Showing interest and building communication

Interacting is an important way of communicating.

When you interact with someone you are exchanging information. Through genuine and positive interactions, very young children learning English as an additional language are exposed to language in a way that is meaningful and enjoyable. By interacting with children in real situations, we are showing genuine interest and building communication.

In this clip of a Learning Time with Timmy class the children are making a craft. The children in the video are 2-3 years old and they attend English class for 1-2 hours once or twice a week. Their home language is Spanish. Watch and observe the interactions between the educators and the children.

• What did you notice in these interactions? How did the adults show interest in what the children were doing?
• Did the children say anything? Were they interested in what the adults were saying?
• How were these interactions beneficial for the children’s language development?
• What did you notice about the teacher’s tone of voice?

Share your observations below or make a note of them in your observation journal.