Abstract:

This paper reviews the literature and recommends activities that can be used to teach English to gifted and talented students. It includes the responsibilities that teachers of the gifted and talented have in teaching the English language. Strategies for teaching the language in a natural and flowing way to increase intake and usage are also presented. Also discussed are the pressures on gifted and talented students when they are learning a new subject such as the English language and how these pressures occur because of beliefs about giftedness and how gifted learners learn. Teachers need to also be aware of the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of their students. This information can be used to help students speak English more naturally during informal talks/discussions in class about their different lifestyles and/or cultural features. The special and different learning characteristics of gifted students are important for their teachers to know. Teachers of gifted students should then use that knowledge when they differentiate curriculum. To be a teacher of these special children means being open to ongoing professional development and always focusing on the learner rather than the learning. Finally, the teachers of the gifted need to shift their approaches in order to become counsellors and guides more than instructors and directors of learning.

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