Theory & Research Tips:

Dolch Sight Words.  Research by Edward W. Dolch found that 50 to 75 percent of all words in text material are common words which are repeated. These 220 words are called the Dolch Sight Words. Because these words are used to hold thoughts together, these words must be recognized at at glance before a child can read with confidence.  For a list of these words plus further explanation see these two pages: Dolch Words by Betsy B. Lee and Dolch Word Activities.

Online Research Articles.  We have complied links to over 50 research and theoretical articles on the web that can be viewed in our Articles Section (take a look here).  Each article is directly related to teaching ESL to young learners.  We will be adding more and more as we find them - if you know of any good ones please let us know!

Parent Guided Reading.  Research (Cameron & Bava Harji, 2000) has shown that encouraging parents to read English books with their children can result in "enormous progress in literacy and oral language skills" being made.  Importantly, children should be allowed to choose the books they want to hear and read.  For more details see "Teaching Languages to Young Learners" by Lynne Cameron (2001, CUP).

The Stupid Teacher.  Discussed by Lutz (Balls, Balloons & Bubbles, 2001) and used by many kids teachers, the 'Stupid Teacher' technique allows children to show off their recently acquired knowledge.  Kids love to show you how smart they are and by making mistakes kids will quickly jump in to correct the teacher.  Say the wrong word for a flashcard, hold objects upside down, get your colors and adjectives wrong, put your socks on your hands, try to blow up balloons with your ears - all these mistakes will encourage your students to teach you to do it right!