Title: TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE
1TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE
- Richard JohnstoneHefei, October 2008
2PERSPECTIVE STRUCTURE OF TODAYS TALK
- Perspective
- Mainly from published international research
- Policy contacts at national and international
levels - Also from visits to many countries
- Structure
- The context of ML at school
- Processes of ML Teaching Learning
- Conclusion What is successful ML teaching
learning?
3A POLICY EXAMPLE EC ACTION PLAN
- Action Plan for the promotion of language
learning and linguistic diversity (2003) - strongly recommends the teaching of modern
languages to young children from an early age,
with a second AL introduced by the end of PS
education. - The Action Plan aims
- to develop their proficiency in languages
- to help them acquire a wider sense of belonging,
citizenship and community, and - to develop a clearer understanding of their
opportunities, rights and responsibilities as
mobile citizens of a multilingual Europe.
4FACTORS OUTCOMES
Personal
Societal
Desirable Outcomes
Provision
Learner
Process
Group
5Early Language Learning DESIRABLE OUTCOMES?
- Openness
- Competitiveness
- Mobility
- Revitalising a threatened language
- .. Other?
- Multilingual proficiency
- Development of the self
- Social / Personal / Cognitive / Linguistic ..
- Career /Higher Education
- Global citizenship mobility
- Other? ..
6THREE MODELS
- Bilingual Education
- Early total or partial immersion
- High in time intensity
- Teachers have to be highly proficient in AL
- MLPS / FLES Dominant model across the world
- Drip-feed, i.e. much smaller time allocation
- May be separate subject or embedded
- A number of possible starting-ages
- Language Awareness
- Introduce children to a variety of languages
cultures
7MLPS / FLES RESEARCH EVIDENCE ON OUTCOMES
- Evidence comes in part from two European
Commission reviews, covering 200 research
reports - Can promote very favourable attitudes
- Can promote some degree of language awareness
- Only limited evidence of development of
spontaneous creative proficiency in the
Additional Language - Much evidence of prefabricated chunks, whether
phrases or learnt-by-heart stories - If continuity into secondary not established,
benefits may seem to disappear - Importance of sustainability over time, beyond
favourable initial pilot stage
8What JHS teacher may find in pupils coming from PS
- Substantial differences in
- ML capabilities as developed at primary school
- motivation for ML learning
- self-perception and self-confidence
- degree of literacy in Chinese
- general cognitive abilities
- parental support
- their socio-economic background
- the quality of what has been provided at PS
- their first-language background
- perceived value of learning a ML in the part of
China where they live
9PUPIL TRANSITION PRIMARY TO SECONDARY
- It works well when between teachers across the
two sectors (PS-SS) there is - exchange of information and support
- reciprocal visits
- collaborative planning
- mutual esteem
- Large-scale project in NSW Australia Chesterton
et al (2004) - Joint planning by teachers covering 3 years at PS
and 2 years at SS
10CONDITIONS FOR MOVING ML AT SCHOOL FORWARD (LARGE
SCALE)
- Political will for legitimisation, funding
sustainability - Parental involvement
- Local community involvement
- Exploiting the new technologies
- Attitudes to AL learning
- Attitudes to particular languages cultural
groups
- Supply of teachers
- CPD support for practising teachers
- Technology materials
- Funding for research
- Strong links between PS and SS
- Time and Intensity
- Supportive school ethos
- Links with schools (abroad)
11CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS - EXAMPLE
- Djigunovich and Vilke (2000) identify key
conditions for success in their project - Children beginning early (aged 6)
- 45 minutes per day for five days per week
- class size of 15 for languages
- early incorporation of grammatical concepts after
these are firmly established in first language
(Croatian) - emotional warmth, intellectual challenge
- all four skills introduced early
- teachers who possessed a fluent command of the
language and a good pronunciation and intonation.
122/B CROATIA OUTCOMES
- In Years 1 2
- much active learning through the target language
- children systematically introduced to concepts
about language through their first language
(Croatian) - From Year 3 onwards
- these concepts systematically transferred into
their learning of F, G, I or E, this achieved
through the target language - By the end of Year 4
- the children could talk about language in the
Target Language and were accurate and creative in
their writing.
13CROATIA MOTIVATION
- A longitudinal study of the same childrens
motivation - showed it was equally high in Years 1 and 3
- but its nature had changed considerably
- from motivation by fun
- to motivation because Im a successful language
learner
14BECOMING CREATIVE AND ACCURATE
- How to help learners become both creative and
accurate in their spontaneous spoken output? - Lyster (2004) studied form-focused instruction
(FFI) and corrective feedback (CF) with Grade 5
children. - FFI and CF were found to be more successful than
an approach based on no-FFI and no-CF. - He also found it useful to encourage pupils in
noticing particular formal features of the
target language - This helped them develop an awareness of language
and to refine their internalised language systems
as they progressed
15EARLY READING
- Mertens (2003) found that children in Grade 1
learning French - benefited from being introduced to written French
immediately - showed results superior to those in purely oral
approaches - Vickov (2007) claims that children at Grade 1 in
Croatia were - not disadvantaged in their writing in Croatian by
being introduced to writing in English.
16EARLY READING
- Dlugosz (2000) found that the introduction of
reading in the foreign language at kindergarten - even when reading in the first language was also
only just starting - helped speed the process of understanding and
speaking the foreign language.
17KEEPING A PORTFOLIO
- Short statements of what learners think they can
do - I can explain a game, a recipe, how to make
something - I can narrate/tell an experience, a story, a
film - I can say what I like/dislike, and explain why
- I can speak/talk about my friends, family
- I can read an illustrated childrens book
- I can find in a text what I am looking for
- Personal diary of occasions outside school when
the learner used the target language - Brief discussion of language-learning problems
encountered, and of solutions which the learner
has found - .. Other?
18PROCESSES PEER-TUTORING
- Xu, Gelper Perkins (2005) studied class-wide
peer-tutoring (CWPT) - Children at elementary school Grade 2 in the
United States - Regular instances of
- cooperative play
- reciprocal initiation response.
- The researchers concluded that
- CWPT had significantly helped the children in
their social behaviour.
19BRIEF DISCUSSION TASK
- With 1-3 colleagues who are sitting beside you,
please discuss - In what ways do young learners have an advantage
over older learners in learning a modern
language? - In what ways do older learners have an advantage
over younger learners?
20YOUNGER OLDER LEARNERS COMPARED
- Sound system
- Less language anxious
- More time available overall
- Productive links between first and additional
languages - Range of acquisition and learning processes over
time, can complement each other - Positive influence on childrens general
development cognitive, linguistic and literacy,
emotional, cultural.
- Make use of existing conceptual map of the world
- Experienced in discourse, e.g. manage
conversations and obtain feedback - Wider range of strategies, e.g. note-taking
summarising reference materials - Sense of WHY, WHAT and HOW, to guide their
learning
21CHILDRENS MOTIVATION ACTIVITIES
- Wu (2003) studied children aged 5 learning
English - primary school in Hong Kong, monolingual
Cantonese - classroom activities which fostered intrinsic
motivation - These included
- a predictable learning environment,
- moderately challenging tasks,
- necessary instructional support,
- evaluation that emphasises self-Improvement
- attribution of success or failure to variables
that the learner can do something about.
22CHILDRENS INTRINSIC MOTIVATION DEVELOPMENT
- Nikolov (1999) followed three cohorts of children
- for eight years, taught by the same teacher.
- It was found that
- learners motivation could be maintained by
intrinsically interesting and cognitively
challenging tasks - Intrinsic motivation
- Initially associated with fun activity
- Then becomes linked to curiosity and
challenge - Then becomes associated with perception of self
as successful language learner
23PROGRESSION UPS DOWNS
- Mitchell (2003) claims that second language
learning is - not like climbing a ladder but is
- a complex and recursive process with multiple
interconnections and backslidings, and - complex trade-offs between advances in fluency,
accuracy and complexity. - Pelzer-Karpf Zangl (1997) found that childrens
utterances seemed impressive in Years 12 - but then in Year 3 went through a phase of
Systemturbulenz in which their grammar control
seemed to fall apart - but eventually by Year 4 it sorted itself out.
24PROCESSES COMPUTER-MEDIATED
- Nutta et al (2002) compared
- a conventional text-based approach with a
computer-enhanced multimedia approach, pupils
Grades 2-5 in a USA elementary school. - The computer-enhanced group
- more interactive
- greater access to immediate feedback
- more precise in pronunciation
- smoother flow of reading
- produced larger chunks of language.
- Concluded that
- ICT can help younger learners in integrating
their languages skills and in developing
important strategies of monitoring.
25CREATING A REAL VIRTUAL COMMUNITY
- Partners in Excellence project
- Scotland 29 secondary schools
- Government scheme special funding to develop
excellence - Ran for six years
- Funding also for independent evaluation
- Report will be published by the end of 2008
(Scottish CILT web-site)
26PARTNERS IN EXCELLENCE KEY DATA
- Main activities included
- Residential weekends where pupils made up their
own dramas and also learned how to make digitised
films of the dramas they had written and acted
out (full costume) - Project web-site which included special evening
surgery sessions at which student from and of the
29 schools could ask questions which would be
answered by an on duty teacher from one of the
29 schools. - Real visits and regular electronic links to
schools in France, German and Spain - Annual special dinner attended by 200 students,
parents, local and national politicians,
education officials and the press, at which the
students video-dramas were shown on-screen and
Oscar awards were presented.
27PARTNERS IN EXCELLENCE OUTCOMES
- Higher level of performance in national
examinations - Higher uptake of foreign language learning in
final years of secondary education - Stronger motivation for maintaining study and use
of their foreign language - New sense of identity as a member of three
interlocking communities
Students in 29 PiE schools
The students school
Partner schools abroad
28DISCUSSION TASK
- Working with 1-3 colleagues sitting beside you,
please briefly discuss what seem to be key
qualities of - A successful modern language teacher
- A successful modern language learner.
29SUCCESSFUL ML TEACHING
- Seeking to develop not only ML proficiency but
also broader aims, e.g. citizenship,
intercultural learning, social skills - Planning long-term for sustainability, as well as
short-term for immediate success - Consulting colleagues, parents and pupils
- Helping pupils understand the rich diversity of
human language and the immense potential that
each of us possesses - Providing a clear example to pupils of oneself as
an enthusiastic, though by no means perfect, ML
learner and user - Encouraging learners to be strategic and
reflective, to engage in self-assessment and
self-monitoring
30SUCCESSFUL ML TEACHING
- Providing encouragement, sustained and varied
input, interaction, feedback, a supportive
learning environment and guidance - ?Understanding that true progression in a
language is not based on the ladder model but
is a more complex and recursive process. - Building on childrens first language, whatever
that may, be and promoting one plurilingual
competence - ?Providing open-ended questions and stimuli,
encouraging children to be free and creative. - Encouraging learners to derive motivation from
feelings of pleasure and success in what they are
attempting to do
31CONCLUSION SUCCESSFUL TEACHER
- ?Helping learners understand the structure of
different kinds of discourse, e.g. conversations,
stories, reports, essays, letters - Helping learners develop skills of predicting,
guessing and making inferences - ?Providing a challenge which stimulates pupils
interest and curiosity - ?Ensuring corrective as well as positive
feedback, while ensuring that this does not
undermine confidence or self-esteem - Collaborating and joint planning with other
colleagues in the school and with teachers from
the other sector - Adopting an inclusive approach, bringing
encouragement, emotional warmth appropriate
support to all pupils - .. Other?
32CONCLUSION SUCCESSFUL LEARNER
- Plans, practices, revises
- Reviews, Self-assesses
- Processes input, e.g. notices, guesses, infers,
predicts - Seeks opportunities to use the TL for real
- Seeks feedback - as well as
- Relates learning use of ML to learning of other
things - Uses reference material appropriately
- Engages in positive attributions
- Interacts and negotiates meaning, e.g. probes,
seeks clarification - Offers help, seeks help
- Takes personal responsibility
- Is aware of and manages different types of
discourse - Produces spontaneous as well as non-spontaneous
output - Focuses on form as well as on meaning, at
different times - Controls anxiety and uses this productively
- Feels confident, self-efficacious
- Seeks underlying pattern
- Pays attention, focuses attention, sustains
attention - Develops strategies, uses these and reflects on /
revises them - Self-motivates, self-rewards, is curious and
seeks challenges - Other?
33REFERENCES
- All references in this PP are to be found in
- Chesterton, P., Steigler-Peters, S., Moran, W.
Piccioli, M. T. (2004). Developing sustainable
language learning pathways an Australian
initiative. Language, Culture Curriculum, 17,
1, 48-57 - Edelenbos, P., Johnstone R. M. Kubanek, A.
(2006). The main pedagogical principles
underlying the teaching of languages to very
young learners. Languages for the children of
Europe Published Research, Good Practice Main
Principles. Brussels, European Commission.
http//ec.europa.eu/education/policies/lang/doc/yo
ung_en.pdf - Johnstone, R. M. (2001) Addressing 'the age
factor' some implications for languages policy.
Guide for the development of Language Education
Policies in Europe - From Linguistic Diversity
to Plurilingual Education. Strasbourg, Council of
Europe Reference Study - http//www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Johnsto
neEN.pdf - And finally
- ??!