The student under consideration is Faris, aged seven, who goes into the third grade in the Choueifat school in Dubai. The purpose of the paper is to make an accent on the level of English and what approaches and methods can be implemented into the studying process to improve the learning process of the foreign language.
Language Needs
The process of studying a foreign language is not simple and requires the development of certain skills. However, it should be pointed out that the abilities play a significant role. Although abilities towards learning languages are significant for a successful education, everyone has a chance to improve the foreign language due to practice and desire for learning. The English learners should pay a lot of attention to phonology, morphology, semantics, and syntax for better improvement and mastering the communicative, listening, and grammar skills. Faris, the student of the third grade, showed a positive attitude towards English learning, although he made mistakes in grammar and pronunciation. However, it should be stressed that the number of mistakes is understandable as the student makes his first steps in the long way of English learning.
The pronunciation mistakes are affected by the native language and can be easily eliminated by the practice (listening to English songs, communication with other students and teacher in English). The other common issue that Faris faced is grammar mistakes while making a sentence. The student uses short sentences correctly; however, when he tries to develop his idea, Faris gets confused with the English tenses. To improve grammar skills, certain explanations, tests, and exercises should be provided by the teacher. Although Faris succeeded in making short sentences concerning the weather, the world around, and gives brief information concerning his background, the grammar skills should be improved.
Activities and material that will help the learner address the language needs. The intended outcomes and the steps followed
The major problem that the English learners face is the difficulties with grammar and pronunciation issues. The modern and well-developed teaching techniques contribute to the overall success of the students. It should be pointed out that the students who struggle with English learning by the third grade tend to have bigger problems during further education. Although Faris showed successful results for the third-grade level, one should not forget that activities and materials chosen by the teacher provide a better understanding of the grammar phenomena or pronunciation peculiarities.
To increase the level of communicative skills, grammar and pronunciation should be mastered. It is significant to point out that there are numerous ways concerning grammar and writing improvement. The grammar learning involves not only the rules, tenses, word order, and types of sentences but also the practice, which shows how these rules can be applied to real communication.
Faris understands the significance of English learning as the ability to speak the international language is valuable. The student of the third grade successfully uses synonyms, antonyms, and introductory phrases. Grammar explanations, reading and analyzing the text, working on the exercises, and making short sentences using the studied words can be seen as a great opportunity for the development of grammar skills. The leading activity in children aged seven is a game. Students can understand and remember more information through the game activity. Being an active person, Faris shows better results if he has a chance to do tasks in the form of the game.
The pronunciation skills of English learners are often influenced by their native language. However, children have bigger chances to speak a foreign language without the accent. To improve pronunciation, one should understand the difference between sounds in a native and foreign language and how they are formed. To achieve the goal, the transcription is commonly used. The deeper explanation will allow students to see the difference and to remember the peculiarities of English pronunciation.
Faris faces some challenges with sound pronunciation, but he tries to eliminate mistakes by the repetition of the words, asking a teacher to correct or repeat the word pronunciation, it contributes to the future success of the learning process. The best exercises that help to master pronunciation skills are the following, namely imitation, constant repetition of the correct form of the word, listening to the audio texts, speaking to the teacher and classmates in English.
The rationale for the choice of the language needs materials
The stated above ways for the improvement of grammar and pronunciation skills contribute to the fulfillment of the language needs of the students. It should be stated that the pronunciation is essential for high-quality communication activities, and that is, should be mastered as well as grammar skills. The grammar mistakes may only be eliminated with the providing of the appropriate knowledge and constant exercise.
It should be stated that modern teaching approaches should involve a deep understanding of the implementation of the needed techniques in the educational process. Every grammar phenomenon should be explained in detail and then exercised for the student to succeed in making their own sentences. The practice of the grammar issue will address the errors and weaknesses of the student and will eliminate the possible mistakes made in the future.
Although the ability to speak correctly, paying attention to the grammar rules is significantly important, one should not forget that the ability to pronounce the sounds the way native speakers do receives the priority as well. Struggling with pronunciation, Faris should understand the peculiarities of the English sounds and see the difference between the sounds of the native and foreign languages.
The described above exercises and approaches for the improvement of the pronunciation contribute to future successful communication. The method of imitating and constant repetition of the correct form of the word addresses the errors made and weaknesses and will help the student to omit the mistakes made before. The significance of using such approaches should not be undervalued as it contributes to the improvement of English learning.