Teaching English at Elementary Level
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Primary education or elementary education lasts
8 years in India.
Pupils aged 6 to 14 complete the following 2
stages: primary stage, grade I-V;
upper primary stage, grade VI-VIII
Pre primary or play school is from the ages of 2
onwards
MAIN OBJECTIVE
The aim of teaching English in India is to help
students to acquire practical command of English
Broadly speaking, there are two main reasons for
getting students to speak during a lesson:
to give students practice of language items
(vocabulary, grammar functions etc.) – a
language practice aim.
to develop students' ability to speak fluently and
interactively – a speaking fluency.
• During childhood, children develop and learn at a faster rate
because they feel the need to create, explore, build and play all
the time. That is why, during primary school, these factors must
be used to encourage the learning of a second language or a
foreign language.
• Because of its widespread use , learning English plays an
important role in everyones lives. But exposure to the language
though everyday life is not enough to learn the language.
• As teachers, we need to focus on the best way to teach the
language.
It is important to teach English in primary school because
during this stage children absorb everything they learn through
play, songs, music and interaction with their environment
Children learn by putting knowledge into practice therefore it is
necessary we implement activities that allow children to express
themselves in a natural and fun way. It is also important that we
make use of English in the classroom so that children are familiar
with the language, this means that we must build communicative
schemes, use short instructions in English, accompanied by gestures
.
CURRICULUM
English is a compulsory subject in the general education curriculum
from grades 3 to 12. As one of the instrumental subjects in school,
English not only enables students to formulate and develop their
communicative competences in English but also contributes to the
formation and development of general competences to live and work
more effectively, to learn other subjects well and for lifelong
learning.
Upon successful completion of the primary education English
curriculum, students will be able to: - Communicate in simple
English through the four language skills of listening, speaking,
reading and writing.
The expectation is that listening and speaking
will provide the dominant focus.
Have basic and minimum knowledge about
English including pronunciation, vocabulary and
grammar; and through the English language, to
gain basic knowledge of the landscape, culture
and people of English-speaking countries and
other countries in the world.
WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF CURRICULUM IN
LANGUAGE TEACHING?
A curriculum of a school helps to plan the education process or
procedure (a term, session, period, etc). The curriculum consists of a
continuous chain of activities that enable teachers as well as students
to achieve educational goals. For example, A lesson plan is a
curriculum used by the teacher in the classroom.
.
A language-based curriculum provides well-planned content
information that is strategically presented to facilitate learning and
enrich the language experiences of the students across all subject
areas.
A good curriculum plan helps to make learning and teaching
consistent,
ELEMENTARY CLASS TEACHING
Children have natural curosity
Limited attention span
Children need time to adjust to situations and
people
Limit actual instruction time
