Active learning

Children learn in many different ways and have different learning styles. Opportunities for children to experience language through song and rhyme, storytelling and games offer children ways to interact with the new language and with one another in a dynamic and social environment.

Through active methods and physical response children feel safe to explore and experiment with the new sounds. For those who prefer to listen and observe, they absorb the new language by watching others and gradually increase in confidence, until they too are joining in, responding to what they hear and see and engaging with others in short conversations and role-play.

Use of rhyme and song

Children benefit from frequent interaction with the sounds of the new language. Different languages have different rhythms and sound patterns and the most natural way to engage with these is through the use of songs and rhymes.

Particularly in the initial stages of learning, it is crucial for teachers to provide ample opportunity for children to educate their ear, recognising and identifying different sounds. This helps them to process language and they begin to group the sounds into units of meaning, words, short phrases and sentences. Children remember songs that they have learned throughout their lives and can use quite complex language forms from an early age without in-depth analysis of the grammatical forms. This gives them a sound foundation for later learning when they can explore and deconstruct the grammar and make new meanings.