Facing Diversity in Child Foreign Language Education (Second Language Learning and Teaching)

✍ Scribed by Joanna Rokita-Jaśkow (editor), Agata Wolanin (editor)

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 321
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This edited book uses the concept of diversity in child foreign language education as a major organizing principle. Since a foreign language, most typically English, is taught globally to an increasing number of children, the variability in the process and varied learning outcomes are inescapable phenomena. This book has been constructed on the premise that heterogeneity, first, concerns young language learners, who due to the disparity in the pace of development need appropriately tailored educational solutions, and, second, it refers to a diversity of contexts in which learning takes place. The contexts can be defined on a macroscale (e.g. different countries), mesoscale (e.g. different institutions), and microscale (e.g. specific learner groups). The book consists of four thematic strands. In Part One the learner-internal causes of heterogeneity of young language learners are clarified. Part Two presents a sample of classroom studies in which learner variables, such as gender, learner preferences, and special needs are taken into account. Part Three looks at teaching materials and how they meet learners’ needs. Finally, Part Four highlights diversity issues that teachers should be prepared to face.

✦ Table of Contents

Facing Diversity in Child Foreign Language Education
Contents
Editors and Contributors
What Makes the Difference in Early Foreign Language Education? Learner-Internal vs Learner-External Factors
1 Introduction
2 Faces of Classroom Heterogeneity: Learner-Internal vs Learner-External
3 Diversity and Globalization
4 The Structure of the Volume
5 Summary
References
The Young Learner and Individual Differences
Cognition and Second Language Experience: How Are Executive Function and Second Language Acquisition Related?
1 Introduction
2 Executive Function
3 Why Interest in EF?
4 EF and Bilingual Experience
5 EF and Learning a Second Language
6 Conclusions
References
Trainability of Foreign Language Aptitudes in Children
1 Introduction
2 Foreign Language Aptitude
3 FL Aptitude: A Stable or a Dynamic Factor?
4 Foreign Language Aptitude in Children
5 Cognitive Differences Between Children and Adults
6 The Effects of the Critical Period
7 The Effects of Bilingualism
8 Foreign Language Aptitude, Working Memory and Intelligence
9 Conclusions and Suggestion for Further Research
References
Teaching Foreign Language Grammar to Children: The Role of Individual Differences
1 Introduction
2 The Nature of TL Grammar Knowledge
3 Teaching and Learning Grammar
4 Individual Differences as Mediating Variables in Teaching Grammar
5 Selected ID Factors and Teaching L2 Grammar to Children
6 Conclusion
References
Studies in Heterogeneous Classes
Diversity in EELL: Matters of Context and Contact
1 Introduction
2 Matters of Local Learning Context, Contact and EELL
2.1 Young Learners’ Extramural English Activities and Gender
3 The Current Study
3.1 Aims and Research Questions
3.2 Sociocultural and Educational Context of the Current Study
3.3 Participants
3.4 Instruments and Procedure
4 Results and Discussion
4.1 Young Learners’ Self-Reported Sources of Informal Contact with English
4.2 Informal Sources of English for YLs and Vocabulary Retrieval
4.3 Vocabulary Acquired Informally by YLs of EFL
4.4 The Interplay of the Main Findings
4.5 Limitations
4.6 Implications
5 Conclusions
Appendix
References
Reading Accuracy Measure in Screening for Dyslexia in the EFL Classroom
1 Introduction
2 First and Foreign Language Reading
3 Dyslexia in Bilingual and Multilingual Learners
4 Research
4.1 Method
4.2 Participants
4.3 Instruments
4.4 Procedure
4.5 Results
5 Discussion
6 Conclusions and Implications
Appendix A
Appendix B
References
Learning Preferences of SEN Children in an Inclusive English Classroom
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review: Learning Preferences
3 The Study
3.1 The Research Questions
3.2 The Participants
3.3 Instruments and Procedure
3.4 Results and Discussion
4 Concluding Remarks
Appendix: Thematic Units for Grades 1 and 3
References
Is Strategy Training Necessary in L3 Learning? The Study of Communication Strategies Used by Upper-Primary School Learners
1 Introduction
2 Communication Strategies and Their Taxonomies
3 Previous Research on Communication Strategies
4 The Study—Aims and Research Questions
4.1 Participants
4.2 Research Design and Procedure
4.3 Results and Discussion
5 Conclusions and Implications for Language Teaching
References
Assessment for Learning, Learning for All: A Case Study in the Foreign Language Classroom
1 Introduction
2 Assessment in the Young Learner Classroom
2.1 The Rights of the Child
2.2 Assessment for Learning
3 Case Study
3.1 Educational Context
3.2 Phase I: Introducing Self-Assessment
3.3 Phase II: Introducing Peer-Assessment
3.4 Phase III: Incorporating Self- and Peer-Assessment into the Learning Process
4 Discussion and Conclusion
References
Literacy and Diversity
A Multimodal Analysis of ELT Materials for Young Learners
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Materials Development
2.2 Multimodality
2.3 Multimodal ELT Materials for Heterogeneous Learners
3 Research Project
3.1 Research Purpose and Questions
3.2 Procedure
4 Results and Discussion
5 Conclusions and Implications
Appendix: A Checklist for a Multimodal Analysis of ELT Materials for Young Learners
Introduction: ELT Material Context and Users’ Background Information
Multimodality of Content: Image-Language Relations
References
“Picture This!”: The Educational Value of Illustrations in the Process of Teaching L2 to Young Learners
1 Introduction
2 Picturebooks in L2 Education
3 Text-Image Relationship—Multimodal Perspective
3.1 Deciphering Images
4 The Visual Input of Picturebooks in Teaching Young Learners—Analysis
4.1 Goodnight Moon
4.2 The Giving Tree
4.3 Little Beauty
4.4 Home
5 The Educational Value of Illustrations—Concluding Remarks
Appendix: Research Tool—A Checklist Used to Analyse the Selected Picturebooks
References
Corpus-Based Evaluation of Textbook Content: A Case of Russian Language Primary School Textbooks for Migrants
1 Introduction
2 Related Work
3 Materials and Methods
3.1 Research Aims and Research Questions
3.2 Instruments and Procedure
4 Results
4.1 Text Diversity
4.2 Vocabulary Input
4.3 Readability
4.4 Cultural and Pragmatic Components
4.5 Visual Component
5 Discussion
6 Conclusions and Future Work
References
Teacher Education in Service of Heterogeneity
A Literature Review on Preparing Preservice Primary Foreign Language Teachers for Diversity via the Practicum
1 Introduction
2 An Exemplary Systematic Literature Review on Cultural Diversity
3 A Present Literature Review
3.1 Selection Criteria and Findings
3.2 Innovative Training Implemented in Teacher Education Programs
3.3 Innovative Training Aspects as Additions to the Practicum
3.4 Selected Contextual Variables of the Additional Training
4 Conclusions
Appendix A: Basic Information About 44 Empirical Articles Related to Preparing Preservice Teachers for Diversity
Appendix B: Basic Information About 10 Innovative Additions to the Practicum
References
Teachers’ Opinions on Heterogeneous Classes: Insights for EFL Teacher Education
1 Introduction and Literature Review
1.1 Defining Heterogeneity
1.2 The Role of Heterogeneity in Classrooms
1.3 Heterogeneity Studies on Teachers
1.4 Benefits and Challenges of Heterogeneous Classes
2 Importance of Researching Teachers’ Views
3 The Study
3.1 Heterogeneity in Turkish Education
3.2 Participants
3.3 Data Collection and Analysis
3.4 Results
4 Discussion
5 Implications and Conclusion
5.1 Implications for Future Research
5.2 Implications for Teacher Education
References
Supporting Teachers of Multilingual Young Learners: Multilingual Approach to Diversity in Education (MADE)
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Multilingual Young Learners
2.2 The Multilingual Turn in Education
2.3 Models of Multilingual Education
2.4 Multilingual Approach to Diversity in Education (MADE)
3 Methods
3.1 Context
3.2 Participants and Procedure
3.3 Data Collection and Analysis
4 Results
4.1 Quantitative Assessment of Teacher Performance on the Eight MADE Indicators
4.2 Qualitative Assessment of Teacher Performance on the Eight MADE Indicators
5 Discussion and Conclusion
5.1 Summary of Findings
5.2 Implications for Teacher Professional Learning
References
A Note on the Influence of Topic Prominence in Japanese on Japanese Beginner-Level EFL Learners’ Interlanguage: An Empirical Study
1 Introduction
2 Topic Prominence in Japanese
2.1 What Are Topics and Subjects?
2.2 Major Aspects of Topic Prominence in Japanese
2.3 Language Transfer Observed in Japanese EFL Learners’ Sentence Production
3 Issues of English Language Teaching in Japan
3.1 Instructions to Utilize Learners’ L1
3.2 Issues of Existing Authorized Textbooks and Japanese Teachers
4 Study Method
4.1 Participants
4.2 Translation Tasks and Statistical Analysis
4.3 Results and Discussion
5 Additional Survey
5.1 Participants
5.2 Test and Statistical Analysis
5.3 Results and Discussion
6 Conclusion and Further Implications
References
EFL Reading with Young Learners: The Teacher’s Perspective
1 Introduction
2 The Foreign Language (FL) Reading
3 EFL in Croatia
4 Research Methodology
4.1 Participants
4.2 Procedure, Instruments and Data Analysis
5 Results and Discussion
5.1 EFL Teachers: Teaching Context
5.2 EFL Teachers: Role of Reading in Their Teaching
6 Conclusion
References