A multisensory EFL course for very young learners in an Armenian Children Development Center

Abstract

This project aimed to design a multisensory enriched English language course for young learners in an Armenian preschool development center. The course design was motivated by the pedagogy of the center and its need for a foreign language course that would mirror the rest of the academic curriculum and the teaching approaches adopted by the center. The initial idea was to take topics and activities that the young learners were exposed to in the center in their native language (Armenian) and deliver them in English. This way, the children would easily relate to the course content, dramatically contributing to the language learning overall success. To develop children's listening and speaking skills in English and other age-related non-linguistic abilities, the English language instruction included multisensory vocabulary presentations that incorporated pictures, videos, gestures, music, and rhythm. Other activity types enclosed in the course are action songs, arts and crafts, physical activities, and age-appropriate games. To develop the course, first needs and benchmark analysis had been conducted. Around twenty classes were taught to ten to fifteen five and six-year-old children in the piloting stage. The young learners were assessed through attendance monitoring, teacher checklists, portfolio for crafts, and post-test. At the end of the piloting stage, a survey was sent to parents, and an interview was conducted with the director of studies of the development center. The obtained results suggest that the course served its goals and was overall claimed to be an enjoyable and valuable experience for the young learners and other involved parties.