Lucilla Lopriore
This contribution is aimed at presenting some preliminary results of a study of young EFL learners’ attitude to foreign language learning as well as of their language achievements. Longitudinal investigations have been carried out for four years in 7 European countries as part of a transnational research project.
9. Language choice and start age COUNTRY England Italy The Netherlands Poland Spain Sweden Croatia Lang. choice free choice EN EN EN/GER EN (mainly) EN EN (mainly) Start age 7 yrs 6 yrs 6-9 yrs 7 yrs 6 yrs 7-10 yrs 6/7 yrs
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12. Impact of digital media Significance of teacher’s role Policy the processes of policy implementation Key criteria factors contributing most effectively to the success of ELL Broad outcomes the linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes of ELL
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14. 6 countries British Council support 7 countries European +BC support 7 countries European + BC support 7 countries European + BC support 2006-7 2007-8 2008-9 2009-10 LONGITUDINAL PERSPECTIVES Year 2 Year 3 Year 1 Scoping study
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25. VOCABULARY production in ELLiE - How many FL lexical items can students produce ? - What is the relation between FL school exposure and student s’ FL output? - What is the relation between FL out-of-school exposure and students’ FL output? - What is the role of motivation in students’ FL output?
26. VOCABULARY production: First 2 yrs. conclusions - In school exposure in terms of both quantity and quality seem important for children’s FL production - Out-of-school exposure to e.g. cartoons and computer games seem to increase children’s FL output - Variation between children that needs further investigation - Time on task an important aspect that has to be better understood
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34. SMILEYS Tick one face that describes how you feel 1st year How do you feel about: - speaking English? - singing songs in your English classes? - learning new words in English? - listening to English? - talking to your friends in English when playing a game?
35. SMILEYS Tick one face that describes how you feel 2nd year 1. How do you feel about learning English this year? 2. Compared to last year, do you like English more, the same or less this year? 3. Is English easier, the same, or harder for you this year? 4. How do you feel about learning new words in English this year? 5. What’s your favourite activity this year? Songs … Stories … Games … Role play … Worksheet tasks … Other …
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38. ATTITUDES & MOTIVATION INTERVIEW 8. Are your parents happy with what you are learning in English? 9. Do your parents / brothers / sisters help you with your English? How do they help you? 10. Have you ever met someone who can't speak Italian? Could you say something to him/her in English? Did you understand when they spoke to you in English? How did it feel?
39. 11. Look at these pictures of English classes. In which of these would you learn English best? Why? 1 2 3 4
40. Preferences for classroom layout 2 6 10 23 Total 2 2 4 8 Male 4 6 15 Female Mixed Circle Groups Pairs
41. Reasons for preferences 4. Mixed “ Children are all together and play with the teacher. It’s fun” “ Children enjoy the English lesson, there are many things we can use” 3. Circle “ Children listen to music and sing along” “ In circle you study better” “ It’s good to hear the music” “ I can see all my friends” 2. Groups “ Children can listen to the teacher when she comes to the group” “ Teacher speaks with each child” “ It’s better for me, I can hear the other children and the teacher” “ Children work and can sing together” “ I like it because I can listen to songs” 1. Pairs “ Everybody is sitting quiet, so they can learn” “ I can understand and repeat what the teacher says” “ I can hear what the teacher says” “ The teacher writes on the board and I can see” “ The teacher tells us what to do”
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44. www. ellieresearch . eu Lucilla Lopriore [email_address] This research has been supported by a European Commission grant under the Lifelong Learning Programme, Project n°. 135632-LLP-2007-UK-KA1SCR. An additional British Council grant supported the Croatian team. Project final dissemination event: University of Warsaw, Poland 26-29 October 2010
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Notes de l'éditeur
2. The study looks at the introduction of early FL learning in seven different European countries, focusing on one region within each country.
5. Our central question is: ......To explore this we are investigating three research strands....Threaded throughout these strands are the transversal themes of .....which we hope also to be able to shed light on by the end of the study.
6. Our aim is not just to take a snapshot view of early language learning, but to follow a cohort of learners through their first few years of developing their skill in language learning. We anticipate that this approach will enable us to comment more fully on the learners’ early experiences than previous studies have been able to do.