English in Early Childhood Course - British Council

Explore early childhood development and find out how you can support young children learning English as an additional language.

Discover how to help children learn English as a second language

Teaching English to children while they’re still learning their mother tongue is a challenging yet rewarding experience. On this ExpertTrack, you’ll learn how, as a parent or a teacher, you can help children get the most out of a language learning experience.

You’ll explore early childhood development and examine how young children learn English as well as discover how and why children learn best through play.

Study with language development experts

You’ll learn from British Council educators, global providers of high-quality English courses. You’ll learn the best ways to talk to young children, how to create an enabling environment for them to learn English as an additional language, and how to monitor their progress.

Through articles, videos, and discussions, you’ll hear from both early childhood experts and parents, and see first-hand how young children learn inside an early years’ classroom. Along the way, you’ll gather tips, advice, and downloadable resources that will help you teach English as a foreign language to children.

Understand how children learn language through play

The ExpertTrack will give you the opportunity to understand the role of play in childhood development, specifically looking at the importance of play in language acquisition.

You’ll also discover the tools you can use to create a supportive play environment so that you can help grow a child’s language skills.

Learn how to effectively communicate with young children

You’ll learn the skills to talk to children to help them develop their language skills as well as aid in their emotional development through techniques such as praise and labelling.

Discover enabling environments and how happy children learn better

This course will teach you how to build positive relationships with children and create enabling environments to promote their learning. You’ll identify the theory behind this, discover the connection between learning and wellbeing, and how happy children are more likely to learn better.

From here, you will also learn how to support and challenge children to move their development forward, and measure their progress with assessments.

By the end of this ExpertTrack, you’ll have the knowledge and skills to provide a nurturing and supportive approach to teaching children English as an additional language.

Key skills you will learn

• How to communicate effectively with young children
• Demonstrate the connection between learning and a child’s well-being
• The importance of play
• Learning and development language in context
• How to support and challenge children and measure their progress
• Teaching English
• Child development
• Language development
• Language development in early childhood

ExpertTrack course overview

• English in Early Childhood: Learning Language Through Play
  Explore how children learn and the importance of play in early childhood and the role of play in language development.
• English in Early Childhood: Context and Communication
  Study the importance of developing language in context and providing meaningful learning experiences that motivate young children.
• English in Early Childhood: How Happy Children Learn
  Understand how to create enabling environments to nurture children’s wellbeing and support their language development.

How ExpertTracks work

Join an ExpertTrack to master new skills in your chosen specialist area. Work through a series of topic-focused courses at your own pace, and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate award which proves your expertise.

Who will you learn with?

Sheona Gilmour

More than 20 years of experience working with early years children and young learners in kindergartens, schools and teaching centres. I never stop learning, growing and changing.

Tracey Chapelton

I have been teaching languages for over 25 years. I love the creative aspects of teaching and learning, and I now mostly work in the areas of teacher development and materials writing.

World-class learning with

British Council

The British Council is on the ground in six continents and over 100 countries connecting the best of UK culture with a global audience and providing high-quality English language courses.

Start learning today - free 7-day trial

After your free trial you can:

• Pay $39 per month to keep learning online
• Have complete control over your subscription; you can cancel any time
• Work at your own pace and set your own deadlines at every stage
• Only pay while you’re learning; the subscription will cancel automatically when you finish
• Complete online assessments to test your knowledge and prove your skills
• Earn digital course certificates and a final award that you can share online, with potential employers, and your professional network
• Keep access to the content of courses you complete even after your subscription ends

Learning outcomes

By the end of the ExpertTrack, you’ll be able to:

• Investigate how children learn and how they acquire language.
• Discuss the importance of play and look at language development opportunities.
• Reflect on ways to communicate effectively with young children.
• Explore meaningful learning and developing language in context.
• Demonstrate the connection between learning and a child’s well-being.
• Identify ways to support and challenge children, and measure their progress.