All Shades of Every Color: An Overview of Early Teaching and Learning of Foreign Languages

Abstract

The paper analyzes research published over the last five years. The first part looks into policy documents, types of programs, and surveys to identify (a) reasons why an early start to learning languages is seen as beneficial and under what conditions; (b) possible threats; and (c) the aims and expected outcomes that are predicted by various models. The second part discusses studies on learners, including what they do in classrooms, how they perform on tasks, how their languages interact, and how they develop in different skills. A separate section reviews individual differences in the affective, cognitive, and strategic domains, as well as the role of learners’ socioeconomic status and their learning difficulties. In the third part, we draw on classroom observation and interview studies to discuss teachers’ roles, proficiency and uses of languages, and beliefs and practices. In the fourth part, we focus on the assessment of young learners; more specifically, we review what the construct of assessment is, what various assessment frameworks include, what international and national examinations exist, and what assessment for learning involves. Finally, in the last section we review implications for further research.

The effectiveness of early foreign language learning in the Netherlands

“…First, a brief history of the provision of bilingual education in the Netherlands will be presented. Internationally there is a lot of research on early foreign language teaching, but we will not deal with that here since there is an excellent overview by Nikolov and Mihaljevi Djigunovi (2011).…”

Pre-Primary Teachers’ Beliefs about Early Foreign Language Learning in Slovenia

“…Pre-primary teachers taking part in the survey also believe that an inappropriate approach in early FL teaching has a negative impact on early FL learning (2.10). Many experts agree with this statement (Murphy, 2014;Murphy & Evangelou, 2016;Nikolov & Mihaljević Djigunović, 2011 to name just a few) emphasising the important role of the teachers. Figure 1.…”

“…Brumen (2011) similarly noticed that preschool children are intrinsically motivated to learn FLs and are eager to acquire knowledge. One of the drawbacks that has consistently been pointed out is the lack of qualified teachers, who would be proficient in both, foreign language and early FL learning methodology (Garton, Copland & Burns, 2011;Mourão & Lourenço, 2015;Murphy & Evangelou, 2016, Nikolov & Mihaljević Djigunović, 2011. In Slovenia, early childhood education is organised for children aged one to five.…”

Lærerkognition som centralt udgangspunkt for lærernes praksisnære professionsudvikling – en ny efteruddannelsesmodel

“…Tendensen henimod, at eleverne laerer både deres første og deres andet fremmedsprog i en stadig tidligere alder, ses i mange europaeiske lande (Key Data, 2012;Nikolov & Djigunović, 2011). Den internationale forskningslitteratur (se bl.a.…”

“…Projektets omdrejningspunkt er, at folkeskolereformen fra 2014 afgørende har aendret vilkårene for sprogfagene i folkeskolen: Eleverne har nu engelsk fra første klasse (i stedet for tredje klasse) og fransk eller tysk fra femte klasse (i stedet for syvende klasse). Tanken bag denne aendring er, at børn har nemmere ved at laere fremmedsprog, fordi de kan traekke på deres såkaldte naturlige sproglaeringsmekanismer, og at fremmedsprog skal udbydes tidligere, så eleverne har flere år til at tilegne sig sprogene.Tendensen henimod, at eleverne laerer både deres første og deres andet fremmedsprog i en stadig tidligere alder, ses i mange europaeiske lande (Key Data, 2012;Nikolov & Djigunović, 2011). Den internationale forskningslitteratur (se bl.a.…”