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- Title
Taking play seriously in the pre-primary English classroom.
- Authors
Mourão, Sandie
- Abstract
Drawing on experience and the emerging results of a research project, this article examines the role of play, in particular child-initiated play, when learning languages in pre-primary settings. It begins by characterizing play and highlights the importance of a balanced relationship between adult-led and child-initiated play activities. It proposes that English learning areas might facilitate child-initiated play in the target language, and analyses the relationship between adult-led and child-initiated play, consequently outlining a possible format and its components: structure, role, and script. Analysis of a teacher-led activity with a group of children demonstrates how this format supports children in later child-initiated play. Excerpts from observations of children in English learning areas exemplify how teacher-led instruction can enable child-initiated play. The article concludes with a discussion around the implications for practice in pre-primary EFL settings.
- Subjects
PLAY; ENGLISH as a foreign language; ENGLISH language education in preschools; ACTIVITY programs in preschool education; OBSERVATION (Psychology); PRESCHOOL children; PRESCHOOL education
- Publication
ELT Journal: English Language Teaching Journal, 2014, Vol 68, Issue 3, p254
- ISSN
0951-0893
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/elt/ccu018