Young EFL Learners

1
Young EFL Learners

• Dr. Ofra Inbar
• Beit Berl College Tel-Aviv University
• Teacher Education and School Reform and
  Development
• Sixth Israeli-German Symposium, October, 2005

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The content of the talk

• Language learning at a young age
• The spread of English
• Learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at a
  young age
• Knowledge-Base for teaching EFL to young learners
  
• Research in-progress Home Room teachers teaching
  English in grade One

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Should a language be introduced at a young age?

• Informal (home) environment
• vs. formal school setting
• Home (natural) environment
• Caretakers fluency and comfort in the language
• Recognition of the advantages of bilingualism
  contribution to complex cognitive skills
  (Baker,1998 Bialystock, 2002 Hornberger, 2003)

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Formal Schooling 2 schools of thought

• Against
• Interference with L1
• Research shows efficient learning takes place at
  older ages- ability to utilize and transfer
  skills from L1 (Cenzos, 2005 Mclaughlin, 1992
  Singleton, 2001)
• Learning Fatigue
• Early exposure and more teaching hours not
  enough to ensure success

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For

• Affective factors less inhibited greater
  motivation
• Oral ability, particularly pronunciation enhanced
  at a young age (Johnstone, 1994 Marinova-Todd et
  al, 2000)
• Confidence as a language speaker
• Need to know language(s) Multilingualism is a
  key to success

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But Beliefs regarding language learning at school

• Depend on Purpose, setting, frequency, teacher,
  resources, language
• Discussion Somewhat Passé
• Especially with regard to English
• Why?

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English as a Lingua Franca

• Emergence of English as a World Language due to
• British colonialism
• US power
• Advent technology
• About a billion people engaged in studying
  English as a Second (ESL) or Foreign (EFL)
  Language Only about 300,000 million L1 English
  speakers (British Council, 2004 Crystal, 2000)

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The Spread of English 3 Circles (Kachru, 1982)

• Inner Britain, USA, Canada, Australia, etc.
• Outer Nigeria, Singapore, India (New Englishes)
• Expanding Israel, Netherlands, Germany, etc.

EXPANDING
INNER
OUTER
EXPANDING
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Currently Distinction Blurred

• New Englishes in Outer Circles (Periphery)
  asserting their rights
• Singlish in Singapore
• Japanese English
• Indian English
• Expanding Circle countries (like Israel and
  Germany) embracing English as a semi-official
  language

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Native and Non-Native English speakers

• Who is a native speaker? Central or Periphery?
• Who is the best English teacher
• Native of standard (inner Circle) English or
  bilingual, non-native English speaker?
• Criteria for material selection and for
  assessment Central? Local? English as a Lingua
  Franca?

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Young Learners of English

• Wide spread
• Language prestige
• Parental pressure social mobility
• The younger the better regardless of research
  findings

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How Young is Young?

• Home environment birth
• School
• Foreign language teaching in the US- 12
• Europe varies often 9-10 (or earlier)
• Cambridge Young Learners test 7-12
• Israel and other expanding countries
• The younger the better move to lower age.
  Currently grade one
• Sometimes kindergarten

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What Knowledge-Base is required for teaching EFL
to young learners

• Knowledge of the language
• Knowledge about the language
• Knowledge how to teach he language
• Knowledge about teaching young children
• Knowledge about teaching the language to young
  children

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Home Room Teachers Teaching English

• A common phenomenon in some European and Asian
  countries
• In Israel Began 5 years ago in the town of
  Raanana
• Reasons
• Rooted in educational philosophical thought
• Availability, convenience
• Economically viable

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Knowledge on how to teach English to young
learners
Who has the advantage
Till recently Lack of training in EFL teacher
education programs (Program component in Beit
Berl since 2001)
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Programs for teaching EFL to young learners
Pertinent issues

• Goals exposure, fun, or academic?
• Listening/speaking or literate skills?
• Use of target language (English) vs. local
  language (Hebrew German), and for what purpose?
• Integration with in-going topics (taught in the
  local language)
• Literacy?
• Assessment?
• Coordination with programs for the older
  learners?

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Relevance to Israel

• The Younger the better move to introduce English
  at younger ages
• One of the flagships of the current Ministry of
  Education policy
• Vast spread of first grade English initiatives

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In-Progress ResearchHome Room teachers
teaching English in Grade OneHeaded by Prof.
Elana Shohamy, Tel-Aviv University Initiated
and Funded by the Israeli Ministry of Education
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Pertinent Issues
Programs (3 programs are being examined) Teachers
Knowledge-Base (English teachers vs. home room
teachers) Attitudes of the public (high level
administrators, principals, parents) Students
achievements, attitudes, self-assessment
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Research Tools

• Large Sample
• Teachers questionnaires (home room and English)
• Principals questionnaire
• Interviews (administrators, program developers)
• Sample of 7 schools
• Parents questionnaire
• Classroom observations
• Teacher interviews
• Students research tools

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Students Research Tools

• Listening comprehension quiz (N250)
• Individual oral interaction interviews (N54)
• Attitude questionnaires (N250)
• Self-Assessment questionnaires (N250)

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Some initial observations

• Teaching of English in grade 1 in Israel is
  extremely common
• Both teaching models exist (home room and English
  teachers)
• Programs different objectives and modes of
  implementation (one program home room teachers
  only)

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Student Research Tools

• Specific age appropriate and language level
  considerations
• format (whether individual, group or class)
• choice of item and task types
• choice of contexualized, age-relevant stimuli

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Comparative Research Study?

• Similar phenomena in Germany?
• Possibilities for joint and comparative research?
• Contact Information
• inbarofra_at_bezeqint.net