Introduction

Rokita-Jaśków, Joanna; Ellis, Melanie

doi:10.21832/9781788922517-002

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…There is pressing need for Iranian researchers specializing in language policy and early language learning to advance scholarship on early language learning policies, inform policymaking, contribute to the literature, and help with providing a solid knowledge base. Our professionals and teachers now have access to quality academic literature across a wide variety of contexts some of them very similar to ours which can inform context‐and‐age‐appropriate pedagogy (e.g., Garton & Copland, 2018; Mourão & Ellis, 2020; Rokita‐Jaśkow & Ellis, 2018; Sharkey, 2018). Our researchers can take advantage of expansive literature in light of local exigencies to investigate and document key issues and various aspects of TEYL to add insights and their own extension to literature and provide a localized knowledge base for young‐learner teacher education/training.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Pursuant to the above comments and assertions, the main force governing the rapid growth of private‐sector TEYL is parental pressure, despite parents’ limited knowledge of how children learn (see also Enever, 2018; Rokita‐Jaśkow & Ellis, 2018). The participants (e.g., Bita, Parisa, Saeed, Omead, Farzad, and Mehrdad) mentioned two main reasons for such parental pressure for early EFL at the private sector: (a) The widespread ‘the younger, the better’ assumption for language learning, despite the lack of empirical evidence supporting this claim in low‐exposure foreign language contexts (Butler, 2015); (b) parents believe that the schools are not the best site for their children's learning because of the poorly trained teachers and unsystematic approaches.…”

Section: Outcomes and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Teaching English to young learners in private sector of Iranian ELT: Challenges and local realities

Tavakol

Tavakoli

2023

Int J App Linguistics

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The growing phenomenon of (pre)primary English education worldwide has resulted in the rise in prominence of the discipline of teaching English to young learners (TEYL). Under the global forces and parents' pressure, early EFL learning has also turned into a pervasive trend in the marketized private sector of Iranian ELT as evidenced by the ever-growing number of classes of ever-younger learners. However, it is not clear what stands at its core because it has not received the attention it deserves, and reports on its status quo are almost non-existent. This qualitative study was conducted to shine the spotlight on some local realities and challenges faced by Iranian TEYL to trigger more intensive research and informed discussion into this Cinderella area of scholarship. The findings regarding each aspect are presented and discussed along with implications and directions for future research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Outcomes and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching English to young learners in private sector of Iranian ELT: Challenges and local realities

Tavakol

Tavakoli

2023

Int J App Linguistics

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“…Thus, there are important lessons learnt from how children develop in their L1 (e.g., Rowe & Snow, 2020) and English as L2 (e.g., Buysse et al, 2014; Washington-Nortey et al, 2020), as well as from recent reviews on early preschool FL programs (e.g., Garton & Copland, 2019; Nikolov & Lugossy, 2022; Thieme et al, 2021) and how children are assessed (Nikolov & Timpe-Laughlin, 2021; Prošić-Santovac & Rixon, 2019). Publications for teachers on how to implement good practice in pre-primary classrooms are also widely available (Curtain & Dahlberg, 2016; Bland, 2015; Ghosn, 2015; Mourão, 2015a; Mourão & Ellis, 2020; Mourão & Lourenço, 2015; Murphy, 2014; Murphy & Evangelou, 2016; Pinter, 2006, 2011; Rokita-Jaśkow & Ellis, 2019; Schwartz, 2018, 2022; Widlok et al, 2011).…”

Section: Theories On How Children Learn Languages In Bilingual and Fl...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Studies on pre-primary learners of foreign languages, their teachers, and parents: A critical overview of publications between 2000 and 2022

Nikolov

Djigunović

2023

Lang. Teach.

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This article offers insights into trends found in 74 empirical studies on teaching and learning a foreign language (FL) in pre-primary schools in 25 countries. The emerging picture is like that of primary-school programs: most are implemented in English, mostly owing to parents’ enthusiasm rather than evidence on long term FL benefits. Researchers focus on measurable outcomes in the FL rather than embedding studies in what early childhood education and language policies aim for: developing children not only in a FL, but also in their first language and emotional, cognitive, and social domains. A short literature review on how children learn languages and what necessary conditions include, is followed by the evidence empirical studies offer along themes found in them. Research has revealed encouraging results as well as weaknesses, whereas most authors frame their findings in positive terms. Overall, the younger the children the slower their rate of FL development. The field is dominated by FL experts; it would benefit from early childhood expertise to shift it towards the whole child. Although the increase in research is significant, more is necessary to build a model of pre-primary FL programs. A table available online complements the text.

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“…Teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in an early childhood setting has gained popularity in recent years, and EFL lessons are often provided in kindergartens, nurseries, and other pre-primary institutions (Butler, 2015, 2019; Rokita-Jaskow & Ellis, 2019). This trend has been developing rapidly over the last few decades; however, it was not until recently that pre-primary EFL education started receiving attention from scholars (Copland & Garton, 2014).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Pre-service Pre-primary EFL Teacher Beliefs about Teaching English to Very Young Learners: A Macau Case Study

et al. 2021

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Research on the beliefs of pre-service and in-service English teachers at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels has provided useful knowledge to teacher education curriculum designers. However, the beliefs of pre-service pre-primary English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers have not been addressed. Thus, a case study was conducted in one pre-primary education program at a public university in the Macau Special Administrative Region of China. Data was collected by providing participants ( N = 63) a writing prompt aimed at gathering their beliefs about the teaching and learning of English in the pre-primary context. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze these written reflection reports of third-year pre-service pre-primary English teachers with the aim of uncovering their beliefs about teaching and learning EFL. Results showed the participants held beliefs about classroom practice, EFL learners and learning, pedagogical knowledge, teaching, content, goals of language teaching, the role of teaching, subject, schooling, hearsay, self, learning to teach, and the teacher education program. Most participants mentioned their beliefs about classroom practice, EFL learners and learning, and pedagogical knowledge, while very few participants wrote about self, learning to teach, or the teacher education program. While many of the beliefs held by the participants were found to be substantiated by early childhood education research, some unfounded beliefs were also uncovered. The results highlighted a need for curriculum designers to reconsider the education program’s ability to meet the needs of the pre-service teachers. Participants required additional training in English content knowledge, use as a medium of instruction, and pronunciation. The polarized view of teaching the mother tongue and EFL should be reconsidered in light of the current views on bilingualism and bilingual education.

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Introduction

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Teaching English to young learners in private sector of Iranian ELT: Challenges and local realities

Teaching English to young learners in private sector of Iranian ELT: Challenges and local realities

Studies on pre-primary learners of foreign languages, their teachers, and parents: A critical overview of publications between 2000 and 2022

Exploring Pre-service Pre-primary EFL Teacher Beliefs about Teaching English to Very Young Learners: A Macau Case Study

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