Presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado; 23 March 2009.
Teaching English to young learners has recently become extremely widely spread (Graddol Reference Graddol2006; Nikolov & Mihaljević Djigunović Reference Nikolov and Djigunović2006) and it may become the most important development in education throughout the world (Richard Johnstone personal communication, 30 June 2009). Due to political and parental pressure, in many contexts English is introduced at an increasingly early age often without feasibility studies and appropriate teacher education. In other contexts conditions for an early start are more favorable; however, large differences characterize the programs young learners participate in, as is reflected in a growing body of research.
Some studies are small-scale inquiries published in edited volumes (e.g., Nikolov, Mihaljević Djigunović, Mattheoudakis, Lundberg & Flanagan Reference Nikolov, Djigunović, Mattheoudakis, Lundberg and Flanagan2007; Enever, Moon & Raman Reference Enever, Moon and Raman2009; Nikolov Reference Nikolov2009, in press), others document large-scale longitudinal national projects (e.g., García Mayo & García Lecumberri Reference García Mayo and García Lecumberri2003; Muñoz Reference Muñoz2006; Csapó & Nikolov Reference Csapó and Nikolov2009). Many studies focus on learners’ achievements in English, attitudes, motivation, and strategies. Teachers have also moved to the foreground: their beliefs, motivation, self-confidence and language proficiency in English, and how they integrate the learners’ first language and background knowledge into their classroom practices are also researched. All these educational and societal changes are reflected in special discourses – yet another perspective for inquiry.
The colloquium at the AAAL Conference provided insights into some of these aspects of early learning of English in four contexts: Croatia, Italy, Hungary, and Israel. Two presentations threw light on findings of a large-scale European project Early Language Learning in Europe (ELLiE). The third talk explored teachers’ cognition: what teachers of young learners believe and think about early language learning and how their classroom practice reflects their beliefs. The last talk applied critical discourse analysis to examine how the current trend for early English is related to larger societal issues.
Jelena Mihaljević Djigunović (University of Zagreb, Croatia) and Lucilla Lopriore (University Roma TRE, Italy) presented findings of the ELLiE project involving convenience samples of 7–8-year-old language learners in seven European countries over a period of three years (for details see http://www.ellieresearch.eu/project.html#top). The first talk reported on a study into the relationship between classroom behavior and learning outcomes. Participants were 42 Croatian children whose learner behavior was conceptualized in terms of learner attention, engagement during lesson, interest, and relationship to others (teacher and peers). Learning achievements were defined as linguistic and non-linguistic and as interacting with learner motivation, linguistic self-confidence, out-of-school exposure to English, and teacher perception of learner ability. Data were collected in grades 1 and 2 with an observation chart, ‘smiley’ questionnaires (on learner motivation), oral interviews (on learner attitudes and linguistic self-confidence), and questionnaires (teacher assessment of learner language abilities, parents’ information on child's out-of-school exposure to English). Findings show highly complex interactions between learner behavior and learning achievement: children's profiles and their development over time illustrate how important individual differences are at this early stage of language learning, and how combinations of individual behavioral patterns contribute to the way children carry out different language tasks. For example, a shy girl closely focused on the teacher performed better in the second year than her more outgoing and motivated peers whose attitudes declined over the two years.
Lucilla Lopriore explored how Italian young learners’ perception of learning and teaching impacts on early learning outcomes. She used the same instruments as in the previous study with 49 learners. She found generally positive attitudes towards English as a school subject. Children are aware of what goes on in the classroom and often try to use English in the tasks. They can distinguish between types of activities and express preferences in terms of activities, classroom setting and teacher behavior. Most learners have a clear perception of their level and progress and are aware of what they need in order to learn better. They are eager to word their learning experiences and reflect on their preferences. Most learners need and seek attention and support from teachers most of the time. As for their teachers, they can predict their students’ progress reasonably well; however, their approach to teaching English to young learners reflects traditional approaches and they often use Italian in class. They tend to involve learners who show less attention by eliciting responses from them and often neglect high achievers. Their commitment is closely related to the context they teach in.
Teachers’ beliefs on how young learners of English develop were explored in the Hungarian context by Marianne Nikolov (University of Pécs, Hungary). She drew on a large dataset collected in lower primary (ages 6–10 years) English classes in different state schools between 2002 and 2008. Data were collected by pre-service teachers with the help of an observation instrument and a structured interview with the observed teachers. The questions were framed so that 45 experienced teachers gave novice teachers advice on what is involved in teaching young learners. Few examples of good practice were found. Most teachers fail to implement what they know about young learners: they tend to use the mother tongue to spoon-feed English, apply word-for-word translation for meaning making in rhymes, songs, stories, and coursebook texts, and drills for practice. A heavy focus on grammar and memorizing vocabulary out of context combined with excessive assessment are typical. In other words, what they know is different from what they believe and do. Most teachers look forward to ‘real teaching’ later on, and many find their job tiring.
Finally, Rivi Carmel (Kibbutzim College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel) applied critical discourse analysis to the ‘Discourse of English for young learners’ (EYL) as a socio-cultural phenomenon in Israel. In her presentation she relied on analyses of 33 in-depth semi-structured interviews with parents, pupils, and position-holders and samples of published texts to reveal three major themes: ‘Globalization’, ‘Consumerism’ and ‘Good parenting’. These indicate that the promotion of English in grades 1 and 2 is influenced by parental pressure, social, ideological and political issues rather than purely pedagogical concerns. The talk illuminated ways in which the ‘Discourse of EYL’ acts as a powerful force in regulating schools’ policy, controlling educational decisions, impacting on classroom practices and people's daily life. She found evidence that people in Israel project themselves, with hopes and desire, into an idealized, abstract, global world, in which the ‘Discourse of EYL’ plays a major part. These findings are obviously relevant beyond her context.
The concluding remarks of the colloquium were as follows: (i) EYL is a highly complex research area, as it is entangled with many issues in language policy, curriculum design, age-appropriate methodology, and teacher education; (ii) comparative classroom studies reflect a variety of practices and a ‘sandwich approach’ to teaching, where both languages play an important role; (iii) young learners are aware of their language learning and can successfully reflect on their development in English; (iv) maintaining learners’ motivation over time is a challenge for many teachers; (v) teachers play a key role in EYL – however, their knowledge, beliefs and what they do are often not in harmony; and (vi) a lot has to be done in teacher education.
