As the world gets smaller, schools and teachers feel mounting pressure to teach children Spanish at a young age. But while parents’ expectations are justifiably high, what they may not know is how great the challenge is for schools to put children on the path to fluency. With the current focus on math, science and testing, limited budgets and limited time allocated for second language learning, the reality of the task can be daunting for teachers, especially when language instruction is often limited to one hour per week.
Now research is lighting the way to innovative teaching methods that can help overcome these obstacles. Cognitive studies in recent years indicate that a multisensory teaching approach which addresses a variety of student learning styles is the best way to engage students, sustain attention and improve retention(1). Providing a foreign language curriculum that meets these objectives may be the key to success.
In this section we are compiling websites, articles and links to research and theories that inspire language teaching methodology and provide new solutions to some of the greatest challenges to teaching a second language to children.
Howard Garder's Multiple Intelligence Theory
Multiple Intelligence Overview
The benefits of multisensory teaching and sensory words
On Howard Gardner
Brain Research
(1) Effective teachers make a conscious effort to design instruction that incorporates a broad variety of learning preferences beyond their own (Doolan & Honigfeld, 2000; Sadler-Smith & Smith, 2004)
