IATEFL Glasgow 2012

Global Issues in Primary ELT

Gail Ellis, Adviser Young Learners & Quality

John Knagg, Head Research & Consultancy

British Council supported research

Your issues in Global Primary ELT

What are the issues you think need to be

addressed to improve Global Primary English

language teaching?

Our Top Ten Issues in Global Primary ELT

1. Size and growth of PELT sector

2. Variation in teacher profiles

3. Quality teacher education

4. English: subject vs medium of instruction

5. Classroom methodologies

6. Materials and resources

7. Continuity and transition across school phases

8. Evidence for success

9. Out-of-school factors

10. Formal research

1. There’s a lot (more) of it about

400 - 500 million primary learners of English ?

6 million primary teachers of English ?

“Politicians and parents the world over are today decidingthat an early start to FLL in schools will make all the difference for the economic futures of their children… Yet, to what extent we can be sure that an early start will really achieve greater long term rewards is still uncertain.”

(Enever 2011)

Start of English No Countries

Year One 22 Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, India Goa, Greece, Hong Kong, India Tamil Nadu, Italy, Namibia, North Cyprus, Palestine, Poland, Qatar, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Spain, Sweden

Year Two 6 France, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Russia, Uzbekistan, Zambia

Year Three 9 Armenia, Czech Republic, Germany, Kosovo, Latvia, Taiwan (big cities), Uganda, Turkey, Sri Lanka

Year Four 3 Israel, Denmark, Argentina

Year Five 2 Brazil, Japan, Taiwan (most cities)

After Year Five 6 Algeria, Colombia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Yemen

Not compulsory but often taught

13 Mexico, Lithuania, Serbia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland. In Brazil in Year 5 (age 10/11) one FL must be offered (usually English). Japan

A rough guide to current starts for English in different countries (Rixon 2012)

1. There’s a lot (more) of it about

Policy trends in PELT

Main global policy changes over the past 10 years

• making English compulsory at primary level• further lowering the age at which it is introduced at primary• changes in assessment

• introducing specific means of assessment (eg portfolio assessment Cyprus, national examinations Bahrain) • closer definition of standards to be achieved (Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Latvia, Sweden).

(Rixon 2012 -forthcoming)

2. Who are the teachers ?

Do you agree or disagree?

Teachers seem to be the single most powerful influence on students’ learning(Hattie quoted in the ELLiE study by Elsa Tragant Mestres and Gun Lundberg in their chapter on the teacher’s role)

the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers(European research concerning the effectiveness of schools OECD 2007)

11

Quality of teachers is a key differentiator for parents

I send my child to the British Council for English classes for the following reasons. Please identify the top three most important reasons.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Autre

Rapport qualité prix

De nouvelles technologies

Une évaluation régulière et une information sur les progrès de …

Pour son ambiance conviviale et son environnement anglophone

Des classes homogènes par âge et niveaux

Une continuité dans l’apprentissage de l’anglais de mon enfant

La possibilité de passer un examen d’anglais britannique reconnu

Une expérience et une relation positive avec la langue anglaise …

Un effectif réduit en classe

Pour sa pédagogie efficace et son professionnalisme

Professeurs qualifiés qui ont une maîtrise parfaite de l’anglais

2%1%5%7%13%

23%25%

30%33%34%

42%83%

2. Who are the teachers ?

2. Who are the teachers ?

• General teachers

• Specialist teachers

• Semi-specialist teachers

• Unqualified teachers

2. Who are the teachers ?

A happy class in Uganda

2. Who are the teachers ?

Retaining good teachers – recommendations:

• Improving conditions for learning

• Offering promotion opportunities

• Improving teacher satisfaction

• Providing good quality training and professional development opportunities

2. Who are the teachers ?

The research shows there is great variety amongst teachers ofEnglish to children. They have entered the profession withdifferent

• qualifications• specialisms• training• previous teaching experiences

Consequently children will receivelanguage learning experiences ofvarying types and quality.

3. We need better teacher education

Common misconceptions related to teaching English to children:

• Teaching English is a straightforward process that can be undertaken by anyone with a basic training in ELT (or not)

• The language taught to children only needs to be simple as cognitively they are not as developed as adult or teenage learners.

Lynne Cameron (2001)

the necessity of specific pre-service training for primary school teachers of English and ongoing professional development

3. We need better teacher education

A teacher of a foreign language to children needs to

have the knowledge, skills and sensitivities of a

and to be able to balance and combine the two successfully in order to maximise the learning potential of children

teacher of children teacher of language

3. We need better teacher education

Specific training for primary teachers of English

• FL expertise – a high level of fluency

• Age-appropriate FL teaching skills

• A broad educational base related to child development and the psychology of learning