{"title":"A teacher-researcher snapshot of task-based peer interactions in EFL secondary school classrooms in Germany","authors":"Tomas Kos","doi":"10.1075/ltyl.00039.kos","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.00039.kos","url":null,"abstract":"This article reports a small classroom-based study that has explored task-based peer interactions among grade 9 secondary school students (N = 14) of middle and low relative proficiency. Drawing primarily on audio recordings of peer interactions, oral presentations, and post-task interviews, and conducted by the teacher-researcher, it investigated how students interacted on an output task that was embedded in regular EFL lessons and designed to wrap up the unit work centered around the topic Down Under. A particular focus was on exploring to what extent and how students used the language that the task was meant to trigger, namely future tense and unit-related vocabulary. The aim was to inquire whether the task worked in the way it was designed for. The findings have shown that although students were involved with the task and with each other’s contributions, the use of the targeted structure elicited by the task remained limited. Pedagogical implications are discussed.","PeriodicalId":29728,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching for Young Learners","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139264939","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Raphaela Porsch, Stefan Schipolowski, Camilla Rjosk, Karoline A. Sachse
{"title":"Effects of an early start in learning English as a foreign language on reading and listening comprehension in Year 9","authors":"Raphaela Porsch, Stefan Schipolowski, Camilla Rjosk, Karoline A. Sachse","doi":"10.1075/ltyl.22017.por","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.22017.por","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract For years now, all over Europe a debate has been ongoing concerning the effectiveness of an early start in learning a foreign language. This paper presents findings from a representative large-scale assessment study from Germany and seeks to examine the relationship between receptive skills in English as a foreign language (EFL) of students in Year 9 and their EFL learning onset age. We examined the differences in achievement of early starters – i.e., students who started learning English either before Year 3 or in Year 3 – in comparison with late starters defined as students instructed in EFL from Year 4 or 5 using a sample of more than 30,000 students. The results from multilevel regression modelling point to long-term advantages in reading and listening comprehension for students with an early onset of English instruction in primary school compared to students who began later. The paper finishes by discussing the results and suggesting further research in this field.","PeriodicalId":29728,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching for Young Learners","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135933791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Introducing plurilingualism in the English as an Additional Language classroom through plurilingual approaches","authors":"Kevin Randall Steil, Encarnación Carrasco Perea","doi":"10.1075/ltyl.00037.ste","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.00037.ste","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article discusses research that was carried out in Barcelona, Spain which explored plausible facets for introducing pluralistic approaches in the English as an Additional Language classroom. The research triangulates data collected from administrative personnel, teachers, and students aged 7–8 years in order to identify plausible approaches to synthesize the instruction of teaching English with the development of plurilingual concepts and skills. Methodological approaches included interviews with the administrators, questionnaires with both students and their teachers and a multimodal activity done in the EFL classroom. Through the discussion of the results we highlight specific techniques, such as Intercomprehension, that facilitate language instruction for Additional Language Learners in a linguistically diverse community that has various languages in the social and learning environments. Through the data analysis, we identify aspects that could help facilitate the instruction of English as an additional language in multilingual settings.","PeriodicalId":29728,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching for Young Learners","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135933275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does repeated pre-task planning have an impact on form-focused LREs?","authors":"María del Pilar García Mayo, María Luquin","doi":"10.1075/ltyl.00038.may","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.00038.may","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Pre-task planning has been shown to improve fluency and complexity in adult learners’ speech in monologic tasks. Previous work considered pre-task planning in interactive tasks with young children in an ESL setting and reported that, in general, it had an impact on the amount of talk. However, no study so far has considered the impact of planning on the production of language-related episodes (LREs) by young children. This study examined the relationship between planning time and the accurate production of three target form-focused LREs (FFLREs) by thirty-three dyads of 11–12-year-old EFL learners who took part in a longitudinal experiment in which they narrated picture-prompted stories four times under one of three conditions: unguided planning (12 dyads), guided planning (12 dyads), or no-planning (9 dyads). Results showed that no significant improvement in target feature production was observed across weeks or conditions. Regarding accuracy, a notable difference emerged between the pre-test and delayed post-test in the unguided planning condition. Regarding between-group comparisons, although the guided planning group initially demonstrated higher accuracy than their counterparts, this distinction was not maintained. Thus, planning had limited benefits when considering FFLREs. Methodological and pedagogical implications will be discussed.","PeriodicalId":29728,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching for Young Learners","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135729846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Review of Winston (2022): Performative Language Teaching in Early Education: Language Learning through Drama and the Arts for Children 3–7","authors":"Faidra Faitaki","doi":"10.1075/ltyl.00036.fai","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.00036.fai","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":29728,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching for Young Learners","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43907878","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Visual images and image-text relations in ELT textbooks for young learners","authors":"Yan Zhu, Nan Yang","doi":"10.1075/ltyl.00035.zhu","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.00035.zhu","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 A noteworthy change in China’s newly released national English language curriculum standards is the inclusion of\u0000 ‘viewing’ ability, i.e., the skill of acquiring information conveyed in multimodal discourses like graphics, photos and animation\u0000 (MOE, 2022a). To investigate how ELT textbooks are compiled to foster learners’\u0000 viewing ability, we conducted a descriptive content analysis of two ELT textbook series (N1 = 12,\u0000 N2 = 6) for young learners. Informed by Fingeret’s classification of graphics (2012) and Martinec and\u0000 Salway’s framework of image-text relations (2005), we coded a total of 7182 visual\u0000 images to examine how different types of visual images and image-text relations were utilised in terms of frequency and\u0000 distribution in the two textbook series. Results show that both textbook series feature the use of diverse visual images and the\u0000 Chinese ELT textbook series exclusively use cartoons, whereas the global ELT textbooks use photos in addition to cartoons.\u0000 Regarding image-text status relations, equal relations constitute a larger percentage than unequal relations, and the expansion\u0000 logico-sematic relations appear much more frequently than the projection relations. Implications for dealing with visual images\u0000 and image-text relations in ELT textbooks for young learners are suggested in the conclusion section.","PeriodicalId":29728,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching for Young Learners","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47129220","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Review of Hayes (2022): Early Language Learning in Context: A Critical Socioeducational Perspective","authors":"S. Rixon","doi":"10.1075/ltyl.00034.rix","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.00034.rix","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":29728,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching for Young Learners","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42362044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial","authors":"J. Enever","doi":"10.1075/ltyl.00033.edi","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.00033.edi","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":29728,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching for Young Learners","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47150794","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The affordances of an intercultural e-portfolio","authors":"Anastasia Hanukaev","doi":"10.1075/ltyl.00030.han","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.00030.han","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This paper explores teachers’ perceptions of the affordances of an e-portfolio of intercultural competence (EPIC). The EPIC was implemented during an 8-week intervention carried out in a Norwegian lower secondary school. Data were collected from various sources (e.g., learners’ texts, focus group interviews), but this paper draws on the data from three individual teacher interviews conducted in the spring semester 2018. This study extends our understanding of the way an e-portfolio can be integrated into the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom as a tool for promoting intercultural competence. The findings underscore the affordances of the e-portfolio to track the learners’ reflections on their own complex selves and others; moreover, the use of the e-portfolio enabled the teachers to create flexible and varied learning spaces, which in turn provided opportunities for intercultural language learning. Pedagogical implications are provided on how foreign language (FL) teachers might support intercultural competence development through the use of the e-portfolio.","PeriodicalId":29728,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching for Young Learners","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45925359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Extramural English for early language learning","authors":"Signe Hannibal Jensen, J. Lauridsen","doi":"10.1075/ltyl.22011.han","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.22011.han","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Due to the online global presence of English, many EFL learners encounter English outside the classroom from an early age. This study examined teachers’ perceptions of the language learning affordances, challenges, and benefits in the early English classroom (ages 7–11) of English learnt outside school (extramural English (EE), Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2016). A mixed-methods approach, including a survey, interviews, and data from Facebook interest groups on teaching English, was used to gauge teacher perceptions. Results showed that generally teachers had positive attitudes towards the learning potentials of EE (especially related to fostering vocabulary learning) and for creating motivation for learning English. Teachers found less benefits of playing digital games than from watching YouTube videos. Teachers also reported demotivation in students stemming from being bored in class or from feeling behind compared to others, i.e., personal expectations of English skills were high. The study points to a need for focus in teacher education on the benefits of extramural activities for their students’ learning (especially gaming). This means fostering awareness in prospective teachers of the importance of incidental learning processes as these are key in the global English context. Moreover, sharing ideas for integrating EE into teaching practices is needed.","PeriodicalId":29728,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching for Young Learners","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47132068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}