Lesson 1: How Do Young Learners Learn

Languages?
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Chapter 1

Chapter 1
Introduction

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Annie Hughes talking about the ELT Advantage course An
Introduction to Teaching English to Young
Learners(videoscript)
"Hello, my name is Annie Hughes and welcome to the ELT
Advantage course An Introduction to Teaching English to Young
Learners. In this course you will learn about teaching English as a
foreign or additional language to young learners from three to 12
years old. You will consider how young learners develop
cognitively, how they learn languages, and how your
understanding of these two areas can help guide you in your role
as a teacher of young learners and a teacher of language.
Whenever possible, this course will combine theory with practice
in providing examples that will help illustrate how you can teach
language to young learners in your classroom. In the 12 lessons,
you will be introduced to ways of teaching the four language skills
(listening, speaking, reading and writing), as well as techniques for

using stories, songs and rhymes, games and role-play in your

classroom. You will also consider the role of assessment and
evaluation in teaching English to young learners.
You may be working in an English as an Additional, Foreign or
Second Language (EAL, EFL or ESL) situation. To teach English
in any of these settings we need to consider the same overall
issues about teaching and learning and so this course will be
useful to you in any of these teaching environments, whether you
are an experienced teacher wanting to refresh and reflect on your
understanding of teaching English to young learners or a new
teacher."

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Annie Hughes talking about how young learners
learn(videoscript)
"In this lesson, we will take a look at how young learners develop
and learn, how they learn language, and then how they learn a
new language. We will particularly be looking at the needs of
young learners and what we must keep in mind if we want to teach
them. Additionally, we will be thinking about different types of
young learners and considering that we all learn in very different
ways."

An Overview of Teaching English to Young Learners

Teaching English to young learners (TEYL), including children within the 3-12 age range, in a
meaningful and memorable way requires a person to understand how children learn and how
they learn languages. In this lesson, we will look at some theories of how children learn and
develop and how they might learn an additional, foreign or second language. In the next lesson,
we will consider the implications these theories about learning have for teaching English to
young learners.

An approach to TEYL
To begin, we will briefly consider important issues we need to be aware of so that we can get a
clear overview of what is involved in TEYL. To illustrate this, I shall use a diagram (see Figure
1.1) to show how a number of building blocks (each representing a different part of language
learning and teaching) can be placed together to create a structure that can represent our
approach to TEYL. By stacking these blocks one on top of the other, we can consider how each
is crucial for the support and development of the next in this tower of understanding.

Figure 1.1 Building blocks of understanding in teaching English to young learners

As you can see from Figure 1.1, the foundation block, which supports all the other blocks and is
crucial to the strength of this tower of understanding, is How young learners develop and learn
and learn languages. After looking at how learning takes place, we can examine more carefully
what is involved in teaching with Implications for teaching English to young learners. Then, we
can consider the various teaching techniques which can be implemented to help children
develop different skills with How we can teach language to young learners (looking at areas
such as teaching vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar as well as topic-based teaching), A
focus on the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) in TEYL, and Use of stories, songs,
rhymes, games and role-plays in TEYL. Finally, on the top of the tower is Evaluation,
assessment and research in TEYL, which allows us to look more closely at the outcomes of
teaching and learning in our classrooms.
Providing support
Without the foundation block and, in fact, all these blocks in place, this tower would not be
supported and would collapse. Similarly, our provision for teaching English to young learners
would also collapse, and be unsuccessful somewhere along the way, if we missed any of these
blocks of understanding in planning and carrying out our lessons for our young language
learners.
During the 12 lessons of this course, we will examine more closely the blocks illustrated above. I
hope you will come to understand more about each of them, and will also recognize that they
are inseparable and dependent on each other and should always be kept in mind during your
language teaching.

Chapter 2

A Brief Historical Understanding of How Children Learn and Develop

We do not have room in this course to consider all the studies that have involved children's
learning, or their learning of foreign or second languages. However, we will take a brief look at
those that have particular relevance and interest to us as TEYL practitioners today.
Views of Piaget
We will go back in history to look at the work of Jean Piaget, a well-known theorist in
developmental psychology, who tried to work out how children thought and developed
cognitively. In the 1960s and 1970s, Piaget set up various experiments to ascertain how
children thought in and about different situations so that he could determine how they
cognitively developed. He was particularly keen to understand how a child, as a 'lone scientist'
or thinker, would solve problems during his or her life experiences, and how approaches to
problem-solving might change as that individual got older and had more learning experiences.
Piaget's assumption was that children actively constructed knowledge from their experiences.
From birth, he saw them as trying to make sense of the world through their actions. This made
children central to their own learning. Piaget wanted to try to establish how children made sense
of their world and how they tried to work things out for themselves. (Piaget 1967, Cameron
2001)
Developmental stages of children
Based on the results from his work and research with children, carried out
under rather strict conditions in research laboratories, Piaget suggested that
children developed through specific stages. These stages were:

Sensori-Motor Stage (from 0 - 18 months) in which children seemed to

learn through interaction with the world around them, largely through the use of their
senses. This was a stage where Piaget felt children were particularly egocentric and
were only able to think about things in terms of how they interacted and linked with
themselves.

Pre-operational stage (from 18 months - 7 years) in which children were

developing towards the next stage. They were starting to use some aspects
of the concrete world around them and were also beginning to internalize information in
a
very basic way through the use of their imagination and memory.

Concrete Operational Stage (from 7 - 11 years) in which children

were able to operate and learn through their interactions with the
concrete world around them and were moving towards the final stage which would
involve more abstract thinking.

Formal Operational Stage (from approximately 11 years of age to

adulthood) in which children were able to develop more abstract thought
and understanding in this final stage of cognitive development. Usually
this stage coincided with puberty and the development into adulthood.

Influential findings in Piaget's work

Piaget's work particularly tried to identify how children could assimilate (add new
knowledge to support old knowledge already established by them)
and accommodate (change their present understanding of something based on
the new experience they have had), and how they might develop their cognition and
understanding using both.
Piaget believed the stages, outlined above, were fairly fixed in age and that children went
through them in this particular sequential order. He believed that children could only move onto
the next stage when they had completed the stage before and were ready to do so.
Piaget's work was highly influential and his findings were linked to classroom teaching and
methodology. This was done by basing teaching on the 'readiness' of children to move onto the
next stage of development. Many of us may remember the terms 'readiness' and 'reading
readiness' when thinking about the influence his work has had on the teaching of children over
the last 40 or so years. (Cameron 2001)
Another influential finding of Piaget's was his belief that it was very important that children be
given thinking time when faced with an experience or problem that they tried to solve.
Issues with Piaget's work
However, through the years, there has been discussion about some of Piaget's findings.
Through the work of Margaret Donaldson (1978), many of Piaget's experiments were
recreated and she found that his observations and measurements did not really reflect the way
children were actually able to think. Through her research she felt that children were able to
achieve and understand more than Piaget believed they could. She found Piaget had not, for
example, take into account what sense children were making of the type of adult questioning
that was used in the experiments he carried out, or the fact that the experiments were taking
place in very unnatural and child-unfriendly settings, such as science laboratories. (Cameron
2001, Donaldson 1978)
Piaget's work has also come under quite heavy criticism because he did not consider the role of
language to be an important catalyst in the cognitive development of the child, whereas many
other people believe language is central to a child's development.
Lasting importance of Piaget's work
Despite these concerns, Piaget's work was very important for us all because he established the
idea of the child as a lone scientist who was actively seeking answers. He was also one of the
first to suggest that children had the need for thinking time.
Though Piaget's findings are no longer thought to illustrate exactly the way
we understand children's learning, he was the first person to try to establish
exactly what was going on in the child's head. He also thought about the
child as an individual who developed and thought as an individual rather
than a small version of an adult or a passive and empty vessel waiting for
adults to fill his or her mind with information. Piaget's work was thus very
important as a first step in gaining understanding of the cognitive development of children.

Chapter 3
Language is Central to Child Development

Lev Vygotsky (1978) and Jerome Bruner (1983, 1990, Bruner and Haste 1987) believed, in
contrast to Piaget, that language was central to the cognitive development of children. In
particular, they thought it was instruction (provided by an adult, a teacher, or a more able peer)
that helped children to learn and develop.
Guiding the 'thinking' process
Vygotsky and Bruner believed that the act of internalization for children (moving thought from
something that was spoken out loud to thought that was in their heads) was helped and
supported when another more knowledgeable person talked the 'thinking' process through with
children and instructed or guided them along as they did so. For example, an adult might guide
a child through putting together a puzzle by saying: Let's take all the pieces out of the box and
turn them over. Now let's find all the pieces with the straight edges and put them over here. And
where are the four corner pieces? Oh, yes. Here they are
While Piaget talked of children working through different stages of learning on their own,
Vygotsky (1978) described the difference between what children could achieve (and how they
could develop) on their own and what children could achieve (and how they could develop)
when an adult was able to work with them as the zone of
proximal development.
Encouraging development and growth
Bruner (1983,1990, Bruner and Haste 1987) developed this
idea further and described the cognitive support that could be given to children
by a more knowledgeable other as scaffolding. With scaffolding, children could develop and
grow because the adult would give support to their thinking and encourage them to think in
ways that would develop their own ability to think through situations.
Scaffolding is often seen when parents or teachers ask children what they are experiencing. For
example, in a situation where an adult is playing with a child at the beach, the adult might
encourage the child to develop in his or her thinking by asking questions such as: How does the
stone feel? Is it heavy? Do you think it would sink if you put it in water? How could we put the
stones together so that they would make a wall? Do you think the big ones should be at the top
or the bottom?

Figure 1.2 A view of scaffolding: Just as scaffolding can provide support to a

building in its initial stages of development, a more knowledgeable other can
provide support to a child and encourage him or her on to higher stages of
development.

Making sense of experiences

Returning again to Donaldson's work (1978), she believed that children were able to cognitively
develop by trying to make sense of the experiences that they had, and by asking questions and
trying things out, or hypothesizing.

To some extent, this idea of the child as hypothesizer links back to what Piaget set out to
explain with his experiments. But, perhaps, Piaget approached his investigation too clinically
and not in a child-friendly enough way to gain clear insights into what children really were able
to do in their minds. Donaldson felt that Piaget's view of the child as very egocentric was not
necessarily the case. Donaldson's work, in contrast, showed how young children were able to
think in ways that Piaget felt they could not.

Figure 1.3 The child as hypothesizer.

In considering the child as hypothesizer, Donaldson felt the child continues to hypothesize until
the original hypothesis becomes changed or adapted by the feedback that continues to be
received. The child then changes internalized rules to new ones or adapts the ones previously
held.
How Do We Think Children Learn Language?
Learning a language is a complex process. However, we can see in all corners of the world, that
children somehow learn to speak their native language without formal training. How does this
happen? There are theories about this, and there is continued research in the search for
answers. We will touch on a few theories below.
Language learning innate and universal?
If we move on to think about the learning and development of language in children, particularly
their mother tongue, we find that Noam Chomsky (1959) believed that learning was innate. This
idea was developed by the group called the Innatists, so called because they felt that learning
(and therefore language learning) happened to all individuals, and therefore, must be innate and
universal.

Chomsky felt that there was an innate language capacity in all of us which he called
theLanguage Acquisition Device (LAD). This ability to acquire language was later referred to
as Universal Grammar (UG).
Critical period for language learning?
This idea of Chomsky's linked neatly with the Critical Period Hypothesis
(CPH) suggested by Eric Lenneberg around the same time (1967). Lenneberg
thought that there was a critical period, up to about the age of eleven, in which children were
able to learn language. He believed that if language was introduced to children after this age (or
this critical period) then it was extremely difficult for them to learn it. This hypothesis has often
been cited as one of the main reasons for starting the teaching of foreign or second languages
early in a child's schooling.
Bruner (1983, 1990, Bruner and Haste 1987) feels that there is a Language Acquisition Support
System (LASS) supplied by adults, or more able mentors, that helps children to develop such a
language acquisition device and that this input and support is crucial to the success of language
acquisition in children.

Chapter 4
Children's Preferred Learning Styles
Children are constantly learning, inside and outside the classroom. By watching them in the
classroom and on the playground, we can see that individual children have different interests
and that they learn about their world in different ways.
Visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles
More recently, there have been some very interesting suggestions that children (and adults, too)
do not all learn in the same way and that there are probably many different types of learners.
This understanding focuses on the preferred learning style(s) that individuals seem to have and
how these influence what and how they learn. In essence, these are known as Visual, Auditory
and Kinesthetic (VAK) learning styles.
If you are a visual learner, you will need to see what is happening and link this to your
understanding. For example, you may need to see an example of a picture before you can draw
one. If you are an auditory learner, you will need to hear the input. For example, you may need
to hear verbal instructions as you carry out a mathematical sum. Kinesthetic learners are those
who prefer to learn by physical involvement. For example, you may need to touch and
manipulate a puzzle or game before you can understand how it works.
Multiple intelligences
Linked closely with this understanding of the three types of learning styles is the work of Howard
Gardner (1993) who suggested that there are actually a lot of different learning styles
or intelligences,as he called them, that we all have at our disposal. He believed that we
individually favor and use some more than others, and some to a greater or lesser extent than
others, too.
Initially Gardner suggested there were seven such Multiple Intelligences, but in his later work he
suggests there may be many more. The initial seven are noted below.
Linguistic
Intelligence

Reading, as well as the creative use of words (such as doing

crossword puzzles) is usually enjoyed by those favoring this
intelligence. We would probably see a journalist using this

intelligence more than other people.

LogicalMathematical
Intelligence

Spatial
Intelligence:

Sorting and ordering are favored by this intelligence, which also

includes classifying, ranking and sequencing. People who enjoy
research and organization of research results would likely show
high tendencies to use this intelligence more.

This intelligence links well with the use of diagrams, maps,

charts, plans, pictures and seeing how things fit together.
Cartographers and designers are likely to show strong signs of
this intelligence.

Kinesthetic
Intelligence
This intelligence leans toward the physical. Interaction with and
manipulation of themselves and objects is important to this
intelligence. Dancers, acrobats, gymnasts and sportspeople use
this intelligence a great deal.

Musical
Intelligence
The use of rhythm, music and song is particularly important to
this intelligence. Songwriters, singers and musicians would use
this intelligence much more than others.

Interpersonal
Intelligence

Intrapersonal
Intelligence

This intelligence links well with personal interaction with others

and people favoring this intelligence usually relate well to
others. People who enjoy counseling, teaching, training and
demonstrating use this intelligence a lot.

This intelligence favors reflection and personal thought about

what is happening to individuals and the world around them.
Often religious leaders have a strong tendency to use this
intelligence more than others.

Gardner has also developed the idea that there are other intelligences such as emotional and
naturalist intelligences. Emotional intelligence is when you are so attuned to your emotions and
the emotions of others that you learn through these feelings. Naturalist intelligence is where you
learn through being involved in the natural world.
Considering your learning style
Do you feel you use some of these intelligences more than others? We all do, though it is
interesting and very revealing to be aware of the intelligences you favor.
With reference to language learning in particular, Berman (1998 in Ellis and Brewster 2002) felt
that there was a clear link between success in language learning and preferred learning styles,
so he carried out some research in an average adult class of learners. He found that 29% were
visual learners, 34% were auditory learners and a surprising 37% were kinesthetic learners.
This seems to be a very interesting result and as such, we cannot underestimate what the
implications might be for our own classroom teaching. Do we teach to each of these learning
styles in the same way or not?
The research of one of my own MA in TEYL students, Rosemary Smeets in Switzerland in 2004,
looked at young language learners and VAK learning styles and investigated whether learners
acquired vocabulary easier when using their preferred learning style. She found that the
students did seem to be able to learn more words when using their preferred learning style
(visual, auditory or kinesthetic).

Chapter 5
How Do We Think Children Learn a Foreign or Second Language?
Keeping everything from the first chapters of this lesson in mind, then, we will now focus on
foreign or additional language learning among young learners. If we were to observe language
classrooms today, we might see many different approaches to teaching and learning underway
from class to class (and from learner to learner and from teacher to teacher). In this chapter, we
are going to take a look at some of the ways we think young learners learn language.
Two types of language (BICS and CALP)
Some really interesting work has been carried out by Jim Cummins (1979) who suggests that
there are two types of language that can be acquired. These are Basic Interpersonal
Communicative Skills (BICS)and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). As the
names suggest, BICS-type language is the everyday social interactive language that we all use
when interacting from a very early age. We will hear that type of language when we listen to tenyear-olds playing together on the playground. Meanwhile, CALP-type language is the type of
language we use when learning about and discussing content in an academic class. Ten-yearolds will use that language when studying about the characteristics of the sun in a science
class. We need to prepare our students to use and understand both types of
language.

In planning language lessons for our new language learners (whether they are in
an EAL, EFL or ESL setting), we should ensure they have been exposed to and
have acquired the language to communicate socially (BICS), so that they are
able to interact comfortably and meaningfully in the target language. For
example, we can encourage young learners to understand and use social
language by playing a game, singing a song, asking questions and giving
information in an activity, role-playing an everyday scene, and so on.
At the same time, we should be encouraging our young learners to progress in their academic
studies as well as their language learning, and can begin to teach them the type of language
(CALP) that they'll need to learn skills and concepts in other subject areas (such as language
arts, mathematics, social studies and science) and to share their understanding of that new
content in the target language. We can guide them to understand and use academic language
to carry out such activities as describing a type of animal, writing about a famous person, or
figuring out a math problem. They can learn content while also learning a new language.
Of course we need to consider many factors when planning lessons, including our students'
age, interests, cognitive level, proficiency in the target language, immediate and longterm needs
(as ESL or EFL students), as well as the requirements of our school system. However, in
recognizing the value of introducing our students to BICS and CALP-type language instruction,
we can guide them to accomplish tasks that will help them progress in their language learning
and overall studies.
For more details about the type of social and academic language teachers can help their
students acquire (by language proficiency level and grade level), refer to the guidelines released
by the international association of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other
Languages). Check theSupplementary Materials to find out more about TESOL's PreK-12
English Language Proficiency Standards.
Relating Overall Learning Theories to TEYL
If a foreign or second language is introduced to our young learners, then it would seem wise to
do so in the same way as any other subjects are introduced to them. It is worth pausing for a
moment here and reflecting on why young learners are taught anything, whether it is science,
history, music, or any other of the subjects they study in their early education.
We introduce a range of subjects to young learners, not as pure and abstract subjects, but as
an introduction to the interesting things that are all around them and are relevant to their lives.
We initially build the foundations of understanding in each subject in a very practical, hands-on
way so that the children can interact with the actual, physical and here and now or concrete
aspects of each subject at the appropriate stage of their cognitive development. We also do this
through scaffolding their learning in each and every subject and in helping support their overall
cognitive development.
The most important aspect of teaching young learners is that we should recognize how we can
develop their thinking and learning skills in each and every subject with a full understanding of
what each age group of learner is cognitively able to do and understand, and can physically
relate to and carry out.
Linking language learning with everyday life
Before embarking on teaching a foreign or second language to younger learners, then, we need
to remember that we are trying to provide opportunities for these learners to find out about and
use this other language. Teachers need to show them how the new language can have a link
with their everyday lives and be fun. Teachers can also, depending on the age of the learners,
introduce the idea that it is positive to speak another language and communicate more easily in

a world that is becoming smaller. Language teachers, also need to act as mentors and modelers
of this target language. As mentors, they must support and scaffold the learning, and as
modelers, they must provide good examples of the language in use. They must also help young
learners share their ideas about everyday things around them and expand their general
knowledge while learning a new language.
Summary
So, to review this first lesson, our present understanding of how children learn is
that they learn to think, question and try to make sense of things around them
best when they have the guidance of someone who is scaffolding their learning.
They also learn best when they have intellectual and emotional support given by
an adult.
This is likely to be the same when learning an additional, foreign or second
language, too. The mentor (or teacher) should be able to model the target learning, questioning
and thinking so that the learner will be able to understand, use and acquire the target language
more successfully. (Bruner and Haste 1987, Vygotsky 1978, Donaldson 1978) The mentor (or
teacher) also needs to recognize that children have different learning styles and thus will
respond in various ways to different approaches. If, additionally, we believe that we should
actively involve our young learners in real communication in the classroom, we need to ensure
we teach BICS-type language as well as CALP-type so that interaction in the target language
becomes possible and children are able to learn about and discuss new ideas through the
language.
Next Steps
After you have finished this lesson, test your knowledge by taking a short, multiple-choice
quiz. To access the quiz, click quizzes at the top or bottom of any page in this classroom. Select
the quiz that corresponds to the lesson you have just completed. Then click submit. Good luck!
After the quiz, please complete the short assignment that follows. This will allow you to
practice what you have just learned. To access it, click assignments at the top or bottom of any
page. Choose the appropriate lesson and follow the directions listed there.
Also, visit the discussion area to converse with your colleagues about the topics covered in
this lesson. To access it, click discussion at the top or bottom of any page. Choose the
appropriate lesson and follow the directions. You will be able to post on the discussion board
until the 'close date' listed. After that date, you can read the discussions but not post.

Glossary
Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS), as coined by Cummins, is the basic
language we all use on an everyday basis to interact with the people around us.
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), also coined by Cummins, is the
academic and rather sophisticated language we use to discuss a subject or thing in an
academic and analytical way.
Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) is based on research that suggested that there was a time
up to around the age of puberty in which humans seem to learn certain language skills more
easily. (This term was coined by Lenneberg.)
English as an Additional Language (EAL) refers to English that is taught to learners as an
additional language to their mother tongue.
English as a Foreign Language (EFL) refers to English being taught to learners who will have
few opportunities to use it in their country of residence.

English as a Second Language (ESL) refers to English being taught to learners that is a
language other than their mother tongue, and is often the language of their new country of
residence.
hypothesizing is when a child creates an idea about how something (including a language)
works and then uses this as the basis to trial the idea (or use the language) until feedback
informs the child that his or her idea is right or needs adapting and then remembering.
internalization is when children take ideas they have said out loud and internalize those
ideas in their heads.
Language Acquisition Device (LAD) is the innate device Chomsky feels we all have that
enables us to acquire language. He later referred to this as Universal Grammar.
Language Acquisition Support System (LASS) is the term given by Bruner to describe the
support given by adults and mentors who aid learners to use the Language Acquisition Device
(noted above) and acquire language.
Multiple Intelligences is based on Gardner's research that suggests that we all use different
intelligences, rather than one intelligence, and that we individually use some more than others,
and these to a greater or lesser extent. There are at least seven of these intelligences and
recent research suggests there are even more than seven.
scaffolding is the support and guidance that an adult or mentor can give a child as he or she
develops and learns. The adult or mentor helps the child think in different ways and encourages
the development of thought and understanding in the child.
Universal Grammar (UG) is referred to above under Language Acquisition Device.
Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic (VAK) learning types involve learners who find they learn
easier when using one of the above types of interaction. For example, some may learn best
when they read a story (visual), some when they have a story read to them (auditory), or some
when they act out the story in role-play (kinesthetic).
zone of proximal development is a term created by Vygotsky that refers to the difference
between what a child can achieve on his or her own (the child's actual level of development)
and what a child can achieve with the aid of an adult or mentor (the child's potential level of
development).
Follow-up Reading
Bruner, J. 1986. Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Donaldson, M. 1992. Human minds: An exploration. London: Penguin.
Fisher, R. 1990. Teaching children to think. Oxford: Blackwell.
Hughes, A. 1993. English across the curriculum: Theme-based learning in the primary
classroom. InNew Tendencies in Curriculum Development. Kohn, J & Wolff, D. ( Eds.)
Szombathely: Commission of the European Communities.
Hughes, A. 2001. Effective foreign language teaching at the primary level. In Raya, M, J. Faber,
P. Gewehr W. Peck, A. J. (Eds.). Language Teaching in Europe. Frankfurt am Main : Peter Lang
Tough, J. 1976. Listening to children talking. London: Wardlock.
Wells, G. 1986. The meaning makers. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Williams, M. and Burden, R. L. 1997. Psychology for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Bibliography
Bruner, J. and Haste, H. 1987. Making sense. London: Routledge.
Bruner, J. 1983. Child's talk: Learning to use language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bruner, J. 1990. Acts of meaning. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Cameron, L. 2001. Teaching languages to young learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Chomsky, N. 1959. Review of verbal behaviour language. In Language. 35:26-58.
Cummins, J. 1979. Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual
children. InReview of Educational Research. 49(2) 225-51.
Donaldson, M. 1978. Children's minds. London: Routledge.
Ellis, G. and Brewster, J. with Girard, D. 2002. The primary teacher's guide. London: Penguin.

Gardner, H. 1993. Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice. London: Harper Collins.
Lenneberg, E. 1967. Biological foundations of language. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Piaget, J. 1967. Six psychological studies. London: London University Press.
Vygotsky, L.S. 1978. Mind in society. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.