If you're a teacher in a language school, you have probably been approached at some point in your career by your Director of Studies to be asked the inevitable question ' Will you take that class of primary children?' I certainly shuddered at the thought the very first time I was asked but when presented with a fait accompli timetable there was no other alternative but to go into that classroom and try my best.

My situation, which I believe still to this day is not an uncommon one for many teachers, was that I had been trained to teach adults, and apart from a short sharp session during my RSA Diploma course, I had had very little contact with children's classes, teachers of children's classes or any literature about children's classes.

First experience
My first experience in a primary classroom was, without doubt, traumatic. However, I soon realised that, if I was to retain my sanity, I had to home up on teaching young learners. Initially I concentrated on existing literature but at the time very little had been written on primary EFL. I broadened my scope and found that my hunt was extremely productive. I came across many books that focused on children's first language acquisition as well as current mainstream primary methodology.
I was able to formalise my reading through an MA research project that led me to compare the two contexts, i.e. mainstream primary and EFL. From my analysis, and coupled with my experience and beliefs as a teacher, I attempted to determine what constitutes sound EFL primary practice

Mainstream primary practice
The approach advocated was, and is, very much a child-centred one that will take into account the different developmental stages of a child. Given that children are ready for certain types of learning at different points, it is not surprising that teachers are encouraged to cater for children's individual needs as much as possible.
This all sounds wonderful but how should one go about teaching in the real-life classroom?
Essentially good primary practice can be summarised into five broad categories: the syllabus, the approach, the learner, the teacher and the cultural context.

The syllabus
It remains faithful to what was and has been in practice for some time - topic-centred learning. What a child learns at school should be determined by the topic leading to subject integration. In other words, subjects like Maths and Science should not be taught as separate entities but should become part of a range of activities. These can be scientific, investigative or creative. As Holderness points out, the children 'will approach almost all their curriculum from the perspective of the topic' (Brumfit et al, 1991:19).

The approach
Children are naturally active and inquisitive, they enjoy playing, being creative and taking part in activities that are engaging and fun. These are natural resources that should be tapped into in a classroom situation. Therefore, the topic chosen should be approached through a succession of activity types such as surveys, investigations, problem-solving activities, group work, etc. It is important that activities are carefully matched to the child's developmental level if they are to be challenging and motivating (Brumfit et al, 1991:23).

The learner
Child-centred learning has led to the holistic view of a child's education taking into account not only their cognitive development but also their creativity and self-expression through other subjects, such as the arts (Brumfit et al, 1991:11). A child should be encouraged to undertake independent learning and be responsible for his/her own learning.

The teacher
Focusing on individual children's needs has led teachers to experiment with different roles in the classroom and has certainly moved away from the lockstep model. Some of the roles a teacher could step into depending on the situation could be that of monitor, facilitator, manager, etc. The teacher should also foster a positive and supportive environment to enable children to experiment, discover and learn without fear.

The cultural context
As Brewster points out 'child-centred approaches have led to a concern with cultural appropriacy and the development of 'multi-cultural' education (Brumfit et al, 1991:11) This is perhaps of utmost importance in a country where there is such a melting pot of cultures as is the United Kingdom. This can be seen by the adoption of politically correct language and avoidance of stereotyping in all contexts and not just educational.

EFL Practice

There is a wealth of literature available on foreign language teaching methodology and a fair amount of research has been carried out into second language acquisition. In a similar fashion to primary practice, EFL methodology has evolved over the decades towards a more humanistic approach where interactive processes receive priority with the objective of achieving communicative proficiency.
This is known as the Communicative approach. This approach, however, is open to interpretation, as there is no single text or authority on it, nor a single model that is universally accepted. In fact, it is often referred to as the 'Eclectic' approach as it seems to have been coloured by other teaching activities, proved to be successful, that have stemmed from previous or later approaches and methods. An example of this would be the use of meaningful drills in controlled or semi-controlled practice (from Audiolingualism) or responding by means of actions (Total Physical Response).
Nevertheless, what follows is a summation of what constitutes current Communicative practice following similar broad categories to the ones followed for mainstream primary practice

The Syllabus
Different proponents believe in different models. Brumfit favours a grammatically-based syllabus around which notions, functions and communicational activities are grouped (Richards and Rodgers, 1986: 76). Others propose that in fact the syllabus should stem from the learner, as only the learner will be fully aware of his/her needs. Therefore, the learner is very much at the centre and will determine the learning pace, resources and path. This has given rise to a 'needs analysis' approach very much in vogue with adult learners. The syllabus will be determined by the information gathered so that everyone's needs and styles will be catered for, to a greater or lesser extent given the confines of the classroom. However, I have found that it is not always as clear cut with younger learners who may not be as in tune with their needs as adults are. In addition, even some adults may not always be able to articulate all their needs. Obviously the role of the teacher in trying to understand these needs is very important.

The Approach
Contextualisation is the basic premise. Attempts to communicate ought to be encouraged from the start but the student's confidence and readiness should also play an important role. Krashen refers to this as the 'silent period' and even though it refers to acquisition rather than formal learning, it still needs to be considered in the early stages of learning (Krashen, 1982:26). The target linguistic system will be learned through a process of struggling to communicate (Richards and Rodgers, 1986:67). This will include making mistakes, which are viewed as part of learning, but also seeking comprehensible pronunciation and fluency with acceptable language that is accurate for the context. Classroom activities should attempt to recreate 'real' communicative situations where students will be expected to interact with other learners in pairs or groups. The lessons will be conducted in the target language, to maximise exposure, and the mother tongue will be used sparingly. All four skills will play an important role from the start and competence will be sought in all of them. This represents a major difference to previous orally-based methods. Linguistic variation is a central concept in materials and methodology (Richards and Rodgers, 1986:67).

The Learner
The learner will need to adopt different roles in the processes of communication and learning. This will also depend on the type of activity he/she is involved in. One of the main roles is that of negotiator. This, I feel is important for two reasons: it ties in with the 'needs analysis' approach I mentioned earlier and with the concept that communication is not one-dimensional and will nearly always involve other members. Successful communication is the responsibility of all involved. This also applies to learning; every individual has to be responsible for their learning and should maximise the opportunities for input and output as much as possible both within the classroom and in a natural setting. However, part of the responsibility towards learner-training lies with the teacher and this should be developed in class by highlighting different techniques to suit different styles (Brumfit et al, 1991:11).

The Teacher
In the same way that a learner has to take on different roles so will the teacher. The most common roles are that of needs analyst, facilitator, counsellor and enabler. The needs analyst will determine and respond to learner needs sought either formally, through the use of questionnaires, or informally through chats or one-to-one sessions. The facilitator will help learners communicate by giving them the language necessary through comprehensible input, and will set up activities that will then facilitate and encourage communication. A counsellor will try to maximise the speaker's intention through the use of paraphrase, confirmation and feedback (Richards and Rodgers, 1986:78). The enabler will create the right environment for learning by building effective working relationships that will actively encourage learning (Scrivener, 1994:6).

Considerations in EFL primary practice
By taking a closer look at the main components of mainstream primary practice and current EFL practice it is noticeable how many common strands there are in both and how each one has to some extent influenced the other. I have picked out these common themes and together with my own beliefs and experience I have categorised them as follows: interaction, supportive environment, humanistic approach, learner independence and sense of achievement.

Interaction
Vygotsky believed that at a certain point language transforms the way in which children think, learn and understand (Brumfit et al, 1991:3). This means that language, through social interaction, leads to the development of fundamental processes of thinking and concept formation. This obviously applies to children learning their first language, however, I feel the concept of interaction is still a fundamental one in second language learning, not so much for the development of thinking processes but for the achievement of communicative competence. This cannot be achieved if there is no interaction. Therefore, interaction needs to be seen as an important element of an EFL primary classroom. 'As teachers we play an important role in the development of a child and we achieve it through our way of interacting (communicating) with children' (Moon, 2000:67). In other words, interaction will not only help in the development of communicative competence but it will also, to some extent, facilitate or even reinforce certain mental processes. 'Teaching means facilitating discovery, not presenting knowledge' (Brewster, Ellis and Girard, 1991:31). Applied to an EFL context it would make sense for children to be creative with the language in order to gain competence in it. Therefore, I believe classroom activities and teacher modes should maximise opportunities for playing and creating with the target language. Nevertheless, attention needs to be given to the fact that creativity should not impede intelligibility but should remain within these parameters.

Supportive environment
Vygotsky also believed that in order for a child to advance to higher levels of knowledge and performance, he/she needed to be in a supportive interactive environment (Lightbown and Spada, 1999:23). A supportive context is true for any kind of learning, whether it be learning a language or learning to ride a bicycle. This, fortunately, has been reflected in an adult EFL context too. Krashen very much supports the idea that there needs to be a lowered affective filter in order for acquisition to take place (Krashen, 1982:31). Learners need to be relaxed in a non-threatening, supportive environment if the filter is to be kept low. He also believes that our 'pedagogical goals should not only include supplying comprehensible input, but also creating a situation that encourages a low filter' (Krashen, 1982:32). Moon also emphasises the need to create a classroom environment in which children can explore their understanding and experiment with language without fear of being wrong or making mistakes, in order to develop their internal language system (Moon, 2000:68). The interactional partner, in this case the teacher, needs to provide a structure and framework for differing needs of support. This has been coined by Bruner as 'scaffolding' (Brewster, Ellis and Girard, 1991:36). Teachers can 'scaffold' children's learning in various ways, for example, by providing focusing activities, by encouraging rehearsal and by praising the significant (Cameron, 2001:9). I believe the implications this has on classroom practice is that the selection of activities and the different roles the teacher assumes should make the language learning experience a pleasurable process of experimentation, investigation and communication within a supportive environment.

Humanistic approach
Brewster points out that between the Sixties and Eighties there was a shift towards child-centred approaches in primary schools where the moral, physical, emotional and intellectual growth of the child were of paramount importance (Brumfit et al, 1991:4). This gave rise to child-centred curricula and methodology placing the needs and interests of the children in primary focus. Links across the curriculum together with the child's cognitive development, natural curiosity as well as tendency towards play has led to a holistic view of a child's education. EFL practice developed along similar lines with a shift towards an approach that gave priority to interactive processes and individual student's needs. Functional communication activities and social interaction activities helped place this approach in a more student-centred context where the practice of language skills has been surpassed by communicative processes. The learner is also more involved in his/her own learning taking on different roles in the classroom, e.g. negotiator 'between self, the learning process and the object of learning' (Richards and Rodgers, 1986:77). As I mentioned previously, this has led to the need for independent learning and a greater responsibility in the learning process on the students' behalf. This is true for both children and adults. The implications this has on EFL primary practice is twofold. Firstly, there needs to be a strong link between what the children are learning in other subjects and English. The focus should be on topics that relate to the 'here and now' principle and are not too abstract. As the child progresses and his/her experience widens it is possible to move from the known towards the unknown (Brumfit et al, 1991:118). A topic-based approach should be a succession of activity types sustained by the teacher feeding in the language and vocabulary necessary to carry out the activities, i.e. theme-based language work (Brumfit et al, 1991:11). The activity types should reflect closely the children's needs and cognitive abilities while stimulating their curiosity and sense of fun.

Learner Independence
It is important that there should be an awareness of the need to help children become more effective and more independent language learners (Moon, 2000:163). This is particularly true for any learner. Moreover, I believe from my own experience that if a child is given the necessary learning skills at an early age it will stand him/her in good stead for any other language learning endeavours. Learner training can be built into any activity type, by drawing attention 'to what they are going to do, how they are going to work, why they are doing the activity and what outcomes are expected' (Moon, 2000:176). This can be built into the curriculum or syllabus at any point and should be a regular feature. I agree with Ellis when she states that there is a strong case for the assumption that learning to learn should be developed concurrently with the experience of learning (Brumfit et al, 1991:192).

Sense of Achievement
What is the ultimate aim for language learners of any age? The ability to communicate in the target language. This is perhaps a lot more evident for adults who may have much higher intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Their aim is communicative competence, which links back to one of the main tenets of the Communicative approach. Adults have definite reasons for learning a language; because it will help them professionally or because they need to be able to communicate when travelling. Children, however, do not have such apparent reasons for learning English. Certainly in my context, children do not live in the target community and are probably rarely exposed to target speakers. Nevertheless, from my experience parents perceive it as a necessity for their children's future both professionally and personally. It is important therefore, that the choice of activities helps build positive attitudes towards the target language and that the children gain a sense of achievement through interactive activities, such as group work or pair work or simply being able to talk to the teacher in the target language. Moon suggests that by making use of the pupils' own materials, varying activities to suit ability, helping pupils create their own reasons for learning and enabling pupils to understand the learning purpose of activities, children should be able to achieve some measure of success (Moon, 2000:25). Phillips suggests that the activities chosen need to be achievable but at the same time sufficiently stimulating for the children to feel satisfied with their work (Phillips, 1993:7). Therefore, it is very much a cyclical process, through enjoyable and stimulating tasks, the children will have a sense of achievement which in turn will help develop their motivation for further learning.

These categories have been invaluable to me as a primary EFL teacher and despite my traumatic beginnings; I have come to love teaching this age group. I believe that if a lesson is pitched correctly and contains the elements necessary for children of this age, the rewards are absolutely endless. This does not mean that it is a smooth ride all the way. Children can be quite unpredictable and react unexpectedly despite having all the ingredients for a good lesson. Do not let that put you off - teaching children is an enormously satisfying experience.

Simona Demuro
Country Exams Manager in the British Council, Portugal.