Introducing English in the first grades of primary school: The

teachers response and their emerging training needs

New foreign language
education policies in schools:
learning English in early
childhood
code. MIS 299506, 299512 & 299514



Poliglotti4.eu Expert Seminar
on Early Language Learning
9-10/2/2012
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
Dr Evdokia Karavas
Faculty of English Studies
University of Athens
The EYL Project

The project entitled English for Very Young
Learners is part of the Action: New foreign
language education policies in schools:
learning English in early childhood

Action:
New foreign language education
policies in schools:
learning English in early childhood
Project:
English for Very Young
Learners
The project is co-funded by the European Social Fund and the Greek state
through the Regional Operational programme (Education and Life long
learning), is implemented by the University of Athens and realised by the
Research Centre for English Language Teaching, Learning and Assessment
of the Faculty of English Studies (http://rcel.enl.uoa.gr).
The project
Design and development of
the curriculum, the syllabi,
the learning materials and
tasks (for the first and second
grade of primary school) and
the design of an e-learning
educational portal for
teachers and parents.
Training of teachers
appointed to teach
English in the first
and second grade of
primary school for
the first time
Evaluation (internal
and external) of the
project which seeks to
monitor and assess the
implementation of each
phase of the
programme and each
stage of the training
programme.
The internal evaluation will take place during the first two years of the
project implementation (2010-2012), while the external evaluation will take
place during the third year (2012-2013).
The external evaluation will be carried out by experts in the field who will also
act as plenary speakers in an international conference that will be held in
Spring 2013 for the dissemination of the project results.
The project (launched in 2010) involves the introduction of English to students of the first
and second grades of Greek public primary schools and is part of the wider interventions
in the educational system implemented by the Ministry of Education for the development
of the New School.
The project implementation timeline
Development of the curriculum and learning materials and tasks for
first/second grade learners; implementation of the programme in 800 all
day primary schools throughout Greece.; development of the EYL
educational portal; information seminars to school advisors and primary
school teachers; specialized training of 15 in-class teachers (project
partners) in teaching English to Young Learners (June August 2011);
bottom up evaluation of the materials; revision of materials for the first
grade and development of materials for the second grade; internal
evaluation of the project; development of the textbook for the third grade
of primary school (available online http://rcel.enl.uoa.gr/peapabc/cclass.htm)
Implementation of the revised materials and tasks for the first and second
grade in 950 all day primary schools; ongoing evaluation of the materials for
the first, second and third grade; development of online teacher training
modules and materials for face to face training; training school advisors and
trainers; ongoing internal evaluation of the project; hard copy development
of materials for the first and second grades in the form of a dossier.
Nationwide
implementation of EYL
programme in the first
and second grade of
primary schools;
ongoing training all
primary school English
language teachers;
external evaluation of
the Project ; monitoring
of the nationwide
implementation of EYL
during which teachers
will be asked to
develop cross-curricular
activities (in
cooperation with
teachers of other
subjects and primary
school teachers).
2010 - 2011 2012 - 2013
2011 - 2012
The EYL curriculum
The curriculum
is learner centred and task based facilitating the development of
learners cognitive, social, affective, psychomotor skills.
taking into account Greek young learners needs and interests
aims at the development of social literacies that learners have
already developed in their mother tongue and the development
of learners intercultural awareness
consists of a series of graded tasks on familiar everyday topics
organised in cycles which correspond to each school semester.
All material is accessible and downloadable from the EYL website
http://rcel.enl.uoa.gr/englishinschool
Each task is accompanied by description, aims, teacher notes on
activity implementation, supplementary materials (activity pages,
pictures, songs, stories etc)
First year of EYL project implementation:
Baseline and formative internal evaluation
Baseline evaluation - September-December 2010:
Survey of the profile of 897
teachers engaged in the
project through a
questionnaire completed
during the information
seminars and online.
Survey of the profile of school
units through online questionnaires
that were filled in by the pilot
school headmasters. They provided
information about their schools,
their teachers and their students.
The data was used as a springboard
for reports and articles written by
the Project Team.
Collecting data from 1135
teachers across the country that
took part in information seminars
organised by School Advisors.
Information about the teachers
was collected through school
advisor reports
of their seminars.
Survey of parents attitudes and
views whose children attended
EYL project classes (7250
completed questionnaires). The
survey was conducted through
questionnaires distributed by the
English language School Advisors.
First year of EYL project implementation:
Formative - internal evaluation
175 teachers who taught in the first and
second grade evaluated the educational
material by filling in questionnaires
distributed by the School Advisors.
The teachers evaluated the educational
material and reported on their experience.
The results of this evaluation were used by
the materials development team (consisting
of practising teachers) for the revision and
enrichment of the first and second grade
tasks and materials .
At the end of the 2010-2011 school year,
online questionnaires were filled in by 405
teachers in order to evaluate the entire
Project.
Data was collected with regard to their
experience, their cooperation with other
colleagues, their students and the school
units.
The data collected were analyzed and
evaluated for further development and
improvement of the EYL Project.
Investigating the profile of first and second
grade primary English teachers
Questionnaireeliciteddataon
Questionnaire completed by 897 teachers (163 online and 734 during
information seminars)
2010-2011: 800 all day primary schools throughout Greece, 2000
teachers
a) teachers
background
b) the
composition
of classes
c) availability
and quality of
school resources
d) teachers
perceived difficulties
in teaching young
learners
e) teacher
identified
training needs
28,9%
39,7%
31,4%
Age
25-35 years old 36-45 46+
40,2%
35,2%
22,8%
Teaching Position
permanent position
hourly paid
seconded from secondary schools
Profile of teachers: Biodata
1-5
years
26,9%
5-10
years
19,9%
11-20
years
47,9%
Teaching experience in the
public sector

65%
12,9%
22,1 %
Teaching experience in
primary/secondary education


experience in primary education
experience in secondary education
experience in both
Profile of teachers: Biodata
YES
38,3%
NO
61,7%
Experience teaching very
young learners (under 8)
BA in
English
Language
and
Literature
80%
BA
other
3%
MA in
Language
Teaching
10%
MA other
5%
PhD 1%
Postgrad
uate
students
2%
Profile of teachers: Biodata
Profile of teachers: Biodata
50,6 %
49,4 %
Teaching first/second grade

taught either 1st or 2nd grade learners
taught both grades
89,4%
10,6%
Attitudes towards the
introduction of English in the
first and second grade


positive or very positive
negative or neutral
Profile of classes
Teachers reported
having on average
20 students/class
89,6% reported having 1-10
learners from different
ethnic backgrounds in
1
st
grade
92,3% reported having 1-10
learners from different
ethnic backgrounds in
2
nd
grade
Learners attending English lessons outside school
%
teachers
No of first grade
students attending
English lessons
outside school
%
teachers
No of second grade
students attending
English lessons
outside school
16,8% 0 2,5% 0
62,5% 1-5 43,2% 1-5
15,2% 6-10 36,7% 6-10
3,7% 11-15 12,1% 11-15
1,9% 16-20 5,4% 16-20
Teacher perceived difficulties in
dealing with young learners
Do you experience difficulty
with the following:
Great difficulty % Some difficulty % No difficulty %
Getting learners to
concentrate on task
17,2 75,9 6,8
Training learners in following
class rules
23,8 70,2 5,9
Training learners in respecting
others
15 70,7 14,3
Adapting activities to suits the
needs of my class
3,8 49,2 47
Designing appropriate
activities for my class
7,3 51 41,7
Dealing parents concerns and
anxieties
2,9 32,8 64,6
Cooperating with class
teachers
4,3 16,6 79,1
Accessing writing materials
27,1 49,5 23,4
5.7
60.6
19.9
10.3
8.5
5.9
1.4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Lesson plans
Activities/materials
Audiovisual materials
Guidelines for teaching young learners
Model lessons
Websites with EYL activities
syllabi
% teachers (437 responses)
Need for extra material
Comparing teaching experience
with perceived difficulties
Teachers with no experience
with very young learners
reported having difficulties or
great difficulties in dealing with
young learners (training in following
classroom rules, helping learners
concentrate on the task at hand)
and in designing and adapting
activities for very young learners.
Teachers with experience reported
experiencing less difficulty in these areas
Comparing teaching situation and postgraduate
studies with perceived difficulties
secondary school
teachers
seconded to
primary school
primary school
teachers
Marked tendency for secondary school
teachers seconded to primary to experience
greater difficulties in dealing with students
and in designing appropriate activities than
their primary school counterparts.
Marked tendency for teachers with
postgraduate studies but no primary teaching
experience to experience greater difficulties
than their less advanced but experienced
counterparts in dealing with young learners
and designing activities.
Non experienced
teachers with
postgraduate
studies
Less advanced
but experienced
teachers
Findings and their implications:
Facts, realisations, decisions
Fact 1
Over half of our teachers were well experienced (11-20 years of teaching experience)
and over 60% had experience teaching in the primary sector BUT despite their
experience these teachers had never received formal systematic training in young
learner methodology.
1/3 of our sample were novice teachers (1-5 years) and lacked any kind of formal
systematic training in EYL methodology.
Over 60% of our sample did not have any prior teaching experience with very young
learners which meant that the majority of our teachers were not familiar with the
special characteristics and challenges posed by the particular age group.
In the vast majority of EYL project classes a significant number of students are from
different ethnic backgrounds and are learning English as a third language
Realisation
The training programme addresses a very diverse group of teachers with a wealth of
different training needs.
Decision
The training programme had to include a range of general and more specialized training
modules in order to cover the needs of the less and more experienced teachers.
Findings and their implications:
Facts, realisations, decisions
Fact 2
As data from the teacher profile were being analysed we were
informed that due to school mergers which were decided by the
government as one measure against the financial crisis, the project
schools in the following year would rise to 960. As a result of these
mergers, the teaching body in project schools would change by
40%.
Realisation
Designing a long term coherent training programme with face to
face seminars spanning the three years of the project is not viable
due to constant changes in the composition of our teaching body
Decision
The training programme had to be viable and sustainable regardless
of changes in the composition of the teacher body or in the
composition of our trainer group. The training programme had to
be coherent offering training in more general areas of EYL
methodology and progressively leading to training in more
specialized areas
Findings and their implications:
Facts, realisations, decisions
Fact 3
We had managed to collect data from less than half of our project teachers despite
the fact that a) seminars by school advisors were offered throughout Greece and b)
teachers also had the option of completing the questionnaire online. This shed doubts
on the effectiveness of the cascade model of training in this particular context.
Given that a number of our project schools are located in remote areas and islands in
Greece, providing face to face seminars to these teachers is extremely costly in terms
of time, money and human resources.
Realisation
Difficult to ensure the quality and reliability of training through the cascade model.
Difficult to coordinate and manage a large group of trainers (who have not specialized
in EYL methodology) and to ensure that a consistently high level of training will be
delivered to all project teachers throughout Greece.
Decision
The EYL training programme could not focus exclusively on face to face seminars
delivered by trained multipliers. In order to ensure that all teachers have the same
training opportunities, in terms of quantity and quality, the training programme
should take the form of a distance learning on line programme consisting of a range of
training modules each focusing on a different area of EYL methodology and
responding to the needs of the less and more experienced EYL teacher. The online
training modules will also be developed for use in face to face seminars organised by
school advisors.
6. Dealing
with parents
5. Storytelling for
young learners
4. Organising theatre
activities and class
events
3. Using games &
crafts
2. Using chants &
action songs
The EYL training programme:
Training Modules
1. INTRODCUTION
Understanding and
managing the young
learner classroom:
Teaching Young
Learners
The pre-primary
learner
Teacher as Manager:
Class Management
Teacher as materials
developer (T's Kit)
Using the L1 and L2
in the young learner
classroom
Culture through
Language
Cooperating with the
school principle and
fellow teachers
Each module consists of:
a) lively powerpoint
presentation with
information relating
to the module theme
b) extracts from videotaped
EYL project lessons
c) pre-while-post viewing
activities
d) awareness raising and
self-assessment quizzes
e) suggestions for further
reading and suggested sites
with related material.
The training programme 2012-2013
Development of three
further training
modules
Developing cross
curricular projects
Using technology in the
young learner
classroom
Assessing young
learners
Making the on-line
training platform more
interactive
Questions?
Thank You!