Good teaching practices tell us that developmentally appropriate teaching begins with a thorough understanding of the individual children in your classroom. This is also the case when teaching young children who are English language learners. Gathering information about children is a necessary step in the teaching and learning process. It is what helps you to provide the individual attention children need. It is important to remember that, because children learn and change continuously, gathering information about them must also be an ongoing activity.
As you know, language learning is a very individual process, and each child in your class is a unique individual with distinct characteristics. This is also true of the young English language learner. You may find that some children are already familiar with English and have some basic or beginning knowledge about the language, while others are coming for the first time into an environment where the language is different from the one used at home. Because not all children come to your classroom with the same experiences, background, or language skills, as a supportive and effective instructor, you need to learn what makes each of your children special and unique.
