English language acquisition and educational attainment at the end of primary school

This paper analyses the national key stage 2 test results for 2300 11‐year‐old pupils in an inner London LEA. A range of concurrent pupil background data was also collected, including whether pupils spoke English as an additional language (EAL), and if so, their stage of fluency in English. EAL pupils at the early stages (1–3) of developing fluency had significantly lower KS2 test scores in all subjects than their monolingual peers. However, EAL pupils who were fully fluent in English achieved significantly higher scores in all KS2 tests than their monolingual peers. The negative association with attainment for the early stages of fluency remained significant after controls for a range of other pupil characteristics, including age, gender, free school meal entitlement, stage of special educational need and ethnic group, although these factors effectively explained the higher attainment of the ‘fully fluent’ group. We conclude that EAL is not itself a good guide to levels of attainment, and a measure of stage of English fluency is necessary to interpret associations with test performance. Alternative measures which focus only on the very early stages of English proficiency, such as the QCA ‘language in common’ steps, are inadequate to assess the impact of bilingualism for all but the very earliest learners of English. Given the uneven distribution of EAL pupils across the country, those schools and local education authorities with high concentrations of pupils in the early stages of learning English are likely to be adversely affected in school achievement and attainment tables. The policy implications for national data collection and for the use of such data are considered.     

Racism and citizenship education in Northern Ireland

Racist attitudes towards, and attacks on, the minority ethnic populations in Northern Ireland (NI) have increased dramatically over the last number of years. Despite the increased media attention regarding racist attacks, the fallacy that racism is not a major problem in NI is an enduring one. However, there is a growing recognition that minority ethnic communities experience a diverse range of racial harassment. Education is a mode promoted by national and European governments as the vehicle in which anti-racism programmes can be delivered. This article suggests the impending introduction of a statutory citizenship education (CE) component to the revised NI curriculum from September 2007 can play an important role in tackling the high levels of racism being experienced by the minority ethnic population in NI.     

二语习得关键期假说对于早期英语教育的启示

本篇文章通过对二语习得关键期假说的研究,认为其存在与否尚无定论。且英语学习不同于二语习得,儿童在外语学习上相比于成人并无绝对优势。对于中国儿童学习英语的问题,应注重良好学习环境的营造,而不是一味强调早期教育。     

Building the bridge as you walk on it: Didactic behaviors of elementary teachers in a dual language program

While there is evidence that the dual language model has the potential to raise the academic achievement of English language learners (ELLs), the policies mandated through the No Child Left Behind Act do not support maintenance of the student's heritage language which is an integral part of the model. Using symbolic interactionism as a framework, this study explored the experiences of dual language elementary teachers as they operate under the authority of current educational policy. The findings, presented as a concept model, reveal the didactic behaviors exhibited by teachers and suggest a dynamic process of negotiation is at work which informs their professional identities.     

Teachers and Polish children: capturing changes in the linguistic field

This article presents original insights into the English learning experiences of Polish children and contributes a longitudinal perspective on teachers’ relationships with them. Data from interviews conducted in 2016 with primary school teachers, Polish children and their parents are compared with outcomes from an earlier study ending in 2009, in order to examine whether teachers’ practice for their Polish children has persisted or changed. Previously, findings suggested that teachers in England are constrained by a monolingually-oriented curriculum and that they identify Polish children as a ‘model minority’. In the current study, interviews with teachers, parents and children were used to develop and question these findings. Using Bourdieuian notions of linguistic field, habitus and capital, data analysis illuminates: the changing responses of teachers to migration; the ways in which teachers’ pedagogy has adapted for children who have English as an additional language; and the fluid nature of children’s linguistic identities.     

二语习得理论及其对提高外语教学的启示

英语学习中的二语习得和学得概念并不是对立的,它们之间存在着内在的关系性。这种关系性对外语教学具有一定的启示:即不可忽视的基本语法;使用可行性的和得体性的语言;营造适宜的语言学习环境。     

Dual language development of Latino children: Effect of instructional program type and the home and school language environment

Latino dual language children typically enter school with a wide range of proficiencies in Spanish and English, many with low proficiency in both languages, yet do make gains in one or both languages during their first school years. Dual language development is associated with how language is used at home and school, as well as the type of instructional program children receive at school. The present study investigates how changes in both Spanish and English proficiencies of Latino, second-generation immigrant children (n = 163) from kindergarten to second grade relate to instructional program type as well as language use at home and school. A series of MANCOVAs demonstrated significant dual language gains in children who were in bilingual classrooms and schools where Spanish was used among the teachers, students, and staff. Furthermore, only in classrooms where both Spanish and English were used did children reach age-appropriate levels of academic proficiency in both languages. Home language use was also significantly associated with dual language gains as was maternal Spanish vocabulary knowledge before controlling for maternal education. Educational implications and potential benefits associated with bilingualism are discussed.     

跨语言学习心理测评——来自中英文阅读动机和阅读水平的证据

在跨语言学习测评研究中,目前尚未有学者探究同一群体的中国学生的中英文学习心理是如何相互影响,并最终影响语言能力。为弥补这一研究空白,本研究调查了中国北京267名初中生中英文阅读动机,并同时测试他们的和中英文阅读能力。在八个维度的阅读动机中,对中文作为母语和英文作为外语的阅读动机进行量化对比,中文阅读动机在自我效能感、好奇心、投入度、消遣娱乐性、社会伙伴态度五个维度上的表现高于英文阅读动机;而在学业成绩、工具性、社会家庭态度三个维度上,两者没有差异。同时,相关分析表明工具性与英文阅读水平密切相关;消遣娱乐性与中文阅读水平密切相关。此外,多元线性回归分析显示,不同维度的阅读动机分别解释中英文阅读水平的差异。这些研究结果验证了阅读动机的跨语言性迁移特征,不同的阅读动机对中英文阅读水平起着不同作用。文章最后对中英文阅读教学提出了指导意见。     

反思本族语言范式与英语教学

随着全球一体化和英语成为世界语（EIL）或通用语（ELF）新形势的到来,学界认为对英语的态度、实证研究的重心、以及英语教学实践都应有新的变革。针对这些新主张,中国英语教育应从教师聘任制度、教师培训制度以及英语教学大纲等三方面进行改革;力求打破非本族英语教师面临的聘任歧视,提升教师对自己角色变化的认知,培养教师对多种文化的敏感度,增强教师对亚种类英语的了解,并从教学目标、教学内容、教学方法、考核制度等方面对教学大纲进行完善。     

Policy-to-practice context to the delays and difficulties in the acquisition of speech,language and communication in the early years

The aim was to investigate the policy-to-practice context of delays and difficulties in the acquisition of speech, language and communication (SLC) in children from birth to five in one local authority within the context of Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological model. Methods included a survey of early years practitioners (64 responses), interviews with 11 early years practitioners and observations of 9 children in the context of their early years settings. Policy texts revealed a growing consensus on the importance of early learning and development, the centrality of language and early intervention. Practitioner survey and interview findings indicated confident practice in relation to early identification, assessment and support, despite minimal initial professional training in SLC and virtually none for children with English as an additional language. Greater use of specialist assessment tools and alternative communication systems was made in specialist than mainstream settings. Observation showed considerable variation in the organisation of staff, groups, activities and interactional patterns with more targeted, short and intensive adult-led activity in special settings that led to less child-initiated interactions and private ‘self-talk’, characteristic of large-group free play of mainstream settings. Challenges and opportunities of generalist and specialist provision are discussed.     

年龄差异与第二语言习得

年龄是第二语言习得中影响个人差异的主要因素之一。关于年龄与第二语言习得方面的争论很多，这反映出年龄因素的复杂性。研究年龄对第二语言习得的影响有助于探讨儿童与成年人各自学习第二语言的特点及其规律，从而更好地指导第二语言教学。     

Reading and Culture: the Experience of some of our Bilingual Pupils

This article explores the nature of reading for meaning as it affects the reading abilities of secondary‐age bilingual pupils. It briefly discusses cultural schemata theories which seek to account for the influence of culture on the reading process, and links these to a school‐based study. This illustrates the importance of cultural determinants on the understanding of text and suggests possible strategies for overcoming potential textual difficulties.     

Cross-lagged cross-subject bidirectional predictions among achievements in mathematics,English language and Chinese language of school children

This study aimed to explore the cross-lagged association of achievements in mathematics and languages. While the effect of language on achievements in mathematics is well-documented, few studies have examined the reciprocal relationships among mathematics, the Chinese language and the English language in the same study. This study conducted a secondary analysis of longitudinal achievement data collected through the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) in Hong Kong. The sample comprised 48,547 third-grade, unbalanced bilingual students who were measured three times over six years: in 2007 (in Grade 3), 2010 (Grade 6) and 2013 (Grade 9). Multilevel cross-lagged analysis found prior achievement in a subject was the strongest predictor of achievement in that subject three years later. Furthermore, cross-subject bidirectional prediction was found among achievements in mathematics, Chinese language and English language for students from Grade 3 to Grade 6 and from Grade 6 to Grade 9.     

从二语习得的角度浅析可理解性输入对非英语专业大学生英语写作的影响

本文以二语习得与可理解性输入理论为基础,尝试着了解并分析当前大学英语写作教学输入模式及其存在的不足之处,从而在教学过程中试图通过增强可理解性输入来促进学生对输入材料的理解与吸收,最后使其有效地运用于写作之中。     

African international doctoral students in New Zealand: Englishes,doctoral writing and intercultural supervision

While the experiences of international doctoral students, especially those from Asian countries, have been well researched, fewer studies have explored the experiences of African students in Southern countries like Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. This article reports on doctoral writing and student and supervisor perspectives on English languages in a small study of supervisors and African students in New Zealand. It challenges deficit constructions of African students and illustrates how the growing internationalisation of higher education is adding to the complexities of doctoral writing, raising questions as to how students and supervisors recognise and navigate differences in Englishes and doctoral writing. It makes a number of recommendations about how supervisors might work effectively with African and other doctoral students.     

Not so silent after all: Examination and analysis of the silent stage in childhood second language acquisition

A period of silence has been advanced as a characteristic feature of childhood second language acquisition. Evidence is presented to document that the presumption of silence as the second of four typical stages of second language acquisition has influenced policy and practice in preschool classrooms. A narrative review examines the extent and quality of the evidence for a silent stage in second language acquisition in young children. Twelve studies meeting inclusion criteria were reviewed and evaluated. Evidence of a silent, non-verbal, pre-production, or receptive language stage was limited. Significant conceptual and methodological limitations within the largely qualitative studies were found. Four major issues raised by the studies are elaborated upon: the theoretical clarity and operational definitions of silence and stage, phase, or period; the psychological meaning and consequences of silence; the cross-context consistency of individual patterns of silence; and how adult language elicitation and support techniques may modulate silence. Recommendations based on contemporary evidence of language acquisition processes are made for the future study of (1) second language acquisition in preschool children and (2) pedagogical practice within preschool settings to promote second language acquisition. Finally, historical, theoretical, empirical, and contextual influences likely to have given rise to the appeal and ready endorsement of silence as a consistent and typical characteristic of childhood second language acquisition are presented.     

Issues surrounding English,the internationalisation of higher education and national cultural identity in Asia: a focus on Japan

The English language is significant to the internationalisation of higher education worldwide. Countries in Asia are proactive in appropriating English for their national interests, while paying attention to associated national cultural identity issues. This article examines the ways in which the role of English is interpreted and justified in different countries in Asia, with a particular focus on Japan, as these nations attempt to internationalise their higher education within the broader processes of regionalisation and globalisation and their own nationalist discourse. Through critical analyses and discussions of Japan's two major government initiatives, the Action Plan 2003 to ‘Cultivate Japanese with English Abilities’ and the ‘Global 30’ Project 2008, the article investigates how cultural national identities are shaped, are altered and are put ‘at risk’ in policies and practices for the internationalisation of higher education and the overemphasis on English. It argues for the importance of understanding the intersections of English language policy, the internationalisation of higher education and national cultural identity and also considers how the over-promotion of English in the case of Japan has been energetically driven by the nation building agenda that tends to undermine local languages and what this might mean for internationalisation.     

浅谈培养学生文化意识的重要性--中学英语教学中两种情形的研究

中学英语教师在英语教学中，往往只注重语法词汇的教学及学生应试能力的提高。而本文认为让学生意识到英汉语言文化的差异也应该成为教学的目的，并着重探讨了英语教学中的“称呼”和“问候”这两种情形，同时，提出了一些相应的建议来提高学生的文化意识。     

Ecological and intercultural citizenship in the primary English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom: an online project in Argentina

This article describes an online intercultural citizenship project concerning the environment in the primary English-language classroom carried out in 2013/2014 between Argentina and Denmark. It is part of a network of projects coordinated by Michael Byram that involves teachers and researchers in Europe, the US and East Asia. The project is framed within the theory of intercultural citizenship in the foreign-language classroom and it is the only study set in the primary school context. Furthermore, developments in Latin America in this field are scarce and the study intends to fill an empirical gap. Although the comparative perspective is ingrained in the project, the article describes mainly the Argentinian standpoint.

At the same time, and more generally (beyond language education), it will be argued, and shown, that the project can also be framed within the notion of ecological citizenship, understood as a new form of citizenship that presents new challenges to educators. While the notion of citizenship in formal education usually assumes nationalist and patriotic mindsets, in this project ecological citizenship offers a new framework that introduces an international, transnational or global perspective. Furthermore, citizenship education tends to be reserved to secondary civics and social studies classrooms and in this sense the focus on the primary school context and on the foreign-language classroom is innovative in this project.