Leisure and free time

Abstract

In general terms, according to Harmer (2012), “as children approach puberty (from about ten onwards), they start being able to analyze abstract language concepts (…). They are reaching the formal operational stage of their development. Before that, however, we need to think about teaching language to children differently from the way we teach it to teenagers or adults. Young learners absorb language through action, games, songs and rhymes, stories and the senses. This is far more effective than trying to explain its rules or construction” (Harmer, 2012: 210).