Page 27 - KSPK ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The use of songs and chants to support the acquisition of chunks of language will help children to quickly use sentences. Therefore songs and chants
should be used in addition to lots of other opportunities to hear language being used in context.

4. Contractions

Learning English in preschool begins with a solid foundation of listening and speaking activities. These activities provide a gradual build up towards
early reading and writing activities. As the focus in preschool is on listening and speaking, the syllabus presents spoken language in both its contracted
and full form. When children begin to write, they will likely reproduce the spoken form, which will include contractions. This should not be a
concern,because later, as they move through primary education and begin to take a more explicit stance towards language learning, they will decode
contractions. However, full forms have been included within the syllabus as teachers may wish to teach these as well.

5. Grammar

Grammar is not a focus with children of this age group, thus there is no grammatical analysis or explicit focus on grammar during these two years. The
aim of learning English in preschool is, above all, to give children positive and successful experiences with English in which meaning and enjoyment
are driving learning. A focus on using language for pleasure and for a purpose contributes to building a positive attitude towards English and language
learning generally, as well as developing confidence in speaking and using English for a purpose. Children will begin to focus more explicitly on grammar
as they move through primary.

6. Nursery rhymes

We have included suggested rhymes for each of the topics as these contribute to the natural development of phonological awareness due to the rhythm
and rhyme they inherently contain. These nursery rhymes are also a vehicle for exposure to culture and support the development of an intercultural
awareness if preschool teachers use rhymes or songs from the children’s own languages and compare the idiosyncrasies.

The lyrics for these rhymes will accompany the Scheme of Work together with suggestions for web links to enable the teachers to hear these rhymes
being said or sung.

12