Early English Learning Research Articles

Exploring English self-concept and investment of successful EFL learners from a Chinese secondary school

Academic self-concept, a central psychological construct that powerfully explains learners’ varied motivations and learning behaviors, needs to be further explored to deepen our understanding of language learner psychology. Drawing on self-reported learning histories, this study investigates the English self-concept of successful English as a foreign language (EFL) learners and their mediated learning behaviors from the theoretical lens of personal investment theory (Maehr & Braskamp, 1986). Data were collected from 12 students at a key secondary school in Shanghai using retrospective narratives and semi-structured interviews. The analysis revealed three categories of cognitive and affective characteristics in the learners’ English self-concept and the corresponding investment features with subtle differences identified. Participants espoused average to high competency beliefs and moderate to strong positive affect toward English learning, nurtured by positive self-beliefs such as interest and self-efficacy formed through early English learning experience. Their sustainable, targeted, and resilient investment in English learning was also underpinned by the perception of mastery and performance goals appropriately afforded by teachers, parents, peers, or the school. Practical implications for parents and educators are discussed in terms of what they can do to help learners build positive self-perceptions as EFL learners.

Teachers' Impressions on the Use of Digital Media in Early English Learning for Early Childhood Students

Teachers' Impressions on the Use of Digital Media in Early English Learning for Early Childhood Students

영어유치원에 자녀를 보내는 어머니들의 경험에 대한 현상연구

Objectives This study aims to investigate the cultural phenomenon of early English education through interviews with three mothers who chose English kindergartens through phenomenological research methodologies.
 Methods The participants in this study are three mothers who are sending their children to an English kindergarten at the time of the interview. As a data collection method, open-ended and semi-structured interview techniques were used. The contents of the interview were recorded and then transcribed. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with questions about the motivation for sending to English kindergarten, mothers' beliefs about early English learning, and mothers' perceptions of their children's English kindergarten experience. Interviews took an average of 90 minutes, and telephone interviews were adopted, considering the mother's convenience.
 Results The motives of mothers who send their children to English kindergartens are as follows. Children's desire to learn English in nature, English as an area that mothers cannot teach, early English learning as an investment in the future, and positive attitude toward American English textbooks. In addition, mothers had a positive attitude toward their children's early English learning but also had awareness of the importance of their mother tongue. Mothers positively recognized early English learning based on their beliefs gained from past English learning experiences and recognized early English learning as the first step for the CSAT. Mothers felt satisfied through the evaluation of their children's English proficiency.
 Conclusions A parent's beliefs determine when and how a child learns English, and a mother's beliefs greatly influence a child's English learning. Therefore, it is necessary to think from the child's point of view, not the parent's, whether the child has difficulties learning English or what kind of thoughts the child has.

Learning L3 English Early: A Danger to L1 Indonesian Language Acquisition?

Since the future of the world is English, many countries now include English in their primary education curriculum, so language proficiency can be achieved more quickly and effectively. As two or more languages knowledge are competing linguistically in the brain, the early introduction to English means putting the other languages known by the Indonesian English language learners in a competition. On the other hand, despite its controversy, bilingualism and multilingualism, when achieved fully and proportionally, is cognitively and socially beneficial. This article reviews the potential effects of including English early in the Indonesian curriculum and the recommendation for the Indonesian’s future multilingual education and research. The discussion resulted in some important conclusions. Firstly, considering the Indonesian-English far typological distance, learning English requires some time and cognitive effort. For Indonesian bilinguals/multilingual, this means early introduction to English means higher confidence in producing the language verbally later on. During this early learning of English, the Indonesian language (and any other ethnic language that forms the speaker’s identity should also be used simultaneously to create the same purpose; a sense of belonging towards and confidence in using the language(s). In short, multilingualism that includes foreign language instruction; national and minority language use and maintainance, should be enhanced and normalised from childhood.

Early learning of English in a Kazakh school (results of a sociolinguistic study)

The paper analyzes the situation of early learning of English in a Kazakh school. The author describes the results of the conducted sociolinguistic research in the capital gymnasium; analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the introduced system of early English language teaching; justifies the need for a large-scale statistical study of the current situation. The author introduces the term "kazinglish" by analogy with the already established term "runglish" and justifies its relevance for further research in a comparative aspect. The object of the study is teaching English in Kazakhstan primary and secondary schools. The subject of the study is the data obtained from the survey of informants (anonymous cluster survey). В В В Main conclusions: 1) change of one of the main mental and cultural paradigms in the field of foreign language education: focus on intercultural communication in action. 2) Primary and secondary level students identify motivation, professional competence of the teacher, accessibility, visibility as the main criteria for easy mastering of a foreign language. We conclude that there is a positive methodology for teaching a foreign language in relation to academic results and the predominant role of the interactive learning format.3) It is not necessary to talk about the presence of a certain talent for languages.4) It is necessary to form specialized training of students in the profile: humanitarian or natural-mathematical. 5) The problem of substitution of concepts and the resulting problem of colloquial foreign language. The so-called "easy and fast" method of language acquisition is becoming increasingly popular. As a result, side effects are unacceptable phonetic, grammatical, lexical and stylistic errors. 6) A pseudo-dialect of the English language is actively being formed in Kazakhstan, let's call it "Kazinglish" by analogy with "Runglish". "Kazinglish" has already become a reality. It is necessary to conduct a large-scale (republican) study on the mastery of foreign languages by the population. The results will allow analyzing the paradigms and trends that have occurred in the study of foreign languages in the country, and outline plans for the development of foreign language education in Kazakhstan.

Effects of German reading skills and bilingualism on early learning of English as a foreign language in primary school children

Effects of German reading skills and bilingualism on early learning of English as a foreign language in primary school children

Documents and domains Aspects of Intercultural Education in English Language Teaching (ELT) in Portugal

The early learning of English in the state school network in Portugal has been the subject of a wide debate, which has not been exhausted by the introduction of English teaching as a curricular subject in the 1st cycle, in 2015, and which has helped to develop the intercultural awareness of a greater number of children. The new programmes and guideline documents emanating from the Ministry of Education, where objectives and areas of learning have been redefined, have been discussed and changed since the supranational imposition of the Common European Framework of Reference in 2001, with increasing allusions to the intercultural domain in learning English. Likewise, all the academic literature, from authors such as Byram (2006; 2009) and Guilherme . (2006), points to the centrality of intercultural competence in the learning of citizenship and curriculum construction since the first years of schooling. This article seeks to analyze the extent to which these intentions and visions of the “Intercultural Domain” have been incorporated into the reference curriculum documents and, in turn, will be structuring the experience of learning the English language by Portuguese children

A burden or a boost: The impact of early childhood English learning experience on lower elementary English and Chinese achievement

ABSTRACT We examined the effect of learning English as a foreign language in early childhood on children’s later English and Chinese achievement and attitude toward English learning in mainland China. A total of 892 children were divided into two groups according to whether they had any English learning experience before they entered elementary school. To reduce self-selection bias in children’s early English learning experience, we employed propensity score matching (PSM) and coarsened exact matching (CEM) techniques and generated balanced samples based on children’s demographic, parent-child interactional and socio-economic characteristics. We found that the experience of early childhood English learning alone positively contributed to later English language and Chinese language achievement and also to attitudes toward English learning. The findings provide important evidence that limited exposure to English before elementary school does not harm Chinese learning. They also have educational implications that encourage educators to continue helping students develop genuine interest in English learning and maintain their high level of motivation starting at a very young age.

The Differences of Executive Function according to Type of Early English Learning Experience of 5-years old

The Differences of Executive Function according to Type of Early English Learning Experience of 5-years old

The Effect of Early English Learning on Psychology

Language acquisition in children bilingualism is a process of transferring two languages in children, by both parents or the environment. This is what happened to Mira, Sasak tribe children seven years old who were given additional training by his parents in language tutorials (Bimbel X). In the growth process, Mira was happy and westernized with it. As a result of this teaching changes the psychology of the language behavior Mira. Changes in behavior accompanied by psychological conditions are getting better and better, marked by increased confidence and the growing motivation to learn. The purpose of this study to delineate the diverse happenings language acquisition bilingualism. Meanwhile, the theory of assessment used, namely the view Chomsky. The data collection refer to the methods and capable as well as basic techniques and derivatives, observation, and documentation. Data were analyzed with a descriptive qualitative method that aims to systematically delineate, categorization, and patterned. So in the end, produced the reality of the second language acquisition (English) is a positive impact on a child's language development.

All Good Things Come in Threes: Early English Learning, CLIL and Motivation in Switzerland

In this study, I examine the strength of the association between L3 English performance and tarting age, on the one hand, and motivation and different types of provision of foreign language teaching, on the other, in Swiss learners of EFL with a long learning experience (between 6–11 years). Multilevel analyses were performed to investigate whether early starters in instructional settings achieve the same kind of long-term advantage as late starters and to examine how motivation and type of instruction (regular EFL instruction vs. Content and Language Integrated Learning or CLIL) factor into this process. Results show that starting age alone does not seem to be the distinguishing variable and that type of instruction and, above all, motivation are stronger predictors of L3 proficiency than starting age. Furthermore, qualitative analyses reveal a bi-directional causal link between CLIL and motivation and CLIL and learner outcomes. The study thus complements previous research by offering a critical empirical examination of age effects as well as CLIL outcomes and by investigating second-order interactions of individual difference variables and linguistic and contextual variables, which are still under-researched both in educational psychology and the study of second language acquisition.

Teaching materials for English in the primary education – also for the pre-school education?

The objective of the article is to analyse some selected materials for teaching English as a foreign language, designed mainly for grade 1–3 of the primary school, with the goal to answer the question whether these materials could be also used successfully and efficiently with 3–5-year old children. Early English learning materials are compared with Polish integrated learning materials. The analysis results in some conclusions for the didactic process in kindergartens. In accordance with the theoretical issues some principles for the shaping of didactic materials, teaching forms and activities, adequate tasks and contents of a language lesson are described.

‘Everybody learns English, and so do I’: The dominance of English and its effects on individuals

In some Asia-Pacific countries, English is neither an ethnic heritage nor a colonial legacy. The dominant position of English can also be a result of it being the common language for worldwide communication. The superiority of the English language in such countries manifests itself in language policy and national curricula which leads to a frantic pursuit of English. An educational trend in China, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam is to start English instruction early to give children an edge in second language acquisition. A rationale used for this is the positive relationship between a nation's international competiveness and the English language competence of its citizens (Baldauf & Nguyen, 2013; Hu, 2009; Park, 2009). One example of a nationwide English learning movement is ‘the-earlier-the-better’ in Taiwan. To win elections, electoral candidates used to propose English instruction to be available at Grade 1 (age of 6) although the Ministry of Education ruled for Grade 5 (age of 10) to be the year for English to be introduced (Chang, 2009). Another example of early English learning is overseas study in South Korea. Young children are sent to North America to receive long-term education so that they can learn to speak English without a Korean accent (Song, 2010).

The Experience of Early English Learning in English Speaking Countries and the Present Situation of the Learners

The Experience of Early English Learning in English Speaking Countries and the Present Situation of the Learners

Colloquium – Early learning of English: Learners, teachers, and discourses

Presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado; 23 March 2009.

Focus Group Interview for the Parents of the Students Who Have Returned to Korea after Early English Learning in Foreign Countries

Focus Group Interview for the Parents of the Students Who Have Returned to Korea after Early English Learning in Foreign Countries

TEACH MY CHILDREN ENGLISH: WHY PARENTS WANT ENGLISH TEACHING FOR THEIR CHILDREN

This paper describes parents’ reasons for sending their children to an English language course, their expectations from the English language instruction, and the disadvantages they perceive in getting their children to learn English at their early ages. A small-scale exploratory survey using questionnaires was conducted among 46 parents whose children learn English at a private course. The results indicate that the majority of the parents are generally aware of the practical values of providing English instruction for their children and hardly perceive any disadvantages in this early English learning. Also, they expect English instruction to enable their children to perform the four language skills, notably speaking. Implications for the young learners’ first language as well as the teaching of young learners are then presented. These may offer teachers, parents, and other researchers some important points to consider. Keywords : parents, young learners, English language teaching.

The effects of early English learning on auditory perception of English minimal pairs by Taiwan university students.

Auditory perception of English minimal pairs was tested with or without noise background. Each subject was interviewed after the test to collect information regarding their early experience on learning English as a foreign language. This study was designed to examine the differential effects of learning English at three age-starting points and two learning durations. This study hopes to determine how childhood experience of English learning (which is not mandatory in public elementary schools) has affected the auditory competence of university students in distinguishing English minimal pairs. Results showed that age effects were salient only under condition of noise background. Without the interference of background noise, most subjects performed well enough to obliterate any potential differences.

When learning a second language means losing the first

In societies like the United States with diverse populations, children from linguistic minority families must learn the language of the society in order to take full advantage of the educational opportunities offered by the society. The timing and the conditions under which they come into contact with English, however, can profoundly affect the retention and continued use of their primary languages as well as the development of their second language. This article discusses evidence and findings from a nationwide study of language shift among language-minority children in the U.S. The findings suggest that the loss of a primary language, particularly when it is the only language spoken by parents, can be very costly to the children, their families, and to society as a whole. Immigrant and American Indian families were surveyed to determine the extent to which family language patterns were affected by their children's early learning of English in preschool programs. Families whose children had attended preschool programs conducted exclusively in Spanish served as a base of comparison for the families whose children attended English-only or bilingual preschools.

Influence of national languages on learning English

Every language can be described in terms of a set of phonemes, including, in part, vowels, diphthongs, semivowels, and consonants. In China, Mandarin is the standard spoken Chinese, i.e., the national language. There are many additional dialects, each with its own set of phonemes. Fluent speakers in Mandarin and another dialect can therefore pronounce two sets of phonemes. The phonemes are produced mainly by operations of the vocal tract. The connections between vocal tract movements and phonemes are established in childhood, first for the dialect and then for Mandarin. This led us to compare the ability to learn to speak English among Chinese speakers using different dialects and therefore different sets of phonemes. It was observed that the greater the similarity of the dialect to English, the more intelligible and natural were the initial attempts to speak English. This was in spite of similar fluency in the national language, Mandarin. It was concluded that early learning of English was important, independent of the national language, and it was hypothesized that similar results would be obtained in other non‐English‐speaking countries.