This presentation will share research on how dubbing audio in the EFL classroom impacts student oral proficiency. The presenter will share data comparing the pre-post oral proficiency from two groups of students. The experimental group worked with dubbed audio materials and the control group did not. Findings related to variation in proficiency across the two groups will be discussed.

In Japan the Ministry of Education (MEXT) has long focused on expanding English in order to prepare students for the realities of an increasingly globalized world, embarking on an extensive program that integrates native speakers of English into the school system as teachers while offering English lessons at progressively younger ages. To examine changes in international posture, the current study utilizes an extensive data set encompassing grades 5-12 of Japanese learners of English.

The presenter will report on the effectiveness of the literacy program she developed for 5th and 6th graders of public elementary schools in Tokyo. She worked with the school board and compared the students in experimental schools and those in control schools (N = 3085). The ANOVA results suggested that the students developed their reading ability and its subset abilities significantly, and the effectiveness of the program was verified.

In this presentation, the researcher will explore how researchers could act as an intermediary between primary and junior high school teachers, co-construct the local English language education curriculum, and help build a local professional teaching community towards a smooth transition from primary to junior high school. She will tell a story of how an emerging professional teaching community has been unfolding in the local context and those involved have been influencing each other.

The main goal of language learning is undoubtedly social. We all have a strong desire to connect with others in meaningful ways, sharing experiences, exchanging information, or collaborating. Apart from language skills, connecting with others in meaningful ways requires intrinsic motivation, self efficacy, social and emotional intelligence and other traits or states that make up interpersonal competence. This presentation discusses key issues affecting relationship building and communication through storytelling, collaborative video projects, and interactive presentations.

This presentation will highlight the effects of students’ self-assessments on their English learning in elementary schools. The presenter examined 26 sixth graders’ self-assessment sheets to understand the relationship between students’ self-assessments and their learning progress. By reflecting on their performance toward each lesson goal, students gained confidence in their small accomplishments, which helped them enjoy English lessons. Findings and implications for the application of self-assessment will be discussed.

Reading picture books regularly in class can help young learners acquire language and early literacy skills, while developing their critical thinking and emotional intelligence. However, the constraints of online learning and rules for socially distancing within face-to-face classrooms have made doing an interactive read aloud very challenging. In this presentation different technological solutions, both readymade and homemade, will be introduced so that teachers can continue to use picture books with learners online and in person.

From 2014, Myanmar began reforming primary school English education, and new textbooks from grades 1 to 4 have been introduced into all public primary schools. The presenters, who were involved in developing the textbooks, will compare the current books with the former ones. Based on observations of classes and the voices of teachers from online forums, they will discuss the positive reviews of the textbook as well as challenges in using it.

With the recent change of English as a primary subject in elementary schools, Japanese homeroom teachers have faced difficulties. This presentation will describe the teaching circumstances between a Japanese English teacher and an assistant language teacher. With two experienced teachers who understand the curriculum goals, lesson planning and delivery appear to be more efficient than with a homeroom teacher. Compared to class feedback from another school, students overall enjoyed classes and learnt more English.

Although research with children has gained substantial attention in child developmental studies, the methodological and ethical issues associated with research with children have not yet been sufficiently addressed in applied linguistics. Based on a game design project that I conducted with 6th grade students in a public school in Japan, I address both the opportunities and challenges associated with conducting research with children.

Project-based learning is a teaching approach that can turn students into active learners by engaging them in real-world situations where they apply their knowledge to achieve their goals. The researcher will present case examples of implementing and organizing PBL projects in EFL teaching. This will include sharing the experiences of PBL English classes in Brazil as well as those in Japan, and how to adopt PBL into various contexts for different age groups.

This workshop presents a genre-based approach to writing instruction for multilingual learners, drawing on work in systemic-functional linguistics. This approach emphasizes an apprenticeship model – the teaching and learning cycle - based on detailed reading, deconstruction, joint construction, and independent construction. Using examples from elementary classrooms, the presenter highlights some challenges a genre approach can address and shows how teachers can assist second language writers in the context of the classroom.

Participants will discuss what the content and language integrated learning (CLIL) approach is and how to use it in an international preschool class setting. Participants will also be able to create their own CLIL-based lesson plans during this session.

This research analyzed positional data for 2,539 illustrations from fourteen elementary EFL textbooks. This analysis revealed significant differences between the left- and right-hand pages. These unique visual presentation tendencies are discussed in terms of their potential semantic significance. It is hoped that these findings provide insight into compositional patterns that could be of value to those who arrange images for pedagogic purposes, be it as an educator or materials designer.

The early stages of young learners’ education have the potential to form a solid foundation for children’s lifelong English language learning, so there is a need to research learners’ attitudes and motivation. This presentation reports on research examining the motivation among Japanese children learning English at a public elementary school. 195 3rd and 4th graders were surveyed about their learning experiences in order to better understand their preferences and attitudes towards lessons, activities and materials.

These days, it seems extremely challenging to get students interested in reading; there’s just so much competition from digital media for young learners’ attention. But teachers are aware that an early, positive experience with reading can help provide learners with vital input and a foothold for learning English. In this workshop, participants will look at how hands-on projects can be used to make non-fiction reading more interesting and engaging for young learners.

Most young learners love craft projects, whether it’s drawing, coloring, or creating. For this reason, many language teachers have incorporated craft projects into their classes. Although craft activities are enjoyable, there is a real risk that very little language acquisition may take place. This presentation will explain the benefits of incorporating craft projects within a second language learning curriculum, and what type of activities might provide maximum language acquisition.

MEXT has encouraged “small talk” conversation activities in elementary schools. However, homeroom teachers and students may be unsure how to conduct these activities smoothly. The presenters have created experimental resources and guidelines to support and expand on small talk, and monitored their implementation in local 5th and 6th grade classrooms. The presenters will summarize the results these initiatives have had, using data from surveys, interviews, and classroom observations, and make suggestions based on their findings.

To increase exposure to authentic English among students at our Japanese elementary school, we implemented an audio-assisted extensive reading program. In this workshop, we will share our experiences in growing this program over several years, including both successes and shortcomings. From the initial stages of development to evaluation of impact, we will offer candid and practical tips for administering a reading program that is age-appropriate for young learners of English as a foreign language.

The Teaching Younger Learners SIG Annual General Meeting and Forum. The first part of this forum will be devoted to SIG business and the AGM. We will explain each officer role and open the floor up for questions. The second part, depending on time, will focus on questions from our membership and how to better build a community with the SIG. We will offer ideas for activities and suggestions moving forward with professional development using a hybrid format. We look forward to seeing your there.

The shift to emergency remote teaching has called for many educators to adapt existing materials, which has presented a unique array of challenges for teaching English to young learners. This workshop seeks to explore online tools and games that can be used in both synchronous and asynchronous lessons to encourage engagement, increase motivation, and provide challenges and fun. Attendees will be able to experience the digital tools from both student and teacher perspectives.

This plenary provides examples of promising practices used by teachers of young learners of English at the elementary school level in the United States. These practices draw on students’ backgrounds and experiences while also expanding their repertoires in the English language. The presenter demonstrates how these promising practices in literacy instruction foster linguistic, literate, and cultural multilingualism and describes ways in which teachers promote learning through language and learning about language.