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Introduction
Introduction
Thisbookistheresultofmanyyears'experienceinteachingchildren,trainingteachers
andeducatingteachertrainers.BeginningourcareersasMAgraduatesofEnglishDe-
partmentsoneofusatWrocławandoneatWarsawUniversityformanyyearswede-
velopedourprofessionalinterestsindividually.Yet,bothofuslaterfoundthatweshared
manyareasofexperienceandresearch;bothofuswerekeentogainfurtherinspirationin
ELTandtheteachingofdifferentagegroupsandlevelsoflearners;bothwereoffered
academicpostsasteachertrainersatEnglishTeacherTrainingColleges,andbothhad
childrenofourownandexperiencewhichfurtherstimulatedthedevelopmentofour
chosenspecialisedfieldthatofteachingyounglearners.Wesoondiscoveredthistobe
achallengingyetfascinatingandrewardingjob.WefinallymetwhenwritingourPhD
thesesontopicswhich,coincidentally,focuseduponearlysecondlanguageacquisition.
Ourprofessionalcollaborationbeganshortlyafterthismeeting,whenweattended
ateachertrainingcourseheldinPolandandtheUKin1998–1999,organizedbythe
BritishCouncil.AimedatsupportingtheeducationalreformstheninprogressinPoland,
thecourseofferedustheopportunitytocompilearesourcepackoftrainingmaterialsfor
teachersofyounglearners.Ourco-operationcontinuedwhenOxfordUniversityPress
invitedustoco-authorasyllabusforlowerprimaryclasses.Thiswasfollowedin2002
withthepublicationofSparks,acoursebookaimedatthesameeducationalstage.Using
asinspirationtheseriesofourarticlespublishedinTheTeacherbetween2004and2006,
whichsharedourteachingandtrainingexperienceswithawideraudience,webeganthe
writingofthispublication.
Thisbookislargelyaddressedtotraineeteachersandteacherswhoareinterestedin
thepracticalpreparationforteachingyounglearners.Mostchapterscontainasectiondi-
scussingthefactorsinfluencingtheteachingofdifferentagegroups(pre-primary,lower
primaryandupperprimary).Afurtherresourcearethebanksofactivitieswhichfollow
mostchapters.Pointsfordiscussionandalistofrelatedtitlesforthoseinterestedin
exploringparticularareascoveredbythebookarealsoincluded.TheAppendicesconta-
insupplementarymaterials,suchaslessonplans,attainmenttargetsandmodellettersto
parents.
Openingwithanintroductorychapteron‘EarlyforeignlanguagelearninginEuro-
pe,,whichpresentsanoverviewofthepolicydevelopmentsandtrendsinteachinglan-
guagestochildren,thebookgoesoninChapter2toaddresstheissueoflearningand
teachingthroughtheintegrationofEnglishwiththeprimarycurriculum.Thenextthree