Kindy Talk: Practical Instructional Approaches for Teaching English to Young Learners

Apparently putting up my last post on FB created an uproar coz I am hardly an FB person. They say FB are for old peeps and Tiktok are for the young 'uns. Judging how Mr Hubs likes lurking on FB, it's probably true. Hahahaha! Me, I have no presence. My presence is mostly felt when I do online shopping and that skillset did sharpen greatly during the pandemic.

Since I made a promise to self to revive my blogspot as a branding tool, (again, I wonder, are people still into reading blogs? Perhaps if I link it to FB again, who knows I may even revive blogging) I share here our most recent training with preschool educators. This was in collaboration with Persatuan Pendidik Awal Kanak-kanak Negeri Pahang, where the participants were mainly from Kuantan, Indera Mahkota, Balok, and even 2 who travelled all the way from Temerloh, Julie and Mdm Linda! 

One of our participants this time was from our first ever KTP Kindy training participants all the way back in 2015 (when Kindy Talk was still known as KTP Kindy) and this time she brought her whole crew with her from Tadika Kasih Sejati IM. Nurul Aisyah, thank you so much! We really really appreciate your support.

KTP Kindy, now rebranded as Kindy Talk started in 2015 when Assoc. Prof Dr Noor Raha Mohd Radzuan applied for a Knowledge Transfer Grant and the grant ended in 2019. We have been going on ever since. We started with 2 modules; the first focused on daily routine and instructional language, and the second focused on storytelling techniques. Then I applied for an internal grant and we came up with our Talking Posters! and then we came up with our third module, English for STEM and our latest focused on the worksheets and teacher teaching aid that comes with the worksheets. 

The programme, called "Little Learners, Big Future: Practical Instructional Approaches for Teaching English to Young Learners", was attended by 47 preschool educators and featured the ever engaging theme of animals. Which child doesn't like animals? Even if they aren't fond of them, children are still curious about them. So we have to feed that curiousity. Don't just ask them what they know, tell them what they don't know.

One crucial lesson we emphasized in the programme was the importance of providing accurate and correct language input for the children because we believe that the language the children hear and use during their early years forms the foundation for their future proficiency. The meticulously crafted teacher visual aids for  worksheets provided language input that the educators could use to interact with the children. These aids allow educators to deliver consistent language instruction at the same time reinforce vocabulary and grammatical structures in a meaningful way. Puan Siti Zubaidah Salehudin, the winning participant (we had a contest of sorts at the end of the programme) shared that access to these materials boosted her confidence in teaching English and enabled her to structure her lessons better to meet her students’ needs.

Another lesson from the workshop was that learning didn't need to be static. Rather than chalk and talk, or passive learning, children should be engaged in fun, enjoyable activities that allow them to experience learning through playing. We had one male participant, Encik Ahmad Nasharudin Al Bakri, who said that games and role plays help children retain new vocabulary and language as they were actively involved.

All in all, I would like to report that we have come a long way and after 9 years doing Kindy Talk, we are still passionate and hope to improve the standards of English from the cradle in baby steps. Here a our video link for the programme courtesy of Wan Farah and Ishafira: https://youtu.be/aV_CCYQ0nrY?si=g6DUxKqtcJEaMQsy  

Reintroducing Myself – Jumani, Your Language Enthusiast

Hello, world! It’s Jumani—your friendly neighborhood English lecturer (and occasional tea enthusiast). Some of you might know me as Jujuqtpie, a nickname I’ve carried for years. At home, I’ve always been called Juju, and the ‘qtpie’ bit was a fun touch to my email handle (because, why not?). Though people sometimes mispronounce it, I’ve always found it playful and endearing!

I’ve been teaching for years, primarily focusing on making English less of a chore and more of a fun, easy language to learn. My students range from engineering undergrads to Master’s students tackling language policy. And you know what? I love every bit of it!

Beyond teaching, I’m deeply into lifelong learning, believing that we all have the tools to help ourselves improve. I’m a strong believer in blending technology with language learning, having worked on projects like Kindy Talk, a module for early childhood educators. I’m also passionate about intercultural communication and impoliteness studies (yes, there’s such a thing!).

This blog is my space to share thoughts on language, life, and maybe a few odd rants (like how I once accidentally threw an ice chip at a smoker—long story). But more than anything, it’s a place for me to connect with like-minded people who love learning and growing.

So if you’re here to discover some language hacks, pick up tips, or just enjoy a bit of lighthearted banter, welcome back to my little corner of the internet!

Reviving my blog, breathing new life

I recently joined a course called GENACITY 2.0. I would be part of their second cohort. It is really exciting to have the opportunity to learn from these VERY HEAVY practitioners such as Dr Tazli, Prof Abd Karim Alias, Don and Chuah Kee Man.

Being a lecturer at UMPSA for how many donkey years, I figured I have to keep up with the times, embrace technology, particularly AI! I am all for us using AI, it really helps with productivity, shortens my thinking time and produces wonderful writing. But that's for us; we have gone through our Bachelor, Master and PhD. Even without AI, we can survive; even if the work produced wouldn't be as fast but there would be output produced by our God-given human brain. However for students, for me to say, go ahead, use AI to your heart's content, they would have to know BOTH the long way and the short cuts. How can we let them out into the world by just AI-ing everything? What is a language class if the language is generated by AI? They have to have the knowledge in their human brain so that they can fall back on their own brain coz believe me, technology has the tendency to fail at the most inopportuned times. 

Here's a FACT: Technology has failed me at several significant life events! First example, my VIVA VOCE! On the day I was to present on my PhD, the university had a major blackout. I presented in near  darkness with natural light coming in from the windows. My supervisor said, "Only you. This could happen to only you". In a way, it was a blessing in disguise. The room was hot and stuffy and the whole process finished in half an hour. Of course, credit also should be given to easy readability of my thesis, which is a proud achievement. Remember, no chatGPT yet at that time! So it's all me! Of course I wouldn't want to read through that "masterpiece" coz somehow, the eyes could catch mistakes better post submission.

Second example: I was in the middle of presenting my poster for an online Teaching and Learning Innovation Competition and suddenly I realised I was talking by myself, to myself as I was disconnected. It really killed my mojo. Even when I was reconnected, I was a bit more flustered than before.

There are other instances but these two instances are the most memorable for me. 

Blogging again...but do people still read blogs?

I cannot even remember the last time I blogged. The last baby I blogged about turns 17 today! Here is an interesting fact. FACT: I totally forgot what happened giving birth to Hana (<-- my birthday girl!). I remember how, more or less what time each child came into this world except for Hana. This was because there were too many false alarms when it was her turn that when the actual deed happened, I had no recollection!

But guess what? I documented every detail in this blog. Isn't that amazing? Here's the link if you are curious. But mostly it is for my own record: http://jujusthoughtsgalore.blogspot.com/2007/12/on-roll-again.html

Reading back my old posts, I can't believe I was so verbose. I wonder if my blogger friends are still blogging and whatever happened in their lives now. Have they abandoned ship? Or still going strong, blogging through time and space?

Perhaps this won't be my last post. Maybe this is my new beginning. Maybe...who knows.