Languages in primary education

Being fluent in more than one language has many obvious advantages. These are all based around the idea of practicality and the number of opportunities that being multilingual can open for an individual. This is because of the fact that knowing languages beyond a person’s first language allow them to communicate to a wider group of people. (Riccio, 1970) Bilingualism opens the door to entirely new cultures for an individual, allowing them to completely immerse themselves into new situations (Leung et al, 2008).

Although it is commonly thought that bilingualism is a rare trait in society today, it is actually something that features worldwide. Furthermore, despite it being apparent that the importance of learning additional languages is something that we have only paid attention to recently, in the education system as well as employment, there has never really been a language that stands separate from other ‘language groups’. (Grosjean, 1982)

With regards to teaching languages, especially to children, it is vital that teaching practitioners create fun and relevant activities in order to fully engage learners. It can be argued that one of the most effective techniques for teaching languages is through authentic learning. For example, introducing topics based on real life situations such as shopping, use of spare time e.g. sports, and holidays. It is possible that these topics may not introduce much more vocabulary than the method of teaching words and phrases out of context, however it is obvious that students are going to feel more motivated when completing tasks that they can see themselves using in real situations. (Swarbrick & Open University, 1994)

The increase in use of technology and the opportunities that this has opened with regards to learning languages has had a huge impact on authentic language learning in education today. For example, many primary schools use Skype and other video message programmes to collaborate with partnership schools in different countries e.g. an English school may have contact with a Spanish school to allow pupils to practice their language skills with fluent speaking children of a similar age to themselves. Pupils will find the concept of speaking to someone in a different country exciting and will therefore be more eager to develop their skills so that they are more able when communicating with the partnership school. (Coleman & Klapper, 2005)

It is also important for language students to be given plenty of opportunities to practise their developing skills in all ways that will lead them towards being fluent. For example, both tasks and assessments should be undertaken in speaking, writing, and reading the language that they are learning. (Coleman & Klapper, 2005)

Recently, in order to help my sister, who is a primary school teacher, with lesson planning, we created some simple activities for teaching Spanish animal terms to children. The first activity we created involved the use of picture cards. We printed photos of animals onto the cards with the correct Spanish name underneath. The children were then required to listen to the teacher pronouncing the names, and then repeating themselves. After this, the picture cards were shown without the Spanish names printed, to test the children’s abilities to remember the correct names. This activity allowed the children to practice their reading and speaking language skills, and used the method of repetition to widen their vocabularies. Some examples of the picture cards used are below.

    The second activity involved a dice that we had made; with each of the six sides showing one of the animal pictures. The children were required to roll the dice and then state the name of the animal that it landed on, in Spanish. Neither of us knew any of the terms before creating the activity, however by the end we were able to play the dice game and correctly name the animals. This shows how using repetition when teaching languages can be very effective.

In Wales, there is a growing concern of the decrease in the use of the Welsh language across the country. It is more than obvious that the English language is more commonly spoken, meaning that the Welsh culture is becoming far more diverse as time goes on. (Williams & Jenkins, 2000) In order to ‘keep the language alive’, Welsh has been incorporated fully into the curriculum for primary education. The subject in schools is now a compulsory part of the curriculum, either at core or foundation level. If schools in Wales do want to disregard the subject from their teaching, they are required to gain permission through their Local Education Agency. (Morgan, 1988)
The learning of the Welsh language is a huge segment of Donaldson's (2015) Report. Not only is it an aspect of one of the six areas of learning and experience; languages, literacy, and communication, but also in one of the four purposes of the curriculum; for children to become 'ethical, informed citizens' (Donaldson, 2015). This purpose is based around citizenship and a sense of belonging to Wales, something that will be hugely enhanced through the knowledge of the Welsh language.

      In a recent university seminar, a Welsh speaking lecturer taught the non-Welsh speaking students some basic terms and phrases in order to extend our knowledge of the language. She taught us through engaging activities that were aimed at young children, to give us ideas of how to teach languages upon becoming qualified. These activities included repetition, songs, and games. Since this session I have some basic Welsh language skills that I did not have previously, such as the ability to recognise colours and numbers in Welsh.

References

Coleman, J., & Klapper, J. (2005). Effective learning and teaching in modern languages (Effective Learning and Teaching in Higher Education). London: Routledge.

Donaldson, G. (2015). Successful futures: Independent review of curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales. Welsh Government.

Grosjean, F. (1982). Life with two languages: An introduction to bilingualism. Harvard University Press.

Leung, A. K., Maddux, W. W., Galinsky, A. D., & Chiu, C. (2008). Multicultural experience enhances creativity: The when and how. American Psychologist, 63, 169.

Morgan, G. (1988). The Place of School in the Maintenance of the Welsh Language. Comparative Education, 24(2), 247-255.

Riccio, G. (1970). The Relative Importance of Languages. The Modern Language Journal, 54(1), 25-29.

Swarbrick, A., & Open University. (1994). Teaching modern languages. New York: Routledge.

Williams, Mari A, & Jenkins, Geraint H. (2000). Let's do our best for the ancient tongue : The Welsh language in the twentieth century (A social history of the Welsh language Let's do our best for the ancient tongue).