Understanding the fact that teaching adults is different from teaching young learners is a crucial issue which needs deep analysis and accordingly appropriate techniques ought to be chosen. The differences can be scrutinized based on their purpose, educational environment, course books and dependence.
First, unlike young learners who are encouraged by their parents to do some language courses, adults are self-motivated because of extrinsic motivations. By this I mean they usually take an educational course to get a promotion, start a career or continue their education. Consequently, they expect to be taught and assessed seriously. Teachers should be disciplined and follow well-designed lesson plans to accomplish their course successfully. They are supposed to prepare exams based on students’ needs and provide them with vital feedback to study better. At the end of the course they want to understand how much they have learned and progressed.
Second, in spite of the fact that adults’ classes have some formal equipment such as chairs, laptop, whiteboard and video projector, young learners’ classes are decorated differently to keep them energetic during the class. In fact, in order to attract their attention, schools should provide some toys, realia, specially-designed chairs for kids and colourful equipment. Besides, their classes should be spacious enough for playing different games.
Third, the study materials used for teaching both groups are supposed to be different. Course books studied by adults are full of grammatical and lexical parts which need to be taught inductively or deductively, and they usually ask for supplementary materials to improve their vocabulary and reading comprehension. However, course books covered by young learners consist games, songs and stories. Teachers need to be aware of these differences and try to choose suitable teaching methods.
Fourth, although young learners rely on their teachers for studying, adults are self-dependent. On one hand, adults can do projects, learn something by self-study, present lectures and make arrangements with their classmates to study out of the class. Accordingly, teachers should provide them with adequate topics to search about, ask them to present lectures and prepare some writing projects. On the other hand, kids like to be taken on educational trips, play vivacious games with their classmates and sing songs in the class.
Taking the most important things into consideration, since adults’ learning is completely different from kids and teenagers’ learning, teachers are expected to be familiar with these differences and use the best pedagogical methods to help them achieve their goals.
Understanding the fact that
teaching
adults
is
different
from
teaching
young
learners
is a crucial issue which
needs
deep analysis and
accordingly
appropriate techniques ought to
be chosen
. The differences can
be scrutinized
based on their purpose, educational environment,
course
books and dependence.
First
, unlike
young
learners
who
are encouraged
by their parents to do
some
language
courses
,
adults
are self-motivated
because
of extrinsic motivations. By this I mean they
usually
take an educational
course
to
get
a promotion,
start
a career or continue their education.
Consequently
, they
expect
to
be taught
and assessed
seriously
.
Teachers
should
be disciplined
and follow well-designed lesson plans to accomplish their
course
successfully
. They
are supposed
to prepare exams based on students’
needs
and provide them with vital feedback to study better. At the
end
of the
course
they want to understand how much they have learned and progressed.
Second,
in spite of
the fact that
adults’
classes
have
some
formal equipment such as chairs, laptop, whiteboard and video projector,
young
learners’
classes
are decorated
differently
to
keep
them energetic during the
class
. In fact, in order to attract their attention, schools should provide
some
toys,
realia
,
specially
-designed chairs for kids and
colourful
equipment.
Besides
, their
classes
should be spacious
enough
for playing
different
games.
Third, the study materials
used
for
teaching
both groups
are supposed
to be
different
.
Course
books studied by
adults
are full of grammatical and lexical parts which
need
to
be taught
inductively
or
deductively
, and they
usually
ask for
supplementary materials to
improve
their vocabulary and reading comprehension.
However
,
course
books covered by
young
learners
consist games, songs and stories.
Teachers
need
to be aware of these differences and try to choose suitable
teaching
methods.
Fourth, although
young
learners
rely on their
teachers
for studying,
adults
are self-dependent. On one hand,
adults
can do projects, learn something by self-study, present lectures and
make
arrangements with their classmates to study out of the
class
.
Accordingly
,
teachers
should provide them with adequate topics to search about, ask them to present lectures and prepare
some
writing projects.
On the other hand
, kids like to
be taken
on educational trips, play vivacious games with their classmates and sing songs in the
class
.
Taking the most
important
things into consideration, since
adults’
learning is completely
different
from kids and
teenagers
’ learning,
teachers
are
expected
to be familiar with these differences and
use
the best pedagogical methods to
help
them achieve their goals.