Towards quality for English in the Early Years Prof. Janet Enever Ume책 University, Sweden
Colombia Grade 1
Thailand Grade 6
Policy Dialogues ENGLISH FOR THE FUTURE Cartagena, Colombia October 2012
Outline Setting the context Contemporary quality issues Teachers Curriculum Pedagogy
The context for young learners of English today:
Early years education structures Overlapping frameworks: - From non-compulsory to compulsory education Models
Pre-school
Primary / basic / elementary school Lower primary
Upper primary
1
3- 5 years
6 - 8 years
9-12 years
2
3- 6 years
7 – 9 years
10 – 12 years
3
3- 5 years
6 – 12 / 13 years
Who are the new ‘young learners’ ? “ Students in business suits are being joined by those in nappies, and teachers accustomed to dealing with sleepy heads in class must now put up with learners who dribble and cry for their mothers” McCurry (2006) Guardian Weekly 17 February
“There is pressure for ever-earlier starts” Lee (2009: 98)
Features of the new provision ‘Expansion and intensification of ELT by means of an earlier start, increased time allotment and experimentation with immersion and bilingual or trilingual programs are evident both in private sector and public sector schools in many countries’ (Cummins and Davison 2007 P xxiii)
Video: Gd 1 class in Croatia – progress over 4 yrs. Vilke, M.(1995) Engelski u prvom razredu. Zagreb Film – copyright protected
International comparison of age at which compulsory language teaching begins (Tinsley and Comfort, 2012: 29)
European language-in-education policy as a ‘soft’ tool of governance “Activity in relation to education is qualitatively different to the pre-2000 era” (Alexiadou and Lange, forthcoming) Mechanisms impacting on Early years English in Europe include: Statistical data Indicators Measurement instruments Reports Action plans Recommendations Research studies Language projects
Compulsory start age for first foreign language for all students in preprimary and primary, 2010/11 (Eurydice 2012:26)
Download at: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/publications/earlylanguage-learning-europe
Well-trained teachers
ELLiE: Initial primary FL teacher education
ELLiE: In-service primary FL teacher education AVAILABLE COURSES
ATTENDANCE
EN
One-off workshops and seminars National/regional conferences Language courses
Voluntary
ES
One-off workshops and seminars National/regional conferences Courses abroad
Voluntary
HR
One-off workshops and seminars National/regional conferences Language courses **
Compulsory
One-off workshops and seminars National/regional conferences Post-graduate teacher qualification courses ** Courses abroad
Voluntary
One-off workshops and seminars Language courses **
Voluntary
One-off workshops and seminars Post-graduate teacher qualification courses ** Language courses ** Courses abroad
Voluntary
Language courses
Voluntary
IT
NL PL
SE
** compulsory
** compulsory
** compulsory ** compulsory ** compulsory
Curriculum Hong Kong – 17-21% spent on English. Singapore – 17 x 30 minute lessons for first two years. (Tinsley & Comfort 2012)
Time allocation: Foreign languages as % of curriculum time for 9 to 11-year-olds
Curriculum content Commonly found approaches to formulating a curriculum Topics to be covered (with key vocabulary; grammar points) Vocabulary and grammar points to be covered. Outcomes to be achieved. Coursebook syllabus (framework for class syllabus)
Curriculum content/materials - ELLiE countries Coursebooks widely used
Coursebooks generally not used with the age group 6-10 years
Croatia, Poland, Spain, Italy
England, Sweden, The Netherlands Enever, 2011:30
Establishing curriculum links – some approaches Cross-curricular links – relating English to other curriculum
themes, e.g. animal habitats + sharing pictures of favourite pets and talking about them in English Teaching parts of lesson in English, e.g. physical exercises in
English Teaching whole lessons in English, e.g. science experiments
with water in English
ELLiE evidence:
Age-appropriate pedagogy
Technology impact on curriculum ELLiE evidence of gradual change
ELLiE findings on successful early language learning: inter-relationship of contextual variables
Contextual variables
Wider social context
National FL education policy
School setting
Language-learning milieu
Significant others
The immediate language learning environment
Nature of instruction
Out-of-class exposure to FL
Video: Gd 4 class in Croatia Vilke, M.(1995) Engelski u cetvrtom razredu. Zagreb Film - copyright protected
Developing the right conditions Taking a long term view Planned & phased introduction with piloting Combined bottom up & top down approach Monitoring & evaluation studies Sufficient funding and institutional support Planning for transition phase Factors in achieving quality & sustainability: Minimum teacher competency level ( B1 CEFR) Appropriate pedagogic skills for PELT Age- appropriate & culturally appropriate materials Regular support & on-going training/CPD for teachers Realistic workloads Enever, J. & Moon, J. A global revolution? Teaching English at primary school
Kosovo Grade 3
Thailand Grade 6 Š British Council
Enever, J. (2011) (ed) ELLiE. Early Language Learning in Europe. London, UK: British Council http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/publications/earlylanguage-learning-europe
References Cummins, J & Davison, C. (2007) International Handbook of English Language Teaching. Springer. Eurydice (2012) Key data on teaching languages at school in Europe. EACEA [online]. Available: http:// eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/key_data_series/095EN.pdf [September 2012]. Enever, J. & Moon, J. A global revolution? Teaching English at primary school. In: Enever, J. Moon, J. & Raman, U. (eds.) (2009) Young Learner English Language Policy and Implementation: International Perspectives. Reading, UK: Garnet Education. Enever, J. (2011) (ed) ELLiE. Early Language Learning in Europe. London, UK: British Council. <http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/publications/early-language-learning-europe> McCurry (2006) Guardian Weekly 17 February OECD (2011) Education at a glance. [Online]. Available: www.oecd.org/dataoecd/ 61/2/48631582.pdf [September 2012]. Ross, C. (September 2012) Lebanon: ‘The TKT has had a positive impact’. EL middle east 2012-13: 5. ELT Gazette. Tinsley, T. & Comfort, T. (2012). Lessons from Abroad: International Review of primary languages. Reading, UK: Centre for British Teachers