1. Introduction

“The importance of Early Childhood Education can’t be overstated. Simply put – it’s EVERYTHING! It’s the foundation for everything a child will do both academically and socially. It can mean the difference between a productive career and a lifetime of struggling.

It is the foundation for freedom for a child to become anything they want to be. Establishing those critical building blocks early gives a child a much more solid foundation to stand on as they grow and develop. That’s what a quality Early Childhood Education can mean to a child— simply EVERYTHING!”[1].

In the past few decades the practice and theories of TEFL have been affected by the cultural, educational, social and technical changes that are generated by a phenomenon called globalization. No longer can any education system afford to use and apply their own teaching/learning techniques and methods and neglect the requirements of the latest trends that focus on the needs of both the individuals and nations within the globally accepted strategies. The central questions of teaching English are to develop general/specific knowledge along with competences, skills and abilities that will enable learners to develop their own learning strategies, styles and methods. This attitude then requires awareness of language learners about how effectively they can learn languages and use their learning experiences to become more independent individuals who can later consciously plan their personal, social and professional development. It is evident that the most needed competences such as critical thinking, creativity and self development should be part of life long learning.

Naturally in case of young learners teachers must be aware of children’s mental and physical capacities and it is also their responsibility to make them experience of how to communicate freely even with little knowledge.

The target audience are:

trainees, novice teachers, kindergarten teachers, in-service teachers of English and teacher trainers who

1. intend to understand the notion and the effects of  Global English
2. to discover their own practice (learning and teaching) to be able to plan activities in accordance with the children’s needs
3. to use materials critically
4. to support children to get equipped with skills and competences that will make them realize later in their career what and how they should communicate in different cultures to become successful in their wok
5. to prepare young learners for  “Life Long Learning”

The aims of this interactive material are

• to be able to assess where students are academically and emotionally in order to set goals for the class and individual students
• to design activities which actively seek to engage learners and widen their understanding, increase flexibility, tolerance of  otherness and cultural diversity
• to show and reflect on methods and techniques that support EFL teachers’ work in the 21^st century in an environment where professionals will need to address a rapidly changed world filled with problems and possibilities that could not be imagined several decades ago.

The structure that will support the readers’ understanding and develop their skills to be able to do the activities is the following:

• specific and general thinking questions will lead the reader into the topics
• tasks will help to explore teaching and learning problems and
• offer opportunities to experience new methods and techniques

It is not intended to offer clean cut answers, rather both students and teachers are invited to think critically, to reflect on their own experience and views and realise what new methods and techniques may foster their teaching.

The tasks allow students, teacher trainers and kindergarten teachers to reflect, engage and process in their work. The primary goals of the tasks are

• to learn how to establish clear rules for children
• to demonstrate and offer different teaching techniques
• to praise and encourage
• to use different teaching and learning styles, and assessment tools