The communicative method. What is it? Especially for kids. When you teach EFL for kids, you have a different set of challenges than adults. To begin with, they have fewer experiences to draw from than adults. Further, they are not as intellectually developed as adults, and finally (?) they cannot read or write English. Having said all that, I work in a bit of communication into my classes. I usually start with ‘I have…’, once they are comfortable with basic greetings.
This is easy enough. I get something, and hold it and say, ‘I have (whatever object I am holdiing).’ It may be misunderstood as ‘It’s a …’ so to clarify, I put it down and then say ‘I don’t have…’, or alternatlively, give the object to them and say, ‘You have…’. It takes them a while to hear the small differences and to start to make the question in their minds, so lots of repetition and patience (sometimes over several classes) is good.
They may still misunderstand this to mean ‘I am holding…’. So I need to go to the next level up. I draw a picture of my room (semi 3-D cutaway walls, showing the inside with a table, computer, bed..). From this I start to point at things in the picture, saying ‘I have…’. I usually do’I have’s’ as we go around the class from student to student, copying each other ok. Do a few rounds. They will have some difficulty thinking of things, so a few props or flashcards to prompt them is a good idea.
Now you have a start for real communication! Check in with them every class for a while and then again after a few classes of not asking (I guarantee they will forget if you don’t review in a month or two!). Have fun!
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