Important features in ELL

Active learning strategies were repeatedly mentioned by all of the teachers as the most important feature in early English classes/sessions. These strategies included playing, singing, drama and bodily functions such as combining a movement with a word. This was thought to keep up the children’s focus and positive standpoint towards English. All of the teachers recognised the role of the children as active participants who need to be included in the activities in various ways, which is shown in examples 23 and 24.

(23) Playfulness and keeping it active so that the children can move and do and keeping it interesting so it is versatile and fun (Teacher 5)

(24) The main focus should be in playing and in language shower -type of activities … and bodily functions so if there are songs where you can include movements then of course combine them (Teacher 6)

This was something that Edelenbos et al (2006, see section 2.2) underlined in their report.

Young children need to be taught in a way that provides them with an opportunity to utilize all their senses in the learning process. Active learning was mentioned as the base for this - young children need to be provided with opportunities to move and to actively participate in the tasks.

This seems to be widely recognized among primary school teachers, and the teachers interviewed for this study all shared this same ideal. Moreover, diverse methods were also mentioned by four of the teachers, and they gave examples such as incorporating technology (ipads, computers, smartboards), using different types of activities within same lesson (singing, playing, perhaps some written activities) and activating the group in multisensory style. The children were seen to lose interest in learning foreign languages if the methods were one-sided and did not meet the requirements of the cognitive levels of young children. This is shown in example 25:

(25) I see it very important that the methods would meet the level and demands of the children and that the children would learn not only languages but also the positive attitude towards language learning as it affects positively in the later attitudes and self-image of themselves as learners and thus it would bring them confidence like I can do this and in that way help them achieve higher results and better language competence (Teacher 3)

This has also been verified in longitudinal studies, as for example in the ELLiE study (2011).

When children, or any learners for that matter, are not provided with learning opportunities that meet their own level, they will most likely lose the interest towards learning languages. This is something that teachers need to recognize, as it should serve as a guideline to all of their teaching practices. It is not only tied to learning languages but to all learning, no matter what the subject is. Children and their natural desire to learn (see section 2.1) are perhaps the most important link towards better future learning results, and this cannot be left unnoticed. As Jaekel (2017:11, see section 2.2) state, children’s cognitive levels should remain in the main focus in ELL.

Another point that was raised by three of the teachers was consistency in teaching and repetition.

The teachers felt that teaching and the activities must be consistent in order for the children to

be able to benefit from them, which is shown in example 26. This is why some of the teachers were also wishing for more guidance and/or material, as they felt that without any clear guidance their teaching was not coherent enough and they were not sure what to include or exclude when it came to early English. This might be caused from the lack of competence in English or the lack of proper training. Moreover, the age factor might have played its role in this, since the two teachers who felt that they were not able to properly arrange teaching without any guidance were the ones who had been teaching for 30 years. Thus, regular in-service training would be very much needed in order to keep the teacher’ skills up to date.

(26) Yes it must be somehow consistent so it’s not like a chaos one thing from here the other one from there but like that there were continuous repetition for example colours so they are not brought up just once but instead repeated throughout the year in different situations as it cannot stick to anyone’s mind from the first hearing (Teacher 4)

Repetition was seen to automatize the expressions and also increase the children’s basic vocabulary (see example 27), that was seen as one of the goals in early English teaching. This was tested and confirmed by Saunders-Semonsky and Spielberger (2004, see chapter 2.2), who found that regular, frequent assessment was one of the key factors in successful ELL.

(27) Repetition so when these things are included in the daily routines they are constantly repeated and then they begin to automatize and little by little their vocabulary will grow (Teacher 2)

Even though the importance of repetition and including English in the daily routines was recognized by the majority of the teachers, it was not all who actually implemented English in the daily routines. The actual practice was lacking, which can be caused from the lack of knowledge over the importance of regular instruction or from the lack of tools to execute it.

Nevertheless, this would also need to be introduced in in-service training, which will be discussed more in chapter 6.

Furthermore, positive atmosphere in the English classes/sessions and maintaining it was recognized by all of the teachers. One of the main principles in early English teaching was seen to be raising interest towards English and/or languages and maintaining this excitement throughout the first years of language learning. This was believed to be achieved through various activities, active learning strategies and the teachers’ own positive attitude towards languages. This has been also confirmed in previous research, as for example Jaekel et al (2017:

12, see chapter 2.2) argue the main goal of ELL being rising interest and excitement which results in sustaining a high level of motivation also in the future. One of the teachers highlighted the importance of not comparing pupils to one another in terms of preserving motivation and joy towards learning languages, which is seen in example 28.

(28) Mostly raising interest in them and not like tests or anything but that the atmosphere was positive that is really important and not comparing the children like this knows more than this one it must not be highlighted in any way (Teacher 1)

All the teachers mentioned also that learning English should be fun and that the children’s motivation would remain high if learning was made fun. Knowing the pupils and their preferences as well as the group dynamics was regarded important in this. The teacher was expected to have an eye for the activities that were not popular and not only drive their own agenda through, which is noted in example 29.

(29) I always see what kind of activities they get excited from and then milk everything out of it as long as they still have motivation so that something that they don’t enjoy doing was not pushed for them like this vocabulary needs to be gone through no matter the cost no but instead I don’t care if we wear out the song that they like (Teacher 6)

In order to maintain motivation and excitement the tasks were seen having to be easy enough for the children (see example 30). It was believed that the tasks and the vocabulary should be close to the children’s own life in order for them to get excited from them. Too difficult tasks were seen to demotivate the children and hinder their learning process. This was in line with what previous research has found (see chapter 2.2: Jaekel et al 2017; Enever 2015) on the task levels matching the children’s cognitive levels. A task that is too hard to comprehend is a factor that contributes to the loss of motivation and possible problems with learning in the later stages.

(30) The tasks cannot be too difficult so they must somehow be linked to the children’s daily life so easy things in English (Teacher 4)

All of the teachers mentioned active learning and various, fun and light activities as the main principles of ELL, which has been confirmed by for example _ and _. The children’s cognitive levels were especially mentioned by two teachers (1 and 4) as they emphasized the importance of keeping the language easy for the children to be able to comprehend it. However, keeping language easy should not mean simplifying it too much, as would narrow the input the children receive considerably. This has a great deal to do with the teacher’s language competence and

willingness to communicate in a foreign language, which is noted in the next section. Moreover, the role of the teacher in maintaining children’s excitement and motivation was recognized by all of the teachers, and they all felt that teachers played a great role in the children’s lives in their first years of school. This will be discussed more in the next section.