Happy Earth 1 as a Young Learners Textbook Series - Essay Example

HAPPY EARTH An Essay Presented By (First and middle al affiliate November Happy Earth is an interesting young learner’s textbook series which is best suited for the children between the age group of approximately four to six years who have two years of reading and writing experience. The book wishes to inter-marry basics and secondary levels of English. Happy Earth 1 illustrates using diagrams of animals such as a parrot, a penguin, a koala, a dolphin, a cat and a flamingo. These diagrams give a young learner a clear message of what the author or instructor is trying to put across. The book also uses simple sentence structures such as ‘dolphins jump high.’ This is a simple sentence that a young learner can easily comprehend. (Bowler, 2001) The approximate English language level that the young learner needs to understand Happy Earth 1 is basic speaker level that consists of level A1 and A2.A young learner at level A1 should be able to comprehend and use common and everyday words or expressions at a satisfactory level. For instance, a young learner should be able to construct a simple- sentence structure using the words provided in Happy Earth 1 book. He or she should be able to construct a sentence using the words ‘flamingo, ‘fly. ‘fast. (Bowler,2001)Hence, he or she should combine the words and form a simple sentence. ‘flamingos fly fast. At this level, the young learner should be able to introduce, ask and answer questions about themselves. About Happy Earth 1, a young learner should be able to write their name, for example, my name is Trevor. Their favourite physical exercise (P.E), a young learner should be able to read and write, for instance, I jump high. In the music section, a young learner should be able to say, for example, I sing loudly. Moreover, he or she should be able to say or write ‘I speak English very well.’ Level A2 learners under basic level can also cope with Happy Earth 1 book. A learner in A2 should be able to understand simple sentences and words related to their environment. For instance, under animal action (Happy Earth 1) when the author refers to an animal with a big tail, strong legs and jumps a lot, a learner at this level A2 should be able to relate the simple description to a kangaroo. This shows that he or she can relate to his environment and also comprehend the words big, strong and jumps. Moreover, they can communicate in simple and routine words and direct use of information. He or she can also make use of adverbs, for instance, a cat walks quietly. A young learner can express the manner in which a cat walks. He or she should also be able to differentiate between irregular adverbs and regular adverbs. For example, the author gives a list of verbs or adjectives that should be classified as either regular or irregular. The list includes angry, fast, good, high, lazy, loud, quick, quiet, and slow. The young learner should be able to know that the irregular adverbs from the list are good and fast while the rest are regular adverbs. (Bowler,2001)A basic level learner should also be able to describe his or her background, the environment that he is in and his likes and dislikes. About Happy Earth 1, the young learner should be able to express feelings such as ‘I am not very strong, I am very weak.’, ‘and I love playing games when sitting on a chair.’ Moreover, a learner should be able to read out sentences such as ‘cycling is fun and ‘swimming is good for you. (Bowler ,2001) The overall focus aims, and objectives of this unit extract from Happy Earth 1 are to determine if a young learner can differentiate colours. For instance, Anna is wearing a red hat while Jess is wearing a green hat. This enables a young learner to distinguish colours. The author also wishes to determine if a young learner can make a simple word- sentence construction such as ‘cycling is fun.’ The author also wishes to introduce negative word sentence construction such as ‘I have not got a bike.’ This enables a young learner to differentiate between affirmative and negative sentences. Affirmative sentence such as ‘I love playing games while sitting on a chair.’ while a negative sentence, ‘I have not got a bike.’ The author also uses diagrams and asks a young learner to identify the same using one word. This is to enable the young learner to relate what he has seen in his environment to what is in the book, Happy Earth 1.The diagrams in the book are of a dragon, a fan, a street, a palace, and a Chinese. The book also aims at using descriptions or descriptive words, sentences, and characters that relates to animals and a young learner should identify the animal. For instance, the author describes, an animal that is small and slow. A young learner is expected to relate to the animals in his immediate environment which animals are small and slow. These animals could be such a chameleon or a cat. However, the best-suited answer according to the author is a cat. Moreover, the author also wishes to teach a young learner the use of adverbs and types of adverbs. These words are such as happily, quickly and slowly. The author also distinguishes between irregular and regular adverbs. These irregular adverbs are such as good and fast while regular adverbs are such as quickly, happily and slowly. (Bowler ,2001) The author objectives are also to enable the young learner to make simple sentence construction using a noun, verb, and adverb. For instance, ‘Cats walk quietly. The word cat is a noun; the walk is a verb while quietly is an adverb describing the manner in which the cat is walking. Lastly, the author also aims to enable a young learner to describe himself by leaving out sections to be filled in by the young learner such as name, physical exercise preferred, music and the language the young learner is good at. Linguistics is a study of a specific language, for instance, English, Spanish or French. The Happy Earth 1 book is written in English. It aims at enabling a young learner to study sentence structure. The use of nouns, adverbs and verbs. For instance, a cat is walking quietly, a cat is a noun, ‘is walking’ verb, and quietly is an adverb. The non-linguistics aims at giving a young learner a vivid expression of the message the author wishes to express. For instance, the author illustrates, a koala bear eating, using a diagram. This gives the young learner a clear picture of an animal that the author wishes to illustrate. Therefore, Happy Earth 1 uses both linguistic and non-linguistic takes to enhance the communication skills of the young learner. The challenges that the teacher may face when tutoring a young learner(s) could be such as if the learners are not native English speakers.( Oxford, 1990). If a young learner is French and he or she is learning English, he or she may face difficulty in word-sentence construction. In French, a cat is defined by gender ‘le which represents male hence a cat is described as ‘le chat’. However, in English the cat is defined by the article, ‘the’ or ‘a. Moreover, the teacher may face difficulty if one of the young learners is from Africa and they have never seen a koala bear hence the young learner may not identify a koala bear or would identify the animal like a monkey since it is not within his native environment.(Fisher,1990)I would like to conclude that, the Happy Earth 1 is an interesting book. It is easy to understand, and the diagrams are clear. The author also uses simple language that would be easily understood by a young learner. Hence enhancing his or her learning, listening and communication skills. References Bowler, B., & Parminter, S. (2001). Happy Earth. 1 1. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Fisher, R. (1990). Teaching Children to Think. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Publishers Ltd. Reprint 2001 Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2011). Foundations of early childhood education: Teaching children in a diverse society. McGraw-Hill. Kyriacou, C. (1997). Effective Teaching in Schools: Theory and Practice. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes Ltd. Bland, J. (2015). OMallet, J.M., and Chamot, A. U. (1990). Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: CUP. Oxford, R.L. (1990). Language Learning Strategies. USA: Heinle and Heinle Publishers. Pinter, A. (2012). Teaching young learners. The Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy and Practice in Second Language Teaching. Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). Differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Yolageldili, G., & Arikan, A. (2011). Effectiveness of Using Games in Teaching Grammar to Young Learners. Online Submission, Read More