Mother tongue plus two languages: are Scottish primary teachers confident to deliver?

Abstract

Recent policy reforms in Scotland mean that all primary teachers are expected to teach a foreign language (FL) to children from age 5, introducing a second language around age 9. This small-scale research study aimed to ascertain 38 primary teachers' perceptions of their confidence to teach a FL to primary learners and what they felt would be helpful in developing their language proficiency and language teaching pedagogy. The teachers, while enthusiastic about the thinking behind the policy, expressed concern about their ability to provide a good model of language to their classes and their own development as learners of a language while simultaneously having to teach it. FL assistants, secondary colleagues and FL development officers were seen as valuable sources of support, but questions were raised about the sustainability of the policy without long-term permanent commitment.

Reflections on peer micro-teaching: raising questions about theory informed practice

“…They appeared to have an awareness of theory and illustrated its application, without actually mentioning it. Students' lack of explicit theoretical referencing when reflecting echoes findings in previous work (Valdera and Crichton, 2018) which found that students, although clearly conscious of the theory underpinning their planning and evaluations of lessons, did not articulate it unless prompted. This raises the question of whether it is more important that student teachers can identify theories and label actions taken accordingly, or use the theory that they have studied implicitly to plan and deliver effective lessons, where constructivist principles, for example, are evident.…”

“…A secondary aim was to track evaluations of the PSTs' understanding of language and activities for use in primary classrooms, whether they could reflect on their learning to inform understanding of primary learners' foreign language development. While early learning of modern foreign languages (MFLs) is seen as a good thing in Scotland (Education Scotland, 2015), their mandatory inclusion in the primary curriculum since 2012 (Scottish Government, 2012) has caused some stress for primary teachers, most of whom have little foreign language proficiency, nor understanding of effective pedagogy (Valdera Gil and Crichton, 2018), thus the practicalities regarding pronunciation and grammar structures of a foreign language (Myhill et al, 2013) are a pressing concern.…”

The Capability of Teaching English to Young Learners in Sdit Wahdah Islamiyah Sinjai

“…Based on the data, she agrees to teach English based on the curriculum provided. Gil and Crichton (2018) conveyed their study where young learner teachers are highly eager to teach English but are still unsure to practice it because of the grammar and pronunciation challenges. Besides, Fransischa and Syafei's (2016) research showed that the children failed to acquire new pronunciation if they got it from unprofessional sources.…”

A Review from Northern Ireland of the Linguistic Devolution of Primary School Languages

“…Furthermore, although long term funding for Wales' and Scotland's plans remains uncertain, it is of great interest for NI to consider how and why these two small UK nations in particular developed such ambitious policies. Both the Welsh and Scottish policies are strongly aligned with the European goal of 'mother tongue plus competency in two foreign languages' (Valdera-Gil & Crichton, 2018). Scotland, for its part, has a long political tradition of a stronger European orientation than England, recently marked by its decided vote in favour of remaining in the EU.…”