2.4 Selecting & Exploiting Additional Resources
Key Takeaways
- Supplementary resources like stories, puppets, and games should target specific developmental needs and learning objectives.
- Puppets lower the affective filter, encouraging shy or low-confidence learners to communicate freely.
- Songs and chants develop phonological awareness, natural pronunciation, and sentence rhythm through chunking.
- Realia and technology bring concrete, hands-on, and interactive experiences that reinforce language meaning.
Young learners do not learn language in the same abstract, analytical way that adults do. They learn through direct interaction, sensory experience, play, and emotional connection. While coursebooks provide a structured syllabus, they often need to be supplemented with additional resources to make language come alive.
For the TKT: YL exam, teachers must know how to select and effectively exploit a wide range of supplementary resources: stories, games, puppets, flashcards, songs, chants, video clips, realia, and technology. "Exploiting" a resource means maximizing its teaching potential through dynamic, multi-layered classroom activities.
Key Supplementary Resources and Pedagogical Rationales
1. Stories
Stories are powerful vehicles for language acquisition because they provide a rich, narrative context that is highly memorable for children.
- Why use: Stories capture interest, introduce natural vocabulary in context, and allow children to develop prediction and deducing-meaning strategies.
- Exploitation: Do not just read a story aloud. Encourage prediction by pausing and asking, "What do you think happens next?" Have children act out parts of the story, or match illustrations to the plot points.
2. Games
Games are not just "fun fillers"; they are essential tools for purposeful communication.
- Why use: Games provide intrinsic motivation, lower anxiety, and offer a clear reason to use English (to play and win the game). They also develop social skills like turn-taking and teamwork.
- Exploitation: Ensure games have a clear linguistic goal. For example, a card-matching game can be used to practice asking "Have you got...?" rather than just silently matching the pictures.
3. Puppets
Puppets are magical in the young learner classroom, especially for very young learners (ages 5–8).
- Why use: Puppets help lower the affective filter (Krashen). Shy or anxious children who are afraid to speak to the teacher will often talk happily to a puppet. Puppets are also highly effective for modeling dialogue and introducing characters.
- Exploitation: The teacher can use a puppet to model conversational structures (e.g., the puppet "makes mistakes" that the children have to correct, which builds confidence).
4. Flashcards
Flashcards are versatile visual aids that can be used at almost any stage of a lesson.
- Why use: They provide clear visual prompts for vocabulary presentation, drilling, and memory games.
- Exploitation: Avoid simple repetition. Use flashcards for active games like "Reveal" (slowly showing the card as students guess), "What's Missing?" (removing one card from a set on the board), or physical running games.
5. Songs and Chants
Songs and chants introduce the musicality of language.
- Why use: They are excellent for developing pronunciation, word stress, intonation, and rhythm. The repetitive nature of chants helps young learners internalize language "chunks" (pre-fabricated phrases) without formal grammar instruction.
- Exploitation: Combine songs and chants with physical movements (TPR). For example, in a chant about daily routines, students mimic brushing teeth or washing hands. This physicalizes the language, making it easier to retain.
6. Video Clips
Short, animated, or real-life video clips bring the outside world into the classroom.
- Why use: Videos provide contextualized language, rich visual cues, and cultural input.
- Exploitation: Keep clips short (1–3 minutes). Use "silent viewing" where students guess what characters are saying, or have them complete a visual checklist while watching.
7. Realia
Realia refers to real, physical objects brought into the classroom.
- Why use: Realia engages the senses (sight, touch, smell) and grounds vocabulary in concrete reality.
- Exploitation: Use a "mystery bag" where students reach in, feel an object (e.g., a plastic fruit or toy animal), and describe it to the class before pulling it out.
8. Technology
Digital tools, tablets, and interactive whiteboards offer interactive, modern learning experiences.
- Why use: Technology can individualize learning, track progress, and provide interactive practice games.
- Exploitation: Use interactive board games where students tap the screen to match words, or use tablets for individual reading practice with audio support.
Resource Selection and Exploitation: Quick Reference
| Resource | Primary Pedagogical Benefit | Target Learner Need | Classroom Exploitation Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puppet | Lowers affective filter; provides safe interaction. | Shy or low-confidence learners. | The puppet asks students simple questions; students "teach" the puppet how to say words. |
| Chant | Reinforces rhythm, pronunciation, and chunks. | Auditory learners; physical learners (via movement). | A rhythmic classroom chant to practice "I don't like [food]" accompanied by clapping and head shaking. |
| Realia | Concrete, sensory reinforcement of vocabulary. | Kinesthetic and visual learners. | Using real leaves, stones, and flowers to teach nature vocabulary in a hands-on sorting activity. |
| Stories | Contextualizes language; develops prediction skills. | Cognitive development and holistic acquisition. | Reading a storybook and stopping to ask: "Is the bear happy or sad? What will he eat?" |
A teacher is introducing a new dialogue. She uses a toy monkey to ask questions and answers them herself in a funny voice, before having the monkey ask questions to a very quiet student. What is the main pedagogical reason for using a puppet in this way?
A teacher wants to help her 8-year-old students improve their pronunciation, sentence stress, and rhythm when using the phrase 'Would you like some...?' Which of the following resources is best suited for this objective?