| ゆたか幼稚園Home | 日本語訳 | ||
English Programme at Yutaka Kindergarten Tom Ledbury |
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 Anyone who might wish to question the validity of teaching young children
English need only come to one of the English classes at Yutaka Kindergarten
to see a very clear reason why English and children are a great combination:
the children enjoy it! Of course, there are plenty of more "serious"
social and linguistic reasons why exposure to English (or any other foreign
language) is beneficial to young children - getting used to foreigners,
getting an educational "headstart" and improving pronunciation
are just some examples: research has also shown that children exposed to
a foreign language before the age of 5 are more likely to "have a
better ear" and develop a greater facility for learning the second
language.However, important though these consideration are, for me FUN should always be the primary goal of English lessons for young children. The main pedagogical reason for this should be obvious to anyone who has spent much time with children, either in or outside the classroom: kids learn so much more when they are having fun. It is interesting to note that English word "education" comes from the Latin roots e- (out ) and ducere (to lead): "education" is, then, the process of "bringing out" the inherent capabilities of each child, of leading them towards a realisation of their own potential, of helping them to activate their own innate ability to learn. It is NOT a process whereby information is forced into an unwilling receptacle. |
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| We don't teach young children their native language: rather, by surrounding
them with an environment in which they are continually exposed to their
mother tongue, we allow them to acquire language naturally, using the language-related
areas of the brain to make sense of the linguistic patterns they hear and
to start to manipulate those patterns to produce their own utterances.
When disscussing the "teaching" of a second language, then, it
surely makes sense to use this process of natural language acquisition
as a model. |
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 In order to help children in their acquisition of English, we need to provide
them with a safe, non-threatening environment in which we can lead them
towards the natural use of a second language in a series of realistic contexts.
"Play", which I use here in a broadly-defined sense, provides
the most obvious and effective means of doing this. All children play,
making use of their imagination and their surroundings: what could be more
natural? Games, songs, and physical movement thus provide an ideal natural
and familiar environment in which children can be encouraged to explore
the possibilities of another language. Play also allows the teacher to
channel children's innate curiosity, competitiveness, enthusiasm and, most
importantly, desire to communicate, in the direction of progressive acquisition
of the target language.  On a more personal and anecdotal note, I have personally witnessed the
effect of play-based education on children at Yutaka and been amazed by
the results. Children who have started the year crying and afraid to join
in with activities have quickly found their niche and blossomed as they
have discovered their own self-confidence. Group-based English lessons
have, I believe, contributed towards this by providing another area of
experience for all students and another sources of that self-confidence.
Considering the happiness I myself feel when my students remember items
of vocabulary or complete exercises proficiently, I think about how much greater the sense of achivement must be for those children
themselves, when they win a flashcard or know they have just said a phrase
in English and said it perfectly! You can see it in their faces, in their
enthusiasm, and in the speed of their progress.As Yutaka Kindergarten's motto states, "learning through play is a journey of self-discovery". I am very happy that "learning English through play" has also been able to make its own contribution to that journey. |
幼児に英語を教える正当性に疑問視する人がいるならば、ゆたか幼稚園の英語のクラスを訪れるとよいでしょう。そうすれば、英語と子どもたちの関係がなぜ素晴らしいかという理由が明確に理解できるでしょう。つまり、子どもたちは英語を楽しんでいます。もちろん、英語（あるいは他の外国語）に幼児を触れさせることが有益であるということについては、多くの重要な、社会的な、そして言語学的な理由があります。外国人に慣れ親しむこと、教育的によいスタートが切れるということ、発音が上達することなどが事例としてあげられます。また、５歳以前に外国語に触れた子どもたちは「聴覚が発達し、第二外国語を学ぶ能力も素晴らしく発達するらしい」ということも調査結果として示されています。
子どもが英語を獲得するためには、私たちは安全でプレッシャーを与えない環境を用意することが必要であり、そうすることによって、私たちは一連の現実的な文脈の中で、第二言語を自然に身につけられるように子どもを導くことが可能になります。私がここでそれを広く定義された意味において使う 「遊び」 とは、それを実現する最も自明の、そして最も効果的な方法です。すべての子どもたちは、彼らの想像性と周囲の環境を活用しながら遊びます。それ以上に自然なことがあるでしょうか。ゲームや歌、そして運動は、子どもたちが励まされて他の言語の可能性を探求することができる、理想的で自然で親しみのある環境を提供します。また、遊びによって教師は、子どもの生得的な好奇心、競争心や熱意、そして最も重要である意思を伝達したいという願望をターゲットとする言語の連続的な獲得の方向に向けられるのです。