Imagine a class of English language students aged 8– 9 taught by a dynamic teacher they love. The young learners sit together for two hours, three times a week to learn English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The vibe they bring with them to the class, plus the dynamic teacher and the creativity she develops in her lesson plans, is fantastic.
I have been observing trends in teaching EFL to young learners, and it is clear to me that school directors, syllabus generators, teachers, parents and learners are all satisfied with this image… “Hooray! Young learners sit together for two hours, three times a week to learn English as a Foreign Language. And the teacher is able to manage the class. Bravo!” But is it enough?
It all begins with the coursebooks. If you take a coursebook for young learners and thumb through the ‘Scope and Sequence’ pages, you’ll see holistic definitions of language input in each unit. The school authorities then design a course based on the coursebook, and the snowball effect happens, whereby they design a course without specific details on what exactly to focus on.
It is the teacher’s turn now. The creative and dynamic teacher provides an excellent classroom experience through which young learners can learn English together. She also assigns a piece of homework: write an email to a friend and tell her about your last holiday.
When the teacher reviews the emails, she smiles as she finds many uses of the simple past tense—both in affirmative and negative forms. She then drafts an email thanking everyone and praising them generously. She includes a link to a PDF of other exercises to reinforce the grammar (the next day in class, they will review the completed handouts).
This hardworking teacher tries to blend her style with digital literacy and applies creativity along the way. Everything seems perfect in her class, and she regularly receives emails from parents thanking her. Nevertheless, some questions remain: What was the task? What was the learning outcome? Which learning objective should have been tracked?
Let’s reconsider the task – this time with our critic’s hat on – and analyze what has been taking place in this class. It is very nice that young learners sit together to learn English, and the teacher is able to manage the class successfully, but having fun and ease alone is not enough. We should aim for “fun, ease and outcomes”.*
*Assessing Young Learners of English: Global and Local Perspectives,Dr Marianne Nikolov, 2016.
The assigned piece of homework said: write an email to a friend and tell her about your last holiday. However, what actually occurred was a shift from this task to the students’ best performance in producing simple past-tense sentences. There are other important dynamics that have migrated out of the teacher’s focus. Did the students begin their emails appropriately? Was the tone appropriate? Did they pay attention to organizing their thoughts into sentences and paragraphs? Was the punctuation correct? Did they end their emails in the right way?
If the coursebook had been equipped with clear and concrete learning objectives, the course directors would have employed them while designing study syllabuses, and the teacher would have used them when lesson planning. Consequently, the student’s formative and summative progress would have been evaluated against those detailed learning objectives rather than according to what some did better than the average.
With the Global Scale of English (GSE), publishers, course designers, teachers, and even parents can access a new world of English language teaching and testing. This global English language standard provides specific learning objectives for young learners that can be applied to tasks.
For example, for our task, the GSE suggests the following learning objectives:
By applying language learning chunks – learning objectives, grammar and vocabulary – and identifying the can-do mission each one is supposed to accomplish, teaching and testing become more tangible, practical and measurable. Going back to my original scenario, it is excellent that young learners sit together for two hours, three times a week to learn English as a Foreign Language – provided that we know in detail which learning objectives to focus on, which skills to grow and what learning outcomes to expect.
Ehsan Gorji is an Iranian teacher, teacher trainer and teacher educator. He also designs strategic plans, devises study syllabuses, runs quality-check observations, and develops materials and tests for different language institutes and schools in the country. Ehsan has been a GSE Thought Leader and Expert Rater since 2016.
In a previous blog, we shared somestrange English phrases that might have left you with some questions. The English language is full of peculiar phrases that can even confuse fluent speakers. In today's post, we'll take a look at a few more such phrases to help you expand your repertoire.
November marks , an excellent opportunity to improve your English skills. While there are several ways to enhance your proficiency in English, writing a novel is a lesser-known method that can significantly refine your understanding of the language. As well as enhancing your vocabulary and grammar, creating a story is an imaginative and fun way to unleash your creativity. So let's have a look at some things picking up the pastime can help you with.
It's a great way to improve your vocabulary naturally. As you create your story, you search for the perfect words to express your thoughts, which helps you explore synonyms, understand the nuances of language, and discover new phrases that can add depth and richness to your writing. Websites like and are excellent resources to enhance your word toolkit.
When you're writing, having a good grasp of grammar and syntax is vital. To clearly express your ideas, you need to navigate grammar rules with precision. Platforms like and Purdue OWLprovide comprehensive guides and tools that can help you improve your grammatical skills. By regularly referring to useful resources as you write, you'll be able to identify and correct errors and also enhance your understanding of grammatical structures.
Writing novels are an excellent opportunity to develop a unique style of writing. You can discover your voice as a writer by trying out different narrative techniques and literary devices. Online writing communities like and provide opportunities for collaboration and feedback, allowing you to receive helpful criticism and refine your writing style in a supportive environment.
If you want to create an awesome novel, you've got to read a lot. By diving into the world of literature, you get to experience all sorts of writing styles and pick up some great tips for telling a compelling story. Websites like , app Plus and offer a plethora of literary works, providing access to various genres and writing techniques. This kind of exposure enhances your reading comprehension and helps you discern the subtleties of language.
Creating a coherent and engaging narrative requires critical thinking skills. As you navigate the complexities of plot development and character arcs, you'll naturally get better and better at it. Websites like and offer resources to sharpen critical thinking skills, complementing the cognitive benefits gained through the novel-writing process.
As well as having educational uses, writing is a powerful tool that can be used to process complex emotions and ideas in a therapeutic way. Whether you are dealing with stress, anxiety, or just trying to make sense of a difficult situation, writing stories can provide an outlet for your thoughts and feelings. So, if you're looking for a way to process your emotions and ideas while having fun, novel writing may be your perfect outlet. It's also something you can do without any technology, so a great way to technology detox.
Writing a novel is not just about unleashing your creativity but also refining your grammar, enriching your vocabulary, developing a unique writing style, enhancing your reading comprehension and fostering critical thinking. Make sure to use all available resources and take inspiration wherever possible. Creative writing is a journey of constant improvement and self-discovery. You might surprise yourself.
Need some inspiration? Check out 9 great novels to help improve your English or Books to improve your English: Sci-fi and fantasy edition.
It's incredible to know that there are thousands of languages spoken across the world, each with its unique set of challenges for learners. A question that often pops up is: "Which language is the hardest to learn?". Today we take a closer look at this question and consider different factors that make learning a language challenging.
