Janet Enever “Towards quality for English in the Early Years”

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