Primary School Foreign Language Research Articles

Training attitudes of primary school foreign language teachers

Abstract Schooling practices founded upon the principles of Instructed Second Language Acquisition (ISLA) do not appear to have attained widespread adoption among teachers, consequently hindering the implementation of didactic measures that foster foreign language acquisition. These measures are closely entwined with the classroom climate, wherein the fundamental element often hinges upon the attitude of the teacher. For the most part, foreign language teachers are better equipped to embrace this attitude after having personally experienced it as learners themselves. To explore this matter further, the present study adopts a mixed-methods research design to gather insights from participants (n = 74) who attended the Didactics of Foreign Language in Primary Education – German course within the Bachelor Degree in Primary Education at the University of Cádiz (Spain) during the last nine editions; that is, from 2014/15 to 2022/23. The research findings reveal a near-unanimous consensus among all participants, regardless of nationality, teaching experience, or age, on the influential role of a classroom climate in shaping their teaching attitude. Based on the results, pre-service foreign language teachers must be allowed to acquaint themselves with effective didactic measures, together with a well-defined classroom climate wherein the significance of teaching attitude is accordingly recognized as one of the most influential factors in motivating learners.

Digital Literacy as a Meta-Cognitive Component of Younger Students’ Intellectual and Creative Potential in Foreign Language Lessons

The article reflects on the results of the digital literacy study in the structure of the meta-cognitive component of the intellectual and creative potential of younger schoolchildren in foreign language lessons. The team of authors substantiates the relevance of approaches to understanding digital literacy as an element of meta-cognitive skills and its increasing role in the development of language education in modern conditions of electronic information society. The scientific and analytical baggage of scientific and pedagogical research of Kazakhstani and foreign authors made it possible to identify the features of universality and meta-subjectivity inherent in the psychological and pedagogical phenomenon of digital literacy. Hypothesis: self-mastery of a foreign language in the modern information and communication space acquires the features of meta-subjects under the influence of digital literacy of students. The revealed similarity of skills and knowledge of speech-thinking activity and digital literacy as metacognitive categories and aspects of meta-knowledge form the intellectual and creative potential of a student’s personality. The results of the study prove that digital literacy as an element of the meta-cognitive component of the intellectual and creative potential of students has an intensifying effect on the development of speech-thinking skills in younger schoolchildren. The results obtained are based on experimental data confirming that the integration of techniques, methods, and means for the development of digital literacy acts as an intensifier of speech-thinking processes, increasing the effectiveness of teaching a foreign language in primary school. Among the defiantly difficult is the task set by the author’s team: to create a universal psychological and pedagogical algorithm to improve the meta-cognitive component of the intellectual and creative potential of a younger student with the actualization of the methodology of digital literacy in the humanities of the language cycle (state languages, literature, foreign languages, social studies, history, etc.). The training sample consisted of data obtained in the course of ascertaining and modeling experiments from real texts written by schoolchildren. Each text was checked and marked up by two experts in accordance with the levels of psychological, pedagogical, and subject competencies, which made it possible to determine the dynamics of digital literacy of younger schoolchildren in the structure of metacognitive activity of students learning foreign languages, which makes it possible to verify it as the core of the intellectual and creative potential of the student. The authors believe that the digital literacy of a modern student is a “soft power” of a new type of linguodidactics since it allows reformatting the speech and behavioral value matrix of the younger generation under the influence of the translation of priority standards of behavior in a particular ethnic society. Digital literacy is an unconditional way to expand the possibilities of developing an individual system of metacognition, determining the significant potential of its integration with the content of the foreign language teaching program in elementary grades.

Digitale Mediennutzung von Schülerinnen und Schülern im Fremdsprachenunterricht der Primarschule

ZusammenfassungLehrmitteln wird eine zentrale Rolle zur Steuerung des Unterrichts und bei Veränderungen im Bildungssystem zugeschrieben. Mittlerweile stehen für verschiedene Fächer multimedial-interaktive digitale Lehrmittel zur Verfügung. Allerdings fehlen bislang empirische Studien, die den Umgang mit diesen im Unterricht und die damit verbundene digitale Mediennutzung untersuchen. In der hier vorgestellten Videostudie wurde die Unterrichtspraxis in zwei fünften Primarschulklassen untersucht, für die ein digitales Französischlehrmittel zur Verfügung stand und die digitale Mediennutzung der Schülerinnen und Schüler konkretisiert. Dazu wurden Videodaten von zwölf Französischlektionen vollständig hinsichtlich Sozialformen und Medieneinsatz codiert. Phasen, in denen ein digitaler Medieneinsatz erfolgte, wurden weiter bezüglich ihrer handlungsorientierten Mediennutzung konkretisiert. Dabei zeigte sich, daβ die Verwendung der analogen Version des Lehrmittels dominierte und die im digitalen Lehrmittel zur Verfügung gestellten Aufträge oft mit Hilfe primär analoger Medien bearbeitet wurden. Potenziale digitaler Medien für den Fremdsprachenunterricht wurden von den Schülerinnen und Schülern im Bereich Multimedialität und zur kreativen Gestaltung von Dokumenten genutzt. Mit Fokus auf die Lehrmittelnutzungsforschung bestätigten die Ergebnisse der Studie die Rolle des Lehrmittels zur Steuerung des Unterrichts, zeigten aber gleichzeitig, daβ die Nutzung digitaler Lehrmittel noch stark von einer Verwendung traditioneller Medien im Unterricht beeinflusst wird. Gleichzeitig konnte durch die Analyse der handlungsorientierten Mediennutzung die Vielschichtigkeit von digitalen Medienhandlungsprozessen deutlich gemacht werden, die von der Handhabung der Hardware und der Programme über die Rezeption und Produktion hin zur Reflexion reicht, aber auch gegenseitige Hilfe und Ablenkung einschließt. Die hier vorgestellten empirischen Erkenntnisse sollen somit einen Beitrag zum aktuellen Diskurs des unterrichtlichen Medienhandelns von Schülerinnen und Schülern leisten.

Formation of professional cognitive and communicative competency of future primary school foreign language teachers through information-communicative technologies

This article considers the issue of the development of the professional cognitive and communicative competency (PCCC) of future primary school foreign language (FL) teachers in primary school based on information-communicative technologies (ICT). The content of the article is aimed at revealing the main principles, approaches, technologies and sub-competencies to develop the PCCC of the future primary school FL teachers. The importance of the development of PCCC of teachers through ICT is determined by the fact that the teacher should respond to any changes in the social sphere and be able to adapt to these changes. So, that is why future primary FL teachers must be able to use the new ICT in the classroom. We will consider the numerous advantages of ICT teaching FLs in preschool and primary school. To stimulate FL learning, we will also provide a series of digital interactive activities that can be used in early childhood FL education. The article is intended for FL teachers, students, and graduates, working on research in the FL teaching sphere.

Развитие умений чтения на иностранном языке у младших школьников с использованием учебных онлайн-книг

The aim of this study is a theoretical substantiation of the expediency of using online books for the development of foreign language reading skills in primary schoolchildren. The paper considers the features of teaching semantic reading at foreign language lessons in primary school, describes the types of communicative reading, the stages of working with a text when teaching a foreign language in primary school. The scientific novelty of the study lies in identifying the criteria for selecting texts for teaching foreign language reading at an early stage of learning; defining the notion of “online book”; highlighting the requirements for the content of electronic books as educational materials; developing the structure of an online book and the content of the stages of work on developing reading skills using online books at foreign language lessons in primary school. As a result of the study, didactic material was created in the format of an online book for the development of foreign language reading skills in primary schoolchildren by the material of the English language.

Primary foreign languages national curriculum expectations in England: implications for practice from the Ofsted curriculum research review for languages and the 24 languages subject inspections

ABSTRACT This paper considers the implications for teachers and teaching of the Ofsted Curriculum Research Review for Languages [Ofsted. 2021. OCRR Series: Languages. Published 7 June 2021. Available online OCRR series: languages – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Accessed 8 June 2021.] (OCRR) and the content of 24 Languages Subject Inspections (LSI) in primary school foreign language provision carried out between October 2019 and March 2020. It illuminates practice by a single foreign language (FL) primary specialist. Her practice is compared and contrasted to the new Ofsted guidance and the National Curriculum requirements for English primary schools. This research adopts a phenomenological exploratory or discovery case study approach and data collection tools that respond to this overall design: Semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, emails, planning documentary analysis and a review of children’s work. The findings show there are a myriad of factors which affect how languages are delivered in primary schools, including the number of language graduates, primary teachers’ workloads and curriculum time. The paper concludes by considering the challenges that other teachers, not in the same situation as the FL teacher in this research, would have to overcome, without additional time or funding to also meet these requirements.

Attitudes and motivation towards learning French in primary school

Abstract Young children have often been shown to be highly motivated towards learning foreign languages in primary school, but for their enthusiasm to decrease during secondary schooling. Many reasons have been put forward, such as novelty wearing off, teaching styles, or societal and peer pressure. Little is known about changes in attitudes and motivation in primary school aged children when these factors are kept constant, the only variable being the age of the children. The present study investigated differences in attitudes and motivation at two different ages (5 and 7) in such a setting. Two intact classes in the same school (53 children with no prior knowledge of French), taught the same material by the same teacher, took part in focus groups and one-to-one interviews during the course of a larger longitudinal project investigating the role of age in early classroom learning. Results show that changes in motivation might occur earlier than previously thought, and be shaped by developmental changes in children’s cognitive, social and emotional growth. Children as young as 5 and 7 were shown to exhibit differences in levels of self-regulation, self-efficacy, and thought and beliefs frames which had a direct impact on their attitudinal and motivational profiles.

RESEARCH ON THE IMPLEMENTATION AND PRACTICE OF WECHAT PUBLIC PLATFORM TEACHING RESOURCES BASED ON PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL REGULATION — TAKING PRIMARY SCHOOL FOREIGN LANGUAGE (ENGLISH) CURRICULUM AS AN EXAMPLE

BackgroundNowadays, wechat applications are very popular in China. Through the text, pictures, sound and video on the wechat official account platform, all-round communication between individuals and between individuals and the media has been realized. Wechat official account platform is an important functional module of wechat application. On this platform, enterprises and individuals can create an official account to communicate and interact with specific users. Its forms of communication and interaction are very diverse, including text, sound, pictures, pictures, text messages and videos. This paper applies the wechat official account platform to foreign language (English) teaching for primary school students. Developed foreign language (English) learning resources suitable for wechat official account platform.Subjects and Methods330 public primary school teachers were investigated by stratified sampling, including the experimental primary school in F City, the First Affiliated Primary School of s Normal University and the experimental primary school in district a of F City. From the deep understanding of the wechat official account platform, the strong support for the wechat official account platform, the diverse forms of the wechat official account platform, the diverse contents of the wechat official account platform, and the diversity of the wechat official account platform, we conducted a questionnaire survey, and realized the implementation of the wechat official account and the practical teaching resource platform from the perspective of psychology. In addition, the study also found that foreign language anxiety was negatively correlated with foreign language achievement. Similarly, there is a significant negative correlation between foreign language anxiety and self-efficacy. State anxiety, trait anxiety and foreign language learning anxiety are all positively correlated. The “anxiety” component of learners' personality characteristics plays a great role in the generation of foreign language learning anxiety. The correlation coefficient between LCAS and trait anxiety was 0.408, while the correlation coefficient between LCAS and state anxiety was 0.395. Both reached a significant level (P < 0.01). Self efficacy is positively correlated with foreign language achievement. Research shows that foreign language anxiety, gender and self-efficacy can be used as comprehensive variables to measure foreign language learning achievement.ResultsBased on the teaching concept of “teacher led and student-centered”, the traditional classroom teaching and network assisted learning were combined. Through the primary school foreign language (English) learning resource platform based on wechat official account platform \\ primary school foreign language (English) reading resource platform based on wechat official account platform \\ primary school foreign language (English) counseling and Q & a platform based on wechat official account platform, Let students realize resource-based autonomous learning in order to achieve the best effect of foreign language learning.ConclusionFrom the survey data, the teachers of the surveyed schools have realized the advantages of oral English teaching on wechat public platform. Wechat public platform has built a bridge for communication between teachers and students and realized free dialogue between teachers and students. Therefore, the platform has become an oral English training base. Carry out students' English teaching and develop English learning resources suitable for wechat public platform. Based on the concept of “double master”, these two teaching methods are combined with traditional classroom teaching and network assisted learning. Based on wechat public primary school English learning resource platform, wechat public primary school English reading resource platform or wechat public primary school English counseling platform, let primary school students realize autonomous learning and optimize primary school English learning.AcknowledgementsThis project is supported by Zhejiang Industry-Education Integration Engineering Base (Zhejiang Development and Reform Commission society [2020] No. 319).

In-Person vs Distance - Perceptions of Foreign Language Teaching in Slovenian Primary Schools

Global research studies on distance education in foreign language learning focus primarily on secondary schools or higher education. The paper examines primary school foreign language teachers’ (n=119) perceptions of distance teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to face-to-face education. The purpose of the study was to investigate the quality, achieved learning outcomes, advantages and obstacles faced by FL teachers in remote teaching. Based on the e-questionnaire, our study indicated that distance FL teaching was more challenging and stressful than classroom teaching because primary school students were not responsive to technology and needed parental guidance. Primary school students rely on cognitive and socio-emotional support from the FL teacher.

The Modern Principles of Gamification in the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language

In this article the didactic phenomenon of gamification as a universal tool for optimizing the educational process among pupils of primary school and any other actors of the educational process is substantiated. The aim of the article is to analyze the views of present-day scholars on the leading aspects of gamification of the educational linguodidactics process, to determine the structural, methodological and psychological features of the elements of game at the lessons of English as a foreign language in primary school and to illustrate these features with fragments of the authorial experience. Research methods are the following: theoretical analysis and generalization of scientific literature; qualitative methods of finding out the essence, features and benefits of gamification; methods of modeling and representation of ways to use elements of a game at English lessons. The epistemological and pragmatic context of the article is determined by the digital gamified environment of the child's life and activity, which has acquired global dimensions and has affected onto all spheres of life, including education. The main ideas of the article that were proved and discussed are: a)primary school age is the most sensitive for the learning of foreign language directly in the game; b) gamification occupies one of the leading places in increasing a motivation and involvement pupils for the high level educational activity; c) with the appropriate organization and methodological support of gamified classes, it is possible to achieve effective synergy of game and innovative forms of work; d) it is possible to formulate at least 5 basic principles of gamification (actually game or those that are naturally realized during the didactic game); e) gamification is a universal methodological tool for achieving various didactic goals at any stage of a lesson. The international significance of this article is determined by: a) the entry of gadgets, virtual and gaming reality in all areas of a human cognitive activity; b) the spread of English as the first international language in the world; c) the need for inventory, definition of functions and efficiency of a gamified educational space.

ORGANISATIONAL AND PEDAGOGICAL CONDITIONS FOR TRAINING FUTURE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS TO USE GOOGLE SERVICES IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS

The article is devoted to the issue of training primary school teachers to use Google services in teaching English to primary school pupils. The organizational and pedagogical conditions for this process are considered. In the article it is focused on a need to create a holistic system of knowledge, skills and abilities for the use of Google services by future primary school teachers in teaching English to junior pupils. It is determined that the purpose of teaching English in primary school is the formation of foreign language communicative competence, provided by language, speech and socio-cultural experience, consistent with the psycho-physiological and individual characteristics of younger students. The task of a foreign language primary school teacher is to develop lexical, grammatical and phonetic skills, as well as skills in four types of speaking activities: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The advantages in the use of cloud technologies in education as a kind of information and communication technologies are determined and theoretically substantiated. It is found out the possibilities and prospects of using cloud services from Google in teaching English to young students. In particular, we researched the following Google services: Google Presentation, YouTube, Hangouts, Gmail, Google Drive, etc. It is also determined that the effectiveness of the educational process can be improved by using them in English language teaching in primary school. The effectiveness of using Google services in teaching English is depicted in the ability of the primary school foreign language teacher to create a learning environment in English lessons, where the pupils can do a variety of learning tasks in grammar, vocabulary and phonetics, as well as develop their skills in four speech activities (listening, speaking, reading and writing). It is proved, that one of the tasks of professional training in pedagogical higher education institution should be the actualization of conscious mastery of information technology, intensification of pedagogical self-organization, self-improvement of knowledge in this field - forming the readiness of primary school teachers to use Google services in their English language teaching. Ways to successfully solve the task of training the future primary school teachers in their professional foreign language work are possible only in the appropriate organizational and pedagogical conditions that determine the effectiveness of educational and cognitive activities.

Бастауыш мектепте шет тілін оқытудағы заманауи педагогикалық технологиялар

The article describes modern pedagogical technologies of teaching a foreign language in primary school and examines their impact on the development of various competencies of primary school students. The authors emphasize that information and communication pedagogical technologies help to implement a student-centered approach to learning, provide individualization and differentiation of learning, taking into account the abilities of younger students, their level of education. And also modern pedagogical technologies as a systemic holistic means of restructuring activities make it possible to improve the quality of the educational process, to solve the problems of personality development. Purpose – analysis of modern educational technologies used in English lessons. The current system of training primary school teachers requires a revision of its structure, organization, relationship with school practice and innovative processes in the education system. Therefore, the article proves that an important part of the educational process should be the use of new pedagogical technologies in improving the quality of training of specialists at the university, providing the possibility of self-development of the teacher's personality, increasing his creative abilities and improving the educational process. The study used a descriptive method, analysis and synthesis methods. The authors of the article call the development of the student's personality (moral and cognitive) and the complex of abilities for successful interaction with the polycultural and multilingual world around him as the goal of foreign language education in primary grades. Therefore, it is important that the future primary school teacher, in accordance with the requirements of the state educational standard, has formed the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for the application of modern pedagogical technologies. At the present time, when a new education system was created, focused on the world educational space, changes in the educational process changed the paradigm of education, updated the content of education, formed a new approach, new relationships.

Формирование готовности старших дошкольников к обучению иностранному языку в начальной школе

The relevance of studying the process of early foreign language education is determined by the significance of social and communicative development preschool children’s problem, carried out only in the conditions of communication and interaction of the child with peers and adults. Scientific interest in the problem of forming of older preschoolers’ readiness to further more conscious learning foreign language is relevant, first of all, in the aspect of implementing the principle of continuity in the content of preschool and primary general foreign language education. Aim: to conduct an analytical review of foreign and domestic scientific sources, to identify the structure and main conditions for the formation of senior preschoolers’ readiness to learn a foreign language in primary school. Research material were the domestic and foreign scientific sources of studying the process of early foreign language education, the peculiarities of the formation of the readiness of older preschoolers to learn a foreign language in primary school. Research methods: analysis and generalization of psychological and pedagogical, linguistic and educational literature on the topic of research, analysis and generalization of pedagogical experience. Results and discussion: the analysis of the problem of early foreign language education in linguistic, pedagogical and psychological studies, the analysis of the concept of “readiness for school” allowed us to identify the definition, structure and basic conditions for the formation of older preschoolers’ readiness to learn a foreign language in primary school. The planned results of the successful adaptation of the child to the study of a foreign language are defined as: the development of children's ways of performing actions that ensure communication in a foreign language (elementary norms of phonetics, vocabulary, grammar, the English alphabet, the construction of a foreign language dialogue/monologue); the expansion of linguistic horizons; overcoming psychological anxiety to the perception of a foreign language; the development of cognitive, speech, creative, physical, musical, sensory, etc. ability, thinking, imagination; development of personal qualities of the child: diligence, sociability, organization, independence, etc., mastering the types of children's activities in the areas of child development in accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard for Children (integrative nature).

Teaching english as a foreign language in primary school

After the introduction of teaching foreign languages in primary schools of Uzbekistan, the need arose to optimize and change the content of teaching languages in the school curriculum. Uzbekistan is one of the unique states in which schools with 7 native languages - Uzbek, Russian, Karakalpak, Tajik, Turkmen, Kyrgyz and Kazakh - are officially functioning. This means that young learners begin to study not only their native language, but, along with it, the state language, and then a foreign one. A foreign language becomes the third language for young learners, and even the fourth in some regions of Uzbekistan. That requires extraordinary solutions. For young learners these are difficulties of an interlingual nature and overcoming intralingua interference. In this article the author considers the conditions that can stimulate motivation and interest in learning English, as well as facilitate the educational process as much as possible.

Improving the methods of teaching foreign languages inprimary school

Improving the methods of teaching foreign languages inprimary school

THE PROBLEM OF TEACHING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN PRIMARY SCHOOL IN UKRAINIAN SCIENTIFIC SPACE

The article aims to study research of domestic scientists on teaching a foreign language in primary school. It is determined that this problem is analyzed in several aspects: comparative and pedagogical, professional and pedagogical, linguistic, methodological, psychological, cultural. This article discusses the main aspects of learning a foreign language in an educational environment. The purpose of the article is to implicate the studies of domestic scientists which explore the educational process in a foreign language teaching in various aspects. In the study the methods of analysis, synthesis, generalization, induction, deduction, analogy were used. In this work we analyzed the problem of a foreign language teaching in primary school in the domestic scientific space. The article concludes that the need to apply these approaches to learning a foreign language, improving the educational process and improving the quality of teaching arose in connection with globalization and the need to create favorable conditions for personal development and socialization in the environment.

The Education Innovations In The Development Of The Young Learners’ English-Speaking Skills In Uzbekistan

This article examines and compares the requirements for the development of English-speaking skills of the young learners in Uzbekistan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey. According to the requirements of the state standards for teaching English in these countries, the author analyzes the effectiveness of using multimedia applications for teaching foreign languages in primary school. The comparison of curricula and state standards of these 4 countries revealed the similar requirements for teaching English at the initial stage, such as the use of new technologies and non-traditional methods in the teaching process. The analysis is carried out on the basis of a questionnaire survey of English language teachers, the young learners and their parents in order to identify the most effective activities that motivate and increase the interest of primary school children in learning English. The survey results show that not only teachers and the young learners, but also their parents are interested in using the multimedia applications in language learning, as their children enjoy learning the language through games, as well as songs, videos, animations and interactive activities.

The Impact of Summer Reading on Young Learners’ Foreign Language Acquisition

The aim of the research was to solve a problem of sustaining and developing foreign language skills and abilities by young learners during long-lasting summer holidays. The analysis of the current situation in Ukrainian education sector showed that reading a book continues to be one of the few tools for English revision in summer. There has been little research targeting on studying the impact of summer reading on young learners’ foreign language acquisition, so the experiment in which 240 young learners (aged 8-9) took part was conducted. Both the experimental (n=120) and control (n=120) groups were pre-tested and post-tested in May and September 2019 respectively, and the children’s skills and abilities in reading comprehension, vocabulary, speaking, writing and creativity were checked. The data obtained before the experiment showed almost the similar level of language acquisition in both groups. The results of the experiment indicated significant progress of the participants of the experimental group in every aspect of English. The main factors which played the crucial role in young learners’ enhancements were access to English readers, comprehensibility of the reading materials which were elaborated specially for the children’s language needs, interesting topics, reading for pleasure and enjoyment without tasks, tests or marks, and parental support. These results proved the reasonability of integrating summer reading in teaching foreign languages in primary school and induced the creation of English readers for all grades of elementary education.

Developing entrepreneurial competence in primary school pupils in the context of teaching English

The research deals with the problem of the formation of entrepreneurial competence as one of the key life competences in integration with the development of communicative competence in a foreign language in primary school. Entrepreneurial competence encompasses a set of qualities, knowledge, skills, models of behaviour in different spheres of life in order to effectively address issues related to the social status of individuals, as well as the development of society and the state as a whole. The aim of the study is to identify the methodological potential for the development of entrepreneurial competence in the process of developing spoken production and spoken interaction skills in the English lessons in primary school. The research was conducted with the help of various scientific methods: theoretical analysis of psychological, pedagogical and methodological literature; methodological experiment to test the methodology suggested; methods of mathematical statistics for processing the experimental data. As a result, elements of entrepreneurial competence to be incorporated in primary school were allocated; a certain correlation was identified between the entrepreneurial skills selected and spoken interaction / spoken production skills to be developed in the process of teaching speaking to primary-school pupils in the English lessons; a system of exercises for the formation of entrepreneurial competence in primary school pupils in the process of developing spoken production and spoken interaction skills was created. The research also addresses the issues of classifying and selecting materials with entrepreneurial content as a basis for activity design within the system of exercises for the development of spoken production and spoken interaction skills in primary school pupils. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology was proven experimentally, which led us to the conclusion that the integrated approach to the development of communicative and entrepreneurial skills in primary school pupils contributed to an increase which averaged 93.9% in the experimental group and 53.1% in the control group.

An early start to foreign language literacy in English primary school classrooms

ABSTRACT This study investigated the systematic and principled teaching of foreign language (FL) literacy in two young learner classrooms in England. Over the course of 23 weeks, two classes of 9–11 year olds (N = 45) learned spoken and written language through an integrated pedagogy. The underpinning rationale was to explore principled ways of teaching FL literacy to young beginner learners. The study also set out to document the nature of linguistic progression and potential attrition in primary school foreign language classrooms through measuring a range of FL outcomes: receptive vocabulary and elicited imitation (general proficiency); reading aloud and reading comprehension (literacy). It was found that 45 the participants made slow but statistically significant and long-term progress, the latter evidenced by limited attrition, across both FL general proficiency and FL literacy constructs. Qualitative data showed that children enjoyed aspects of literacy instruction and opportunities to experiment with FL use. Findings have the potential to inform young FL learning empirical and pedagogic evidence, particularly relating to the teaching and learning of FL literacy in primary school settings.