Language Teaching In Primary Schools Research Articles

An Analysis of Primary School Teacher Candidates’ Perceptions of Foreign Language Teaching Anxiety

Anxiety is a crucial factor in the process of teaching/learning a foreign language. This study, designed as a mixed-method quasi-experimental study, investigates primary school teacher candidates’ a) foreign language teaching anxiety levels, b) sources of anxiety, and c) expectations and suggestions about “Foreign Language Teaching in Primary School” course. The study used quantitative and qualitative tools to collect data. The results revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in FLT anxiety levels of the participants over the Foreign Language Teaching in Primary Schools course. This study provided insider views about how to make this innovative course more cost-effective and better tailor its content to help them gain practical ideas about how to handle factors triggering foreign language teaching anxiety.

Identifying and addressing challenges in teaching English at SDN Mangunsari

English language teaching in primary schools provides an important basis for students’ language development. The development of English language skills in elementary school students is important. The primary goal of this study was to explore the challenges that teachers face when teaching English at SDN Mangunsari. The qualitative method was used in this study to identify and classify the specifics of challenges in teaching English. The researchers gather the data through a observation to identify and address challenges faced by teachers when teaching English at SDN Mangunsari. The collected data will be analyzed using the descriptive analysis method. The difficulties in teaching English at SDN Mangunsari include curriculum transitions, gaps generated by students of different ages within the same grade, and inconsistency caused by a lack of alignment between teaching and assessment. To overcome the challenges found at SDN Mangunsari when teaching English, transition English classes, cooperative learning, and consistent English teaching in all grades must be implemented. These strategies attempt to create a suitable learning environment and to make the English language topic more accessible at SDN Mangunsari.

Forming correct speaking skills in primary class english language lessons with the help of poems and rhymes

This article considers to the introduction of a foreign language in elementary school. It also points out one of the most important problems in the teaching methodology using rhyme and poems in class. Rhymed material influences on a better development of pronunciation skills. The main objective of foreign language teaching in primary schools is to develop pupils' ability to communicate in the target language. Experience shows that the motivation of learning foreign language of elementary school pupils at the beginning of the school course is quite high, and pupils, in spite of the rapidfatigue, ready to pronounce a lot of time every sound. Comfortable n-aj' of remembering articulation and auditory sound contributes to review the use of game material (rhymes, patters and others).

A Study of French Language Teaching in Primary Schools in China

Since the teaching of French in primary schools is not yet on a large scale in China, there are few references. In addition, the teaching of French in primary school started very late in our country and there are not yet complete standards to be followed, so that in the practice of teaching French in primary school, inevitably there are still a lot of problems to be solved. By combining the status quo of teaching French in primary schools in China, the problems encountered in its practice, the psychological characteristics of children during the learning of foreign languages, this project therefore aims to analyze, to reflect on the teaching of French in primary schools in China, and to propose a viable reflection on its future pedagogical practices, while starting from the organization of the courses, the teaching methods, the selection of the didactic material and stimulation of the interest of schoolchildren.

Методические условия реализации метода предметно-языкового интегрированного обучения (CLIL) в обучении английскому языку в начальной школе

The aim of the study is to substantiate the possibility of implementing the method of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in early English language teaching in primary school. The paper discusses the notion of the CLIL method, its main components, as well as the conditions that ensure the most optimal use of the method in teaching a foreign language to primary school children and provides examples of the practical implementation of the specified conditions. The scientific novelty of the study lies in identifying the methodological conditions that make it possible to teach English most effectively at an early stage on the basis of content and language integration. As a result of the study, it was found that CLIL can be successfully used in teaching English to primary school children with consistent observance of a number of important conditions. The issues related to the selection of the teaching content in accordance with the programs of the integrated subjects, as well as the possibility of further practical application of knowledge and skills on the studied topics and the vocabulary used in them, are considered. In addition, the importance of strict adherence to established methodological stages in the formation of foreign language speech skills and abilities is emphasized, as well as the need to involve all types of speech activity when using the CLIL method.

Çocuklara İngilizce’yi Kim Öğretmeli: Sınıf Öğretmeni Adaylarının Görüşleri

This study aimed to investigate pre-service classroom teachers’ beliefs about teaching English to young learners and a recently initiated course in 2021 named “Foreign Language Teaching in Primary Schools” in the initial classroom teacher education programmes in Turkey. More specifically, it explored to what extent this course was efficient to prepare them to teach English for their future careers. Adopting a mixed-method research design, the data were collected through a questionnaire (N=128) and follow-up semi-structured interviews (N=8). The findings revealed that professional English teachers were best placed to teach English to children for several reasons, including subject teachers’ high level of expertise in teaching English and participants’ low self-reported English proficiency level (A1-A2). However, participants mostly reported both in the quantitative and qualitative parts that this course had a considerable impact on their confidence to teach English at the primary level since they were familiar with various teaching techniques and activities to use for each language point in the curriculum. A number of implications are provided in the light of findings for a better implementation of English education in primary schools.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OBSTACLES

The goal of this study was to investigate the needs for and barriers to the ongoing professional development of elementary school English language teachers. Data collection techniques included surveys, interviews, and classroom observations. Surveys of 64 randomly chosen English language teachers in primary schools were used to get the quantitative data. In order to verify the information gathered from the surveys, interviews were done with principals, trainers, and volunteer English language teachers who took part in the surveys, which included surveys, interviews, and classroom observations. Surveys of 64 randomly chosen English language teachers in primary schools were used to get the quantitative data. In order to verify the information gathered from the surveys, interviews were done with principals, trainers, and volunteer English language teachers who took part in the surveys. The data were analyzed using a Quan-qual approach. The statistical analysis of the data was primarily concerned with calculating descriptive statistics, specifically the means and percentages of the survey items. The results revealed that primary school EFL teachers need in-service professional development trainings to improve their English language proficiency skills and pedagogic knowledge. The interviews with principals and trainers supported the results found in the surveys. Moreover, the teachers encountered obstacles in engaging in a continuous professional advancement schemes.

THE AGE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN PRIMARY SCHOOL PROPERTIES

THE AGE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN PRIMARY SCHOOL PROPERTIES

Novice Chinese as a foreign language teachers' identity construction in primary schools in New Zealand from positioning and affordance perspectives.

While there has been an increase in research on Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) teachers' identity worldwide, limited attention has been drawn to CFL teachers' positioning and affordances to interpret their identity construction in an overseas context. To fill the gap, this study investigated seven novice CFL teachers' identity construction as Chinese language teachers in primary schools in New Zealand from positioning and affordance perspectives. Retrospective semi-structured interviews were adopted to understand how the novice CFL teachers were positioned, how they positioned themselves, and what affordances they perceived to be influential to their Chinese language teacher identity construction. The findings showed that the novice CFL teachers' identity construction was subject to the social, institutional, and individual levels of being positioned, self-positioning, and affordances. Specifically, (1) consistent self-positioning at the social, institutional, and individual levels could largely determine the novice CFL teachers' identity construction; (2) inconsistency of identities between being positioned and self-positioning at the social, institutional, and individual levels might weaken the novice CFL teachers' identity construction; (3) affordances as opportunities at the social, institutional, and individual levels could strengthen the novice CFL teachers' identity construction, whereas affordances as challenges could not. The study concluded with implications and limitations to inform future research.

USING DIGITAL LEARNING TOOLS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN PRIMARY SCHOOL

In the context of the English language teaching modernization and digitalization, the problem ofusing digital learning tools at English lessons in primary school has been revealed in the article. Besides,the transformation of English teaching policy and implementation of new approaches, forms, methods andteaching aids in young learners’ learning, a great educational role of digital learning tools is outlined in thearticle. A thorough analysis of a number of pedagogical, psychological and methodological literature ismade in order to state the topicality of the presented research and point out its theoretical basis. Specialattention is paid to the didactic value of software tools for creating and designing English digitalcoursebooks. A wide range of advantages of digital coursebooks, such as creativity, technology, mobility,accessibility, convenience, interactivity, communicatively orientation and authenticity, is illustrated in adetailed analysis of student’s project in the research.The pedagogical opportunities of using multimediatools, in particular, video songs on YouTube channel, in the English language teaching is demonstrated bythe author. A big number of video songs are suggested to be used at different stages at English lessonsconsidering various educational goals. The article deals with the positive emotional and motivationalinfluence of such multimedia tools use in teaching English as well as they ensure young learners’communicative activity and encourage them to learn English much more interesting and vigorously. Inaddition, the didactic potential of digital learning tools (software tools, multimedia tools and educationalchannels), which enable teacher and pupil interaction and the formation of all aspects of Englishcommunicative competence in the process of English teaching in primary school, is studied in the presentedresearch.

The influence of a historically disadvantaged background on reading culture

This article discusses the influence of historically disadvantaged background on the culture of reading in some primary school learners from a school district. Investigation for this article was administered through a qualitative research approach, assisting in attaining first-hand information directly from the participants, thereby generating nonnumerical data. Embedded in this qualitative investigation was a case study design. As qualitative research concentrates on acquiring a comprehended understanding of how individuals perceive lived experiences, the main purpose of entrenching a case study was to dig deep into the in-depth descriptions coupled with the personal experiences of the subjects. It draws from semi-structured interviews conducted with primary school language teachers. The interview schedule specifically designed for this inquiry contained open-ended question types. During interviews, recordings were made in their natural settings through interacting with each participant. Data coding and analysis were informed by the iterative approach. The main findings of this investigation indicate that (i) teaching reading remains one of the basic skills in learning but was (ii) compromised by the lack of reading material, stemming from the disadvantaged background of the studied schools. Also, though motivation by parents seems to yield good results, there seemed to be (iii) a lack of influence and intervention strategies regarding available resources in the learners’ homes. I argue that family background does correlate (have an impact on learner reading ability) with learners’ reading ability. I conclude and propose that teachers need to employ teaching and learning methods that accommodate various cultural notions learners bring to school, as this is likely to impart positively on their academic performance.

Researching and designing an intelligent humanoid robot for teaching English language

This article presents the design of the mechatronic system for an intelligent humanoid robot, which is employed for teaching the English language. The robot’s appearance looks like a boy, at 1.2 m tall and 40 kg weight. The robot consists of an upper-body with 21 degrees of freedom, a head, two arms, two hands, a ribcage; and a mobile platform with three omnidirectional wheels. The control system consists of a computer that controls the entire operation of the robot, including motion planning, voice recognition and synchronization, face recognition, gestures, receiving commands from the remote control and monitoring station, receiving signals from microphones, cameras, receiving and sending signals to the mobile module controller and the upper body controller. Microphones, speakers and cameras are located at the head and chest of the robot to perform voice communication and image acquisition functions. A touch screen is arranged in front of the robot’s chest allowing the robot to interact with people and display the necessary information. The robot can communicate with people by voice, perform operations such as greetings, expressing emotions, performing dances, singing, applications for supporting English language teaching in primary schools and has extensible for many other practical applications.

Practical Exploration of Moral Education Infiltration in Chinese Language Teaching in Primary Schools

Practical Exploration of Moral Education Infiltration in Chinese Language Teaching in Primary Schools

ANALYZING WHAT PERMANENT ACADEMIC CLASSROOM ACTIVITY OF ENGLISH TEACHERS TELL US ABOUT THEIR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS: PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN FOCUS

The present study analyses what permanent academic classroom activity tells us about the professional development need of English language teachers in primary Schools. Teacher classroom observation was used as data gathering tools for the study. As a result, four English language teachers were involved in the study. The study was conducted in selected primary schools in North Showa Zone of Orimia Regional State. The four teachers involved in the study were observed three times. The results of the study reveal that teachers lack English language proficiency. Their classroom English lacked quality to use the target language. So, they needed to develop their English language proficiency. The result of the study further showed that the teachers needed to develop their pedagogic skills. The pedagogic skills the English language teachers needed to develop were lesson opening, lesson running and lesson ending strategies. Similarly, the teachers needed professional development on the areas of language use and transitioning and questioning strategies. Based on the finding of the study, it was suggested that English language teachers in primary schools needed to get further professional development program that addresses their linguistic knowledge and skills need areas so that the teachers improve their proficiency in the target language and enhance their skills in teaching

DEVELOPMENT OF VERBAL CREATIVITY BY BILINGUAL AND ENGLISH AS FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN KINDERGARTEN TO 8TH GRADE SCHOOLS

Bilingualism has long been within the scope of creativity studies that investigate creativity and problem solving. This study aims to explore the possible effect of bilingualism on the verbal creativity of English language learners. Participants from a bilingual and an English as foreign language teaching program within the same school were selected as an experimental and a control group respectively to compare verbal creativity. A series of creative English writing tasks designed by the authors were assigned to a total of 86 third grade (aged 7–8) students. Both the English as foreign language group (N = 42) and the bilingual group (N = 44) were subject to assessment and evaluation in terms of verbal creativity. The two cohorts completed the same creative writing tasks that were then assessed by a board of five English teachers from the same school who were trained by the authors to assess verbal creativity using a Student Product Assessment Form. An independent samples Student’s t-test was conducted and descriptive statistics of both cohorts for 9 of the assessment form were analyzed. The results showed that the students on the bilingual program outperformed those on the English as foreign language program in terms of verbal creativity. The study offers implications for English language teaching in primary schools with reference to developing creative verbal language skills at early ages.

WAYS OF IMPLEMENTING GOOGLE JAMBOARD IN PRE-SERVICE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER TRAINING TO USING MODERN TECHNOLOGIES OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES TEACHING

The article dwells on the main ways of implementing the open resource Google Jamboard into the system of future primary school teacher training on the example of the course “Modern Technologies of Foreign Language Teaching in Primary School”. The research is grounded in the theory of TPACK (technological pedagogical knowledge), R. Gagne theory of pedagogical design and the functional features of the Jamboard, which determine the ways of its application at each stage of the lesson. The main research methods are literature analysis and description of the empirical experience of using the service and surveying. An analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of working with a shared board is carried out. The following advantages of using the service are identified: the possibility of creative work with the frame, changing its background, using the task as a background for the frame, didactic potential for adapting any tasks to using the service, synchronization and availability of use on a mobile device, and cyber security. Among the disadvantages is a limited number of frames to create. The didactic potential of the service was identified and examples of interactive activities for the stages of gaining students' attention (KWL; sorting), informing learners of the objectives (setting lesson goals and formative assessment), stimulating recall of prerequisite knowledge (individual work with the frame; ordering objects), providing learner’s guidance (brainstorming; development of a game design project), eliciting the performance, providing feedback (Critical Friends Feedback Protocol) and assessment of student results to form and improve the professional competencies of future teachers. The suggested examples of individual, paired and group tasks aim at students studying the peculiarities of working with the Jamboard. The survey results show that students are inclined to using this service in their work with young learners. Further research can focus on the ways to develop the creative potential of future teachers using Google Jamboard.

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.

Challenges in Implementing the CEFR in English Language Classrooms

The adoption of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in the English Language Education Roadmap 2015-2025 is a reform effort to enhance the standard of our students’ English language proficiency level. While it is a commendable initiative, its implementation in schools has received mixed reactions especially from teachers who are confronted with a number of challenges. Hence, this study was carried out to investigate the nature of challenges encountered by English language teachers in implementing the CEFR in their classrooms. Data for this study were collected from questionnaires gathered from 117 English language teachers in primary schools in Johor Bahru district. The findings revealed the challenges were related to teachers’ English language proficiency level, designing class activities, students’ participation in class, the textbooks used, teachers’ workload, and students’ proficiency level. The challenges were found to be inter-related and could be traced to lack of CEFR-related training, insufficient teaching and learning materials, constraint of time, and the policy which does not allow for students to be streamed based on their proficiency level. All this seemed to make it more difficult for the teachers to implement the CEFR successfully.

Primary school inclusive foreign language teaching features


 
 
 
 An integral part of the formation of the New Ukrainian School is an inclusive component, which forms a new philosophy of society based on the understanding of diversity and equality for all. Involvement in education and constant support of children with special educational needs should take place at all stages of receiving complete secondary education, especially in primary school. The paper discusses the features of inclusive foreign language teaching in primary school. Based on the research analysis, pedagogical observation of the educational process in English lessons in inclusive classes, the conclusion is made that it is important for primary school English teachers to use clear and comprehensive instructions before doing exercises and tasks, introduce and maintain the learning routine (greeting, a permanent place for writing homework, questions at the beginning and at the end of the lesson, etc.), change the types of tasks frequently, adapt previously used exercises to the new learning conditions, use scaffolding strategies. The article presents a set of exercises and tasks to use in English lessons when studying the topic “My home” in an inclusive 3rd grade of a general secondary education institution, as well as checklists for self-and peer evaluation of the inclusiveness of the learning environment for English teachers. The exercises and tasks of the set were tested in the 3rd-B grade of Ternopil schools No. 16 and No. 7. The final assessment of the educational achievements of students in English in the second semester of the 2020 / 2021 academic year confirmed the effectiveness and appropriateness of using these exercises and tasks in the English lessons. Checklists for self-and peer evaluation of the inclusiveness of the learning environment were tested and approved by English teachers and recommended for use in the educational process by foreign languages teaching methodology groups.
 
 
 

“Assessment for Learning” Practices Amongst the Primary School English Language Teachers: A Mixed Methods Approach

This study aimed to investigate the practices of the AfL strategies and the stages of assessment in pedagogy by English language teachers in primary schools. In Phase I: the Quantitative Strand, the Assessment for Learning Audit Instrument (AfLAi) was distributed to a total of 89 primary schools in the Hulu Langat district. The AfLAi results determined the cut-off points and the divergent categories to be further investigated in Phase II: Qualitative Strand. The 244 respondents were clustered into two subset participants of four higher and four lower scorers in the AfLAi who were investigated via a semi-structured interview and/or observation. The results from the AfLAi cum the cut-off points were Mean=3.7 on QCD (SD=0.74), sharing LOSC (SD=0.79) and FB (SD=0.77), and mean=3.3 on PSA (SD=0.87). From Phase I, 15 divergent categories were selected. Phase II findings on the 115 recurring categories were divided into three profiles: the higher scorers (29 categories), the lower scorers (26 categories) and the consensus (60 categories). Consequently, the 15 divergent categories were explained in a joint display to observe the similarities and the differences of practised amongst the higher and the lower scorers in the AfLAi. The joint display affirmed that 11 categories were practiced similarly. The four differences were on the “Availability of LOs”, “Questioning strategies”, “Compliment with FB”, and “Pupils’ progress report/self-assess”. It indicated that regardless of their scores, the participants had contributed some practical approaches to the study framework, which were beneficial beyond disciplines and classroom situations.