Adolescents or Lower and Upper Secondary level learners

Characteristics

Young adolescents seem to be not so ideal language

learners than children. These learners tend to be afraid of

making mistakes. They are not likely to experiment with

language and like to be safe. Much of their learning begins to be

in terms of 'right' and 'wrong' -mainly in those school systems

where exams and tests were given much importance. They are

not often willing to communicate with adults than children do.

They have their own culture, their own lifestyles, their own

language and interests.

Achieving results

It is necessary to recognize the nature of adolescent

learners, in that way it could be much easier to understand what

approach will be most suitable for them. Their liking for rules and

security are tools for the teacher to use, and the language

patterns they learned and used in primary school can be

categorized and grouped into grammatical structures and

functions. Differences and similarities between English and their

native language should be discussed.

It could be motivating to practice English using topics from

other subjects in the school such as history, geography, math

and so on. Varieties of language in English, formality and

informality could be examined, expressed and compared with

those in their own language. Such an approach, regarding both

what is positive in these learners and the way to present the

language to them, could fit adolescents’ nature and needs.

On the other hand, the foreign language may have real

purpose for them. As they get closer to think about the world of

work, or of going for university, they will recognize the real use

of English. And, for some adolescents English is so important in

three aspects of 'their' world: pop music, advertising, and

computers.