Kids vs Adults

Today, 1.5 billion people around the world are learning English. People of all cultures and ages are trying to learn English in order to continue studying in better schools, have access to more information, do business, travel, etc. But today, I would like to talk about the similarities and differences between teaching adults and young learners. Their reasoning and motivation, and what approach should we use for each group. Unit 9 in the TEFL Lemon Higher Certificate in TESOL is dedicated to Kids vs Adults.

Children bring energy but lack the internal motivation of adults

Children bring enthusiasm, energy, and curiosity to the classroom. Young learners are like sponges. They will absorb all the knowledge. But the problem is, kids usually lack motivation. Adults usually have their reasons for learning a new language, whether it is to improve their CV, travel around the world, or working with other countries. The only thing that pushes kids to learn a new language is their parents or school program. They have no motivation of their own, so teachers need to make their kids interested in the language.

Children learning language by ‘doing’

The way kids acquire new information is also very different from adults. Children have no hypothetical thinking. Kids need a meaningful environment and experiential activities when learning English because they learn best by doing. The consequences of learning ‘by doing’ are sensations, feelings, remembrance of goals and achievements, and thoughts about future goals. All of these influence our self-esteem confidence, and security.

Provide meaningful context to children

When children realize that they are able to accomplish something, and the teacher is encouraging these efforts, he is facilitating the development of children's self-esteem. By providing meaningful context, we encourage and motivate young learners to continue learning, and improve.

To learn a whole new language, kids must learn to read, write, listen and speak in that language. In order to do that, teachers should provide opportunities to interact in a meaningful, interesting context and to play with the language, while developing new vocabulary and language structures.

Think about the learning environment

Many language activities provide experiences for learning. For example, role-playing, information-gap activities, dramatizing, problem-solving, etc. When we are teaching young learners, it is important to consider the physical environment. The physical environment is one of the foundations for good behavior and can contribute to the student's motivation to learn. Some elements of the classroom (light, air conditioning, number of tables, etc.) may be within your control, while others may not. Teachers’ ability to deal with or without these elements will influence your future lessons.

Different classes, different approaches, different layouts

Different classes require different approaches and different layouts. For group projects, it's better to put desks into clusters. For discussions, it’s usually better to organize the seats in a circle or semi-circle, etc. Supplementary materials should also be appealing to the students. Colorful resources, flashcards, videos, information-gap cards, and electronic resources will make the class more interesting for young learners. Before the class, the teacher should also prepare the classroom. Check the physical arrangement, materials, cleanliness, and temperature in the room. By remembering and following these points we can make classroom and our lessons more interesting, and improve motivation in our students.

Adults bring their life experience with them

Adults bring their life experiences to the TEFL classroom and have their own opinions, ideas and expectations. Most adults start learning new languages only when they are highly motivated. It’s their own decision to be there and learn English. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try to increase their motivation, but it means that it will be much easier to begin. Adults are usually viewed as having a longer attention span, but it is not always true. Due to the pressure of day-to-day tasks, they also may have a shorter attention span.

Understand adult students and their learner aims

We should understand that adults usually don’t view the teacher as an authority figure, but rather as a source of information. While teaching adults, there’s no need to spend as much time singing songs and creating colorful pictures and flashcards. The teacher should get to know their students and the reasons why they decided to learn English. By understanding their reasons, we will be able to create lesson plans that will fit our student’s needs.

By involving real-world challenges we will enhance their learning, and make classes more relevant to them. Adult learners also like being involved. Having different viewpoints will assist the teacher. We can involve topics that will start conversations, and the students will be happy to talk about and explain their viewpoints. Bringing realia to the classroom will always lead to engaging conversation. We should emphasize the course’s applicability to address students’ issues, needs, concerns, or interests.

Make new language relevant for adults

By giving practical examples and doing role plays, we will help them to apply new language. We should relate the classes to adults' needs. The new knowledge should be intended for an immediate application to keep their interest. We should also keep the students involved by creating visual presentations, and asking them to relate new language to their situation.

Giving strong feedback

Adults will also need feedback. By giving the feedback, we can reinforce the positives and redirect the negatives. By using their past experiences and future goals, we can create the best environment for learning new languages.

Summary

Even though teaching adults and young learners are so different, there are many similarities, too. Both need a good teacher. Teachers should always provide clear instructions, and make sure the students understand by using instruction-checking questions and modeling the tasks.

The multisensory approach will help adults and young learners to use different senses to perceive deeper understanding of English. Both require feedback. Young learners need more praise, while adults usually will be happy to hear both critical feedback as well as positive. The teacher should create lessons and activities that provide a challenge for better learning outcomes.

Finally, the atmosphere in the class should be fun and friendly. Each lesson should be thoroughly planned to ensure continuing success for all the students. The ability to inspire, motivate and challenge the minds of learners is the power that comes from teaching no matter how old is the student being taught.

by Taras Pavliuk