Gürsoy, 2015a).

42
 Example: Creating a context and giving a purpose
Grade 5 Unit: 7 – Party Time
Topic: Party time
Context: Today is Jan. 3. It is Molly and Mindy’s mom’s
birthday. "ey want to organize a surprise birthday
party. "ey are very excited. "ey need a cake, candles,
balloons, and presents. "ey go shopping for the party.
"eir mom likes chocolate cake. Molly and Mindy are
cooking a chocolate cake for their mom. What do they
need? Make a list for them.
Ex: "ey need milk / eggs / butter / cacao / +our / sugar
…
"e “here and now” principle when teaching children is important
for consideration when preparing a context, materials and activities. It
is also vital to relate language learning to students’ lives. "e principle is
mostly related with cognitive development and it points out the concrete
nature of the learning process. ‘Here’, refers to all contexts and situations
that a child can be in such as the classroom, home, playground etc. ‘Now’,
on the other hand, points to the importance of relating the learning pro-
cess to what the child needs at the present time. In other words, it requires
the teachers to consider where and how the young learner will need and
use the foreign language, and provide samples of language accordingly.
"e language functions, pragmatic considerations, interactions with oth-
ers (other children, parents, siblings, teachers, classmates etc.), chunks
and structures should be related to child’s immediate environment and
communication needs. For example, a child would never have to inter-
act with a landlord. "at is for adults. A child would interact with other
children, his/her siblings, parents, but not to a landlord, an accountant or
a company manager. A child might talk about computer games, home-
work, lunch, dinner, playground activities, movies, cartoons, but not the
remaining coal reserves, global economy or political waves. "e “here and
now” principle limits the topics, language to be taught and used, by con-
sidering children’s immediate communication needs and environment.
Basically, whatever language functions or vocabulary children use in L1,
can be transferred to foreign language learning classrooms to help chil-
dren build a connection between the real life and the classroom.
To embed the chunks, functions and vocabulary as well as to engage
students with meaningful language learning, teachers should create a
context and give a purpose for doing the activity that is related with the
topic. If the activity is meaningful for the learner, it will create a desire to
do it. Moreover, as the engagement with the learning process increases,
43
the practice will also increase. "e context could be taken from the “here
and now”. "ese could be related to everyday events, situations, actions,
problems or related to fantasy and imagination. Children’s reality is dif-
ferent from adults. Young learners live in a world of fantasy thus contexts
that trigger children’s imagination also work well to give a meaningful
purpose (Gürsoy, 2015b). However, all of these e#orts would only work if
they are fun and engaging. In the following sections, children’s character-
istics, child-adult di#erences, basic principles for teaching children and
elements of a fun classroom will be discussed.
2. Children’s characteristics
Foreign language teaching techniques di#er depending on the age
group and the features the students bring into the classroom. Hence, not
all second/foreign language teaching methods and approaches are appli-
cable to young learner classrooms. "e reasons for selecting speci!c tech-
niques can be listed as follows:
1. Children’s characteristics,
2. Di#erences in developmental areas;
a) cognitive development,
b) linguistic development,
c) social development,
d) emotional development,
e) physical development
3. Need for learning a language,
4. Predominant learning styles of children,
5. Children’s instincts (transferred from L1 acquisition),
6. Brain plasticity and lateralization ("e Critical Period Hypothesis),
7. Communication needs,
8. Primary and secondary language skills for children and adults
Children are di#erent from adult learners in many areas. "ese dif-
ferences require careful planning and organization of the learning envi-
ronment. Although the purpose of learning a foreign language is commu-
nication, communicative needs of these age groups are also di#erent from
each other. "erefore, not all communicative activities are appropriate for
young learners. To put this in another way, language learning activities
are di#erent from activity-based learning. Language learning activities are
a part of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) Approach that aims
to develop four language skills at the same time and with equal emphasis
on each skill. In addition, CLT follows a presentation-practice-production
44
(PPP) approach. "e presentation stage requires focus on the language,
thus making the language an end in itself rather than a medium. Moreo-
ver, understanding a “presentation” requires hypothetical thinking as the
language structures are abstract. Being in the period of concrete opera-
tions children haven’t developed the ability to understand abstract con-
cepts. "us, CLT is not an appropriate approach to be used with children
(Enever & Moon, 2009). Another concern for the use of CLT with children
was voiced by Butler (2005), Littlewood (2007) and McKay (2003) regard-
ing the misunderstanding of the teachers of the method itself.
According to the English Language Teaching Program (2017) (ELTP),
between the grades 2-6 speaking and listening are identi!ed as primary
and reading and writing are considered as secondary skills. Equal empha-
sis on four language skills starts in grade 7. Such a distinction is meaning-
ful since it is similar to the acquisition order of skills in L1. Children pre-
dominantly interact by using oral language skills in their mother tongue.
Literacy skills develop as they start school; however, the dominance of
using oral interaction skills continues. It is very rare that children use
writing to communicate their thoughts and emotions. As they live in the
‘here and now’ and as they are mostly impatient about expressing their
feelings and ideas, they use speaking and listening skills more than the
literacy skills. As part of the CLT Approach language learning activities
aim to practice a language item. Here the aim is the ‘language’. Although
practicing language forms, functions with communicative activities are
bene!cial for older learners, they may not be appropriate for child learn-
ers since they put the language as a target. Language activities that aim
for the practice of the language may not be meaningful for child learners.
Children focus on meaning rather than the form (Gürsoy, 2015b; Gürsoy
et al. 2013; Moon, 2000). In teaching English to young learners, language
needs to be used as a means to talk about other things related to children’s
lives, interests, and topics. "erefore, with child learners we use activi-
ty-based learning rather than language learning activities.
In activity-based learning, language is contextualized and all activ-
ities are linked to the context to give learners a purpose to complete the
activities and to provide them meaningful learning opportunities. In this
approach, language is a vehicle to talk about di#erent things rather than
an end in itself. For that matter language learning is approximated to lan-
guage acquisition due to its meaning focus, although it is done in a school
environment. As discussed earlier in the chapter, children do not have a
purpose to talk in English in an EFL context where they can perfectly sat-
isfy their communicative needs by using their L1 (Gürsoy, 2011). "ere-
fore, contextualized language learning used with activity-based learning

45
enables children to use their instincts, and characteristics to learn and
communicate in a foreign language. "ey also facilitate communication
as they give a reason to use L2.
Also as mentioned before, children live in the ‘here and now’. In pri-
mary school and the !rst two years of secondary school (5th and 6th grades
age 11-12) children are still in the period of concrete operations according
to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (Piaget, 1936). Talking about
the future or referring to the past is neither meaningful nor relevant for
children. "us, talking about future bene!ts of learning a foreign language
is not an appropriate way to give a reason for learning it since the future is
abstract. Hypothetical thinking develops later, as children move into the
formal operations. For that reason, the purpose to do activities or be in-
volved in tasks should rely on the meaningfulness of the context and the
purpose of doing the activity. Rather than a purpose related to the future,
teachers should give a purpose related to the activity (here and now).
In the activity below students’ immediate purpose is to help the po-
liceman. With the given context the teacher can add activities that are
linked to each other, starting with a warm-up. Role-play, used as a guess-
ing activity, is always enjoyable for children because they are always curi-
ous and like to have fun (Moon, 2000).
Activity 1: Role Play
Grade 4 (ELTP, 2017, p.54)
Unit 9: My Friends
Functions and useful language: Describing people + Talking
about possessions.
Context: We are at a school picnic. We are having a great
time. All my friends are with me. We are playing hide and
seek. But where is Tommy? We can’t find him. Our teacher
calls a policeman.
. Purpose: Let’s describe Tommy and help the policeman.
Role-play: One student becomes the policeman and three
other students help.
Questions to be asked: What does he look like? / Does he
have brown hair?
Materials: Di#erent child pictures on the board.
Procedure: Students select one among themselves. "e
policeman tries to find Tommy according to the descriptions.
With each group a di#erent picture is selected and described
for more practice.

Children have certain characteristics that make them di#erent from

adult learners (Gürsoy, 2011). "ese features help us shape the teaching
process to create a more child-friendly and positive atmosphere. Although

46
some of these might be considered as “di,culties” for teaching, this sec-
tion will discuss how they can be used for language learning and practice.
- Children are imaginative
Young learners live in a world of fantasy in which they use a lot of
their imagination (Gürsoy, 2015b). From this perspective children’s real-
ity is di#erent from adults. Fighting with the dragons, using +ying cars,
talking to aliens etc., are meaningful for children. Activities that involve
students’ imagination are one way to create fun in the classroom. "e
imaginary context and the purpose to do the activity will not only pro-
vide lots of language practice, but also enable meaningful interaction. As
we can select the context and activities from the ‘here and now’ we can
also create them by giving imagination some room. "e activity below is
contextual, meaningful, imaginative and fun for good language practice.

47
 Activity 2: Role-play
Grade 3 (ELTP, 2017, p. 37)
Unit 3: People I love
Functions and useful language: Describing characters/
people + Expressing ability/inability
Context: Today the weather is nice. My brother and I are
walking in the forest. Suddenly we see a light. But what is
this? "ere is a big spaceship. Let’s look at it. "ere is an
alien. It is small but it has got long arms. It has no hair. It
has three eyes. It has a tail. Hello alien! What can you do?
Purpose: Let’s learn the alien’s abilities and play with him.
Role-play: One student becomes the alien and the other
two asks questions to him.
Questions to be asked: Can you jump / climb / swim / run … ?
Materials: Give students a table on which there are some
activities. Students ask the alien questions and !nd out
which activity they can do together.

Ask pairs to draw an alien of their imagination and decide

on his abilities.
Procedure: Students use their alien picture. One asks a
question and the alien answers according to pre-deter-
mined abilities. "ey decide on the activity that they can
do together at the end of the interview.
In this activity, drawing an alien and deciding on his abilities would trig-
ger children’s imagination. "e interaction a-erwards is meaningful and pur-
poseful. In addition, it is also engaging and motivating as the students will be
talking about something they created together.
- Children are talkative
Children like to talk even at times you ask them to keep silent. Talkative-
ness is one important characteristic of children (Moon, 2000). If you observed

48
a child in his/her natural environment when with the parents, siblings, or friends
you must have noticed that they have always something ‘important’ to say. Talk-
ativeness as one of children’s characteristics could be seen like a disadvantage in
terms of classroom management. Additionally, short attention and concentration
span can be a cause of distraction. However, to use this characteristic as their
bene!t is always in teachers’ hands. "e purpose of language learning is commu-
nication and children excel in oral interaction. "erefore, it is our duty to use this
feature in classroom activities to create more room for oral interaction. If students
get bored, lose attention, get distracted, or !nd the content irrelevant, the topic of
their talk will be unrelated to the lesson and context. "e activities during which
children !nd more opportunities to interact meaningfully with each other, not
only take their interest, but also enable more practice.
In addition to interactive activities songs, and storytelling activities, guessing
activities also initiate speech. Especially TPR songs have double bene!ts since they
engage children in physical action as well. Below is an example of a TPR song,
which can be used as a warm up or as a transition from a settling activity to ener-
gize the classroom and to change the classroom atmosphere.

Activity 3: Song: I’m so happy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUXk8Nc5qQ8

- Children are physically active (kinesthetic) (They learn by doing)

Children are very energetic. Traditional classrooms in which the students are
passive recipients of knowledge and where they are not allowed to move or speak
are dreadful especially for young learners. Physical activity is almost inevitable for
a child (Moon, 2000). Have you ever seen a child who sat still for an hour before?
Well, it is not a likely event if you did. Children like to move around and thus also
learn by doing and by developing experiences (physical and cognitive). "erefore,
hands-on activities as well as kinesthetic activities help the teacher control the
movement in a productive way – practicing the language. Hands-on and physical
activities are fun for children. "ey are engaging and motivating. In the early years
of language education during childhood, the major purpose of foreign language
education is to develop positive attitudes towards L2. Hence, using activities and
materials that are compatible with children’s characteristics would help the teach-
er in his/her e#orts to create a positive atmosphere and develop positive attitudes.

49
 Activity 4: Hands-on / Kinesthetic Activity
Grade 5
Unit 9: Animal Shelter
Functions and useful language: Describing what
people / animals are doing now
Context: "is is the magical forest (show a picture of
a forest). In this forest animals can speak. Today Lion
King is having a meeting with the animals. "e rabbit,
the bear, the monkey, the snake, the elephant, are all
there. "e Lion King is very angry. Animals are not
listening to him. "ey are all doing something. "e
Lion King wants to learn what they are doing.
Purpose: Let’s go to the magical forest and tell the lion
what the animals are doing.

Procedure: First of all, tell children to make animal

masks and color them. Provide the children with
animal faces. Let them choose their animal. As they are
cutting and coloring their animal masks give
instructions in English (First, color the eyes. "en,
color the face … Cut the face out. Glue it on paper
plates (show at the same time). "en, glue the wooden
sticks at the bottom of the face (to hold the paper
plates).
Select the Lion King and 3-4 children with other animal
masks. "e Lion King asks:
L: What are you doing monkey?
M: I’m climbing the tree (the child acts out climbing)
L: What are you doing elephant?
E: I’m stomping my feet (the child acts it out)
"e instructions given in English during hands-on activity enable
meaningful language use. "e teacher can detail her/his instructions like:
Take out your scissors and crayons. First …… "en, …… Who needs
help? While giving the instructions the teacher should also demonstrate
50
herself/himself to support children visually. Both phases of the activity
(making masks and acting out) are engaging with lots of meaningful in-
put and output.
- Children are visual (They learn by seeing)
Children are predominantly visual and kinesthetic (Gürsoy & Çelik
Korkmaz, 2012). "ey learn by seeing and doing therefore, any classroom
activity should be supported visually. Visual representation is also neces-
sary to make meaning concrete. Be it pictures, drawings, multimedia and/
or body language and mimicry, children need to see and guess from these
contextual clues. Just like a parent interacting with his/her one-year-old
child, the teachers should use multiple visual sources along with demon-
stration. Using simple structures and vocabulary is not adequate for com-
prehension, language needs to be supported by visual contextual clues.
Please analyze the instructions of a mother below if not supported
via visuals. To what extent the one-year-old child would understand?
M: Sandy come here. Look at the book. Let’s open it. What is this? It is a
lion. "e lion is very big. It lives in the jungle.
Parents instinctively use their body language, their tone of voice and
gestures when interacting with their infants. "e interaction in the young
learner classroom needs to be as similar to that of a parent. To facilitate
comprehension, providing visual and contextual clues are more than nec-
essary. "e children would use their natural instincts to guess from con-
text and go for the meaning (Moon, 2000).
3. Child – Adult Differences
In the previous section the discussion on children’s characteristics
has also set forth children’s di#erences from adults. In addition to the ob-
vious physical di#erences, there are other developmental di#erences that
cause a transformation in teaching methods and techniques for young
learners. Children are developing emotionally, socially, cognitively and
linguistically as well. "ey are learning the social rules while being in a
role play activity or playing a game. As also discussed by Karatepe (2015,
p.11)
According to Vygotskian view, adult guidance is needed to start up and
to extend role-play and drama activities so that children could experience
some kind of micro-world of what happens in real life. "is way, children
can learn about social role and social relationships in society. In this re-
spect, play contributes not only to cognitive development but also to social
development.

51
 Children also learn to act as a social group when singing songs to-
gether during circle time activities. "e rules, physical movements, wait-
ing turns, respecting others, listening to each other are some important
social rules that need to be practiced with young learners. "ese rules
are better thought when they are a part of a fun activity. "e physical
or hands on activities, although appreciated a lot by children, need prior
planning depending on the age group’s physical development level. "e
activities that require the use of !ne and gross motor skills should be se-
lected according to the children’s age. Using scissors, coloring pencils or
activities that require hand, eye and body coordination can be di,cult at
times for younger learners. "erefore, the activity and material selection
are dependent on the learners’ age group. "e majority of language teach-
ing methods and approaches are not applicable in young learner classes
either because they require higher order thinking skills like analysis and
synthesis of information or learning and practicing grammar, or they do
not match children’s social, emotional, linguistic development.
All in all, children’s language learning needs, characteristics and
their developmental di#erences shape the classroom environment. Young
learner classes should be a re+ection of their everyday activities, which
involves playing games (card games, dice games, guessing games …), sto-
rytelling, singing songs, role-playing, puppeteering, arts and cra-s, and
hands-on activities. Such a transfer not only provides smooth transition
to the learning environment but would also enable them to use their in-
stincts to learn a language that is also compatible with their character-
istics and developmental levels. In the following section di#erent tools,
resources and activities will be discussed to create the fun children need
for learning.
4. Creating fun in the classroom:
It is no doubt that children like to have fun, but it can be trouble if
they create fun on their own. For this reason, primary school teachers
should be careful about planning their lessons. Tedious activities, con-
stant use of meaningless drills, putting students into receptive mode, ask-
ing them to be silent or stay without movement would de!nitely create a
need for fun. Here are some ways to integrate the fun component in your
classes.
- Storytelling
Even before schooling parents read stories to their children. Without
any training, instinctively they use their voice, tone, stress patterns e#ec-
tively. In addition, they show pictures, use gestures and act out. "e exag-
geration in telling the stories is what makes it interesting and exciting to
52
listen. It enables the listener to be a part of the story and its characters. As
they are more involved in the story telling, children recognize repetitive
patterns, learn vocabulary, develop listening skills and critical thinking
skills. Moreover, following a sequence of events in a certain order contrib-
utes to cognitive development.
Using storytelling in the classroom provides a smooth transition
from the home environment. As children are familiar with stories, they
will adapt to the process in the classroom easily although the stories are
told in a foreign language. Using stories as a language teaching tool has
multiple bene!ts. First of all, using familiar resources like stories help
create a warm environment in which children feel at home. Familiarity
triggers feeling of security, which enables children to feel relaxed in the
learning environment and use their unconscious L1 mechanisms to grasp
the meaning in L2.
Children’s stories contain repetitions; however, these repetitions are
di#erent from meaningless, drill-like repetitions in Audio Lingual Meth-
od. As these are contextualized, they are loaded with meaning, therefore,
it becomes easier for children to get the meaning from context easily. In
addition, they can grasp that chunk without a grammatical explanation
and put it into use. For example, in Goldilocks and the Three Bears story,
feeling hungry, Goldilocks gets into the three bears’ home. "e breakfast
table is set and there are three bowls of porridge. She tastes papa bear’s
porridge:
G: Ooohhhh! It is too hot!
"en she tastes mama bear’s porridge:
G: Noooo! It is too cold!
"en she tastes baby bear’s porridge and
G: It is just right!
"e story continues as she walks around the house, sits in their chairs
and sleeps in their beds. "e structure and the chunks are repeated in a
meaningful way through the story content, which makes them memo-
rable. Chunks are ready to be used pieces of language that children can
pick up and use any time when needed without trying to formulate a new
sentence with its grammar and vocabulary (Moon, 2000).
"ere are also additional bene!ts of stories if they are authentic.
Although the language in authentic stories might be di,cult for young
learners, children’s familiarity and experiences with the same stories in

53
their L1 facilitate comprehension. Authentic stories also provide cultural
clues, which would then be used in the classroom.

Activity 5: Using cultural content of the stories in the

classroom
Story: Goldilocks and the "ree Bears
Grade 6
Unit 2: Yummy Breakfast
Ask students what the bear family eats for breakfast
(porridge). See if they can guess by looking at its picture.
A-er explaining / showing what porridge is, introduce
food for breakfast in our culture. Ask students: “What do
you like for breakfast?”; “Do you eat …?”; “What is similar
to porridge in our culture?” (soup in the morning).
"en give examples from other cultures and their
breakfast habits (France: croissant, USA: bagels, cereals
…, Mexico: sweet bread (pan dulce), tamales …)
Next, for intercultural understanding use a drama activity!
Authentic stories also provide examples of daily language, expres-
sions, habits and behaviors of the native speakers, which can be used for
intercultural understanding. Yangın Ekşi (2015), also adds that real lan-
guage use triggers intrinsic motivation thus self-con!dence and sense of
achievement. Teachers may also prefer to create their own stories. "e
bene!ts of teacher-made stories are that they would be relevant with the
topic, they can be used to create a context, they might serve to consolidate
certain vocabulary, chunks, language functions… "ey are designed spe-
ci!cally according to the learning needs of a speci!c group. For this they
are quite useful. A lot of Web 2.0 tools can help teachers in creating their
stories (powtoon, storybird, canva, toontastic …). If digital tools are not
used, storytelling should be accompanied by storytelling devices.
Storytelling devices can be pictures, puppets, gestures and body
language plus other materials that help the teacher in making the story
content more comprehensible, concrete and meaningful. As children pre-
dominantly learn by seeing and doing (they are visual and kinesthetic)
(Gürsoy & Çelik Korkmaz, 2012) using such devices and later on having
students use them in retelling or acting out the story will contribute to
their learning.
Storytelling techniques are as important as the devices that we use.
While telling the stories it is important that we show the pictures. Chang-
ing the voice with di#erent characters and indicating surprise, excitement,
sadness or other emotions will help learners’ comprehension. Along with
the voice and pictures, teacher’s body language and gestures will con-
54
tribute to the process as well (Çubukçu, 2015). Using special storytelling
techniques not only facilitates comprehension but also, they motivate stu-
dents, create an interest and give a purpose for listening. In addition, in
order to involve students in the process stop and ask prediction questions
(Çubukçu, 2015), (what does he see? Who is this? …). Another way to
involve students is to ask them to do chorus repetition of the chunks that
are used repeatedly in the story. Using guessing activities by showing the
title and/or the cover of the book also prepare students for listening and
create room for language practice.
In storytelling how well the visuals and illustrations re+ect the story
content has prime importance. "ey are very important clues for children
to follow the stories and make meaning. "erefore, selection of the books
should be made carefully. "e cover of the book, the name of the story,
the characters and their relevance to children are other criteria of selec-
tion. Of course, digital stories (ready-made or teacher-made) are great
resources to practice the foreign language. "e multi-media e#ect has ad-
ditional bene!ts. Children are digital natives and they are very comforta-
ble with technology. Actually, it has become an important component of
their lives. "us, they are familiar with multi-media tools, which again is
a great way for a smooth transition. In addition, music, movement, voice
support and visuals enable the use of multiple senses for comprehension.
Moreover, it can be more fun for children.
Stories are great for foreign language classes because of the aforemen-
tioned reasons. However, the most important thing is to be able to use
them e#ectively via activities. "ey can be used for several language skills.
Below are some sample activities that can be used along with stories.
Activity 6: Using passive improvisation for listening
comprehension
Select or produce a story that might be of interest for your
learner group.
Procedure: Start storytelling with a guessing activity.
Show the cover of the book and the title. Ask students
to guess the characters, topic… Second introduce the
characters. Tell (do not read) the story by using story
telling devices.
In the second telling involve students to tell the repetitive
chunks of the story.
In the third time, distribute characters’ roles to students
and ask them to act out the story as you tell it to the
classroom.

55
 Passive improvisation is a very good way to check listening compre-
hension without having students answer comprehension questions. It is
especially more appropriate with lower-level students. It involves kines-
thetic activity, imagination and dramatization. "e correct expression of
the story is the teacher’s cue for learners’ comprehension. In passive im-
provisation, teacher distributes the roles to the students and asks them to
act out the character according to the story as she tells it.
According to the English Language Teaching Program (2017) (ELTP),
there is no reading and writing in 2nd grade. For third and fourth grades
reading and writing is limited to 10 words. In !-h and sixth grades read-
ing can be used up to 20 words but writing is still limited to 10 words.
"erefore, oral interaction is emphasized over written interaction in pri-
mary and !rst two years of secondary school.
Activity 8: Using prediction for speaking and vocabulary
Story: Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do
You See? By Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle
Procedure: Before starting storytelling
revise colors and animals. Show the
cover of the book and the title. Each
time before you turn the page ask
students to guess which animal and/or
what color of animal they will see.
Although very limited, writing can also be used a-er storytelling.
Rather than asking students to write a whole story, asking them to !nish
the story or !nd a title to the story is a more appropriate writing activity
for primary school. Another option for writing could be implementing
group writing.
Activity 8: Group writing (term project)
Procedure: Before starting story writing, form groups.
Give children a topic. Revise vocabulary. Show children
an example of a short story that you prepared. "e aim
is to revise possible chunks and vocabulary to be used.
"en ask children to create a story by their drawings
(this might take several weeks to !nish). Later ask
groups to write one sentence for each picture. Make
sure they have characters, an event and an ending.
Give feedback throughout the process.

56
 - Music and Songs
Music and songs are sources of fun for all ages. To use them as lan-
guage teaching resources has multiple bene!ts as well. Musical tools with
or without lyrics can be used for a variety of purposes in the language
classroom. First of all, music can be used to change the atmosphere in
the classroom. During an individual (settling) activity music can be used
for calming down, increasing concentration, relaxing students. Music can
also be used to indicate the start and/or ending of an activity. Here, the
most important thing is to !nd music for each di#erent type of activity.
For example, for a game, play a playful tune to indicate the start, or for a
drama activity play a more dramatic tune. Before watching a video, do-
ing group work, circle time activities etc., music can be used as a signal
that they are going to do something di#erent and getting students’ minds
ready for the next activity. "us, without announcing that we are going to
play a game, playing the tune will help students to direct their attention
to the activity. Music can also be used in stirring activities with a com-
petitive tune to create fun and excitement. In these examples, other than
creating a positive environment, music is also used for classroom man-
agement purposes and taking children’s interest in the lesson.
Songs, with lyrics, on the other hand can do more than motivation.
"ey can be used to develop top-down and bottom-up listening skills,
consolidate chunks and structures, introduce new vocabulary, create con-
text, revise previous topics, engage students in active learning, trigger
kinesthetic involvement, form the basis of a speaking activity, can be used
as a writing or a reading activity. Songs can also be used to welcome stu-
dents in the classroom and saying goodbye as well. In this sense they can
be used to create classroom routines. According to Bruner, formats and
routines are important in the class (Burns & de Silva Joyce, 2005). Con-
sequently, learning of the new concepts is related with the use of familiar
events to the learner. Moreover, “Learners have success with new tasks
when they are located within formats and routines that they are already
familiar” (Burns & de Silva Joyce, 2005, p. 5).
Activity 9: Welcome song
Purpose: Creating a classroom routine, motivating students

Procedure: Choose or create your own

“Hello” song to welcome students in the
class. Make this a routine. As students
enter the class, play the song and sing it
along with students. Also create certain
hand and body movements for
salutation.

57
 Songs’ lyrics are adaptable to most context and vocabulary due to
their rhythmic nature. So, !nding a tune that is rhythmic, fun and en-
joyable would enable the song to be adaptable for a variety of purposes,
such as vocabulary teaching, writing, pronunciation etc. (Gürsoy, 2015b).
Below is an example song with its adaptations. "e song is also a very nice
“hello” song that can be used for welcoming students in the classroom.
Activity 10: Adaptations to a Hello song

Purpose: Preparing students for

the lesson. Adaptations can be used
for other classroom routines or to
practice other body parts.

Songs are great resources for practicing bottom-up listening skills

to identify words and sounds. Identi!cation of minimal pairs, rhyming
words e#ects comprehension greatly. "e activity below can be used as a
listen and do activity to help children detect words that sound similar or
those that rhyme.
Activity 11: Bottom-up listening with songs

Procedure: Prepare a worksheet

that has pictures of rhyming words
that are in the song. Ask students to
circle the words that rhyme. Later,
use these words for pronunciation
practice as well.

Songs can also be used as writing activities when we ask children to

make innovations. Use a song that students have practiced and sang a
lot. "en ask children to change the lyrics and create a new song with the
same rhythm and tune. Here is an example activity below;

58
 Activity 12: Writing activity with songs
Procedure: Use the song in the video.
Have students practice it by singing.
Divide students into groups of four. And
ask students to change one verse with
something they create. "e song is about
daily habits. Children can add new
habits that are relevant to them. Such as:
"is is the way we tidy up, tidy up, tidy
up.
"is is the way we tidy up every school morning.

"is is the way we do homework, do homework, do homework.

"is is the way we do homework every school evening …
Or the rhythm can be used for any other activity that children
are engaged with.
Now please do the following task to !nd out other uses of Activity 12.

Task 1: Group Work

How can you use the above song?
To which unit of the ELTP you can adapt this activity?
Which vocabulary items would you use?
What would be your topic and context?

- Games
Games are an indispensable part of a fun language classroom. Chil-
dren are into all kinds of games. Guessing games, card games, board
games, dice games to tell a few. "ey like playing games in and out of
school. "ey are a natural part of children’s lives. "ey use games to create
fun. As games are exciting and require physical involvement, a lot of the
teachers act with deliberation in using them. Most of the time games are
seen as a reward to be played at the end of the classroom period and to
be saved by the bell in case any classroom management problems occur.
Games have a lot of bene!ts that we can classify as social and instruction-
al. First of all, children learn to respect each other, follow rules, work collabo-
ratively, support each other, feel comfortable, and learn to act as a social group
by protecting their individualities. On the instructional side, children are en-
gaged in fun, meaningful and purposeful language practice. Games involve
chunk repetitions; vocabulary use as well as four language skills. "ey increase
cognitive and physical participation. Children are familiar with games, thus
they again serve as a transition from real life to the classroom.

59
 Games are di#erent from activities. Most activities require a context
to make meaningful practice. However, most games do not need a context
as they are meaningful for children anyway and usually children do not
need a reason to play a game. Games also have rules and an outcome (Çe-
lik Korkmaz, 2015). "ey can be classi!ed as cooperative and competitive
games. Although children like competitions, they also have drawbacks.
In competitions there is only one winner, thus the result of a competitive
game gives an indirect message of “loser” to the rest of the players. Howev-
er, as mentioned before, the primary aim of teaching English at the prima-
ry level is to help children develop positive attitudes toward the language.
Hence games and activities should support this with their design and con-
tent. Competitions, no doubt, create excitement, joy, involvement and fun
despite the risk of feeling unsuccessful. One way to reduce the negative
e#ects of a competitive game is to use cooperative competitions during
which children work in groups and compete with other groups (Çelik Ko-
rkmaz, 2015). "is way, rather than assigning the failure or the success to a
single person, it will be the whole group’s responsibility. Also, the adverse
outcomes of competitions are reduced. Another way to reduce the negative
results is to have children compete against time or the game itself (Çelik
Korkmaz, 2015). Not only is the pressure reduced to a tolerable and fun
amount, but it also supports children positively when working together for
a common goal. In addition, the collaborative nature of such games devel-
ops community spirit, creates environment to adapt social rules, develops
positive attitudes and supports learners. "us, rather than not using the
competitive games it seems better to use them in a cooperative manner.
Children enjoy a variety of games, but it is essential that the teacher
discovers what children enjoy the most. "e age and language level are
some important criteria in the selection of games.
Card Games examples
https://kidsclubenglish.com/small-group-card-games/

Before playing a game, it is crucial that the rules are set and explained
by the teacher. As children learn by seeing and doing, the rules need to be
written and visualized on the board. If students break the rules, showing
the rules will help the teacher for classroom management. Below is a set of
rules for a cardboard game organized as a treasure hunt.
60
 Game rules

- Arts and Crafts

Doing arts and cra-s in the classroom is another way to help chil-
dren enjoy their time in the classroom as such activities increase partic-
ipation and language production. "e process works both ways: First of
all, the course of making the arts and cra-s involves giving instructions
in English, hence creates a need for listening attentively. In addition, if
monitored by the teacher well, children can be engaged in meaningful
interaction to complete the task (“May I use your red crayon?”; “Where is
the glue?”; “Teacher, I need help!” …). "e meaningful input provided in
the making of the cra- needs to be short, simple, in chunks and always
demonstrated. Visual contextual clues facilitate comprehension and in-
crease the possibility to use them by the learners when in a similar situa-
tion or context.
Another bene!t of arts and cra-s is that children develop ownership
of their material, which in turn creates a sense of belonging thus increases
involvement in the activity that follows and requires the use of the cra-.
Increased involvement comes with increased participation and practice
(Moon, 2000). "e cra- can be used as a listen and do activity as well as a
tool for a follow-up activity. See the activity below for an example.
61
 Activity 13: Alien Land
Linguistic Purpose: Describing people
Procedure: Form pairs. Ask each pair to create a unique
alien of their desire. ("ey can choose, shape, color, physical
and personality features and give it a name). Tell them cut
their alien out and paste it on a poster that has an imaginary
planet. "en ask children to describe their alien to their
classmates.
Variation: Role-play
Children ask and answer questions to each other to get to
know the alien rather than describing theirs.

Conclusion
"is chapter focused on the fun element in the foreign language class-
es with young learners. In order to understand why fun is necessary for
children, we discussed their characteristics, di#erences from adult learn-
ers, developmental features, their predominant learning styles and im-
portance of contextualization. Foreign language classes in primary school
serve a di#erent purpose than from the other curriculum courses. Lan-
guage is for communication. We use language to talk about other things.
"us language (L1 or L2) is a means for communication rather than an
end in itself. We therefore, use activity-based learning rather than lan-
guage learning activities. Choosing, techniques, materials, activities that
are a part of children’s lives and those that are similar to the L1 acquisi-
tion environment are some ways to use language purposefully and mean-
ingfully. Language practice shouldn’t be for the sake of memorizing a rule
or a vocabulary item; rather, it should serve a communication need that
children can associate with. Following the ‘here and now principle’ has a
facilitative role for teachers. Selecting themes, creating contexts, activities
and materials that are a part of child learners’ lives, build a positive class-
room environment in which the young learners feel safe, comfortable and
are having fun and learning a foreign language with a purpose.
Using songs, games, music, arts and cra-s and storytelling are some
of the resources that are discussed throughout the chapter. A good blend
of these will no doubt create a warm and positive classroom environment
appropriate for child learners. Using children’s characteristics for lan-
guage teaching purposes changes the formal environment in such a way
that it cultivates the learning context.

62
Discussion Questions
As a prospective language teacher, when do you think is
the most appropriate time to use a game in a lesson? (If
there is such a time) and Why?
What would be some tactics to use to prevent classroom
management problems a-er stirring activities?
Discuss the advantages of using contextualized language
learning.
How are language learning activities di#erent from
activity-based learning?
Out-of-Class Tasks
Create a context for 5th Grade Unit 2: My Town. Embed
an activity into this context and give learners a purpose
for doing it so that it becomes meaningful for the learners
to do the activity.
Design an activity that you can use before/during/or a-er
a song.
Plan a lesson in which you can use a game for listening
practice.
Prepare a digital story for a unit in Grade 5. Use language
functions and vocabulary as mentioned in the unit. Next
plan three activities that you can use before/during/or
a-er digital storytelling.

63
 REFERENCES

Burns, A. & De Silva Joyce, H. (2005). Explicitly supporting learning: An over-

view. In A. Burns & H. De Silva Joyce (Eds). Teachers’ voices 8: Explicitly
supporting reading and writing in the classroom (pp. 2-7). Macquarie Uni-
versity.
Butler, Y. G. (2005). Comparative perspectives towards communicative activities
among elementary school teachers in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
Language Teaching Research, 9(4), 423/446.
Butler, Y. G. (2009). Teaching English to young learners: "e in+uence of global
and local factors. In, J. Enever, J. Moon and U. Raman (Eds.) Young lear-
ner English language policy and implementation: International perspecti-
ves (pp. 23-41). Garnet Publishing.
Çelik Korkmaz, %. (2015). Games. In E. Gürsoy & A. Arıkan (Eds.), Teaching
English to young learners: An activity-based guide for prospective teachers
(2nd ed.) (pp. 257-278). E.iten Kitap.
Çubukçu, F. (2015). Literature. In E. Gürsoy & A. Arıkan (Eds.), Teaching English
to young learners: An activity-based guide for prospective teachers (2nd
ed.) (pp. 295-305). E.iten Kitap.
Enever, J. (Ed.). (2011). Early language learning in Europe (ELLIE). British Coun-
cil.
Enever, J., Moon, J., Raman, U. (Eds.). (2009). Young Learner English Language
Policy and Implementation: International Perspectives. Garnet Publishing.
Enever, J. & Moon, J. (2009). New global context for teaching primary ELT:
Change and challenge. In, J. Enever, J. Moon and U. Raman (Eds.) Young
Learner English Language Policy and Implementation: International Pers-
pectives (pp. 5-21). Garnet Publishing.
Garton, S., Copland, F. & Burns, A. (2011). Investigating Global Practices in Teac-
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Gürsoy, E. (2011). "e critical period hypothesis revisited: "e implications for
current foreign language teaching to young learners. Journal of Language
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Gürsoy, E. (2015a). "eme based teaching: Environmental education. In E.
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tivity-based guide for prospective teachers (2nd ed.) (pp. 63-74). E.iten
Kitap.
Gürsoy, E. (2015b). Music and puppets. In E. Gürsoy & A. Arıkan (Eds.), Tea-
ching English to young learners: An activity-based guide for prospective
teachers (2nd ed.) (pp. 279-293). E.iten Kitap.

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Gürsoy, E. & Korkmaz, S.Ç. (2012). Teaching young learners: "e role of theory
on practice. ELT Research Journal, 1(2), 109-119.
Gürsoy, E., Korkmaz, S.Ç., & Damar, A. E. (2013). Foreign language teaching
within 4+4+4 education system in Turkey: Language teachers’ voice. Egi-
tim Arastirmalari-Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 53/A, 59-
74.
Halliwell, S. (1992). Teaching English in the primary classroom. Longman.
Karatepe, Ç. (2015). Learning theories. In E. Gürsoy & A. Arıkan (Eds.), Tea-
ching English to young learners: An activity-based guide for prospective
teachers (2nd ed.) (pp. 1-19). E.iten Kitap.
Littlewood, W. (2007). Communicative and taskbased language teaching in East
Asian classrooms. Language Teaching, 40, 243/249.
McKay, S. (2003). Teaching English as an internationallanguage: "e Chilean
context. ELT Journal, 57(2), 139/148.
Moon, J. (2000). Children learning English. Oxford: Macmillan-Heinemann.
Muñoz, C. (ed.). (2006). Age and the rate of foreign language learning. Multilin-
gual Matters.
Nikolov, M. (2002). Issues in English language education. Peter Lang.
Piaget, J. (1936). Origins of intelligence in the child. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Yangın Ekşi, G. (2015). Materials. In E. Gürsoy & A. Arıkan (Eds.), Teaching
English to young learners: An activity-based guide for prospective teachers
(2nd ed.) (pp. 21-37). E.iten Kitap.

65
66
 Chapter 4
THE USE OF DRAMA IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
TEACHING
Dr. Işıl Gamze YILDIZ
Nur CEBECİ
Before reading questions
1. What is the importance of using drama and dramatic
activities in English Language Teaching?
2. Do you think using drama would be useful in English
language teaching classes designed for young learners?
Why/Why not?
3. How can language teachers use drama in their classes
for young learners?
4.T-P-S ("ink & Pair & Share) Activity: With your
partner, write an acrostic poem by giving a brief
de!nition of drama.
D…………………………
R………………………….
A………………………….
M…………………………
A………………………….

What we will see in this chapter (to be At the end of the chapter, readers will
used in the introduction): be able to:

• What is Drama? • de!ne drama

• Scope and brief historical overview • have information about the scope
of using drama and dramatic and the historical overview of using
activities in English Language drama and dramatic activities in
Teaching? English Language Teaching
• What are the types of dramatic • di#erentiate the types of dramatic
activities? How can drama and activities and notice the signi!cance
dramatic activities be used in ELT? of using dramatic activities in
• Dimensions of dramatic activities language teaching
in the classroom • have a broad understanding of
how we can implement drama
and dramatic activities into the
classroom

67
 “Life is a stage and, all people are actors”
Shakespeare
1. Introduction
"e development of communicative competence is the fundamental
objective of learning a foreign language in primary schools throughout
Europe, with a focus on the oral skills of listening and speaking (En-
ever, 2011). Regarding this development, the dimension of foreign lan-
guage teaching has been derived to the speaking skill with reference to
the communicative approach. In this sense, the learner is expected to
communicate and even interact in the target language which requires
communicative competence (Hymes, 1989). In a nutshell, interpersonal
responsiveness is necessary for communication rather than merely pro-
ducing language that is correct, genuine, and aesthetically attractive,
among other qualities that focus on language rather than behavior, which
is language’s social function (Paulston, 1976).
In this respect, the focal aim of learning a foreign language is con-
sidered as to gain pro!ciency in English language communication skills.
"e applied linguists and language researchers have been studying the
development of trendy teaching and learning approaches, methods and
so on, in order to help learners and teachers to overcome the barriers in
EFL contexts. Er et al. (2012) stated that standards in traditional teach-
ing are insu,cient for meeting new generations’ quick changes. "ere-
fore, educationalists have been applying active learning methods where
the students are directly involved in the learning process (Alasmari and
Alashae’el, 2020). Active learning suggests to learners anything related to
the course rather than merely sitting and listening, taking notes (Felder
and Brent, 2009). Active learning, according to Moore (2004), is the prac-
tice of using one’s imagination to assume the role of someone else. In
this regard, incorporating drama into foreign language learning contexts
provides a means of a communicative classroom by improving students’
communication skills (Hawkes, 2016) through uttering the sentences
from their imagination. While fostering their imagination students can
have a chance to realize and use the signs of a language that they will be
communicating in. According to Kramsch (2000), the linguistic sign is
one of several types of signs that may be produced and understood by
the senses, including verbal, acoustic, visual, olfactory, and touch-related
indicators. A page’s silences or blank spaces can be turned into signs. As
stated by Canale and Swain (1980), communicative competence and its
sub-competences can be taught through drama.

68
 2. Drama in Young Learner Classes
It is evident that instructors should employ drama in their class-
rooms to support learners’ development of oral +uency since it gives the
students an opportunity to be active by utilizing their imagination, and
because communicative competence plays a part in studying a language.
In this regard, the focus is not on repeating the teachers’ course objectives
but on communication. In a nutshell, dramatization techniques provide
useful tools, especially for young learners’ vocabulary and communica-
tive competence development (Hapsari, 2015). With reference to the ben-
e!ts through reaching the objective of a communicative EFL classroom,
a quick description of drama would be that it is a chance for someone
to express themselves verbally and physically utilizing their imagination
and memories (Holden, 1981). Drama in education, according to Köylüo-
glu (2010), is a play-based artistic process in which students investigate,
learn about, cope with, acknowledge, and accept or reject what is happen-
ing in their immediate environment. Similarly, drama and role-playing in
particular is a common classroom practice that, according to Oller and
Richard (1983), has long been acknowledged as an e#ective and legitimate
method of language acquisition since it promotes basic language skills
especially speaking and listening in a contextual basis. "rough drama,
students have a chance to learn an abstract concept by playing (Adıgüzel,
2007). Drama, according to Bland (2015), is like a magical toolbox in lan-
guage classrooms because anytime you take anything out of it, you always
discover more within, due to the fact that drama may always be expanded
upon and utilized as a platform for other activities (Davies, 1990).
2.1. Teaching English through Drama
One of the most popular methods for fostering communicative com-
petence in ESL and EFL classrooms, particularly oral language skills, is
drama. Role-playing is a common classroom strategy that has long been
acknowledged as a desirable and e#ective way to learn a language (Stern,
1980, cited in Oleer & Amato, 1983). Drama as a kind of communicative
language instruction also o#ers an atmosphere where students may use
the target language in a communicative and enjoyable way. Young learn-
ers who are hesitant in communicative activities have a character to “hide
behind” when drama is used in the school setting for young language
learners (Zalta, 2006).
"e use of drama in education has naturally taken its place in EFL sit-
uations although most language teaching methods address the cognitive
side of teaching. Nevertheless, the experiences obtained via drama pro-
vide a better atmosphere for language learning and teaching by displaying
69
the mental and physical features of the pupils. Language instruction en-
tails teaching grammar, vocabulary, as well as feelings, thoughts, and cul-
tural expressions (Çelik, 2019). Moreover, drama accomplishes the goal of
bridging the gap between the classroom and real life as it does between
one’s inner world and the outward worlds of others who are engaged in
the same process (Henry, 2010).
If done well, drama integration in the classroom encourages students’
active learning desire and motivates them to use their imagination and
critical thinking. Mehrabian and Wiener (1967) stated that communica-
tion is very restricted verbally in the natural context; they claimed that
body language accounts for 55% of communication, whereas vocal tone
makes up 38%. "ey are the signi!cant components of communication
which English language learners are expected to gain in the learning pro-
cess. If so, why should drama not be used in EFL education settings?
2.2. Using Drama and Dramatic Activities in ELT Classes
Based on the successes and advances especially achieved by Heathcote
and Bolton (1994) in native language-based studies with the use of drama
in education, adapted applications have begun to be included in the !eld
of foreign languages in the sense that dramatic activities will be promot-
ing the desired atmosphere for communication- based EFL courses. "e
fundamental contribution of Heathcote was drama, which has grown into
a useful tool in teachers’ hands for creating a stress-free, child-centered
learning atmosphere and giving every child the chance to do and be via
drama (Heathcote & Bolton, 1995; Tuluk, 2004). In other words, the use
of drama in education allows learners to take on various roles and get one
step closer to communicative classroom environments, which is the ex-
pectation of the foreign language learning environment of today’s world.
Based on all the previously mentioned de!nitions of drama, it is seen that
the use of drama in foreign language teaching will provide learners with
the opportunity to learn a foreign language by living and doing so by
o#ering them the chance to experience various roles in various contexts
(Kelly, 2003; Savignon, 1983; Wang, 2017). "e use of drama and dramatic
activities in EFL teaching provides numerous bene!ts. It is obvious that
the use of drama is also an e#ective tool in teaching foreign languages to
children, with regards to gaining communicative competence according
to the foreign language learning policies at an early age supported by the
Ministry of Education (MEB, 2018).

70
 2.3. Benefits of using Drama and Dramatic Activities in
Young Learner Classes
Activity 1: Discussion Game
Content: Class discuss the bene!ts of using drama via
brainstorming activity.

Procedure
Teacher divides the class into two groups and asks the students to
!nd out the bene!ts of using drama in TEYL classes by depending on the
characteristic features, learner styles, and di#erent intelligence types of
young learners. Teacher asks the students to select a controller for each
group to check their written data. Teachers sets a speci!c time limit (5
minutes) to write down the bene!ts that they have found in their groups.
"ose who write the most will win.
Phillips (2003) states the reasons for using drama with young learn-
ers of English under 9 sub-categories. "ese include and promote; moti-
vation, familiar activities, con!dence, group dynamics, di#erent learning
styles, language personalization, language in context, cross-curricular
content, and the pace of a lesson. In order to list the bene!ts of using
drama in foreign language teaching, the grouping made by Phillips in
this !eld will be taken as a basis. "us a categorization is given under ten
headings.
1. Learner characteristics /Different learning styles/Multiple
intelligences
When properly adapted, drama can become an e#ective method for
all types of learners. Regardless of their age, students vary in learning
styles and preferences in any course or class session, in short, learning
is principally individual. In this perspective, drama may be viewed as a
learning instrument that stimulates all cognitive functions and the dif-
ferent intelligence types (Moore, 2004). Drama incorporates all learning
styles, allowing each student to react uniquely to various teaching strat-
egies. Learning styles include the a#ective and physiological aspects in
addition to the cognitive domain (Rei#, 1992). Besides, drama is a tool
supporting the needs of young learners’ characteristics since they live in
an imaginary world, they learn fast when they have fun, they love acting

71
out and imitation and they learn best when they are involved in the activ-
ities, especially practicing with their peers (Ersöz, 2010).
2. Confidence
According to Saraç (2007), creative drama increased interest in stu-
dents’ engagement in the course by boosting their self-con!dence and
creating a stress-free learning atmosphere. Since acting out a role allows
kids to shed their ordinary identities and eliminate their inhibitions (Phil-
lips, 2003). "rough the voices of the various personalities they adopt,
they become profoundly engaged in the educational process and feel
more comfortable expressing themselves. Similarly, Zakhareuski (2018)
strongly supported the integration of drama in EFL settings and claimed
that acting reduces speaking anxiety in addition to boosting learners’
self-con!dence and self-esteem. Additionally, she stated that drama ena-
bles learners an atmosphere of safety, reliance, and attention regardless of
their academic abilities.
Stern (1980), by addressing the ideal language environment, indicates
that drama enhances self-esteem, enthusiasm, spontaneity, increases the
level of empathy, and lowers the sense of rejection which are necessary for
communication and the ideal psycholinguistic environment for language
learning.
3. Language in context
"ere is no doubt that learning a language will be more e#ective
and realistic if presented in a meaningful context. Read (2003) states that
young learners will learn if learning is contextualized and part of a real
event. Slatterly and Willis (2001) also indicate that the classroom con-
text should be supportive, motivating and communicative. According to
Demircio.lu (2010), one of the main issues with teaching second languag-
es is !guring out how to give the students a more natural learning envi-
ronment. "e need to use the phrase must have a justi!cation, a context,
and a driving force.
According to Phillips (2003), drama is the ideal route to motivate
children to infer the meaning of unfamiliar words in a setting where the
meaning is frequently apparent. "is is because the learners’ access to
meaning in a given context will become easier and more concrete if they
can follow paths such as body movements and demonstrations while they
are listening to the instructions of the dramatic activity. Based upon this,
drama can be regarded as a valuable addition to classroom instruction
since it gives a context for listening and meaningful language production,

72
enhancing the learners’ abilities to use their language resources and their
linguistic capabilities (Via, 1976).
4. Motivation
Dramatizing is very motivating and fun (Phillips, 2003). Having fun
while learning a new subject is another factor for motivation. Several
studies have shown that through drama and dramatic activities, students
perceive language learning as an enjoyable opportunity to be a part of
(Hazar, 2015; Rew &Moon, 2013; Su-Bergil et.al.,2017). Dramatization,
according to Brown (1993), is a potent tool for assisting young learners
in expressing themselves and gaining self-con!dence since they become
more engaged in learning when they dramatize, because it makes them
feel as if they are just playing games rather than learning a new language.
With this regard, drama encourages and maintains students’ motivation
since it is enjoyable and engaging (Köylüo.lu, 2010). Moreover, drama-
tizing a text has an e#ect on the students’ motivation that young learners
do not actually learn a subject if they are not interested in what is being
taught. In addition, through o#ering a game-like environment, drama ac-
tivities give learners the opportunity to be individuals other than them-
selves and thus allow learners to become more comfortable and willing
to participate in the lesson. "e !ndings of Yassa’s (1999) study demon-
strated that drama activities give students the opportunity to look within
themselves for new possibilities. And as a result, they felt more con!dent
in themselves. Moreover, with the help of using drama and dramatic ma-
terials to teach English, the monotony of a traditional English class could
be minimized and might lead the learners to become highly engaged and
motivated to join in a language task since drama generates a funny class-
room atmosphere through miming, role-playing, improvisation and so
on.
Finally, drama instruction is an excellent strategy for language prac-
tice and acquisition because it encourages creativity, whole-body experi-
ence, and social interaction (Serruier-Zucker & Gobbé-Mévellec, 2014).
5. Group dynamics
Bland (2015) de!nes drama as sociocultural interaction that utilizes
Göstergesel
numerous semiotic systems simultaneously. On the basis of this socio-
cultural interaction, Warren (2013) suggests that using activities which
are speci!cally designed to promote social interaction among students
should be enhanced. Brie+y, the ideas of each member of the group are
given importance in completing an activity, and they have the chance to
learn from each other apart from the teacher. According to the !ndings
of Mede and Vardar’s study (2021), drama-based classes encourage in-
73
volvement and create a dynamic learning environment, which results in a
highly stimulating, enjoyable, and participatory atmosphere for language
learning and teaching. "erefore, using dramatic activities improves mo-
tivation and meaningful communication and engagement (Bouldreault,
2010). In other words, the use of drama in EFL settings promotes collab-
oration among students who, while portraying various roles, Converse
with one another to choose elements of drama, such as the characters and
the plot, in order to make a good piece of art (Zakhareuski, 2018).
6. Creativity/language personalization
According to Hubbard et al (1986), the term drama refers to a broad
spectrum of speech acts including imagination since drama allows young
students to express their creativity and delight in being artists while un-
wittingly picking up crucial language skills (Courtney, 1980; Koste, 1995;
McCaslin, 2006; Moore, 2004). Learners have a chance to express their
personal emotions and attitudes toward a text while performing it, and
this also fosters their creativity while they are personalizing the language
and makes language more memorable (Phillips, 2003). According to Kelly
(2003: cited in Via, 1976) drama in schools may foster the development of
creativity, intelligence, empathy, and bravery. It allows for the expression
and communication of thoughts, feelings, and responses. In reference to
the practical use of language, it has the power to confront, question, and
bring about change. Increases in self-worth, self-assurance, and sponta-
neity diminish the emotional !lter, lowering inhibitions, alienation, and
sensitivity to rejection.
7. Developing language skills
Drama plays a role in assimilating language skills naturally since the
students read the text, listen to their friends, and watch their role plays.
Drama therefore improves the relationship between cognition and verbal
expression, trains the supra- and paralinguistic systems, and helps devel-
op listening skills (Davies,1990). In accordance with the development of
listening skill, speaking skill is also developed. In this sense, drama can
be crucial for the growth of spoken language because it gives children
the opportunity to use language in a variety of social contexts outside of
the classroom. Dodson (2000) argues that drama is a great way to teach
grammar, reading, writing, speaking, listening, and pronunciation in a
setting where the focus is on +uency and meaning rather than form. "is
integration of language skills such as reading, listening, and speaking
would make the process of language learning natural and e#ective. Sim-
ilarly, Smith (2000) discussed that drama gives young language learners

74
the chance to practice the four language skills and increase their pro!-
ciency levels.
8. Familiar activities
In terms of teaching foreign languages to children, it is known that
the use of drama is a phenomenon that children are familiar with from
their !rst language acquisition processes. "at is because they already use
drama when they listen to a story from their families, imagine it and act it
out themselves, or take on an imaginary character while playing a game.
"ey pretend to be grownups in real-life circumstances like going shop-
ping and going to the doctor (Phillips, 2003). In a similar way to the moti-
vational feature, the use of familiar activities will help students to partic-
ipate more e#ectively and willingly in activities while learning a foreign
language. "us drama is familiar to learners as dramatizing is part of
children’s lives from an early age (Zalta, 2006). Especially, use of tradi-
tional fairy tale texts, which children are already familiar with in their
mother tongue, as a drama activity is also bene!cial in terms of making
foreign language learning easier (Wright, 2004).
9. Cross-curricular content
"e topics, context and content to be used in teaching language
through drama can be nourished from many di#erent !elds. In this way,
drama not only helps students learn information speci!c to the foreign
language course, but also enables them to make connections with the sub-
jects they see both in daily life and in other school subjects. Moreover,
drama may also be used to present the culture of the new language, via
stories and conventions, and with a background for working on di#er-
ent sorts of behavior. Important themes can be explored and transmitted
through sketching, role play, and drama (Phillips, 2003).
10. The pace of a lesson
In teaching foreign languages to children, considering the two well-
known types of activities which are both calming and lively activities
(Reilly & Ward, 2003), drama - as a lively activity- is also useful in terms
of increasing the energy in the classroom and giving the necessary pos-
itive momentum to the lesson by evaluating factors such as the current
mood and energy of the classroom. With its various components that mo-
tivate and enliven students, drama positively a#ects the learning atmos-
phere in the classroom.
To sum up, the use of drama and dramatic activities in TEYL classes
could be a bridge among the young learners’ imaginary world and the

75
realistic use of foreign language. "us, “drama boosted one’s capacity for
empathy, drive, spontaneity, self-worth, and decreased susceptibility to
rejection. All of them aid in communicating and provide the ideal psy-
cholinguistic environment for language acquisition” (Stern,1980).
However, to sustain these advantages mentioned in this section could
not be possible unless the teachers of young learners pay attention to their
professional development over the use of drama in language teaching. In
order for drama to be widely used in schools, according to Bland (2014),
it must be presented and practiced in teacher education. Bland (2015)
also refers to this situation and states that drama is strongly supported by
many young learner practitioners and has traditionally held a signi!cant
role in young learner pedagogy in many nations since it may be consid-
ered as providing many of the conditions for play activity. Despite this,
teacher educators frequently pay little systematic attention to the function
of drama in English for Young Learners (EYL), and there is a de!cit of
appropriate resources to support drama. Similar to this, Heathcote and
Bolton (1995) assert that there is evidence of much discussion but little
action. "is is consistent with the observations of Garton et al. (2011) that
there is a widespread mismatch or gap between pedagogical theory and
classroom practice when teaching English to young learners.
3. How Should Drama Be Used in EFL Classrooms?
Dramatic activities may likely be utilized in any or all of the !ve stag-
es of a typical lesson and all the levels of learning to shi- the empha-
sis from the instructor to the students and allow them as much time as
possible to communicate if it is well prepared and conceived before the
lesson (Davies, 1990). Teachers should decide for what purpose they will
use drama and determine drama activities appropriate to the level to be
applied. According to Köylüo.lu (2010), language teachers may provide
students a variety of experiences by using a range of methods that appeal
to their requirements, interests, and levels and these methods can also
include the dramatic activities. When many drama activities encountered
in the literature are organized according to the level of the learner, the
questions of why and when drama can be used gain clarity. "e next sec-
tion will discuss how theater has been integrated into EFL sessions for
young students.

76
 Activity 2: Find out the benefits
Content: Class discuss the need for including drama
in the foreign language program.

Procedure
Teacher asks the students to read the anonymous saying below and
indicate which benefits could be referred.
“Tell me … and I forget.
Show me … and I remember.
Involve me … and I understand!”
First and foremost, students who take part in drama activities should
feel at ease, con!dent, and prepared to collaborate with others and learn
new things (Aral & Baran & Bulut & Çimen, 1981). "e pre-stage of us-
ing drama in class creates a secure environment (Charles & Kusanagi,
2007). Students are put into “English mode” during the warm-up phase
and prepared for the physicality of drama as well as for the atmosphere of
con!dence and cooperation (Serruier-Zucker and Gobbe-Mevellec 2014).
Total Physical Response (TPR) can be a !ller for starting the procedure;
for example: Move like a dog, jump like a rabbit, +y like a plane, every-
body freeze! -no moving, no speaking- so that the learners could hear
the instruction clearly. "e - most preferable- techniques used in drama
courses are listed below:
a) Pantomime (Mime): A kind of informal drama where students
use mimics, movements, and all body language to re+ect their feelings or
opinions. Even verbal communication is not employed during the per-
formance, pantomime produces and evokes language in pre- during, and
post activity. In miming practice, students learn which gestures go with
words that are repeated in a story or text. Zalta (2006) suggests a story
which can be used in young learner classrooms.

77
 Figure 1. The short story of “The Big Cat in the Big House”

Figure 2. The big cat and little mouse

(https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photos-cat-mouse-can-live-peace-
image13936368)

"e teacher selects words from the story to mime and act, she then in-
troduces the gestures for the repeated words, for example; for “Big” Draw
a large circle with your hands over your head, “House” Make a shape of
house out of air, “Tail” Make a cat-tail motion with your arm behind your
back, “Hair” Point to your hair or touch your hair, “Small” With your
hands, trace a little circle.
b) Role-Play: Role playing is de!ned by Watcyn-Jones (1983) as a way
of taking the role of !ctitious characters and talking and behaving as if
they are real. In foreign language class, characters are animated by stu-
dents with di#erent features; for example, an old lady, queen or a famous

78
pop singer. What makes role playing valuable is that it is fun for children
and they love acting.
It is possible for language teachers to use role playing as an assess-
ment tool. Wong (1983) presents Role-play Feedback Form as given below.

Table 1. Role-play Feedback Form

c) Simulation: Simulation is described as a predesigned set of situ-

ations that re+ect real life and participants play their roles as instruct-
ed (Dougill, 1987). It includes solving a problem which is created by the
teacher. "e students are expected to bring their own characteristics to
the expressing the roles in simulation
Two simulation examples from Ladousse (1987) are presented below:
1. Picture role plays: Students recognize the people in photographs,
write his/her made-up biography, and communicate with each other in
their roles. "is o#ers the learners practicing simple past tense.
2. Neighbors: May I borrow? (for practicing polite requests). Picture
cards presenting cooking elements are delivered to the learners that they
either need or have a lot of. "ey describe what they are cooking and men-
tion that they must exchange items.
79
 d) Improvisation: Improvisation can be described as the creation
of the texts in structured contexts in which characters speak naturally.
When improvisation is embedded into foreign language teaching, it is
better to use short dialogues since it may be challenging for young learn-
ers at the beginning. Over time, the dialogues become longer and more
smooth since the students get used to the game.
"e following improvisation adapted from McCaslin (1990) may
be used with young learners: You are a group of passengers in a wagon
traveling to the capital city of your country. First, choose your character
whom you are going to be; a secretary, an actress, a policeman, a teacher, a
housekeeper. "en, you start your conversation with other members, and
the listeners (the rest of the class) would understand who you are.
You can !nd another example for improvisation given by Wang
(2017). He organized a drama activity titled “Market Place” to revise vo-
cabulary and to practice shopping language. You can !nd the full lesson
plan at internet source. See websites.
e) Drama Games: Drama games are essential, especially in very
young learners’ classes. Wessels (1987) indicates the di#erences of drama
games from other language games since they include action, foster im-
agination, and enable the expression of emotions both linguistically and
paralinguistically. Drama games also involve a ‘learning’ process which
occurs consciously and ‘acquisition’ occurring subconsciously.
Finger-Play which can also be adapted as “"ree Little Monkeys,” is
a well-known !nger play. First, students listen to the song and watch the
video and then they talk about the monkeys; What are they doing? What
happens? Who are they (point to the mamma and doctor), etc. At last, the
teacher uses her !ngers and tells the story and acts the story (it is better to
wear !nger puppets of monkeys):

80
 Figure 3. Lyrics of “Three Little Monkeys”

Procedure: Teacher lets children act the rhyme as a !nger play. For
example, they use their three !ngers of the right hand and they jump as
monkeys do on the le- hand’s palm. "ey phone the doctor by pressing the
buttons on the le- palm and then they hold the phone on their ear. "en they
express the gesture for “No!” for the doctor’s saying with their index !nger.

Figure 4. Finger puppets of 5 little monkeys, mama and the doctor.

(https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Storytelling-Finger-Puppets-
Storytelling-Gloves-5-Little-Monkeys-2971404 )
81
 Kukla
f) Puppetry: "e use of a puppet or puppets in the classroom enables
a relaxing communication atmosphere and motivates shy and introverted
students to express themselves naturally. Children love imaginative plays,
stories and shows which could be adapted by puppets easily. Planning the
procedure may change according to the linguistic level of the students; the
teacher may guide the children in composing their text such as greeting,
introducing, talking about their hobbies, creating a story of their own or
the teacher may present the text to them already. Toledo and Hoit (2016),
in their study found that ‘Puppet time’ activity provided positive feelings
and a less stressful learning environment where students participated
speaking with puppets in front of the listeners/audiences.
2.2. Dramatic Activities in the Classroom
Activity 3: Implementing Drama into teaching Grammar
Using story of the play with puppets, students can be aware
of the real use of language within a context. In this activity,
teacher tells the story by using puppets as the characters
aiming to revise fruit and vegetable vocabulary with the
linguistic pattern of “love, like and don’t like”.

Procedure
Teacher makes a puppet for each character and !nds any props need-
ed such as a bar of chocolate, an ice-cream, some biscuits and a cauli+ow-
er "en the teacher tells the story Marty the Martian (Phillips, 2003) with
puppets and props and then checks what they have understood by point-
ing at the puppets. "is time, students are given roles of each character in
the story and act out the story with puppets. By acting, they practice the
language “Do you like..?, I love…, I like…, I’m hungry…, I don’t like... and
some pieces of chunk like “Let’s go.” “Here you are” “Oh, no” “oh yuck”.
"e play script:

82
Activity 4: Implementing improvisation into classroom
In the following phase of the lesson, the teacher aims
to practice shopping language, fruit and vegetable
vocabulary, numbers. A-er some language practice, the
classroom is set up as a market place. Some of the children
take the role of shoppers, the others become stallholders.
Mission for shoppers is to buy whatever they want as
cheaply as possible whereas the mission for stallholders is
to earn as much money as possible.

83
 Procedure
"e lesson may start with presentation or revision of fruit and vegeta-
ble vocabulary by using “Can I have a kilo of…?” and “Here you are”. "e
students practice asking and answering by using +ashcards. "en they
draw pictures of fruit and vegetables to produce their own materials for
the market stall, by making copies of real coins or cutting out the pho-
tocopy of the coins. "en children practice the currency by naming and
pronouncing them in English (for example, euro, pesetas, dollars, yen,
francs.). Teacher can help them practice “How much?” by using coins and
elicit the answer from students. It is more practical to study asking about
prices and building a dialogue before role play. Mentioning some daily
life collocations such as “"at’s very expensive” “Ok then, 150 drachmas.”
plays a great importance in order to re+ect on the real use of language in
context.
Set the situation: A man asking for a kilo of apples and stallholder on
the board replies. "e students might guess what the dialogue is and how
it ends. "ey may practice the dialogue in chorus and then in pairs; then
substitute key words with pictures and practice again.
For the follow-up activity; children write the dialogue (or variations
on it). Teacher can explain that the stallholders will set up their stalls
and then the shoppers must buy a kilo of each of !ve di#erent products,
shoppers and stallholders can bargain over the price. One of the crucial
bene!ts of this activity is to get the students to speak in a self-controlled
dialogue in a fun way.
Conclusion
If drama is considered as a teaching method in the sense of being
part of the eclectic approach to language teaching, then it can become a
main aid in the acquisition of communicative competence; drama puts
language into context, and by giving learners experience of success in
real-life situations it should arm them with con!dence for tackling the
world outside the classroom (Davies,1990). Moreover, drama as a teaching
technique motivates the students toward further learning and use of the
new language as a means of communication (Demircio.lu, 2010). It gives
the learners a chance to experience the language in operation while hav-
ing fun since children learn if they enjoy.
With regards to given features of drama in TEYL classes, this chap-
ter responded to the questions; what is drama, why to use drama, which
dramatic activities and materials to use in class and how to teach English
through drama in TEYL classes.

84
 Discussion Questions
1. As a prospective language teacher, in which ways
do you think drama and dramatic activities can
be implemented into language classes?
2. Do you think drama activities in TEYL classroom
negatively impacts the classroom management?

Out-of-Class Tasks
1. Design a lesson plan for teaching “"ree Billy
Goats Gru#” and prepare your activities for
each type of intelligence.
2. Discuss the advantages of dramatic activities
in terms of young learners’ learning styles and
characteristic features.
3. Do you think you will use drama in your future
teaching career? If so, discuss the challenges you
could meet and possible solutions to those problems.

USEFUL WEBSITES
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/improvisations
https://www.orchidsinternationalschool.com/blog/creativity/ten-bene!ts-of-
learning-drama-at-schools/
https://theartsjournal.org/index.php/site/article/view/1222
https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-benef its-of-using-drama-activi-
ties-in-the-classroom.html
https://busyteacher.org/22740-5-reasons-to-incorporate-drama-in-the-esl.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYfsl4z3YEI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQRglQDDIbo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DwahII0Wlo

85
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90
 Chapter 5
TEACHING ENGLISH AND DEVELOPING 21ST.
CENTURY SKILLS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

Dr. Bengü AKSU ATAÇ

Before reading (Pre-chapter) questions

1. What does the term “21st Century Skills” reminds
you of?
2. Do you think English language teachers should have
an idea and focus their studies on 21st Century Skills
especially for young learners? Why? Why not?
3. How can language teachers develop 21st Century
Skills for young learners in their teaching practices?

What we will see in this chapter (to At the end of the chapter, readers
be used in the introduction): will be able to:

• 21st century skills of young • de!ne 21st Century Skills

learners can be developed • have information about critical
through language teaching. thinking and problem solving
• Critical thinking and problem skills for young learners
solving in reading for young • notice the importance of
learners communication through
• Creativity in writing for young speaking and listening activities
learners for young learners learning a
• Communication in listening foreign language
and speaking for young learners • have a broad understanding of
• Digital literacy skills for young how 21st century skills can be
learners in listening and developed for young learners
speaking
• Sample activities and lesson
plans

91
 1. Introduction
Can we promote global communication and collaboration to prepare
our students for 21st-century problem solving? Can we position English
as an additional language as an important tool for the 21st century? Can
our English teaching pedagogies also re+ect UNESCO’s (2017) Education
for Sustainable Development that is learner-centered, action-oriented,
transformative, participatory, collaborative, problem-posing, inter- and
transdisciplinary, and real-world oriented? Can we ensure that English
language teachers make informed decisions that take into account lo-
cal, regional, national, and international considerations that a#ect their
learners? Today, English is accepted as the most widely used language in
the world. As Chomsky mentions, children have a gi- of language learn-
ing from birth although there are some intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
factors available (Erdo.an & Tunaz, 2012). It can be assumed that for chil-
dren, language learning is natural and almost automatic, even without the
instructions of an adult. Also, many studies have shown that young learn-
ers are more likely to achieve better levels of pronunciation and grammar
than older ones (Long, 2007), and they make better progress in speaking
and listening too. Beginning from the early years, teaching “basic” skills;
such as writing, reading, and mathematics, have always been emphasized
(Larson & Miller, 2011). However, the development of technology along
with the great shi- in society requires more than those, they require pro-
active problem-solving skills for people to keep up with the changes more
successfully (Geisinger, 2016). "ese new types of skills are called “21st
century skills”. With a closer look, it can be easily seen that all of these are
necessary to live, be successful, and get a respectful place in the workforce
in a globalized world. To be more speci!c about these skills, and their de-
scriptions "e Partnership for 21st Century Skills developed a framework,
and it includes:
1) Key Subjects and 21st Century "emes
2) Learning and Innovation Skills
3) Information, Media and Technology Skills
4) Life and Career Skills.
(Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009)
As English is now the universal language that people use to express
their identity, views, desires and feelings, the innovative language teach-
ing programs and settings should focus not only on grammar, memoriza-
tion and rote learning, but also on connecting people through language
learning and cultural knowledge. According to Armstrong and Warlick
92
(2014), a globalized and digitalized world requires skills, such as; knowl-
edge demonstration, information employment, and idea expression in a
compelling way. "ey also claimed that students should be literate, and
be able to use that literacy to keep up with the new world. Based on this
idea, Albahlal, (2019) claimed that engaging learners in authentic tasks
and problem-solving activities that are developed by English teachers is
signi!cant. For many language teachers around the world, today’s lan-
guage teaching classes may look very di#erent from what we remember
from our own childhood. Many of us realize today that our students need
new skills to be successful in the globalized society of the future. Looking
at the fundamental changes currently occurring in 21st century education
we will consider the 21st. century skills and more importantly, how they
can and should a#ect language teachers in teaching English.
2. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving in Reading for
Young Learners
"e goal of teaching youngsters to think critically is to get them to
question assumptions and look for alternative explanations. It’s a crucial
ability that can be used in any profession. "e ability to think critically is
a valuable asset for making sound judgments in life. It teaches us “how” to
think, so that we can interpret the information we’re given. To put it an-
other way, it’s the skill of evaluating all of the available data and arriving
at the most reasonable conclusion. "e ability to question, create logical
connections between ideas and information, make informed decisions,
and defend those choices are all hallmarks of a youngster who has devel-
oped a critical thinking attitude. "is switches the emphasis from being
a passive listener to being an active learner, which is vital for the matura-
tion of the human brain.
Depending on the actual educational setting (static context) and crit-
ical thinking development stage, a wide range of teaching and learning
strategies may be e#ective in fostering early critical thinking (dynamic
context). Updating one’s knowledge is at the heart of critical thinking (J.
L. Steele, 2011), as are analysis and comparison, in particular the estab-
lishment of similarities and di#erences, observation and the identi!cation
of cause-and-e#ect relationships, the extraction of ideas from examples
(inductive) support ideas with examples, and evaluation based on value,
truth, utility, positive or negative e#ects (R.V.D. Brink-Budgen, 2000).
As with other cognitive activities such as reading, writing, and speak-
ing/listening, critical thinking is an intentional, coordinated, and compli-
cated process that begins with the purposeful acquisition of knowledge
and culminates in sound judgments. In the same manner that we get to

93
critical thinking as a result of our own thinking, we use critical thinking
in our everyday interactions with ideas and information. Updating one’s
knowledge, analyzing di#erences, observing cause-and-e#ect relation-
ships, extracting ideas from examples, substantiating ideas with exam-
ples, and evaluating information based on its truth value, utility, positive
or negative e#ects are all foundational components of critical thinking.
Developing children’s capacity for critical thinking is a crucial step
in preparing them to meet the professional standards expected in today’s
environment. It’s not enough for them to just grasp the ideas. "ey need
to be able to evaluate materials objectively, extract key points from texts,
engage in in-depth analysis, provide their own unique perspective, and
establish connections to relevant prior knowledge. Being able to read
critically and form interpretations and opinions is an essential skill for
children to learn while they’re at school. "is skill helps children to read
with a watchful eye and teaches them how to deepen their understanding
of many topics. Instead of blindly agreeing that something is correct, a
critical thinker will ask probing questions. "ey’ll take a step back to take
stock of the situation, determine what went wrong, and consider any po-
tential solutions.
"e ability to apply self-discipline and logic to problem-solving makes
critical thinking one of the most important cognitive abilities. Further-
more, it is crucial for the growth and maturation of a child’s brain and
mind. A youngster has to develop these abilities in order to be prepared
to comprehend how things function in the actual world and to think of
original solutions. Kids will be able to better solve problems on his or her
own, as well as stand up to peer pressure, develop their own ideas, and rely
on their own judgment when faced with decisions they don’t agree with.
"e new school discipline Philosophy for Children (Order of the Minis-
try of National Education. 4887/08.26.2013, Curricula for Philosophy for
Children) has been given the status of “optional” for the upcoming school
year, giving it a prominent place among the options available to educators
for helping children develop critical thinking skills (school curriculum).
During this time, all of the students are encouraged to think critically
by participating in open discussions and debates. Students get experience
arguing for and listening to their own points of view and those of their
partners as they work together to solve an issue in a group setting.
Critical thinking happens when children draw on their existing
knowledge and experience, as well as on their problem-solving skills, to
do things like:
Compare and contrast.

94
 Explain why things happen.
Evaluate ideas and form opinions.
Understand the perspectives of others.
Predict what will happen in the future.
Possessing the ability to think critically is crucial to one’s own suc-
cess in learning a language or reading and writing. Developing one’s lin-
guistic abilities and one’s capacity for critical thought go hand in hand.
Children’s vocabulary grows when they practice critical thinking, which
promotes the use of more complicated language with words like “be-
cause,” sentences with “if” and “then,” and various tenses of verbs. On
the other side, children’s capacity for critical thinking improves as their
language skills increase. Studies reveal that even young toddlers engage
in critical thinking. Interactions with caring adults are crucial in helping
youngsters acquire these abilities because of the back and forth nature of
the conversations. Children are ready for the parents, caregivers, or ed-
ucators, to begin cultivating the critical thinking skills that will prepare
them for success in school as soon as they are able to talk in full sentences.

Activity 1: Critical thinking and critical reading activity

“Make a Wish” is the name of the activity and it will
help strengthen students’ critical-thinking skills by
developing their ability to use multisensory clues
and intelligences in making inferences and drawing
conclusions. This activity is thought to be appropriate
for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade elementary students.

Procedure
!e teacher shows student a picture of a well with the words “wishing
well” on it and asks questions such as:
-What is this?
- Do you know what wishing well means?
- Have you ever thrown any coins into a wishing well? Etc.
!en, the teacher gives them a handout shown in "gure 1 and clarify
the task for them by giving examples and necessary instructions. In this
case, for example, the teacher should do some vocabulary study about
“nickels”, “dimes” and “pennies” or the teacher may prefer to use familiar
words from students’ own culture and country such as “50 kuru#”, “1lira”,
“25 kuru#”.

95
 Figure 1. Fresh & Fun Critical-!inking Activities©Laurie Rozakis, Scholastic
Teaching Resources. https://videa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/81-Fun-critical-
!inking-activities.pdf

3. Creativity in Writing for Young Learners

Children who have not yet learned to write may resort to alternate
means of communication, such as scribbling lines, drawing pictures, or
96
making up letters, while trying to get their point through before they have
mastered more conventional symbols. !ey try to express themselves in
writing using alternative approaches to traditional writing rules.
Creative writing is an excellent way for youngsters to develop their
imagination and thinking skills. !e capacity to think of creative solu-
tions has been boosted. !is increases their mental $exibility, which may
help them in many aspects of life. So, creative writing is valuable because
it allows them to see the world as it really is. Everyone who writes creative-
ly, in whatever form they want, contributes to our collective quest to learn
more about ourselves, expand our horizons, and promote social change.
Young writers may bene"t in many ways by engaging in creative writ-
ing outside of the classroom. !is is due to the fact that language has a sig-
ni"cant impact on our worldview and our capacity to relate to and com-
prehend those with whom we interact. !e written word is everywhere:
in stories, news articles, and fairy tales; in research, signs, and course in-
structions; and in the instructions for our own work.
To what end, therefore, do children’s creative writing activities serve?
!e ability to express themselves creatively in writing gives young learn-
ers invaluable tools for making sense of themselves, the world, and events.
Below are a few easy ways to get youngsters writing creatively and
help them become better communicators:
1. Use writing prompts to jumpstart creativity.
If the students are su%ering from “writer’s block,” try giving them a
new and interesting subject to write about. Prompts like “Describe your
favorite spot” and “explain why this place is important to you” “Pretend
you are writing a letter to your favorite "ctional character, such as “Dear
Harry Potter...”. Alternately “Pretend it’s your birthday, and a dinosaur
crashes the celebration. When will this happen? Writing is revitalized by
this kind of activity.
2. Emphasize character development before writing the story
Encourage your students’ creative process by prompting them with
questions about the protagonist’s backstory, quirks, and goals as they im-
agine the narrative. Students in the Mind Champs Writing Programme
learn to develop interesting characters by posing “What if?” questions
and writing from the perspective of a made-up person.
3. Build e%ective description

97
 Details are what makes a narrative engaging and credible. Play, ob-
serve and describe activities are e%ective to stimulate your students’ crea-
tivity and foster the formation of original phrases.
4. Use “Feeling” Words
Inspire your students to put pen to paper and let them explore how
a made-up character might feel in any given circumstance. It’s easier to
empathize with and feel something for a “fully "lled out” character. Your
students can more accurately convey their feelings, or the feelings of their
characters, via the use of "gurative language like metaphors.
5. Encourage your students to keep a writing journal
Young children may start developing a habit of creative writing by
writing without restriction from an early age. !e point of writing in a di-
ary or just writing freely is to develop a fondness for doing so. In this sce-
nario, creative writing for children should be as unrestrained as possible,
which means teachers shouldn’t modify students’ language and phrases
in their journals. A child’s interest in writing may be nurtured by allow-
ing them the $exibility to express themselves creatively.
One technique to educate and encourage creative writing is to pub-
lish students’ short tales informally. In this manner, they will not only
be able to take pride in the fact that their work is published for others to
read, but they will also be able to read each other’s tales and get inspira-
tion for their own future works. In addition, teachers can choose some
well-known fairy tales, novels, or nursery rhymes. Write a list and ask stu-
dents to identify the perspective from which the narrative is told. Discuss
whether tale components reveal the identity of the narrator, as well as the
voice and personality traits of the narrator’s character.

Activity 2: Sample creative writing activity

!e name of the creative writing activity is “who are
they?” and it’s appropriate for 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders.
By the help of this activity students will not only have
the chance to develop their imagination and thinking
skills, but also have fun and be motivated to use the
necessary linguistic and communicative skills.

Procedure
!e teacher cuts some photographs of people from magazines& and
bring them into the classroom. !en he/she asks them to pick two or three
of the photographs. After that the teachers asks some questions and write
these on the board.

98
 - who the people are,
- what their lives are like,
- how they might know each other, etc.
Another interesting idea about this activity might be having the pho-
tographs stick on some di%erent geographical places that the teacher can
"nd by the help of smart board in the classroom or a piece of music repre-
senting that country or city can be used also. For example; a photo of “!e
Great Wall” in China can be shown and a photo of a person can be located
on it. Finally, the teacher has students write stories about these people,
who are they, what are they wearing and what are they doing.
4. Communication in Listening and Speaking for Young
Learners
!ere are many ways to encourage children to communicate. In fact,
the younger children are encouraged to explore their world through lis-
tening and speaking, the greater their development in literacy. Inviting
conversations on topics about their home, their daily lives and meaning-
ful ideas helps children tap into their own knowledge and practice put-
ting those ideas forth to develop communication. !ere are also sever-
al strategies for encouraging communication skills including modeling,
open-ended questions, self-talk, narration, and creative expression.
Speaking and listening are a crucial set of literacy skills that will pro-
vide the basis for a lot of the children’s later learning. Listening needs
the essential talent of concentrating on the speaker in order to hear and
comprehend what is being said. Students must be able to take turns, talk
with con"dence, remain on subject, and communicate with clarity to de-
velop their speaking abilities. Students will develop important speaking
and listening skills from birth, and these skills will be an important focus
in primary education. In order to begin producing the target language,
young children and learners must "rst listen to words, phrases, and sen-
tences in the target language. After learning their primary language, this
is the "rst place where students encounter terms from other languages.
Students learn to utilize their voices and ears as tools for problem-solving,
speculating, idea-sharing, decision-making, and self-re$ection. Students’
self-esteem and motivation to study are impacted by the quality of their
peer relationships and classroom interactions. !erefore, it is crucial for
students to be able to articulate their views, defend their reasoning, and
engage in open dialogue about their experiences and perspectives. !e
need to teach students how to communicate e%ectively spans all academic
disciplines.

99
 Another important point is that teachers have the responsibility for
helping their students overcome their phobias of speaking by creating an
enjoyable learning environment. Especially language teachers need to re-
cognize their accomplishments and expand their vocabulary and idioma-
tic expressions to be enjoyable and purposeful. It is important to emphasi-
ze the repetition of new vocabulary until the students feel confident using
the terms independently.
Talking things out is great for developing insights, perspectives, and
ideas. Assigning young learners discussion partners is a great way to get
them talk to each other. !e instructor asks a free-form question, and the
students take turns responding to their partners. Furthermore, students
need to be instructed on how to develop into attentive listeners. Partners
are expected to give their whole attention to the person speaking to them
and wait to answer.
Moreover, songs, chants, role-playing, and drama are all great ac-
tivities for helping young learners build these micro-skills because they
give the real-world context and authentic language that are essential for
making language acquisition meaningful, motivating, and helpful. In ad-
dition, songs are an excellent educational tool because they model appro-
priate language usage and provide a natural opportunity for meaningful
repetition. !at’s why it’s important for teachers of young learners to in-
clude a wide range of engaging songs and chants into their lessons to as-
sist the students in picking up new words and phrases while also boosting
their con"dence in speaking the target language.
5. Digital Literacy Skills for Young Learners
!e widespread use of digital tools for language acquisition is cov-
ered in a variety of publications, and the relevance of digital literacy is
widely acknowledged (Godwin-Jones, 2016). In addition, students of Lan-
guage learning are under pressure to master not only the language itself,
but also digital literacy skills and techniques for studying it e%ectively in
learning situations that include technology. Learners need to be prepared
for digital environments in order to succeed in such settings (Stockwell,
G., & Hubbard, P., 2013). Learner training in digital language learning,
in particular, requires an understanding of the digital literacy of target
language learners and the variables in$uencing their usage of digital tech-
nology in local settings.
Digital tools provide language teachers with a broader range of in-
struments to teach languages and culture. Introducing digital literacy
into the language classroom allows teachers not only to implement in-
novative educational methodologies, but also to provide learners with
100
training that will empower them to think and learn in an increasingly
technology-driven society. Incorporating digital literacy in the classroom
also helps students evaluate their behavior, engagement, and interactions
on&digital learning platforms&and across the internet.
Learners must acquire digital literacy skills in order to take advan-
tage of and successfully navigate the possibilities and threats presented
by today’s and tomorrow’s online environments. Is it possible for schools
and teachers to include the promotion of digital literacy into the teaching
of English? Digital Literacy is about more than just using computers. To
become digitally literate, learners need to develop a range of skills. !ey
need to be able to use technology to search for and create content, solve
problems and innovate. !ey need to be able to connect and communicate
e%ectively online, learn, collaborate with peers, and discover and share
new information. And especially for young learners while doing all of
this, they need to be able to recognize risks, stay safe online, protect their
physical and emotional wellbeing, and practice positive online behaviors.
Another challenging issue has been focused by Grimshaw, Dung-
worth, and McKnight (2007) suggesting that children’s reading compre-
hension may su%er as a result of too much screen use. However, reading
comprehension among kids can be improved if teachers stress the impor-
tance of digital literacy. Ertem’s (2010) discovery that reading compres-
sion improves signi"cantly when students engage in digital text with an-
imation gives this idea more credibility. Similarly, students who want to
become better at reading, the "rst and most apparent step is to read more
books. !e Internet has made paper books obsolete as a tool for learning
to read. It is possible to "nd thousands of books written in just about
every language online, and many of them are free to download. !ere are
a lot of free online publications to choose from.
For most language learners especially for young learners, speaking
and communicating in the target language can be quite di(cult and com-
plex. !is process can even lead to misbehavior among young learners
and also management issues for the teachers (Tunaz, 2017). In such cases,
student may have been encouraged to use applications such as Cambly
and Italki where they can practice one-on-one with native instructors.
!ey can consider "nding a language partner if they just want to practice
speaking the language with someone, as opposed to taking formal classes.
!e language-learning communities on Italki and Hellotalk are full of
people who are seeking somebody to practice their new language with.
Just as repeatedly jumping into a swimming a pool with no support
or instruction won’t improve our swimming technique, using a computer
every day doesn’t automatically develop our Digital Literacy skills. From
101
judging the accuracy of digital information to recognizing threats while
navigating the internet, our learners need to develop a range of skills to
participate successfully in an increasingly digital world. !ese days, it
is expected that students have access to course materials online, submit
homework and group assignments electronically, receive course-books,
slideshows, documentation, virtually collaborate with classmates on
group projects, and participate in class discussions through online chat
rooms and forums. Because of the ease with which children may access
information through online platforms, it’s crucial that they begin devel-
oping their digital literacy at an early age, so that they can e%ectively nav-
igate the internet, locate relevant information, and create suitable material
while using it. As the COVID-19 crisis continues to evolve, many schools
throughout the world have been forced to close, leaving only online learn-
ing as a secure option for children to continue their education. By en-
hancing their digital literacy, teachers can assist their students overcome
their current learning challenges and get them ready for a brighter future.
It is proposed that in order to advance digital literacy in language
education, students of a language need to be provided with both theoret-
ical and hands-on chances to get familiar with the many digital tools and
resources accessible to them and how to locate and use them. If they were
well versed in the ways of the internet, they would be able to make full use
of the resources available to them and learn a language in natural settings.

102
Micro Teaching and Lesson Plan
Critical thinking, problem solving and creativity task by using
digital tools
Topic: And the Oscar Goes to…
Grade: 6th Grade Elementary Level
Duration: 40 minutes
!eme: Movies, Documentaries
Language Skills, Learning Outcomes, Tasks
· Four language skills are on action in an integrated way
Students will be able to
- watch the movies,
- identify the problem and "nd a solution
- storyboard and visualize the "lm
- "nd out vocabulary
- in groups compare and contrast books and "lms
- express their feelings about the movie
- talk about their likes and dislikes about the movie and the
characters
- create taglines for the "lm
- choose their favorite scenes
- write an alternative ending to the "lm
- write their own movie quiz
- create an e%ective poster for the "lm
Materials:
· Graphic organizers
· Web tools
· Movies and videos
· Google apps
· Power point presentations
· Handouts and templates
Techniques:
· Brainstorming
· Discussion in groups
· Pair work and group work tasks
· Interviewing
· Comparing and contrasting
· Creative writing
· Critical reading
Evaluation:
· Self and peer assessment

103
 6. Conclusion
Today, both 21st Century Skills and teaching English to young learn-
ers stand out as prominent topics in foreign language teaching. For this
reason, this chapter focuses on providing 21st Century Skills while teach-
ing foreign languages to young learners and mainly reveals both the im-
portance and challenges of this two dimensional process. While review-
ing the relevant literature, it was observed that there are many studies in
di%erent disciplines related to 21st Century Skills, however, in this chap-
ter, the e%ectiveness of these skills has been taken into account, especially
in terms of language teaching to young learners. As English is now the
global language that people use to express their identities, views, desires
and feelings, the importance of establishing innovative language teach-
ing programs and settings becomes apparent. !us, it is important that
especially young learners develop these skills by being supported by their
English teachers.
In this chapter, in the context of associating 21st Century Skills with
language learning and teaching, "rst, critical thinking and problem solv-
ing focusing on reading has been mentioned. !en, creativity in writing
has been taken in to consideration before examining the e%ectiveness of
communication in listening and speaking skills. Finally, digital litera-
cy skills from the perspective of language teaching have been discussed
through an integrated skills approach. To sum up, it can be stated that
21st Century Skills and language learning are e%ective and important
concepts that support each other mutually in preparing young learners
for a bright future, and language teachers play a vital role in the develop-
ment of these skills.
Discussion Questions

1. As a prospective language teacher, how can you

integrate 21st Century Skills into your teaching
English to young learners’ classes?
2. What are the challenging issues that language
teachers may experience while developing the
21st Century Skills of their young learners?
Out-of-Class Task

1. Design a project based task for A1 level young

learners by using authentic materials to improve
their creativity, communication, collaboration
and digital literacy skills.

104
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guage‎ Learning. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research,
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Blue,J.(2002)Retrievedfrom: https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2022/04/07/
understanding-developing-digital-literacy/
Buckingham, L., & Alpaslan, R. S. (2017). Promoting speaking pro"ciency and
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Butera, G., Friesen, A., Palmer, S. B., Lieber, J., Horn, E. M., Hanson, M. J., &
Czaja, C. (2014). Integrating mathematics problem solving and critical
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Geisinger, K. F. (2016). 21st century skills: What are they and how do we assess
them? Applied Measurement in Education, 29(4), 245-249.
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Grainger, T., Goouch, K., & Lambirth, A. (2005).&Creativity and writing: Devel-
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Saraç, G. (2007). !e use of creative drama in developing the speaking skills of
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 Chapter 6
CONTENT AND LANGUAGE INTEGRATED
LEARNING (CLIL)
Dr. Gonca EKŞİ
Dr. Ceylan YANGIN ERSANLI

Before reading (Pre-chapter) questions

1. What does the term Content and Language

Integrated Learning (CLIL) mean to you?

2. Do you think you can study other subject

matter (such as history, maths, science,
geography and so on) in English? If yes, what
might the advantages and challenges be?

What we will see in this chapter (to be At the end of the chapter, readers
used in the introduction): will be able to:

• What is CLIL? • de"ne CLIL

• What are the components of a • explain features of CLIL
CLIL lesson? methodology
• How can we develop quality CLIL • develop language learning
materials? materials in line with CLIL

107
 1. Introduction
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL here after) refers to
any instruction in which a second/foreign language is used as a means of
teaching the contents of a subject or content in the classroom. !e use of a
second/foreign language as the medium of instruction is intended to im-
prove both pro"ciency in the given language and learning of the content.
Marsh (1994, p. 27) de"ned it as:
‘CLIL refers to a situation in which the subject matter or part of the subject
matter is taught via a foreign language with a two-fold objective: the learn-
ing of those contents and the simultaneous learning of a foreign language.’
CLIL methodology integrates content and language, by presenting
content through the medium of a foreign language. Research supports
Yabancı bir dilin aracı
that CLIL creates an acquisition-rich environment and fosters commu-
nicative competence (Met, 1998; Marsh & Langé, 1999; Marsh 2000).
CLIL implements an acquisition-based methodology in which the learner
uses the language for learning and through learning (Coyle, 2000). Studies
also point out that CLIL increases motivation in language learning (Grabe
& Stoller, 1997; Pavesi, Bertochi, Hofmannová, Kazianka & Langé, 2001).
In other words, CLIL is a dual-centered pedagogy, using additional
languages for both foreign language teaching and subject matter content
(Mehisto, Marsh & Frigols, 2008) such as teaching history, mathematics,
science, geography, art or other non-language subjects with the help of a
foreign language. CLIL started to be popular in the 1990s as an innova-
tive methodological approach of far broader scope than language teach-
ing (Eurydice, 2006).
2. History of CLIL
Earlier similar practices to CLIL can be found in North American
immersion, bilingual education programs, and European international
schools (Pérez-Cañado, 2012). Positive results were attained in Canadian
immersion programmes and North American bilingual teaching models
and those in$uenced bilingual education in Europe. !e successful out-
come of the above models was adopted and adapted in the design and the
implementation of CLIL in the Europe context (Pérez-Vidal, 2007). Since
the 1990s, CLIL has been practiced widely within the European Union.
!e Resolution of the European Council in 1995 emphasized the need
for innovative approaches in language teaching and mentioned bilingual
education. In 2001, European Year of Languages, CLIL had been high-
lighted as an approach to language learning. In 2005, at the conclusion
of a symposium entitled !e Changing European Classroom: Potential of
108
Plurilingual Education, states that CLIL should be integrated into di%er-
ent stages of education. !e need for CLIL training for teachers was also
highlighted (Eurydice, 2006). CLIL approach has been practiced across
Europe for the last three decades with positive results both in language
learning and content learning (Korosidou and Griva, 2013; Lasagabaster,
2008).
Improving additional language learning and teaching within the ed-
ucation systems of the European Union was also stressed in the Resolu-
tion of the European Council in 1995. !e resolution emphasized the need
to teach disciplines in an additional language. !e White Paper on Edu-
cation and Training (European Commission, 1995) highlighted that EU
citizens should become pro"cient in three European Languages, namely
2+1. All European citizens should be able to use their own language plus
two other languages. In order to promote language learning and linguis-
tic diversity, the years 2001 and 2008 were declared as European Year of
Languages. !e European Council suggested that CLIL should be prac-
ticed at di%erent levels of school education, and teachers should receive
special training about CLIL. !e Eurydice Report on Content and Lan-
guage Integrated learning (CLIL) at School in Europe (2006) pointed that
CLIL-type instruction has been put into practice as part of mainstream
school education in several European countries.
3. CLIL Research
Research shows that CLIL can be a potentially e%ective mean-
ing-based approach to content and language learning contributing to mo-
tivation and interest in foreign languages (Banegas, 2013; Eurydice, 2006)
with overall language gains (Lasagabaster, 2008). However, CLIL practic-
es can also cause loss of self-esteem and a decrease in foreign language
motivation when struggling with cognitively challenging knowledge in a
foreign language (Cenoz, Genesee & Gorter, 2014), particularly in case of
low-pro"ciency students (Pladevall-Ballester, 2015).
!e popularity of bilingual education is increasing day by day, and
it is necessary to develop new e%ective approaches in the teaching of a
foreign language to meet this need. To this end, in 2004, the European
Commission recommended a content and language integrated approach
(CLIL). !e basic principle of this approach is bilingual, that is the me-
dium of instruction in subject courses is a foreign language. !e target
language is also studied in a subject course. !us, the approach has dual
aims. To date, there have been many di%erent de"nitions of CLIL and
its multifaceted nature. !e most well-known and accepted de"nition of
CLIL was given by D. Marsh who "rst coined the term in 1994. According

109
to him, students learn a subject matter through a foreign language or they
learn a foreign language within the context of a speci"c subject matter. In
a similar vein, D. Coyle et al. (2010) developed the 4C scheme, which is
presented in the form of a triangular pyramid with four vertices: content,
communication, cognition, and culture. Grigorieva (2013) outlined the
main methodological principles of CLIL as: (1) Multiculturalism; (2) Sus-
tainable learning; (3) Development of higher order thinking skills; (4) In-
tensive and productive knowledge of the teacher in a foreign language; (5)
A variety of methodological techniques; and (6) Use of authentic teaching
material.
CLIL can be used in all age groups and levels. Marsh (2008) states
that it can even be used in the youngest age groups from pre-schoolers
to upper primary students. !e following researches investigate the CLIL
practices in young learner groups in di%erent educational contexts.
Alcaraz-Mármol (2018) investigates the methodological basis re-
quired for e%ective integration of content and language in a primary edu-
cation context in Spain. To this end, the answers of teachers who received
methodological training and those who did not were compared and the
"ndings revealed that education beyond pure foreign language teaching
makes a big di%erence in: teachers’ opinions on CLIL and bilingual prac-
tices, use of more diverse activities and resources. Di%erences found in
the way they see their own teaching their use of L1, classroom materials,
diversity and types of activities.
Chostelidou and Griva (2017) conducted a CLIL study on 6th grade
primary school children in Greece. !e aim was to reveal the diverse
cultural backgrounds of immigrant students within multicultural class-
rooms and to build bridges between languages and cultures. A variety of
teaching methods were introduced and every e%ort was made to ensure
that the teaching methods used were tailored to the needs and interests
of the students. Games and stories were used to support the cultural el-
ement, highlight the relationship between the students’ own culture and
other cultures, and stimulate an interest in ‘otherness’. An analysis of the
study showed that CLIL had a positive e%ect on improving students’ tar-
get language pro"ciency and signi"cantly increased their awareness of
multicultural citizenship.
Guzmán-Alcón (2019) examined the communicative language teach-
ing principles in CLIL and foreign language classrooms in primary edu-
cation in an action research format. !e results of the study indicated that
communicative language teaching was the approach taken in CLIL and
FL sessions, task being the organizing units.

110
 Martínez-Adrián, et al. (2019) investigated young CLIL learners’ re-
ported use of communication strategies and preferences regarding the
type of strategy used during target language production. !e "ndings
revealed striking similarities between 5th and 6th graders, with signi"-
cant di%erences in their use of various communication strategies. Para-
phrasing and appeal for assistance were the most common strategies, and
morphological creativity and miming were the least frequent. In summa-
ry, this research demonstrated moderate to high use of communicative
strategies by learners in the context of formal acquisition of language,
even when immersed in a CLIL environment that emphasizes meaning
and communication.
Ito (2018) investigated the CLIL practices in Japanese elementary
schools. !e research focuses on how elementary school students learn
through CLIL classes and how they think about the development and sus-
tainability of traditional Japanese crafts. !e results show that students
were able use a range of English language expressions. !ey didn’t care
about whether the class was in English or Japanese, but instead concen-
trated on the course content.
Dooly and Masats (2015) made an overview on Content and Lan-
guage Integrated Learning, Young Language Learners, and Technolo-
gy Enhanced Language Learning. !is overview provides an important
summary of researches published in Spain over the past decade. !e re-
view puts forward that the researchers are moving away from traditional
methods. Paradigms have tended to follow international research direc-
tions that include the concept of language education as a lifelong learning
process that focuses on the acquisition of language to communicate in
authentic situations instead of focusing on discrete elements of target lan-
guage. !e studies also suggest that it is impossible to isolate all variables
within language development. Researchers are fully aware of the language
components and the environmental dynamics like social, cultural and
political factors involved in a study.
4. CLIL: A Closer Look
CLIL’s focus can be divided into three main areas: Language, content,
and study skills (Mehisto et al. 2008). !e purpose of using CLIL is not to
learn the about a language, but to be able to speak in a foreign language
and acquire the ability to study and think in a foreign language. CLIL
(Content and Language Integrated Learning) can be applied as a teaching
practice at all levels of education from primary to higher education (Dal-
ton-Pu%er 2007; Dalton-Pu%er 2011) and ranges a lot in application: full/
partial immersion (teaching subjects such as history, geography and so on

111
in the target language), language showers (where subject exposure takes
place 2-3 times a week), or in the form of enriched language classes (a
topic-based approach), or incorporating content from other curriculum
subjects (cross-curriculum approach) (Griva & Kasvikis, 2014). Review
of practice shows three possible CLIL variations: (i) learning the foreign
language separately, in order to learn the content through the foreign lan-
guage; (ii) learning the foreign language through the content, which has
already been learnt in the L1 and (iii) learning the foreign language and
the content together (Lucietto, 2008). Considerable caution is needed in
practice because if the content is conceptually di(cult, foreign language
medium of instruction might make it more di(cult to understand, and
the amount of language might also be challenging if it is above the learn-
ers’ competence level (Seikkula-Leino, 2007).
Soft and hard CLIL implementations distinguish language-led ap-
proaches (soft) from content-led approaches (hard) (Ball, Kelly & Clegg,
2015) in which the former is more concerned about language aims while
the latter focuses mainly on the teaching of subject content through an
additional language.
To ensure quality in CLIL applications, instruction should depend on
fundamental principles identi"ed as the ‘4Cs Framework’ (Coyle 2008),
namely, content (contextualized), communication (language learning and
using), cognition (learning and thinking processes) and culture (develop-
ing intercultural understanding and global citizenship).
“Content” refers to the material covered in the lesson; that is the
“progression in new knowledge, skills and understanding” (Coyle et al.,
2010). !is can be built on one subject, such as science or social studies,
or through multiple subjects depending on the theme. (Coyle et al., 2010;
Mehisto et al., 2008). Content refers to the curricular subject progression
in knowledge, skills and understanding. Like traditional education, teach-
ers follow a syllabus and prepare lessons based on what students have al-
ready learned. In this way, the student builds content-related knowledge
from one course to the next.
“Communication” in CLIL, refers to using language to learn - whilst
learning to use language. Communication in CLIL involves three dif-
ferent types of language. 1) Language of Learning (language required to
learn the key concepts of the content); 2) Language for Learning (language
required to participate in classroom activities or related assignments); 3)
Language through Learning (preliminary language that is not planned in
the classroom but appears during instruction (Coyle et al., 2010). Com-
munication is de"ned as the ability to use oral and written language cor-
rectly in content learning and encourages students to actively participate
112
in meaning negotiations (Coyle, 2007), where language is a means, not an
end in itself. !e subject/language teacher should be a moderator to help
students successfully use the language in di%erent language contexts. !e
key is interaction. Students study together, collaborate, and use their new
language as much as possible
“Cognition” refers to the development of cognitive and thinking skills
students use during class (Coyle et al., 2010; Mehisto et al., 2008). CLIL
practices encourage students to use di%erent types of cognitive skills,
from low-requirement cognitive skills such as understanding and re-
membering important vocabulary, to high-requirement cognitive skills
including creative thinking when using the target language. (Coyle et al.,
2010; Ikeda, 2011; Mehisto et al., 2008).
“Culture/Community” refers to an awareness toward learning com-
munity and pluricultural understanding with enrichment of the learning
community. “Successful CLIL fosters deeper intercultural communica-
tion and understanding, providing learners with meaningful contexts to
explore and evaluate beliefs and attitudes. In this way CLIL can make
a valid contribution to personal development and preparation for global
citizenship.” (Coyle, Holmes & King, 2009) CLIL also aims to develop in-
tercultural understanding and global citizenship. CLIL teachers’ practices
help students relate what they are learning to the world around them. Stu-
dents "nd that what they are learning is relevant to the “real world” and
not just a school subject.

Activity 1: 4Cs
Preparing a CLIL lesson, teachers can follow 4Cs to
determine content, communication, cognition and
culture/community. In this activity, the teacher decides
on content to be taught and what language comes with
it naturally. !e teacher also decides on cognitive and
thinking skills and a cultural outlook.
!e following procedure is for 11-12 year old young
learners.

Procedure
!e teacher brings a text about health. !e content aim is to intro-
duce food groups and promote healthy eating habits. Language presented
and practiced is food vocabulary and skills (reading, listening, speaking
and writing). Cognitive/thinking skills to be improved are classi"cation,
researching, analyzing and creative thinking. To promote pluricultural
understanding, $ashcards about examples of world cuisine are used.

113
 • !e teacher introduces the topic by asking her students what
types of snacks they eat. She writes them on the board in two columns
like ‘Healthy’ and ‘Unhealthy’. !ey classify the words accordingly.
• !en, the teacher introduces the topic of healthy eating by writing
on the board the di%erent food groups (Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Protein
foods, Dairy, Oils).
• She asks students if they can name one food item for each cate-
gory. Students can then come up to the board and write it under the right
category.
• !e teacher puts the students into groups and gets each group to
research one of the food groups. She tells them to try to "nd out which
foods are the healthiest.
• Once they have done their research, she asks them to create a
presentation about their food group to share what they have learned.
• !e teacher introduces students as many di%erent foods as possi-
ble and place them into three categories according to how healthy they are
for our bodies.
• !e teacher uses Tra%ic Lights symbol to ask students to catego-
rize food.

· !en, students talk about their favorite food and how healthy it is.
· !e teacher distributes $ashcards about world cuisine. Students
talk about healthy food, local food and world cuisine.
· Students do a healthy eating quiz and count their scores.

114
 Activity 2:
!e link below provides a short animated video about
geographical features of the earth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcm5PeBbw4o

Work in pairs. Watch the video on the link / QR code provided. De-
cide language you can teach (vocabulary, language or skills). Determine
the age group you can use this video for.
5. Preparing Quality CLIL Materials
In the early days of CLIL, there was a lack of materials for students in
CLIL classes. To meet the demand, subject-related books were sometimes
imported from countries of origin and used in CLIL teaching (Ball, Kelly
and Clegg, 2015). However, these books were not suitable as they were
written for native speaking students taking content courses and typically
lacked su(cient language support for non-native speakers to understand
the content.
Another problematic approach to designing CLIL materials is to sim-
ply translate the textbooks already used in the "rst language subject les-
sons into the target language. However, these materials are not as e%ective
as materials written with CLIL principles in mind, as they also lack em-
phasis on the language component.
Today, a wide variety of CLIL materials can be found in books or on-
line. What is more, language teachers can also design CLIL lesson plans.
In doing so, teachers should bear in mind some principles for the design
of quality CLIL materials. Ball, Kelly and Clegg (2015) mention the prin-
ciples as “the primacy of task, prioritizing the three dimensions of con-
tent, guiding input and supporting output, sca%olding and embedding,
making key language salient, the concept of di(culty in didactic materi-
als and thinking in sequences”.

115
 Mehisto (2012) also suggests some guidelines for developing high
quality CLIL materials: Learning objectives concerning language, content
and skills should be made clear for students. Classroom practices should
foster cooperative learning and critical thinking. Use of authentic lan-
guage is encouraged. Teachers should help create a safe learning environ-
ment. Learning should be meaningful and relevant.
When implementing quality CLIL learning materials, we should use
appealing, meaningful, and input which is appropriate both in terms of
language and content, and multimodal input should come from a vari-
ety of sources that also cares for individual learning styles and multiple
intelligences. Topical familiarity should be taken into consideration. !e
focus should be on developing cognitive skills and strategies encouraging
collaboration among children in problem-solving and inquiry-based ac-
tivities (Meyer, 2010; Mehisto et al. 2008).
!ere are several key components of a CLIL lesson. !ese include:
• !e subject matter: !e subject matter is the content that is being
taught in the lesson. !is could be a science topic, a historical
event, or any other subject that is being taught in the target lan-
guage.
• !e language focus: !e language focus is the speci"c language
skills or vocabulary that are being taught in the lesson. !is could
include grammar points, vocabulary related to the subject mat-
ter, or pronunciation skills.
• !e use of authentic materials: CLIL lessons often incorporate
authentic materials, such as news articles, videos, or other re-
al-world materials, in order to provide learners with authentic
examples of the language in use.
• !e integration of language and content: In a CLIL lesson, the
language and content are integrated in a way that allows learners
to use the language to learn about the subject matter. !is means
that the language is not taught as a separate subject, but is inte-
grated into the content of the lesson.
• !e use of hands-on activities and real-world tasks: CLIL lessons
often incorporate hands-on activities and real-world tasks that
allow learners to apply what they have learned and use the lan-
guage in a meaningful way. !is could include conducting exper-
iments, participating in debates, or completing projects related to
the subject matter.

116
 Conclusion
CLIL, which stands for Content and Language Integrated Learning,
is a teaching approach that involves teaching subjects such as science, his-
tory, or mathematics in a foreign language. !is approach has been shown
to have several bene"ts for language learning because it allows students to
learn about a subject that they are interested in while also practicing their
language skills. When the students are learning about a subject that they
"nd engaging, they are more likely to be motivated to use the language
and to pay attention to the language being used, which can help them to
learn it more e%ectively. Additionally, because the content is integrated
with the language learning, students can see the real-world relevance of
the language they are learning, which can make it more meaningful to
them and help them to retain what they have learned. It can also expose
learners to a wider range of vocabulary and language structures, as well as
fostering cross-cultural understanding. In addition, CLIL can help learn-
ers develop transferable skills, such as critical thinking and problem-solv-
ing, that can support their language learning and overall academic devel-
opment.
CLIL can be used with young language learners. It might be an ef-
fective way to introduce young learners to a new language because it pro-
vides a context for the language that they are learning. By teaching sub-
jects such as science or math in the target language, students can learn
the language in a way that is relevant to their interests and experiences.
Additionally, because CLIL focuses on using the target language to learn
about a subject, it can help to develop young learners’ language skills in a
natural and engaging way. However, it is important for teachers to care-
fully assess the needs and abilities of their students before implementing
a CLIL program.

117
 Discussion Questions

1. What might be the advantages and challenges of

using CLIL methodology in the young learner
classroom?

2. How much content knowledge does a language

teacher need to prepare CLIL materials for
young learners?
Out-of-Class Tasks

1. Prepare a CLIL lesson plan for A1 level young learners.

Select speci"c content (math, science, history, arts,
geography). Decide on the language focus. Make sure the
language and content is at appropriate level for the age
group. Use (semi) authentic materials if possible. Integrate
hands-on activities and real-world-like activities. Refer to
the sample lesson plan in Appendix.
Appendix A
CLIL Sample Lesson Plan for Young Learners

• Learning Outcomes:
(Content) At the end of the lesson students will discover the amazing
world of plants. !ey will enlarge their knowledge of plants, the life cycle
of plants. !ey will "nd out how plants live and grow and the photosyn-
thesis.
(Language): Mainly listening, speaking, and vocabulary.

118
 (!inking Skills): Understanding plants in nature, observing, report-
ing, sequencing.
Social Skills: Cooperating
Warm up
• !e teacher asks what comes to their minds when they think of
plants. She draws a mind map on the board and asks what they already
know about the plants in nature. S/he elicits answers, accepts all answers
from students and writes the elicited key words on the mind map. !ey
have the background information that the plants have speci"c life cycle
from seed to a mature plant, they need sunlight, carbon dioxide, and wa-
ter to survive, the vegetables and fruits help people have stronger immune
systems, etc.

• !e teacher points to the picture on the board depicting the life

cycle of a plant. !e teacher explains that the lifecycle is a continuous
process and all living things including plants have speci"c lifecycle which
keeps their species alive. S/he points to illustrations such as the seed, root,
germination (seedling), and mature plant. !e teacher introduces key vo-
cabulary items for the incoming video.

119
 !e Life Cycle of a plant

While Listening
Procedure:
• She asks a question about gist on "rst listening: have they ever
watched a plant grow?
• !en s/he makes them watch the plant life cycle song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrz3WM3x_HA
• !e teacher asks students to sing with her on the second listening.
Follow Up
• !e teacher asks students to write and draw the Stages of Plant
Life Cycle.
Before Listening
• !e teacher asks if they know how plants and trees make their
own foods? She gives them a few options and asks them to choose the
correct ones.
a) From animals b) From sunlight c) From woods d) From water e)
from carbon dioxide
• !e teacher says that every living thing on&Earth&needs food to
survive. Plants are also living things, so they need food regularly and they
produce their own food. !ey produce their food in a process called ‘Pho-
tosynthesis’ and generate&oxygen for us.

120
 • !e teacher points to the picture on the board depicting the pho-
tosynthesis. S/he points to illustrations such as water, oxygen, sunlight,
and carbon dioxide. !e teacher introduces key vocabulary items for the
incoming video.
Listening
• !e teacher makes them watch the “Photosynthesis” video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1Ymc311XS8

Follow up
• !e teacher asks them to watch the video for a second time and
"ll in the blanks.
Photo is a Greek word for ……
Synthesis is a Greek word for ….
Photosynthesis is using …… to put things together.
Plants use this process to make their food with the help of ……..,
………., and ……….
Plants have tiny openings called …..
!ey breath in ……. And give out …….

121
 The photosynthesis Relay Race Game
https://www.teachingexpertise.com/classroom-ideas/photosynthe-
sis-activities-for-middle-school/

!e goal of this game: to reinforce the photosynthesis formula: WA-

TER + CARBON DIOXIDE + LIGHT [ OXYGEN + SUGAR + WATER
You will need: • Two pieces of green construction paper • Four small
(standard 3.5”x 6.5”) envelopes • Glue stick or white glue • Marker • Copy
of the card pattern page with pieces cut out • A $ashlight for each team
Directions: Cut two large green leaves. Cut the $aps o% the envelopes,
then glue an envelope on each side of each leaf, with the open side of the
envelope facing out. Label the envelopes on opposite sides of the leaves
“IN” and “OUT.” Photocopy the card pattern page onto card stock, if pos-
sible, to make the cards more durable. However, plain paper can be used
as well. Cut out all the cards. Optional: Decorate or color the cards to
make them more readable at a quick glance. For instance, put a raindrop
on the water cards.
How to set up the game: You will need to prepare the leaves ahead of
time by putting cards for WATER, OXYGEN and GLUCOSE in the OUT
pocket of the leaves. Put WATER and CARBON DIOXIDE cards in neat
piles at the start line. Put the leaves at a distance from the start line. (If

122
your students need to stretch their legs, put the leaves really far away!) Put
the $ashlights next to the leaves.
How to play the game: On the word GO, the "rst member of the team
takes either a CARBON DIOXIDE or a WATER card, runs to the leaf, and
puts it into the IN pocket of their leaf. !ey run back, tag the next player.
!e second player takes the other card (whatever the "rst player didn’t
take, either water or carbon dioxide) and runs to the leaf. He puts this into
the IN pocket, then runs back. !e third player runs to the leaf, turns on
the $ashlight, shines it on the leaf brie$y, turns it o% (leaves the $ashlight
there) and then runs back. Now the leaf has had all the necessary ingre-
dients for photosynthesis! !e fourth player runs to the leaf and takes out
just one of the cards in the OUT pocket and runs (taking the token with
him) back to team. !e "fth player runs to the leaf, takes another card
out of the OUT pocket and runs with it back to the team. !e sixth player
runs to the leaf and takes out the last card in the OUT pocket. When the
last player gets back to his team with the last product of photosynthesis,
the team is done. First team to accomplish all this wins the game.

WATER WATER

WATER WATER

CARBON CARBON
DIOXIDE DIOXIDE

OXYGEN OXYGEN

GLUCOSE GLUCOSE
(SUGAR) (SUGAR)

123
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 Chapter 7
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Dr. Şule ÇELİK KORKMAZ

Before reading (Pre-chapter) questions

1. What do you think about the roles of English teachers in
young learners’ classrooms?
2. Is it possible for a teacher to keep learners quiet and on
task during the lesson? How?
3. What does the term classroom management refer to?
4. How do you di%erentiate discipline from positive
discipline?
5. What do you think of the role of positive psychology in
classroom management?

What we will see in this chapter (to be At the end of the chapter, readers will be
used in the introduction): able to:
• What classroom management is • de"ne classroom management
• Description of an e%ective primary • re$ect what they believe about
EFL teacher teaching and learning
• Scope and brief historical overview of • di%erentiate discipline and positive
positive discipline and psychology discipline
• Key principles in a positive discipline • become aware of some key principles
system of positive discipline and psychology
• Dimensions of positive psychology • have a broad understanding of how
• Frequently experienced types of teachers can implement positive
misbehavior of elementary school discipline and psychology into the
students classroom
• discuss the way of dealing with
students’ misbehavior issues.

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 1. Introduction and Definition of Key Terms in the chapter
!is chapter addresses classroom management applied to young
English as a Foreign Language (hereafter EFL) learners. !e way of man-
aging the class is substantially a%ected by the teachers’ beliefs shaping
their methods. !us, revealing the characteristics of an e%ective teacher
of Teaching English to young learners (hereafter, TEYL) could be a good
starting point. Teachers, particularly primary school teachers, matter in
students’ lives as they play a very crucial part in all aspects of their de-
velopment. An e%ective teacher of TEYLs is the one who should at least
be aware of the particular teaching context in which s/he is working by
considering all of its advantages and disadvantages, the characteristics
of Young Learners (hereafter YLs), how to plan and run a lesson with a
variety of child appropriate materials and activities in view of the limited
time, organization, and class size besides knowing how to sca%old stu-
dents’ learning.
If teachers equip themselves with the knowledge and skills in the
aforementioned points, they will likely not have classroom management
challenges. If everything goes well with a class in the hands of a skilled
teacher, that class becomes a conducive learning environment in which
learners are predominantly exposed to English and devoid of emotion-
al frustration. However, I agree with Yunita et al. (2022), who asserted
that engaging learners cognitively through activities cannot describe the
whole successful teaching and learning process, but behavioral, emotion-
al, social and cognitive engagement all rolled into one classroom can. If
this does indeed occur in a classroom, it is more than likely that learners
develop social-emotional skills and life skills besides linguistic skills.
Correspondingly, the curriculum should involve both what to teach
as subject matter in English and how to behave well, as students are sup-
posed to act by combining their skills, habits, values, knowledge, apti-
tudes, and inclinations (Bennett, 2020). !us, if learners are expected
to become well-behaved individuals, they need to be taught by a well-
thought-of classroom management system. In this chapter, positive disci-
pline (Hereafter PD) and positive psychology (Hereafter PP) are clari"ed
to create an e%ective classroom management system. PD requires teachers
to become friendly, kind, calm, and respectful to their students, and cre-
ate opportunities for them to solve their own problems by being guides for
students via cooperating with them. PD does not suggest ignoring mis-
behaviors but treating them as opportunities for students to learn from
situations.

128
 Accordingly, this chapter "rstly presents the system of PD with its di-
mensions; secondly discusses PP with its basic elements to build the most
e%ective classroom atmosphere by amplifying teachers’ skills in class-
room management; "nally some possible ways to set the best classroom
management in elementary EFL contexts by examining, discussing, and
suggesting possible solutions for some frequently experienced catastroph-
ic situations which could occur in the classroom.
2. Scope and Brief Historical background of Positive
Discipline and Positive Psychology
PD is a program developed by Nelsen (1999), following the works of
Alfred Adler and Rudolf Dreikurs (Positive Discipline Institute, 2021).
!is approach is de"ned as “holistic, inclusive, strengths-based, proac-
tive, constructive and participatory” (Bej, 2016). A PD classroom aims to
create a non-violent, resourceful, and respectful environment by elimi-
nating punishment and rewards and developing belonging to school in-
stead.
!e term “positive psychology” was "rst coined by Abraham Maslow
and reintroduced by Martin Selinger who believed the necessity of focus-
ing on the good in people and in the world (Snyder et al., 2020). Aligning
with social emotional learning, PP aims to help people deal with challeng-
es in life by cultivating emotional strength. !e principles and practices
of PP are all consistent with Rogers’s potentiality, Maslow’s self-actualiza-
tion, Gardner’s appreciation, and Jung’s spiritual virtues (O’Grady, 2013).
A student’s behavior can be de"ned as the observable action per-
formed by the student as displayed in the tip of the iceberg below. An
individual’s behavior is a nebulous construct that needs to be clari"ed;
thus, teachers can discover their mistaken beliefs about the ways of gain-
ing belonging and contribution.

129
Figure 2.1. Visible and invisible part of the iceberg to represent students’ behaviors
(Nelsen & Gfroere, 2017).

Ignoring the hidden base of the iceberg leads teachers to resort to

punishment. !is behaviorism-based reaction provides only a short-term
solution. Since a behavior is often experienced in a di%erent way, teachers
constantly need to provide rewards for good behaviors and punishment
for bad behaviors. Hence, as suggested by Nelsen and Gfroerer (2017),
teachers should avoid using sticker charts, red/yellow/green lights, or
ClassDojo boards which can publicly shame students. In this case, it will
be more tiring for teachers to deal with the problem without taking into
account the story of a child that shapes his/her beliefs. As teachers notice
the underlying beliefs of students observed as problems in the classroom,
it becomes easier for them to estimate their behaviors. As indicated in the
study of Riley et al, (2010), some teachers with aggressive behaviors who
tend to follow punishment as a solution strategy do not make connections
between their actions and any classroom management theory. !is is why
teachers should make a big paradigm shift to help their students develop
internal motivation to regulate their behaviors and solve their problems.
!us, teachers need to be equipped with the tenets of PD and PP. Teachers
who intend to learn these philosophies take the "rst step to perceive the
underlying beliefs of students’ behaviors and create solutions without re-
lying on rewards or punishments.
3. Positive Discipline
!e term “discipline” is frequently associated with control and pun-
ishment. Do teachers have to get stuck in between two options such as
rewarding good behavior or punishing misbehavior? Actually, they do
not have to follow a behavioristic approach that focuses on external mo-
130
tivation to change an individual’s misbehavior rather than doing some-
thing for the sake of learning it. !e quantitative study recently conduct-
ed in Turkey context by Cesur and Abdol (2021) revealed that the most
frequently used classroom discipline strategies of the English language
teachers are recognition and rewarding. To clarify, they praise the class
for good behaviors and reward the class when students behave well. Addi-
tionally, the least used strategies were reported as deliberately embarrass-
ing misbehaving students and making sarcastic comments to students
who misbehave. In another study, when the school contexts were com-
pared, discussion discipline strategy was used more frequently by Turkish
elementary school teachers, while punishment and aggression discipline
strategies were used more often by high school teachers (Sa)nak, 2007).
Although the system with rewards and punishments may work for a short
time, it does not help children do better in their future lives and develop
their own belief system.
One of the alternative ways suggested in the literature is creating PD
classrooms. PD is described as a “philosophy that says that what children
feel and think not only matters, it needs to be acknowledged, addressed,
and incorporated into regular structures of the school day for learning to
be meaningful.” (Nelsen, 2017). As the founder of PD, Nelsen (2011) stat-
ed that “discipline that teaches children helps them learn for the future.
Punishment makes children pay for the past.” Hence, teachers need to set
long-term goals by focusing on the whole learning and teaching process
instead of instant crises occurring in their classrooms. In this sense, it
focuses on understanding children, why they misbehave, and what mo-
tivates them to exhibit such disturbing behaviors. Basic philosophy, tools
and concepts of PD are clari"ed in the following subsections.

Activity1: Brainstorming about positive

discipline
Below are displayed the answers of the Turkish
EFL elementary school teachers (N= 20) to
the question: “What comes to your mind about
positive discipline in the classroom?” Answer
the question yourself and compare yours with
the teachers’ answers. Watch the video by
scanning the code to expand your knowledge.

131
 Procedure
!e instructor creates a mind map on the whiteboard by writing pos-
itive discipline as the main topic in the center of the map.&!en, pre-ser-
vice teachers are invited to come up with key words and write them by
adding branches to the map. Finally, they are expected to compare their
ideas which appeared on the board to the practicing teachers’ answers to
explore some tenets of PD discussed in the chapter.
3.1. Encouragement
Teachers need to empower students by accepting and supporting
their e%orts regardless of whether their outcomes are well-accomplished
or not. Unlike praise, encouragement requires teachers to give uncondi-
tioned support even when students have not "nished with the task but
have been giving e%ort to complete it. Encouraging teachers are those
who cooperate with the students by o%ering choices and involving them
in decision-making processes; indicate that they notice their e%orts in
changing their behavior; invite children to brainstorm about negative
and positive actions occurring in the classroom to help them recognize
the connections between their good or bad feelings toward their actions;
monitor the class well and try to encourage an individual to motivate his/
her improved behavior. Teachers should produce sentences like: “I am so
proud of how kind you are.”, “I believe in you. You can solve this prob-
lem.”, “Good job! Keep trying”. “Wow, I’m so happy you have been so
silent until I come.” (Nelsen et al., 2009).

132
 3.2. Mistaken Goals (Hat Messages to Break the Code of
Misbehaviors)
It is important to reveal children’s mistaken beliefs behind their mis-
behaviors. !us, teachers need to decode their hat messages correctly as
indicated in the "gure below.
Notice me! Let me help! I’m hurting! Don’t give up on
Involve me. Give me Validate my me! Show me a
choices. feelings small step

Undue Attention Misguided Revenge Assumed

Power Inadequacy
Figure 3.1. Hat messages behind children’s misbehaviors (Nelson et al., 2009).

Children might need to feel belonging that is re$ected in their tak-

ing undue attention instead of seeking useful and constructive attention.
Teachers should be both "rm by sending the message “I do not agree on
your mistaken belief that you need undue attention” and kind by send-
ing the message “I care about you and will give my respectful attention”.
Moreover, we can assign some jobs to increase belonging. To overcome
misguided power, teachers can get help from children to set a few reason-
able limits to direct them from negative to positive power. If a child seeks
revenge, use re$ective listening without getting the behavior personally.
In the case of assumed inadequacy, di%erentiate the task until the child
experiences success in the set task, build up his/her interests and show
faith, and encourage (Nelsen et al., 2009).
3.3. Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a state of one’s mind that is very $exible depending on
the moment or his/her beliefs regarding that moment. Whether students
have low or high self-esteem might be changed by what they are expe-
riencing in the classroom or what is being told to them regarding their
competences, values, and feelings. Learners need to improve their percep-
tions of personal capabilities, power, and their signi"cance in their pri-
mary relationships besides developing intrapersonal, interpersonal, and
judgment skills. !us, teachers should enable learners to practice these
skills and absorb attitudes to build a healthy self-esteem by asking several
133
“what”, “how”, and “why” questions to show interest in students’ thoughts
and feelings. In addition, teachers might train learners that mistakes are
great opportunities for them to learn new things and help them notice
how it is important to struggle for development not for perfection. Ad-
ditionally, the more learners feel respected and motivated to learn a for-
eign language, the more they focus on long-term goals and improve their
self-esteem in learning a foreign language (Muthmainnah, 2021)
3.4. Rewards and Punishments versus Control and Limits via
Follow-Through
Teachers can follow a punishment/rewards system which provides
external control on students’ misbehaviors. !is system might work for
some time as rewards might motivate their good behavior and punish-
ment can stop their misbehavior immediately. However, this short-term
solution might reveal negative long-run results for a child such as be-
coming a rebellious person who might use their power negatively in their
future lives. Furthermore, this reward-punishment system does not help
children develop self-regulative skills in managing their behavior. As
Bennett (2020) stressed, norms and routines (classroom limits) should be
explicitly and patiently taught, retaught, enforced and positively and sup-
portively reinforced in classrooms in which students misbehave less and
behave well more. At "rst, teachers need to decide to give up control over
students and use questioning more to solve problems together with stu-
dents collaboratively and cooperatively by showing mutual respect. !us,
this implicit training through class meetings helps students become more
responsible, self-disciplined, and self-controlled learners by experiencing
positive power and developing their inner strength and life skills (Nelsen
et al., 2009).
With this object in mind, setting classroom rules in the "rst week of
the school year is not a bad technique at all to learn a foreign language (FL)
in an e%ective, safe and secure classroom atmosphere. Alter and Haydon
(2017) highlighted the key features of classroom rules as: teaching class-
room rules in an explicit and e%ective way through recitation, classroom
discussion, or through modeling of examples and nonexamples; having
contingent consequences for classroom rules; displaying rules publicly
with visual support; setting only four items regarding the desired behav-
iors which are phrased positively to be remembered easily; and cooperat-
ing with students during the formulation of rules by brainstorming about
positive and negative behaviors (role-playing good and evil behaviors),
discussing about the purposes for setting the limits, reaching consensus
on the resulting rules by assigning titles as “Our Rules”, and getting ap-
proval from students by making this process concrete via their signature,
134
"nger/hand printing etc. If limits and guidelines are realistic, fair, and
well-de"ned, they stand for a “safety net” within which they can behave
(Pierangelo, 2016).
Working with the mutually created management system, students
might behave within the class boundaries besides developing self-control,
responsibility, cooperation, and problem-solving skills. Students feel safe
if they know their limits and tend to avoid misbehavior in order not to
have negative experiences (the predetermined limits serve as negative re-
inforcement). If the system does not work, the reasons should be discussed
in class meetings. As the teacher encourages learners via follow-through
with kindness and "rmness to indicate that s/he believes in the child’s
ability to work and respect the system in which punishment is not con-
sidered as a solution (Nelsen & Gfroere, 2017), students who misbehave
might eventually show these exemplary behaviors through negative and
positive reinforcement.
3.5. Firmness and Kindness
Since children learn through modeling, teachers should be good
models in order to teach them how to behave toward people. Students
treat one another gently only if teachers treat them with kindness. Chil-
dren can feel that they are cared for if teachers design a lesson including
child-appropriate activities with attractive materials, integrate humor,
listen to them attentively by giving importance to their thoughts and
feelings, and involve them in decision-making processes. Furthermore,
teachers should moderate their tone of voice that a%ects the message giv-
en to children, and talk at children’s eye level. However, "rmness is also
required not to reveal excessive permissiveness. !e expression used by
Bennett (2020) re$ects this idea very well “boundaries without love is tyr-
anny, but love without boundaries is indulgence”. Despite being challeng-
ing, teachers with their sense and intuition should balance "rmness by
being connected with the class positively.
3.6. Punitive -Time- Out versus Positive-Time-Out (Cooling
off time)
Being a mother of two kids, I have observed and experienced several
times that children have di(culty in regulating their emotions, particu-
larly their anger, stress, and sadness which can sometimes be re$ected as
physical violence towards a person or an item, having a temper tantrum,
weeping inwardly, or weeping a $ood of tears. Do not panic! !is is the
sign of their frustration and lack of skills in using their conscious mind.
!ey cannot focus on solving their problems without calming down.

135
Similarly, when a student is alienated and excluded from the rest of the
classroom by being labeled as a troublemaker, this evokes alienation that
a%ects students’ lives negatively (Hambacher, 2018). Imagine how you
would feel if you were forced and told, “Go to time out corner to think
about your misbehavior.” Besides missing some parts of the lesson, stu-
dents might feel bad, have high-level stress and a sense of low-self-esteem
regarding themselves and their personal capabilities.
On the other hand, positive-time-out, as a nonpunitive and demo-
cratic discipline strategy, aims to help children regulate their emotions
and cope with stressful situations to better use their problem solving and
con$ict resolution skills. Rather than being sent there, students should be
allowed to choose to go to their time-out space when they need to. Taking
the role of being a coach, a teacher can teach students how to calm down
to help them activate their rational brains. Accordingly, as suggested by
Gfroerer et al. (2013), teachers can work with children to design a class-
room space where they can "nd some comfort objects such as a stress ball
to play with, colorful crayons and blank papers for drawing or writing,
soft toys to hug besides a cooling o% cube on each side of which one way of
cooling down is written or shown such as counting on the abacus, taking
deep breaths, practicing mindful breathing boards, and positive self-talk.
Once they manage to calm down, they discover their own self-soothing
skills as well. Furthermore, the study by Kim et al. (2020), revealed that
putting foliage plants in an environment where elementary school stu-
dents do their tasks increases their concentration and emotional states
in a positive way. !erefore, teachers can place this kind of plant to help
students increase their attention span.
3.7. Social Interests and Jobs for Everyone in the classroom
In all communities including classrooms, it is very vital to balance
individual rights and group rights. Being bonded with members of a class
may not be very easy for some students. !us, teachers should back up
those students and provide opportunities to increase their belonging to
the class community. !ere are thousands of activities EFL teachers inte-
grate to increase sense of connectedness, such as singing songs and doing
actions together with classmates, involving them in storytelling and fol-
low up drama activities, cooperative games involving solving problems as
a product outcome.
Furthermore, an individual, as a responsible citizen, has a high degree
of social interest to contribute to the community in socially useful ways
to become involved (Nelsen, 2011). Teachers should share the responsibil-
ities for doing classroom chores with their students by assigning tasks to
.
136
promote class connectedness, and to contribute to the class community
in a positive and meaningful way. Some age-appropriate classroom jobs
on the chore wheel below are reported by Turkish EFL elementary school
teachers to increase students’ self-e(cacy and self-reliance. In addition,
the jobs can be $exible and new jobs can be added at the request of stu-
dents.

Figure 3.2. Jobs for everyone

3.8. Mistakes and Problem Solving

Problem solving is one of the key 21st century skills that learners need
to develop. !us, when a problem occurs in the classroom, teachers should
provide opportunities for learners to explore the situations by scrutinizing
possible reasons for the problem besides discussing how others are a%ected
by the situation, and suggesting preventative solutions for the future. If
teachers do not welcome mistakes, learners might perceive them as shame-
ful. In this way, students who feel a sense of low esteem and shame might
"nd excuses or blame someone else, hide their mistakes or tell lies about
them, hesitate to take risks for fear of making mistakes, and think that
they are not good enough because of being imperfect. As Nelsen (2011)
emphasized, children do not display improved behaviors when they feel
worse, and they become distant and hostile instead. On the other hand, if
137
teachers react to mistakes normally by creating a safe environment where stu-
dents experience responsibility, resilience, and integrity, they learn how to re-
alize their mistakes that hurt others and take responsibility for their mistakes
by feeling the short-time embarrassment but without blame or shame. Students
need to be guided and encouraged to self-assess their behaviors without impos-
ing solutions. !us, teachers should cooperate and collaborate with students to
reach consensus on the solution. !ey should identify and analyze a problem,
try to make sense of how the problem a%ects others and o%er as many solutions
as possible to be able to pick one of them that works for everyone, try the solu-
tion for a while to observe whether it works, and if it does not work, start the
process again (Nelsen & Gfroerer, 2017). Achieving solving their own problems,
students take their inner locus of control, develop skills for self-discipline, re-
sponsibility, resilience, and improve their self-con"dence (Nelsen et al., 2009).
3.9. Take Time for Training
Do our students learn academic skills in a vacuum? Of course they do not.
And yet, how can we expect them to learn socially acceptable skills all at once?
It takes time for children to grow socially, and it takes much more time to get
along well with others for children who receive wrong modeling from their
parents, and who are being exposed to improper stimulation by the media.
Since children learn through experience, the school and classroom environ-
ment should be a supportive social environment where everybody can practice
daily to develop skills to behave kindly and respectfully to one another. !us,
allocating time to train students for various classroom routines is essential. For
instance, without being educated, misbehaving students tend to be involved in
the class meeting process by blaming others and avoiding accountability for
fear of being punished.
3.10. Class Meetings and Family Conferences:
Teachers need to schedule a regular class (ideal one: once a week) depend-
ing on the realities of their teaching context to enable students to make their
voice heard by teachers and friends, give compliments, plan events, solve prob-
lems collaboratively, and help one another. A visible and accessible class agenda
should be placed in the classroom so that students can list any kind of challenge
they experience to discuss during class meetings. Students should be trained
to respect di%erences and help each other by o%ering helpful solutions instead
of punitive ones. !e child will get to know her friend better and can realize
the beliefs behind their friends’ behaviors. While discussing misbehaviors they
can set brainstorming and role play the current event/s. During class meetings
children should be invited to notice how capable they are and to use their pow-
er constructively to contribute to their class community (Nelsen & Gfroerer,
2017).
138
 Furthermore, involving parents is very crucial to share the responsi-
bilities for empowering students to develop their life skills besides their
academic skills. Choose a practical way to get in touch with students’ par-
ents and let them be aware of some ways to get in touch with you (do not
forget to set your personal boundaries).
4. Positive Psychology
Do you think that making kids happier might increase their academ-
ic success in English? Did any of your previous EFL teachers address your
emotional development by integrating PP? Adler (2016) indicated that
young people with higher well-being did better in their academic courses.
!us, building the good should be considered primarily as well as proper-
ly correcting the misbehavior. In this respect, focusing on PP is very vital
to unveil the realms of the classroom in the sense of both the teacher and
the learner.
Activity 2: Brainstorming about positive
psychology
!e Turkish elementary school teachers (N=21)
were asked to answer the question “What comes
to your mind about positive psychology in the
classroom?” !eir answers are given below as a
word cloud. Watch the video by scanning the code
to expand your knowledge.

139
 Procedure
!e pre-service teachers are asked to think about the way of integrat-
ing psychology in education in a positive way. Accordingly, the instruc-
tor asks their beliefs and views about positive psychology in education to
conduct a whole class discussion on the issue. !e instructor categorizes
their answers and, the practicing teachers’ answers by considering the "ve
elements of PP explained in the chapter to help learners gain some in-
sights into PP.
!e classroom, which is a microcosm of the great project of society
and civilization, should be run smoothly by making the expected behav-
iors clear and explicit and deciding the way of directing children’s minds
(Bennett, 2020, p. 26). Similar to PD, PP teaches children to give impor-
tance to friendship and helpfulness, welcome problems by resolving con-
$icts through critical thinking, reach consensus by making ethically cor-
rect decisions, which leads to increased academic performance as well.
Teachers might adopt and implement the PP either as a discrete subject
that is in line with the academic content to advance it or directly inte-
grating the PP lesson into the curriculum. Although it is more likely for
class teachers to place PP as a standalone course to pursue the goals of PP,
the preceding one is more applicable for EFL teachers working in Turkish
state elementary schools.
Prioritizing the emotional aspect of learning, Seligman and Csiksz-
entmihalyi (2014) reported some ways of integrating positive psychology
in classrooms such as class meetings, meditation, relaxation, a(rmations,
creative thinking, journal writing etc. to enable children bene"t from
self-comfort and momentum. !ey also suggested teaching the principles
of PP via positive psychology games called ‘I accept’. Younger children
can get tokens for each sentence and older children can track and graph
the number of times they hear the words. “I accept that it will rain today
so no outside recess.” “I accept the apology.” In his theory of well-being,
Seligman (2011) elucidated "ve elements of well-being that are denoted by
the acronym PERMA referring to Positive Emotion, Engagement, Rela-
tionships, Meaning, and Accomplishment.
4.1. Positive Emotion
Schools are the primary places where the values of a culture are in-
stilled in young people. To the extent that teachers convey pessimism,
distrust, and a tragic outlook on life, their students’ worldview will be
thus fabricated. To the extent that teachers transmit optimism, trust, and
a hopeful sense of the future, this will positively in$uence their students’
perception of the world (Seligman, 2019).
140
 A well-equipped teacher should possess self-management skills,
which are supposed to be modeled by YLs who are expected to manage
themselves and behave properly. Teachers’ reactions towards students’
misbehaviors depend on how they perceive multidimensional, simulta-
neous, fast-moving events (manageable or stress inducing) and available
resources (McCarthy et al., 2015). Based on his transactional theories of
stress and coping, Lazarus (2000) explained that if an individual evalu-
ates an event (primary appraisal) as signi"cant based on one’s values, goal
commitments, beliefs about self and world, and situational intentions and
potentially negative they perceive it as demanding. A person with goal
commitment strives hard to attain the goal and takes actions to resolve
the problem. If they think that they could cope with a disturbing situa-
tion via their available resources, they perceive it as a challenge and they
respond positively. If they perceive an event that cannot be dealt with by
using their resources, they perceive it as a threat and they follow a reactive
approach and respond in a stressful way such as yelling (McCarthy et al.,
2015).
!erefore, instead of focusing on students’ misbehaviors that cause
stress, teachers should focus on increasing their awareness of self-percep-
tions and types of emotions (negative or positive) pertaining to the events
to achieve self-management. Once teachers monitor their own emotions
and behaviors by cultivating their inner con"dence, they can cope with
several di(cult situations that require sensitive intervention. Upon choos-
ing their coping strategies (problem/ emotional/ social focused), a person
might be oriented by the self or the environment (Lazarus, 2011). When
teachers perceive events as disappointment, dissatisfaction, restlessness,
and even helplessness, they had better try to apperceive the matters via
slowing down their lives and creating private time for them to do self-re-
$ection to have strong self-identity and self-awareness besides doing med-
itation to become more optimistic and move from anger to calmer and
positive state to regulate their emotions. Furthermore, as underlined by
Folkman (2010), teachers can become more mindful teachers via breath-
ing and meditation to alter their negative emotions. Alternatively, they
can follow social-focused strategies by "nding a teacher, coworker, or su-
pervisor from whom they can get practical support to share and deal with
the unpleasant situations.
Without discovering the blind spots in our lives, we cannot fully
know the reasons for our negative reactions at the time of crisis, which
we may regret later. !at is why it is extremely important for teachers who
touch human life to embark on a journey of self-discovery. Below is given
a task to help you start your own journey.

141
 Activity 3: Regulating emotions
!is activity aims to help learners to notice the significance
of becoming aware of their own feelings, emotions, and
behaviors as a first step in regulating their emotions.
Accordingly, they are asked when they are not emotionally
resilient, lack patience and do things that they regret later.

Procedure
!e instructor wants pre-service students to close their eyes for a
short time, "rstly to scan their lives to identify any feelings, emotions,
and behaviors (such as stress, being tired, and sleepless) that have caused
negative experiences in their lives. Secondly, they are motivated to think
about how they can nurture the parts that they need to heal to regulate
their emotions. Later, some volunteers are encouraged to share their heal-
ing techniques. Finally, the instructor expects learners to explain how the
techniques shared by learners are related to the principles of PD and PP.
!ere is a link between students’ welfare and their behaviors. !e
more they feel a sense of belonging and connectedness with the teacher
and peers, the less socially risky behaviors they show in the classroom.
Furthermore, positive emotions such as school success (sense of pride)
might provoke accomplishment, which might lead to classroom manage-
ment self-e(cacy (Seligman, 2011). Likewise, the more isolation, stress,
humiliation, and alienation they experience, the more they behave in an
unacceptable manner. !erefore, they need adult’s guidance (parents at
home, teachers in the classrooms, administrators and personnel in the
school, siblings in immediate environments) to improve their abilities
to control their disorders and become self-regulated. Happy classrooms
could be created via integrating mindfulness-based techniques (e.g.:
meditation based on breathing and walking; body scan exercises derived
from yoga, tai chi, chi kung; mindful eating; enjoying a picture or mu-
sic; choosing and performing everyday tasks mindfully) as explained by
Alzina and Paniello (2017): “at the beginning of a class in any subject
or area; at times of commotion in the classroom or a disruption to the
working environment; in the transition from one activity to another one
that requires more concentration; and restoring calm after a very “lively”
activity (after recess, after PE class or music, etc.). Teachers try to make
them the routines and habits of the classroom to enhance the well-being
of teachers and students.
!e use of stories makes students’ voices heard and provides connec-
tion (Yeigh, 2020). Teachers can bene"t from a story via which students
notice desirable features of human beings and seek some positive ways
142
to "nd meaning and purpose in the world. Children can detect people’s
sadness from the videos including a variety of emotional clues such as
facial expression, voice, body posture, and movement while they rely on
still faces to identify anger (Nelson et al., 2013). !e study by Alrabai and
Alamer (2022) indicated that learner emotions, particularly boredom and
enjoyment directly in$uenced L2 resilience. !us, teachers who desire to
enhance student resilience need to blend education and entertainment
into their classrooms, regulate their emotions, and balance their roles of
authority and caring to have loving discipline besides creating classroom
community.
4.2. Engagement
Teachers should encode and decode non-verbal messages of the chil-
dren who are not engaging to connect, re-connect with students in a pos-
itive manner. Younger children tend to "dget, talk to friends, jump, or
wander around whereas older ones tend to slump in their seats, yawn,
"ddle with their pens and pencils, and avoid eye-contact (Yeigh, 2020).
As mentioned by Egeberg et al. (2016), creating, implementing, and main-
taining a caring environment requires teachers to plan for possible chal-
lenges, establish rules and consequences, focus on students’ positive be-
haviors to support them, redirect their challenging behaviors, and to o%er
students options to reach consensus on instructional goals. Since organ-
izing themselves is very di(cult for YLs, setting classroom routines and
procedures regarding when and how to do any particular activity is of ut-
most importance. My classroom observation of primary schools through-
out the practicum revealed that YLs need more support when doing art-
craft activities as they require to manage several materials. If teachers do
not have a well-planned lesson consisting of child-appropriate activities
with smooth transition rather than abrupt transition, it becomes chal-
lenging for students to engage in the activities. Behavior problems can be
eliminated when students are engaged in well-designed activities as they
focus on the task.
Although decorating a classroom with a variety of pictorial and writ-
ten input (to create peripheral learning) is e%ective in terms of exposure
to the target language, providing large amounts of stimuli results in pov-
erty of children’s attention as they might have di(culty in dealing with
lots of information sources (Rossini, 2021). As a problem-focused strate-
gy, students should be more engaged both to reveal more fruitful learning
outcomes, and to decrease their possible misbehaviors due to being bored.
It is evident that the more students are engaged meaningfully, the less
teachers experience burnout (Covell et al., 2009).

143
 4.3. Relationships
Building a positive teacher-student relationship is of great signi"-
cance for teacher job satisfaction and well-being besides students’ mo-
tivation and learning (Claessens, 2017). !e relationship starts with a
teacher’s "rst step into the classroom when students observe the teacher’s
facework, a term used in sociology (Go%man, 1973), feel the reaction of
their bodies because of the teacher’s gesture, mimicry, tone of voice, pace,
stress and intonation. Some teachers deliberately construct their images
as strict, authoritarian, and intimidating as they focus more on learning
rather than learner or they tend to hide their inadequacies/fears regarding
their teaching and management skills. !ey might believe that controlling
intimidated learners would be easier. Conversely, believing the impor-
tance of nurturing a positive classroom atmosphere, some teachers could
be sympathetic and sensitive, and they display friendly, non-threatening,
and caring manners. A teacher can display images of both caring and au-
thority depending on circumstances in the classroom. In this sense, being
a balanced teacher can be a solution to establish not only loving but also
positive discipline.
Since learners build a bond with their teachers either positively or
negatively depending on their facework and actions, teachers need to be
careful about the messages they send via their self-presentation. Teach-
er and student actions complement each other. As mentioned by Mar-
tin et al. (2016), warm and caring teacher actions may arouse students’
respect whereas humiliated and unpleased teacher actions may trigger
student misbehaviors as a result of a spiral of negative interaction. !us,
this bidirectional relationship should be managed by teachers positively
via creating classrooms where students feel accepted, important, cared-
for, respected, and never ignored. !is relationship is built on trust that
is built on mutually predictable behaviors that become norms and rou-
tines in classrooms (Bennett, 2020). Teachers enable students to interact
with them in some detachable manner, or just by ful"lling learning goals
more con"dently (Yan, 2019). Students get the intended messages of their
teachers from their facial expressions, gestures, mimicry, tone of voice
and intonation despite not receiving any negative message verbally, which
leads to destroying trust in a relationship between them. Hence, teachers
should be careful about sending the correct message to build positive rap-
port in the classroom (Yeigh, 2020).
In Turkey context, the relationship management-related problems
were reported by Akın et al. (2016) as "ghts and complaints of students,
jealousy among students for teacher’s care, and di(culty in ensuring an
equal distance in relationships with all students. Teachers desire to mold
144
their students to adapt their beliefs, values and behaviors. However, there
appear individual di%erences among learners in terms of various aspects
including their temperaments, so that teachers should respect students’
points of views and be curious about who their learners are. McClow-
ry (2014) underlined the importance of following a temperament-based
classroom management approach through which teachers might interpret
their students’ behaviors due to becoming aware of the major tenets of
temperament. In this way, teachers do not consider their students as in-
tentionally misbehaving. Instead, they might "gure out why they misbe-
have at certain times. Once teachers build positive relationships in their
classrooms, teachers do not overestimate students’ $eeting minor misbe-
haviors and students become eager to comply with the teachers’ classroom
limits. !us, instead of tangling with students, teachers should make an
e%ort to develop positive rapport with them.
4.4. Meaning
Why should we "nd meaning in our lives? Why should teachers "nd
meaning in their jobs? Why do elementary students need to "nd mean-
ing in being in schools, in classrooms, and involved in activities? Once a
person "nds what makes his/her life worth living such as the family, job,
success, money, friends, traveling etc., s/he becomes more motivated to
thrive. !ree criteria such as autonomy, complexity, and connection were
identi"ed by Gladwell (2008) to consider work satisfying, and thus mean-
ingful for a person. Whether our work ful"lls us in terms of e%ort and re-
ward is more important than how much money we make. Being a teacher
is meaningful as it meets the three criteria. A teacher who is satis"ed with
his job by perceiving it meaningful needs to identify some reasons for be-
ing happy as a teacher. If teachers become happy and resilient as they step
into their classrooms where they make connections with their students
and give their best support for their learning, children are more likely to
"nd meaning in their classrooms. !ose teachers generally do re$ection
on how well they are currently teaching and seek opportunities to make
the teaching process more valuable and meaningful for their learners.
Selignman (2012) highlighted the importance of teaching well-being
in school to get rid of depression, feel life satisfaction, produce broader
attention, and contribute to better learning and more creative thinking.
Imbuing students with the elements of positive psychology in schools re-
quires teachers to be equipped with the techniques to be used in their
lives at "rst. !ey are later taught how to teach the principles to children.
Believing that "nding meaning in English courses is concerned with stu-
dents’ well-being, elementary students from di%erent schools and cities
(N= 15) were asked to share the moments they feel happy in their Eng-
145
lish courses. !ey stated that they are happy when they participate, play
games/ games on the smart board, go out to the school garden, have vo-
cabulary competition with their friends, do coloring activities, watch vid-
eos, laugh together at their mistakes, move to a new unit, and learn new
vocabulary. Teachers who desire to set meaning into the lesson should
collect data from their students regarding the activities that make stu-
dents happy.
4.5. Accomplishment.
Observing some successful students, it would not be an exaggeration
to state that feeling the sense of success is a kind of addiction for them.
!e more they feel a sensation of accomplishment, the more motivated
they become to give their e%ort to do well at any subject in their schools.
Hence, teachers need to assign tasks or projects through which students
enhance their sense of accomplishment. !e completion of the assigned
task does not have to be perfect or entire, but must enable students to feel
good about themselves and their capabilities. Once an individual gains
self-con"dence in his/her own ability due to a sense of achievement, s/he
will desire the continuation of this feeling. !us, s/he tries to do his/her
best to complete the whole task or at least to contribute to a part of it. On
the other hand, if the assignment requires excellence and does not pro-
vide small parts that can be completed step by step, students who have not
experienced a sense of accomplishment yet might stop trying to struggle
with the task as the emotion that drives them is missing. With regard to
enhancing a sense of achievement, Pierangelo (2016) suggested the fol-
lowing steps:
• Have parents check homework every night so that all assign-
ments are complete when the child comes to school.
• Provide tasks, in whatever form possible, that allow for the high-
est chance of accomplishment and closure.
• Provide assignments, projects, and tasks in such a way as to con-
trol successful outcomes.
• Have students use a step-by-step approach to tasks and assign-
ments so that they can feel successful at the completion of every
step.
• Provide su(cient time for students to complete work or extra
time for students who need it. Remember a sense of accomplish-
ment is the key.
• Give students a checklist of work they have completed rather
than lists of work they need to complete.
146
 Students need to become aware of their strengths and abilities. As un-
derlined by Yeigh (2020), teachers can promote students’ strength-aware-
ness by setting brainstorming sessions, where teachers can ask them to
identify their personal strengths by focusing on only positive aspects in
terms of their character, social, and mental strengths.
5. Problems and Solutions
In 2012 English started to be taught in Turkish elementary schools
from second grade onwards; however, it was placed into the curriculum
as a two-hour lesson per week. Since developing social-emotional skills
takes as much time as developing linguistics and academic skills, elemen-
tary English teachers may not be expected to follow every principle of the
PD alone due to limited time, crowded classrooms, di(culty in setting
regular class meetings with every class (particularly in schools with mul-
tiple classes), lack of knowledge or desire to create PD classrooms. How-
ever, they can be the parts of the system by contributing as much as they
can via collaborating class teachers. !e following suggestions are for EFL
elementary school teachers to create PD classrooms:
• Identify common misbehavior types to put in the class agenda
and cooperate with the class teachers to identify the problems
speci"c to the English course,
• Use problems as contexts of di%erent activities and let students
solve the problems by giving them purposes for the activities,
• Choose one of the most common problems as a plot of a digital
story and "nish the story with con$ict resolution. Design a post
story activity by which children can o%er di%erent solutions for
the problem.
• Choose one of the most common problems as a plot of a picture
story book and invite students to answer your questions not only
to practice the target words or repetitive chunks but also to invite
students to think critically to solve the problem/s integrated into
the story plot.
• Integrate poems including caring roles of the teachers respecting
and helping each other etc., to increase the class connection.
• Class and English teachers should be united in their methods of
classroom management. Unless they cooperate well with each
other, implementing some of the principles of PD might be chal-
lenging for English teachers (Classroom limits can be set jointly
involving students and both class and English teachers).

147
 • Class teachers can design class meetings by putting the challeng-
es that are experienced in English course into the agenda,
• English teachers should be intentional about communicating con-
stantly with class teachers (face-to-face or via creating WhatsApp
groups) to act together regarding student-based problems.
• Class teachers can invite English teachers to the class events such
as the celebration of domestic goods week etc. to provide class
connection.
• English teachers can adapt some coursebook activities to increase
the sense of class community. (For instance: one of the activities
in unit 3 in the 2nd grade student book is making a ‘thank you’
card. !us, one of our alumni who is working in a state elemen-
tary school in -anlıurfa decided to have students prepare ‘thank
you’ cards for their class teachers. !is helps to enhance their
communication).
Examine the stories that emerged from Turkish EFL elementary
classrooms in Bursa and discuss the solutions. O%er alternative solutions
by following the tenets of PD and PP:
Story 1: 3rd grade students from a state school constantly talk to
themselves or their friends during the lesson. Solution: !e idea of Ben-
nett (2020, p.128) might work for this problem. Clarify what normal vol-
ume sounds like in di%erent situations: Silent voice – a voice in your head
only you can hear/Partner voice – a voice only your partner can hear/
Table voice – a voice only your table can hear/Class voice – a voice the
whole class can hear
Story 2: !e 4th grade student from a private school sometimes
throws some classroom items out the window. Solution: Investigate mis-
taken beliefs of the child by way of re$ective listening. He feels revenge,
desperation, and helplessness as the student has a mentally disordered
brother who always throws his items at home. !us, the student can be
taught some strategies to regulate his emotions.
Story 3: 4th grade students from a state school were verbally argu-
ing. During a listening activity, student A (a boy) suddenly spoke out,
which distracts the attention of student B (a girl) for whom accomplishing
everything perfectly is a kind of addiction. After a short oral discussion,
he throws a temper tantrum. Solution: Student A with a temper tantrum
might go to the positive time-out corner to calm down via utilizing one of
the techniques such as mindful breathing board and playing with a stress

148
ball etc. Regarding the concept of accomplishment, teachers can praise all
e%ort children give to complete the given task.
Conclusion
Classroom management is a very complex phenomenon that sever-
al interrelated aspects such as the learner, the teacher, and the culture
should be considered to create an e%ective system. Teachers might choose
the most useful classroom management system based on their beliefs, pri-
orities, knowledge, and teaching contexts. !e fact remains that, integrat-
ing PD and PP into the classrooms would make di%erences not only in
teachers’ teaching environments but also their lives out of school. Imple-
menting all the interrelated dimensions of PD and PP precisely in Turkish
state elementary classrooms determines the success of this philosophy in
classroom management. However, within the complexity of the realms
of the classroom, some teachers and students might consider integration
of PD and PP into classroom setting helpful whereas others might "nd it
harmful due to the di%erences in their understanding of discipline and
wellbeing.
Teachers need to be certain of whether they have the willingness to
utilize this system wholeheartedly to enhance students’ wellbeing and
also the life-skills which might have signi"cant impact on their academic
achievement. !us, they need to examine to what extent PD and PP may
align with their school’s mission, vision, objectives, and values. If PD and
PP were to spread through our classrooms, homes, schools, and in the end
our world to all, it would be easier to behave well, get on well with peo-
ple, and become happier individuals. !us, it becomes more e%ective if it
evolves into a school-wide system. Even if this does not happen, teachers
should be willing to do their best to establish the system by believing that
everything starts with a small spark, and trying to do their best is bet-
ter than doing nothing. In short, teachers should take care of themselves
both physically and mentally in order not to ruin their positive mood and
resort to short-term solutions. We need classrooms in which teachers and
learners are treated with dignity, respect, and faith in their abilities by
suggesting some important skills that an individual can utilize not only
in the classrooms but also in every area of their lives. Accordingly, besides
integrating PD into TEYL’ classrooms, PP should also be considered to set
an e%ective classroom management system.

149
Discussion Questions

1. As a prospective language teacher, which concepts in PD are you in favor of

to create your own classroom management system? Why?

2. What might be the limitations of Turkish EFL teachers to follow PP to

manage their classrooms?
3. Do you think that Turkish EFL teachers are ready to implement the
philosophy of positive discipline and positive psychology? Why?

Out-of-Class Tasks

1. Out-of-Class Task 1: Individuals interpret contexts and cultures di%erently

based on their connection across time and space to multiple contexts, past,
present, and future (Mercer, 2018). A person’s psychological system could
be de"ned by these multiple contexts. Hence, teachers need to consider
not only in-class but also out-of-class factors that a%ect their learners’
psychology in parallel with their behaviors. !e following list of behavior
challenges given in the left column was formed by Nelsen et al. (2011) by
asking teachers from di%erent countries all around the world, whereas the
list on the right column was formed by the researcher by asking Turkish
EFL elementary school teachers to share the behavior challenges they
frequently experience (N = 21). As a group, examine the lists and try to
identify common and local behavior challenges by completing the Venn
diagram below. Discuss the role of culture in shaping children’s behaviors.
2. Out-of-Class Tasks 2: In the Turkish elementary school context, child-
related classroom management problems were reported as “not having
initial early childhood education, speaking Turkish as a second language,
having single parents, changing several elementary teachers, school
transfers, migration and adaptation to a new class setting, and inclusive
students’ special needs” (Akın et al., 2016). As a group task, considering
the aforementioned problems, conduct a semi-structured interview with
an elementary EFL teacher and prepare a report for the solutions you have
learnt and try to o%er alternative solutions as a group.
3. Out-of-Class Tasks 3: !e environment is generally associated with the
temperature, class space, class size, and the arrangements of materials and
furniture, particularly seating arrangements. !e physical environment
might have direct and indirect e%ects on how teachers manage the class.
Students’ misbehaviors may be experienced more in crowded classrooms
where limited class space is available and physical proximity to peers is
inevitable. Besides this direct e%ect, if an environment is dull, not decorated
with interesting, colorful, e%ective, and goal-oriented visual and written
input, students might have di(culties keeping their attention, which
might yield disruptive behaviors due to the indirect e%ects of the physical
environment. In any case, ambitious teachers try to do their best to create
a conducive learning and teaching environment. !us, create your dream
EFL classroom by drawing a picture by hand or by using computer software
(use the frame in Appendix B). Consider seating arrangement, display
classroom limits with visuals, place classroom jobs for everyone chart, and
decorate a positive time-out corner.

150
 Appendix A. Out-of-Class Task 1
Universal Behavior Challenges Local Behavior Challenges
1. Not listening 1. Talking without getting permission
2. Talking back 2. Not listening
3. Lack of motivation 3. Sleeping in the class
4. Use of foul language 4. Dirty classrooms
5. Interrupting 5. Homework problems
6. Homework problems 6. Use of foul language
7. Tardiness 7. Eating in the classroom
8. Sleeping in class 8. Tardiness
9. Fighting 9. Bullying
10. Whining 10. Teasing
11. Temper tantrums 11. Playing with toys/ cards etc.
12. Constant texting 12. Emotional confusion (temper
13. Media addiction tantrum, laughing, or weeping "t)
14. De"ance 13. Running in the class
15. Strong will
16. Bullying

Appendix B. Out-of-Class Task 3

USEFUL SIGHTS: FREDRIC JONES

151
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 Chapter 8
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES: INTELLIGENCE,
STYLE, STRATEGIES, AUTONOMY AND
LIFELONG LEARNING

Dr. Carol GRIFFITHS and Dr. Birsen TÜTÜNİŞ

Before reading (Pre-chapter) questions

1. What are the individual di%erences?
2. Do individual di%erences matter in teaching young
learners? Why? Why not?
3. How can language teachers consider individual
di%erences in their teaching practices?

What we will see in this chapter : At the end of the chapter, readers will be
able to:
• What are the individual di%erences?
• What are the intelligences? • define individual di%erences
• What are the learning styles? • define intelligences
• What are the learning strategies? • define learning styles
• How is the term autonımy defined? • understand learning strategies
• What is lifelong learning? • learn about autonomy/ self regulation
• How can teachers consider individual • learn about benefits of lifelong
di%erences in their teaching practices? learning
• learn about how to consider individual
di%erences in their teaching practices

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 Introduction
!e strategy concept was "rst brought to wide attention with the pub-
lication of Joan Rubin’s seminal article ‘ What the “good language learn-
er” can teach us’ (1975). In the same year, Stern’s (1975) similarly titled
‘What can we learn from the good language learner?’ was published. At
the time, probably few expected that these articles would sow the seeds
of controversies which would still be unresolved or only partly resolved
several decades later (Gri(ths, 2018, xii).
We still discuss how good language learners become good language
learners. Individual di%erences include di%erent intelligences, styles,
strategies and levels of autonomy which as a result create a variety of good
language learners. !ere are multiple ways in which this individuality is
manifest, of which in this chapter we will consider just four which are
commonly evident in any classroom including EFL classes: intelligence,
style, strategies and autonomy. We will also consider how such factors
may contribute to lifelong learning.
Key Terms: Multiple intelligences, Learning styles, Learning strate-
gies, Autonomy, Lifelong learning
Itelligence
.ntelligence testing has been commonplace over the years, and many
tests have been devised to measure it. Perhaps the best-known of these is
the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, originally published in 1916. !e
results of such tests have often been used to “stream” students, that is to
place them in classes among other students with similar test results. !e
justi"cation for this is that it allows for bright students to be given ma-
terial which promotes rapid progress without being held back by slower
students, while the slower students can be given the help they need and
allowed to work at their own pace. Controversy remains, however, regard-
ing exactly what such tests are measuring, the degree to which they can
accurately predict future achievement, or whether they merely tend to act
as a self-ful"lling prophecy.
!e picture becomes even more controversial if we include Gardner’s
(1983) theory of Multiple Intelligences. Since he believed that tradition-
al ideas of intelligence did not fully account for an individual’s abilities,
Gardner originally proposed seven “intelligences” in addition to the ex-
isting cognitive intelligence concept: musical-rhythmical, visual-spatial,
verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, interperson-
al, and intrapersonal. Later, naturalistic intelligence as well as existential
and moral intelligences were added.
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 • Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence: !e ability to control body
movements, to be aware of bodily space, and to handle objects skillfully
• Interpersonal intelligence: !e ability to understand and re-
spond appropriately to the moods, motivations, and needs of others
• Intrapersonal intelligence: !e ability to be self-aware and in
tune with inner feelings, values, beliefs, and thinking processes
• Logical-mathematical intelligence: !e ability to think logically
and abstractly, and to discern numerical relationships
• Musical-rhythmical intelligence: !e ability to appreciate and/
or produce rhythm and pitch
• Naturalistic intelligence: !e ability to recognize and appreciate
animals, plants, and other natural objects
• Verbal-linguistic intelligence: !e ability to recognize the mean-
ing of words and to communicate by means of linguistic signals
• Visual-spatial intelligence: !e ability to comprehend visual im-
ages and to understand spatial relationships
• Existential intelligence: !e capacity to consider the fundamen-
tal questions of existence
• Moral intelligence: !e ability to know right from wrong and to
act accordingly
Emotional intelligence, although it has become a popular contempo-
rary concept, was not originally included by Gardner among his multiple
intelligences. It was introduced by Beldoch and Davitz (1964) to describe
the ability to recognize one’s own emotions and to be sensitive to those
of others, to behave appropriately, and to adapt emotions and emotional
reactions according to the situation and the people involved.

Activity 1: Implementing Bodily-kinesthetic

intelligence activities into young learners’ classes
Young learners are quite active and most of them
possess bodily -kinesthetic intelligence. !erefore,
teachers need to keep them active during classes but
they need to arrange activities in such a way that a
settling activity should follow the stirring one.

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 Procedure
Teacher plays “Simon Says…” game while practicing the classroom
instructions such as; sit down, stand up, open the door, close the door,
touch the white board etc. !e teacher "rst plays it with a child. He/she
whispers into the child’s ear what to do in the native language, then they
play it. Teacher says: Simon Says open the door. !e child runs and opens
the door. Teacher says: Open the door. !e child does not do it. !e teach-
er gives the same instruction with “Simon says...” and the child does it.

Activity 2: Implementing Musical-rhythmical

intelligence, Verbal-linguistic intelligence, Visual-
spatial intelligence activities into young learners’
classes
Young learners love music. !ey learn many things easily
if they see and hear the new information in a song. !ey
sing along while they are playing and learning.

Procedure
Teacher brings in monkey masks and gives them to the students to
wear while they are watching the video with the song “Five little monkeys
jumping on the bed”. Students listen and sing, then they jump and they
act it out.
Activity 3: Implementing Naturalistic, Interpersonal
and Intrapersonal intelligence activities into young
learners’ classes
Young learners love nature. !ey learn the animals very
easily if we tell them short stories with animal characters.
!ey love talking about their pets. !ey can draw and
write about their pets and share them with their friends
if they like.
Procedure
Teacher brings in a rabbit puppet or toy. Tells the story of the rab-
bit and the tortoise. Shows them the video. !en the teacher gives out
the masks and tells the students to act out the story without talking, just
actions. !ey can then colour the rabbit and the tortoise in pairs or in
groups.
Learning style
Learning style, sometimes thought to be an aspect of personality, was
de"ned by Reid (1995) as “an individual’s natural, habitual and preferred
way(s) of absorbing, processing, and retaining new information and skills”
(p.viii). !e learning style concept has been recognized since at least the
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mid-70s and has inspired the production of multiple instruments aimed
at measuring it, including the Learning Style Inventory (Dunn, Dunn &
Price, 1975) the Learning Style Inventory (Kolb, 1976), !e Gregorc Style
Delineator (Gregorc, 1979), the Learning Styles Questionnaire (Honey &
Mumford, 1982), and the VARK (Fleming & Mills, 1992).
!ese inventories, however, were not speci"cally aimed at language
learning. !e "rst well-known language learning style questionnaire was
by Reid (1987) who developed the Perceptual Learning Style Preference
Questionnaire. !e PLSPQ was based on "ve modalities: visual (learn-
ing by seeing), auditory (learning by hearing), tactile (learning by touch-
ing), kinaesthetic (learning by moving) and individual/group preference.
Other style questionnaires speci"c to language learning include the Style
Analysis Survey (Oxford, 1993) and the Learning Style Survey (Cohen, Ox-
ford & Chi, 2002).
As we consider the multiple instruments designed to investigate the
learning style concept noted above, it is di(cult not to feel confused by
the ‘quagmire’ (Dörnyei, 2005) they present. Nevertheless, the style con-
cept has retained its appeal as a potential means of enhancing the learn-
ing experience for a range of students by allowing them to pursue their
studies according to their own individual characteristics.
Learning style is generally considered to be a relatively stable learner
characteristic (e.g. Nel, 2008), but according to Oxford (2011) learning
styles “are not set in stone”. Reid (1987) agrees that learning styles “can be
modi"ed and extended”, and Cohen and Dörnyei (2002) also suggest that
more successful learners tend to remain $exible with regard to learning
style preferences. When Gri(ths and Inceçay (2016) investigated learners’
style preferences, they discovered that the more successful students in
their study employed many more styles (that is, they were more willing to
style-stretch) than the less successful students.
Since style preference may in$uence strategy choices, this suggests
that students who can style-stretch are more likely to have a large
repertoire of strategies at their disposal. !ese can be utilized e%ectively
to suit the demands of various learning tasks.

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 Activity 2: VARK Model ( Fleming,2017)
Fleming’s VARK model which stresses the visual, aural/
auditory, read/write and kinesthetic learning styles can be
used in young learners’ classes.

Procedure
Visual learners learn by seeing. Teacher can bring in $ashcards or
display the pictures using the interactive whiteboard. Teacher then starts
a song related to the pictures..
“Do you like broccoli? Yes, I do. Do you like broccoli ice cream? No
I don’t Yeakhh “
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frN3nvhIHUk
Students sing and act out. !en they write and colour the pictures the
teacher gives .
Strategies
Language learning strategies were de"ned by Gri(ths (2018) as ac-
tions chosen by learners for the purpose of learning language. !is de"ni-
tion has four essential components:
• Action – strategic learners are active rather than passive. !ey
have to DO something, to assume agency (the ability to act).
• Choice – strategies are CHOSEN by the learner. !ere are actual-
ly a vast number of possible courses of action from which learners can se-
lect. E%ective learners are skilled at choosing the strategy which best suits
the situation, the task, and their own individual preferences and abilities.
• Purpose – e%ective strategies are purposeful and goal oriented.
Less e%ective learners tend to employ strategies at random without con-
sidering their suitability for the speci"c objective. E%ective strategies are
chosen with a with a particular goal in mind.
• Learning – in the case of language learning strategies, the goal
is LEARNIG. !ere are other types of strategies, such as communication
strategies. However, although communication strategies may present an
opportunity for learning, they do not necessarily lead to learning unless
the learner makes the e%ort to learn from the opportunity presented. For
instance, an individual may go shopping in a target language environ-
ment for many years, but never employ the necessary strategies to learn

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from the experience (e.g. by remembering the names of the items s/he
wants to purchase).
A number of studies have shown that more pro"cient learners use
more strategies more frequently than lower-level students (e.g. Gri(ths,
2003). According to the results of this study, even less pro"cient students
frequently used many strategies. Nevertheless, overall, the higher-level
students used more strategies more often than those at lower levels.
Over the years there has been controversy regarding strategy cat-
egorization. Perhaps the best known strategy taxonomy is that used by
Oxford (1990) for the Strategy Iventory for Language Learning (SILL),
which used six categories: memory (to help learners remember linguis-
tic information), cognitive (for engaging directly with the material to be
learnt), compensation (to make up for missing information), metacogni-
tive (to manage the learning process such as planning and evaluating),
a%ective (to manage emotions) and social (to manage interaction with
others). However, a number of other writers have questioned the validity
of these groupings (e.g. Cohen & Dörnyei, 2002; Ellis, 1994), especially
the compensation strategies, which, they argue, are actually communi-
cation strategies and may not lead to learning without the application of
cognitive strategies. Gri(ths (2018) reduces the basic categories to two:
cognitive (including memory) and metacognitive (including strategies to
manage the learning process, a%ective reactions, and social interaction).
Very young learners are probably minimally capable of deliberately
and purposefully employing actions in order to learn, but the ability to
behave strategically tends to increase as the child matures. Modelling and
encouraging strategic behaviour from a young age can help to establish
the pattern for years to come and contribute to the development of auton-
omy (e.g. Wenden, 1991).

Activity 3: Children learn a foreign language easily

compared to adults. !ey just pick up the language
they are exposed to. !erefore, we cannot say that they
use metacognitive strategies to learn better. However,
cognitive and social-a%ective strategies are used
subconsciıously. Teachers can do some explicit strategy
training, especially for vocabulary retention.

Procedure

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 Teacher shows the pictures of some buildings and asks them to repeat
after him/her. (post- o(ce, hospital, restaurant, school, bus station, train
station, supermarket...) Teacher then shows just the pictures and asks
them. Naturally they will remember some of them. Teacher then asks
how they remember. E.g. restaurant/ in Turkish restoran, school (sku:l/
pronunciation) okul (okul pronunciation) etc. Teacher does not talk about
strategies but this practice will model and encourage strategic behaviour.
Autonomy
It is generally Henri Holec (1979, 1981) who is credited with "rst ap-
plying the term autonomy to language learning, de"ning it as “the ability
to take charge of one’s own learning” (Holec, 1981,). Benson (2001) de-
scribes autonomy as “a multidimensional capacity that will take di%erent
forms for di%erent individuals, and even for the same individual in di%er-
ent contexts or at di%erent times”. Autonomy is a complex phenomenon,
which interacts with many other factors such as context and relationships
with others (Tatzl, 2016). It is also dynamic, that is, it develops according
to factors such learner agency and identity (Huang, 2011). Learner auton-
omy is generally assumed to be an advantageous attribute which enables
learners to manage their own learning (e.g. Dam, 1995) mediated by their
motivation (e.g. Gao & Lamb, 2011). Nevertheless, the idea that autonomy
means learning in isolation is a “misconception” (Murray, 2014): the abil-
ity to interact and cooperate e%ectively is an important characteristic of
autonomous learners.
In recent years, the term autonomy has sometimes been replaced by
the term self-regulation, which, according to Dörnyei and Skehan (2003,
p.611), is “the degree to which individuals are active participants in their
own learning”. Oxford (2017) combined the strategy and self-regulation
concepts into what she called “Strategic Self-regulation (S2R)”. According
to Wenden (1991), strategies are an important contributor to learner au-
tonomy, since strategies empower learners to become autonomous and
thereby self-regulate their own learning, perhaps not just for a limited
period of time, but for the rest of their lives.

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 Activity 4: Young children are creative and like to work
on their own to create interesting things especially in
arts and crafts. But they are not autonomous. !ey need
to be guided to work on their own to find out some facts.

Procedure
Teachers or more knowledgeable people around young learners could
be good models for them. Young learners could be assigned to do Project
work where they can work on their own pace. When they "nish, they can
be asked to share it with others.
Lifelong Learning
In our rapidly changing world, lifelong learning has become extreme-
ly important, since knowledge or skills learned early in life are likely to
need considerable adaptation with the passing of time. !e key features of
lifelong learning include (adapted from Drew, 2021):
1. Ongoing
!e central feature of lifelong learning is that learning is never-end-
ing. !e idea that learning is ‘lifelong’ shows that learning occurs well
beyond formal situations – it continues even after school is over.
2. Voluntary
A lifelong learning approach is usually voluntary and represents a
‘mindset’ more than anything. An ongoing learning mindset needs to be
voluntary rather than compulsory. Compulsory learning is not consid-
ered ‘lifelong’ because it has a distinct conclusion and no expectations of
continuing.
3. Self-motivated
Motivation is needed to embrace lifelong learning, since it is volun-
tary. It is therefore necessary to enjoy the subject matter or to enjoy the
process of learning altogether.
4. Broad
It is not exclusive to one subject area or category. !e goal is not nec-
essarily to be a specialist in anything, but to constantly improve oneself.
5. Multiple contexts

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 It can take place at the workplace, at home, online, through books, at
the co%ee shop, in one-to-one meetings, on the job, or anywhere! Online
self-taught learning is an increasingly common form of ongoing informal
learning as it provides people with instant access to so much information
at anyone’s "ngertips!
6. Informal
Di%erent to continuing education, lifelong learning is often informal.
It does not result in a formal education degree or certi"cate from a uni-
versity. It involves any form of learning that takes place at any point in
life, so long as it is underpinned by a mindset of ongoing, voluntary and
self-motivated personal or professional growth.
7. Learning on demand
Lastly, it is often ‘on-demand’, meaning that learning takes place
when it is most useful. !is is not always the case (as many people learn
for the love of learning), but nonetheless it is common to "nd that people
choose topics to learn that have relevance to (and improve) their immedi-
ate lives or skills in the workforce.
Benefits: Bene"ts of lifelong learning include:
1. Social capital
Participating in ongoing learning opportunities can help people de-
velop social contacts, make new friends and possible employment oppor-
tunities through learning communities. Further, new social groups can
be opened up that coalesce around shared interest in the topic.
2. Love of learning
People who are lifelong learners enjoy learning and the process of
learning new things. !ey practice the skill of moving through cognitive
dissonance and get pleasure out of achieving new things.
Personal development
Personal growth can be achieved, developing better communication
skills and&thinking strategies. Learning will help to discard misconcep-
tions and understand the world through more perspectives. It can also
help with self-esteem.
Professional development
More skills can improve competitiveness and employability in future
job interviews. People will often also engage in ongoing learning and de-
velopment in the workplace to become more e(cient and capable at their

164
job – which may lead to enhanced job satisfaction and further opportu-
nities for promotion.
Prevents cognitive decline
As people get older, they need to continue to exercise their brains
to prevent cognitive decline. Ongoing learning experiences right through
past retirement are necessary to sustain brain strength and prolong life.
Challenges
Challenges of lifelong learning include:
1. Time consuming
It takes time to do any serious learning. And it is an ongoing commit-
ment – by de"nition! Some ways to streamline learning include listening
to podcasts in the car, learning online rather than on campus
2. Costly
Ongoing learning will cost money. .nvestment is continually re-
quired for new books, short courses, and tutoring. Setting aside a ‘learn-
ing budget’ or seeking out free options such as library membership may
be necessary. !is is especially true if new technology is required.
3. Hard to self-motivate
Learning is not always fun and it can be lonely. Because lifelong
learning is voluntary, personal motivation and enthusiasm is required.
4. There is no formal qualification
Although personal satisfaction may result, non-formal education will
not give you a degree or certi"cate that you can use when you apply for a
job or some similar purpose.
Conclusion
As this chapter has attempted to point out, although as teachers we
need to consider the needs of an entire class, learners are individual and
in"nitely variable, both in themselves and from each other. !ere are mul-
tiple ways in which this individuality is manifest, of which in this chapter
we have considered just four which are commonly evident in a classroom:
• Intelligence – although cognitive intelligence tends to be the one
with which we are most familiar, Gardner (1983) made us aware that indi-
viduals also have other abilities, and these need to be considered in the in-
terests of e%ective learning. For instance, some students may be musical,
some may have well-developed kinaesthetic skills, etc. Teachers should
engage these abilities by activities such as songs or physical games or oth-
165
er methodologies designed to suit the intelligences evident in a particular
class.
• Style – traditional classrooms tend to make most use of a passive,
silent, desk-bound methodology, but this will be uncomfortable for stu-
dents with, for instance, aural or group preferences (e.g. Reid, 1987). As
with intelligences, teachers should try to cater for the variety of stylistic
preferences that will inevitably exist in their classrooms by providing a
variety of learning activities.
• Strategies – although young learners may not be su(ciently cog-
nitively developed to be very strategically aware, strategies, de"ned by
Gri(ths (2018) as actions chosen by learners for the purpose of learning,
can be encouraged and modelled so that strategic behaviour develops as
the child matures. !is way the choice of purposeful and goal-oriented
behaviour will become automatic and contribute to autonomy.
• Autonomy – or the ability to take charge of one’s own learning is
generally considered an advantageous learner attribute (e.g. Dam, 1995).
Autonomous learners are less dependent on the vicissitudes of their situ-
ation and more capable of taking independent action to maximize their
learning opportunities.
!e important message for teachers is the need for variety in the
methods they employ to suit the diversity of intelligence, styles, strategies
and levels of autonomy that inevitably exist in a classroom. Students learn
best when the methods employed are most in harmony with their own
individual preferences. At the same time, they should be encouraged to
be $exible in these preferences, since they must also accommodate the
preferences of their classmates, not to mention the fact that their teacher
is also an individual who may have preferences of his/her own.
Discussion Questions
We all know that every child is an individual (as is
the teacher). And yet, to some extent, the class has to
operate as a collective, and in order for it to function
e%ectively, individuals must be prepared to sacrifice
some of their individuality for the common good.
Do you have any thoughts about the best ways to
resolve this basic con$ict?

Out-of-Class Tasks
Learners can be encouraged to bring stories or
artifacts from home to share with the class. !is helps
to make them feel that their individual experiences
have a place in the overall life of the class.

166
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