Náležitosti

1. 
Young Learners 
Firstly, the term ´young learners´, in terms of an age group, should be 
characterized. There are different viewpoints in the literature focusing on the age group 
of young learners. According to Opal Dunn the term ´young children´ is used to 
describe a pre-school age up to as late as ten or eleven years. (1983, v) But Nagy 
believes that “´Young Learners´ will refer to children from the ages of four to twelve.“ 
(2005, 2) Moreover, in Sarah Phillips´ point of view “´Young learners´ covers children 
from the first year of formal schooling 
[
five or six years old
]
to eleven or twelve years 
of age.” (1993, 5) For the purpose of this thesis the opinion of Sarah Phillips will be 
followed, as the research focuses on an age group of nine to ten year olds.
Secondly, the question concerning the topic ´What is young learners like? ´ 
should be answered. The characteristics found in the book by Jean Brewster, Gail Ellis 
and Denis Girard seems to be appropriate. 
Young children are different from older learners because they: 
-
have a lot of physical energy and often need to be physically active 
-
have a wide range of emotional needs 
-
are emotionally excitable 
-
are developing conceptually and are at an early stage of their schooling 
-
are still developing literacy in their first language 
-
learn more slowly and forget things quickly 
-
tend to be self-oriented and preoccupied with their own world 
-
get bored easily 
-
are excellent mimics 
-
can concentrate for a surprisingly long time if they are interested 
-
can be easily distracted but also very enthusiastic 
(2002, 27-28) 

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11 
As the target group of young learners in the course were only third graders nine 
or ten years old, this part of the thesis will concentrate on the analysis of eight-to-ten 
year old children.