Developing Oral Skills with Young Children

The ease and speed with which young children acquire their first language have inspired several second language theorists to investigate the process with the obvious aim to benefit from first language acquisition process. Relying on the studies made in this field the first more theoretical section of this thesis will attempt to describe the way in which young children master their native language and examines what paralells (if any) exist between the way children learn their native language and second language acquisition. The second section will deal with some of the current techniques of second language teaching and describes appropriate activities for promoting children's talking. The question to be discussed is the following: To what extent are the analyzed techniques capable of satisfying those requirements that a native language environment offers?