This study investigated whether the application of video clips with small groups or with individual teaching-learning activities improved the speaking skills of young EFL learners the most; accordingly a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test design was done. The instrument used in this study was a test in the form of an oral test or interview. The results showed that the mean score from the students in the Small Group Activities group at 67.27 was higher than the mean score from the Individual Activities group at 51.29 with a level of significance 0.00 < 0.05. This meant that the application of video clips and teaching-learning Small Group Activities gave better results than teaching with Individual Activities. The results suggested that teaching-learning speaking ESL with video clips using Small Group Activity techniques could be one of the best alternatives to improve young learners’ speaking performances.
In this paper the incidental language acquisition of 11-year-old Flemish children (n = 30) who have not received any formal English instruction is investigated. The study looks into children’s English proficiency and the learner characteristics that can be associated with it. In order to measure the children’s English proficiency, a receptive vocabulary test and a proficiency test (which measured listening skills, speaking skills, reading skills and writing skills) were used. Information about learner characteristics was gathered through two questionnaires (for children and parents). The results show that a significant proportion of the 11-year-olds can already perform tasks at the A2 level (The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) without having had any formal instruction. The study confirms that children learn English from the input they receive through different media (especially gaming and computer use). Furthermore, the data reveal a strikingly positive attitude towards English and demonstrate that in some situations Flemish children prefer using English over their L1 with their peers.
In this paper, we discuss the problem of articulation between levels in the educational system, as the transition from a rather more communicative, contentbased and holistic approach to English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching at primary level to more formal and explicit ways of foreign language (FL) teaching at secondary is often experienced as problematic by students and teachers alike (see, e.g., Muñoz, Tragant, & Camuñas, 2015). The results of a mixed methods analysis are presented, in which we analyzed, through a questionnaire and language experience essays, perceived continuity between input received in primary school and secondary school, as well as learners’ beliefs, attitudes and self-efficacy before and after they transitioned to secondary school. Twelve primary schools and six secondary schools in Switzerland participated in the study, with a total of 280 early learners of EFL (biological age 12-13 years, age of onset 8 years). We will argue that one of the main reasons why early FL instruction seems not to bear fruit later in secondary school is that, on the one hand, coherence in curriculum design and practice vary in a few-but crucial-aspects within and between primary schools. On the other hand, the fact that secondary education becomes a meeting point for mixed ability classes also seems to mitigate the potential advantages of an earlier start.
The following essay is about teaching German after English and the intercultural traces that can be found in German teaching and learning after having been learned English. The current polish situation makes this topic relevant, as German is taught as second foreign language. The present study wants to investigate which influence this learning German after English has when speaking of intercultural competence.
Learners’ interest is agreed by most of the educators to be significant for effectiveness of teaching and learning process. However postmodern society becomes more and more tranquilized or overactive (depending on the person) because of hundreds of information, pictures and others attacking people’s minds. Therefore gaining students’ attention and then attaching it to the subject becomes more and more difficult. The article makes an attempt to answer the question What is the role of Multiple Intelligence in enhancing learners’ interest level?
Many countries across the world have been lowering the starting age of foreign language learning (FLL) to an earlier age. While the roles of learners and teachers have mostly been studied from a variety of perspectives, learners’ parents have often been examined for their opinions of FLL, but not as real partners who need the same amount of ‘reculturing’ as other involved stakeholders. In the presented case study, parents were involved in the planning and implementing of lowering the FLL starting age from age 9 to age 6. The results of the questionnaire and the teachers’ interviews show that ‘recultured’ parents’ attitudes to lowering the starting age can differ greatly from those of ‘non-recultured’ parents if the most important variables for the successful implementation of an educational change have been fulfilled. The ‘recultured’ parents’ model can be of great help to decision makers and other stakeholders involved in teaching foreign languages.
The main goal of this paper is to analyze how the age factor behaves as an alleged individual difference (ID) variable in SLA by focusing on the influence that the learning context exerts on the dynamics of age of onset (AO). The results of several long-term classroom studies on age effects will be presented, in which I have empirically analyzed whether AO works similarly across settings and learners or whether it is influenced by characteristics of the setting and the learner—and if so, whether there are contextual variables that can help us understand why thoseoutcomes are different. Results of multilevel analyses indicate that macro-contextual factors (i.e., the wider school context) turn out to have a mediating effect on the relation between AO and L2 proficiency increase, exerting both positive and negative influences and thus suggesting that AO effects are malleable, which is what one would expect if we are dealing with an ID variable. In contrast, no such phenomenon can be observed in relation to lower contextual levels; learners within classes do not vary with regard to how sensitive they are to AO. Since the broader social environment in which learning takes place seems to be more influential than the cognitive state assumed to be a characteristic of the individual, I suggest that an ID model that assumes that age is a “fixed factor” (Ellis, 1994, p. 35) is not entirely satisfactory.
In order to initiate and maintain meaningful interaction in a young learner L2 classroom, an adult teacher needs to approach children in ways consistent with their developmental profile and adjust teaching methodology so as to accommodate young learners’ current skills. This requires the ability to predict the child’s possible responses to classroom events by imagining what s/he might think and how s/he might behave when presented with specific instructions. Bearing in mind that the teacher’s perception of the world is purely and completely adult in nature, in order to be effective, educators need to create a mental image or a concept of a young learner by gathering knowledge about his or her developmental characteristics and fully grasping the pedagogical implications of this knowledge. In this paper, we aim to explore the role of imagination in the conceptualisation of a child as a second language learner amongst university level pre-service teachers involved in an early primary EFL education programme. We report on qualitative research based on data obtained in the course of a two semester teacher training course of 35 BA and 30 MA students majoring in English. In the study, we focused on the working image of the child’s developmental characteristics created by the participants and their ability to employ this in their teaching. Our data show a substantial discrepancy between the participants’ theoretical conceptions concerning the business of teaching and the actual actions undertaken during lessons with young learners. Although participants were able to successfully identify the most distinctive developmental characteristics of primary-level learners, they experienced difficulty with integrating them into actual classroom practice.
Research into the potential of collaborative writing is relatively new. Similarly, task repetition (TR), which has been claimed to be a valuable tool for language learning, has been rarely explored in the context of writing. Therefore, little is known about the potential of combining TR and collaborative writing, and even less if we focus on young learners (YLs), who constitute a generally under-researched population. With these research gaps in mind, the present study examines the compositions of 10 pairs of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) (aged 12) who write the same text in response to the same picture prompt three times over a three-week period. Our analysis includes the language-related episodes (LREs) that learners generate while writing collaboratively and, also, a thorough analysis of the three drafts that students produce, including quantitative (complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF)) and holistic measures. Results show that learners’ compositions improve with repetition when measured by holistic ratings although CAF measures fail to grasp this improvement. As for the LREs, a great amount was found, most of the episodes were focused on form, most were successfully resolved and their amount declined with TR. In light of these results we argue in favor of the inclusion of holistic measures when analyzing students’ productions and discuss the positive effects of collaborative writing in the context of TR with YLs.
This study examines young English readers’ ability to infer word meanings in context and to use metacognitive knowledge for constructing word meanings in relation to their reading performance. The participants were 61 fourth-grade students in the United States, comprising 24 monolingual English-speaking (ME) students and 37 English-as-a-second-language (L2) students; each group was also divided into strong and emergent readers in English. Participants were asked to read aloud paragraphs containing words unfamiliar to them in two different contextual conditions (i.e., explicit and implicit conditions), to guess the unfamiliar word meanings, and to tell a teacher how they arrived at the inferred meanings. Quantitative analyses found significant differences between strong and emergent readers in their oral fluency as well as in their ability to infer word meanings and articulate their use of metacognitive knowledge. Although significant differences were found in the ability to infer word meanings and the use of metacognitive reasoning between ME and L2 students, such differences disappeared after controlling for the size of students’ receptive vocabulary. Qualitative analyses also revealed differences in the kinds of knowledge and strategies that strong and emergent readers relied on when constructing the meaning of unknown words in both explicit and implicit contexts.
Both for the first language (L1) and for all additional languages (L2 or L3), grammatical knowledge plays a vital role in understanding texts (e.g., Grabe, 2005). However, little is known about the development and interaction of grammar and reading comprehension in beginning foreign language learning, especially with respect to children with a minority language background. This longitudinal study, therefore, examined minority and majority language children’s English grammar and reading comprehension skills. The children attended a German-English partial immersion primary school and were tested at the end of Grades 3 and 4. As expected, we found grammar to affect reading comprehension but also reverse effects. Most importantly, the results did not reveal any differences between the two language groups, irrespective of the test. Therefore, immersion primary school programs seem to be suitable for minority language children, and these children do not automatically represent an at-risk group for foreign language learning.
The main goal of this paper is to analyze how the age factor behaves as an alleged individual difference (ID) variable in SLA by focusing on the influence that the learning context exerts on the dynamics of age of onset (AO). The results of several long-term classroom studies on age effects will be presented, in which I have empirically analyzed whether AO works similarly across settings and learners or whether it is influenced by characteristics of the setting and the learner-and if so, whether there are contextual variables that can help us understand why those outcomes are different. Results of multilevel analyses indicate that macro-contextual factors (i.e., the wider school context) turn out to have a mediating effect on the relation between AO and L2 proficiency increase, exerting both positive and negative influences and thus suggesting that AO effects are malleable, which is what one would expect if we are dealing with an ID variable. In contrast, no such phenomenon can be observed in relation to lower contextual levels; learners within classes do not vary with regard to how sensitive they are to AO. Since the broader social environment in which learning takes place seems to be more influential than the cognitive state assumed to be a characteristic of the individual, I suggest that an ID model that assumes that age is a “fixed factor” (Ellis, 1994, p. 35) is not entirely satisfactory.
The present study aims to explore perceptions of young learners and EFL teachers towards benefits and barriers of digital literacy. Eight young learners and five EFL teachers took part in this qualitative study. In-depth semi-structured interviews were employed to collect qualitative data. The results depict that there are benefits and barriers of digital literacy for young learners in learning English. The benefits of digital literacy include improving young learners’ writing, reading, listening, and speaking skills, getting used to authentic materials, increasing frequency of digital technology use, enhancing online collaboration between teacher-learners and learners-learners. However, this study reports that digital literacy also has some negative impact for young learners. Problems with weak signals which affect difficult internet access still remain a problem. Contents of online digital materials are not easy for young learners to interpret and convert into simple, self-regulated information. Moreover, digital literacy tools are considered to be expensive. These barriers might be influenced by other problems such as complexity of digital literacy tools, different comprehension levels among young learners, young learners and EFL teachers’ lack of digital literacy experiences. In conclusion, the results give valuable insights in how to go about integration of digital literacy tools for young learners.
In order to initiate and maintain meaningful interaction in a young learner L2 classroom, an adult teacher needs to approach children in ways consistent with their developmental profile and adjust teaching methodology so as to accommodate young learners’ current skills. This requires the ability to predict the child’s possible responses to classroom events by imagining what s/he might think and how s/he might behave when presented with specific instructions. Bearing in mind that the teacher’s perception of the world is purely and completely adult in nature, in order to be effective, educators need to create a mental image or a concept of a young learner by gathering knowledge about his or her developmental characteristics and fully grasping the pedagogical implications of this knowledge. In this paper, we aim to explore the role of imagination in the conceptualisation of a child as a second language learner amongst university level pre-service teachers involved in an early primary EFL education programme. We report on qualitative research based on data obtained in the course of a two semester teacher training course of 35 BA and 30 MA students majoring in English. In the study, we focused on the working image of the child’s developmental characteristics created by the participants and their ability to employ this in their teaching. Our data show a substantial discrepancy between the participants’ theoretical conceptions concerning the business of teaching and the actual actions undertaken during lessons with young learners. Although participants were able to successfully identify the most distinctive developmental characteristics of primary-level learners, they experienced difficulty with integrating them into actual classroom practice.
In recent years, we have been able to observe a stronger trend to explore the educational reality by way of scientific research. This results from the pressure on quantitative indicators and evidence-based arguments. International surveys focus mainly on educational effects and provide more or less accurate rankings of educational systems and the degree of learners’ success, school and national rates. In addition to these trends, however, it is also necessary to focus one’s research on the real world of children and young learners in a holistic concept. Qualitative research strategies prefer more phenomenological and personalistic approaches based on exploratory and investigative scientific methods. Such approaches have been applied by the authors in previous studies: they have published several studies and two monographs dedicated to children who are about to begin their education and their understanding of the world. This research was supported by the VEGA 1/0598/15 “The Child at the Threshold of Education and its World” project. In this paper, the authors will present brief findings from these studies. The basic source was authentic children’s testimonies to the significant phenomena of their world and childhood. Building on these findings, we are currently focusing our research on the formation and development of the children’s readability (supported by the VEGA 1/0455/18 “Research and Development of Readability with Younger School-Age Learners” project1). There are convincing claims that this phenomenon is the most important determinant of success in education and the development of creativity and critical thinking.
The purpose of this study is to describe the current foreign language (FL) assessment and feedback practices as reported by 213 experienced primary teachers in Slovenia and Spain. An ad hoc questionnaire was designed, validated and administered to 113 Slovenian and 100 Spanish teachers. The data were collected and analysed with the use of descriptive and inferential statistics. Among the most relevant findings, it is noteworthy that Spanish teachers focus on providing feedback on receptive skills while their Slovenian colleagues pay more attention to productive skills. Also, results from both groups reveal a lack of FL pronunciation feedback and scarce attention to interactive aspects of communication.
The paper compares language learning processes when children acquire L1 and learn L2, and discusses the implications for foreign language teaching. It first looks at the stages of learning the mother tongue from birth to approximately the age of six. It also lists and analyses the types of unstructured and fixed texts native children are exposed to. The latter are the main focus of the discussion as they are of greater importance to the EFL class. Of special interest are also how native children use or experiment with the language they have observed in fixed texts and the extent to which these texts can be an inspiration for EFL texts. Then the paper presents similarities between learning L1 and L2 which ELT teachers can exploit. Equally important are the differences which can be perceived as both limitations or opportunities. Finally the paper suggests that the conclusions have implications for plurilingual education of YL.
Pedagogical analysis of the issues addressed in the study adopts theoretical and methodological conceptualisations, referring to Paweł Boski's (1) theory of cultural identity based on values and practices in conditions of bicultural and multicultural socialisation, Tadeusz Lewowicki's (2) theory of identity behaviours, and (3) comparative analysis in international studies. The basis for outlining the sense of identity in local, regional, national, European and extra-European dimensions manifested by academic youth and their perceptions of mixed marriages was an international comparative study conducted from 2019 to 2021 in the Polish-Czech-Slovak-Ukrainian borderland. The analysis and interpretation of the collected empirical material indicate that – although there have been political transformations in the neighbouring countries, they cooperate in many spheres – both traditional ('constant') elements and new phenomena and processes, determined by the complexity and diversity of historical, cultural-social, cultural-personal and economic conditions, are preserved in the image of identity behaviour manifested by students today. These shape with particular intensity the cultural identity of young learners in the years of early adulthood.
The aim of the following paper is to analyse speaking activities included in selected English language textbooks for early school education in Poland in order to provide a view of the manner in which this particular language skill is developed at this level of education. Significantly, in the research, the author makes an attempt to apply the provisions of complex systems theory that leads her not only to deter-mine the specific contexts in which she places the language material present in the scrutinized textbooks, but also to create a checklist for evaluating them. In the conducted analysis, both the quantity and the quality of the encountered activities are taken into consideration. Consequently, it is possible to describe the way in which young learners’ speaking proficiency is increased in the analysed textbooks, check whether speaking activities are integrated with the selected contexts and indicate potential problems that can be noticed in this respect.
PL
Celem niniejszego artykułu jest przeprowadzenie analizy zadań zorien-towanych na doskonalenie sprawności mówienia w języku obcym zawartych w wybranych podręcznikach do nauki języka angielskiego dla uczniów klas I-III SP używanych w polskich placówkach, aby zbadać sposób, w jaki umiejętność ta jest rozwijana na tym konkretnym etapie edukacyjnym. Warto zaznaczyć, że autorka podejmuje próbę zastosowania założeń teorii systemów złożonych, aby osiągnąć zamierzony cel. Początkowo autorka opisuje podstawowe założenia tej teorii i wykorzystuje je, aby zidentyfikować konteksty, w jakich wybrany typ zadań może zostać osadzony, a następnie przedstawia ułożoną na tej podstawie listę kontrolną, według której są analizowane wybrane pod-ręczniki, zarówno pod względem ilościowym jak i jakościowym. W końcowej części tekstu autorka przedstawia wyniki przeprowadzonego badania, które umożliwiło przybliżenie sposobu, w jaki sprawność mówienia w j. angielskim jest rozwijana u uczniów klas I-III SP z wykorzystaniem ćwiczeń zawartych w wybranych podręcznikach, sprawdzenie, na ile zadania te są zintegrowane z kontekstami, w których autorka zdecydowała się je osadzić oraz wskazanie potencjalnych problemów w tym zakresie wymagających szczególnej uwagi.
The study comprises the results of the research into the associations concerning the term “Ramadan” by the learners from Podlaskie Voivodeship. More frequently than their peers in other regions, the inhabitants of the North-Eastern Poland have chances to meet Islam, because it is the North of Podlasie where the descendants of the Tatars (who settled down here many centuries ago) live. Today, the Tatar community is small, its majority are the Tatars dispersely inhabiting Gdańsk and Białystok. It is North-Eastern Poland where the term Ramadan Bajram is used in communication, mostly in reference to media reports concerning celebrations of the Tatar holiday.In the studies conducted still before the terrorists attacks in Europe and the war in Syria, young learners were asked to provide associations with the term Ramadan Bajram. The research comprised 908 school and university students from Poslaskie Voivodeship, who constituted a representative sample.
PL
Tekst zawiera wyniki badań dotyczących kojarzenia terminu „ramadan” przez uczącą się młodzież województwa podlaskiego. Mieszkający w północno-wschodniej Polsce uczniowie i studenci mają możliwość częściej, niż ich rówieśnicy w innych rejonach Polski spotykać się z islamem, ponieważ to właśnie na północnym Podlasiu zamieszkują potomkowie osiadłych tu przed wiekami Tatarów. Dziś społeczność tatarska jest niewielka, jej większość stanowią Tatarzy zamieszkali w rozproszeniu w Gdańsku i Białymstoku. To właśnie w północno- -wschodniej Polsce termin „Ramadan Bajram” można spotkać w przestrzeni komunikacyjnej, głównie w związku z relacjami medialnymi z obchodów tatarskiego święta.W badaniach, które przeprowadzono jeszcze przed serią zamachów terrorystycznych w Europie oraz przez wojną w Syrii, poproszono młodych uczących się o skojarzenia związane z terminem „Ramadan Bajram”. Badaniami objęto 908 uczniów i studentów województwa podlaskiego, którzy stanowili próbę reprezentatywną.
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