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Research FindingImplications for practiceWhat might this mean for your language classroom?Can you think of anything else?Relationship with L1 literacyL1 literacy level is the factor most strongly correlated with L2 outcomes (1,2,3) L1 reading age had a positive relationship with all L2 oracy and L2 literacy measures at all test times (52).Learners with low levels of L1 literacy, from literacy schools, made significantly more progress in French attainment than low level learners from oracy schools in Year 7 (1)The French attainment gap between learners with high and low levels of L1 literacy widens significantly after transition to secondary school (1,2)Progress across the ability range is steady and lower achieving L1 readers can and do produce meaningful L2 written and spoken outputs (52).Greater differentiation needed in MFL teaching to support those with lower L1 literacyL2 literacy approach appears to support learners with lower L1 literacy in primary school and as they transfer to secondary schoolTeaching L2 ReadingVarious studies have found evidence to support the ‘threshold hypothesis’ which states that general L1 reading skills can be transferred to the L2 only when a certain level of L2 proficiency has been reached ( 4, 5, 55)Recent views of L2 literacy support the idea that learners, already literate in one language, will bring skills to L2 reading that can be utilised immediately e.g. being able to divide words into syllables and sounds, recognising rimes and alliteration, decoding skills and some higher order skills (e.g. cognates) (53).Evidence also suggests that L1 and L2 literacy have a dynamic and ongoing influence (54).There is a linear relationship between the number of words known and reading comprehension (6)Successful L2 readers are strategic readers (7) who monitor their understanding of the text and employ a range of comprehension strategies rather than relying on identifying cognates.The teaching of L2 reading comprehension strategies that focus on the process, not the product, of reading had positive effects on reading comprehension ability and confidence in reading , e.g. scanning for familiar words and looking up unknown words in the dictionary (8)LiteracyLiteracy Research FindingImplications for practiceWhat might this mean for your language classroom?Can you think of anything else?Phonics and L2 ReadingIn general, little or no reported systematic teaching of second language GPCs at KS2 (1,2). Without systematic teaching of GPCs, learners do not learn to decode leaving them with difficulties in reading, vocabulary learning, writing and motivation (9 10, 11,12 )Development of L2 sound/spelling links (especially French) has been found to be slow in primary school learners (15, 52) and for KS3 pupils GPC development followed a complex trajectory. Learners did not move, after instruction, simply from incorrect to correct forms (13).Although progress was slow, once these GPCs have been learned they are retained by learners and familiar words are produced more accurately ( 52).The strategy of sounding out words to discover their meaning is restricted by beginner learners’ limited knowledge of oral vocabulary (13)Good L2 decoding knowledge allows learners to correctly pronounce unknown words which can have a positive effect on vocabulary learning (10)Learners with better decoding ability are more confident and hold more positive attitudes to language learning (12)Introduction of the written formWriting is the least popular activity in primary and secondary language classrooms (1,2)Beginner learners are mainly engaged in copy writing but learners do not often perceive the relevance or purpose of copywriting (2, 14, 16)It is possible for younger, beginner learners (aged 9-11) to simultaneously learn the L2 spoken and written word (52)L2 general proficiency (oracy) development generally has a strong, positive relationship with L2 literacy development (52). Children like writing for a purpose (1,2, 14) but there is little observed opportunity for learners to engage with free writing activities (2,9)MotivationResearch FindingImplications for practiceWhat might this mean for your language classroom?Can you think of anything else?General motivation trends in primary school Young learners are on the whole motivated to learn languages. However, by Y6 some learners enjoy lessons less; some reasons cited are:Lack of perceived progressionRepetition of content and activitiesAttitudes to lesson activities:Like: songs/games, interactive activities, learning new words, creative and cultural aspects of language learning Dislike: songs, writing least popular activity (it’s difficult/boring/irrelevant), choral repetition of new words (1,2,15)Girls more highly motivated than boys even in primary school (1)Learning languages seen as important primarily for communication and travel (2, 15) Spanish is the language most learners want to learn in both primary and secondary school (2)Self-efficacy Learners need to feel they are making progress to maintain motivation, especially in primary school (1,2,15, 17,25)Learners with higher L1 abilities more motivated than mid and low level learners in primary and secondary school (1,2,)Teacher-learner relationship is crucial: a high level of teacher support can help prevent a drop in motivation (1,2, 16,31)Enjoyment of lessons and perceptions of difficulty are closely related: if the learners are not engaged they find it more difficult (2) and vice versa (12)Perception of ability in languages is much lower than in other subjects and if learners find learning languages difficult the perceived relevance of the subject is lowered (2, 18,19)MotivationResearch FindingImplications for practiceWhat might this mean for your language classroom?Can you think of anything else?Motivational change across transitionPlanned continuity of content has a positive effect on motivation:No complaints about repetition of content (2)Learners felt they were putting ‘meat on the bones’ (2)Most considered that primary languages had been useful for them (2)starting again’ from scratch’ can demotivate some learners (2, 20, 21, 22, 23) Abrupt shift in language pedagogy after transition can have a detrimental effect on learner motivation:curriculum continuity on its own not enough to maintain motivation –also need a consistent pedagogy (2, 24)enjoyment of language lessons decreased across Y7 and were enjoyed much less than other subjects (2, 25)However, some more able linguists prefer the secondary approach as it is ‘more grown up’ and they feel like they learn more (1,2, 21, 23)Lessons often do not match learners’ communicative objectives in secondary school:over-emphasis on literacy activities (2, 26)little evidence of intercultural aspects of language learning/teaching (1,2)reduced amount of speaking/interaction (1,2, 27, 28)Age-related factors and motivationGreater anxiety and reluctance to speak aloud as learners matureGroup work the preferred venue (1,2, 56, 57)‘not-like-me’ persona where speaking in the L2: it sounds ‘funny’ (2)Increased emphasis on instrumental reasons for learning languages across transitionlanguages no longer just for interpersonal reasons but for education and jobs (2, 29, 30, 19)although limited to a vague notion of a ‘good job’ and only certain jobs e.g a teacher (2, 18, 19)much easier for learners to focus on jobs where languages are not a requirement (2, 18, 19)Stereotyping of languages in adolescence: e.g. French is feminine and German masculine (2, 17)Grammatical GenderResearch FindingImplications for practiceWhat might this mean for your language classroom?Can you think of anything else?Learning grammatical genderThere are two elements to learning grammatical gender : first learners have to learn the gender assignment of the noun and then adjective+noun agreementLearners require a range of cues in the input for learning gender:collocational (hearing article+noun combination)phonological (they hear it from the noun ending)morphological (adjectival word ending)semantic (noun meaning)(32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 50)The gender assignment of the most frequently encountered and used nouns is most easily learnt meaning that frequent exposure, practice and use is required (2, 35)Learners need to learn and produce correct word order before adjectival agreement can be produced accurately and consistently (2)Unlike native speakers, L2 learners are not automatically sensitive to the gender information contained in the article. Research indicates that learning grammatical gender would be made easier if:nouns are produced with the articleboth definite (e.g. le/la) and indefinite articles (e.g. un/une) are used with nouns For French there is a clear phonological distinction made between un/une so that learners can perceive the difference and the importance of the article is emphasised (2, 38, 35, 39)Grammatical GenderResearch FindingImplications for practiceWhat might this mean for your language classroom?Can you think of anything else?Characteristics of learner production and developmentFor second language learners (especially those with English as L1) knowledge of grammatical gender is slow to progress (2,32,40,41,42)Both first and second language learners use a default form for unknown/unsure words – normally masculine (2, 32, 40)Learners show higher levels of accuracy with Art+noun agreement than for adjectival agreement and learning of the former progresses at a faster pace (2, 41, 32,40, 42,51)The position of the adjective can have effect on the learning and production of accurate adjectival agreement (43, 44, 45)Post-posed adjectives are the easiest to learn and produce (e.g. le chat brun) as they are the most frequent and the word order is different from English therefore the adjective is more noticeablePredicative adjectives are next (e.g. le chat est brun) but will require more attentional resources to produce as the adjective is further from the nounPre-posed adjectives (e.g. le petit gar?on) are the hardest as they are less salient (same as English) Effects of teaching/role of inputLearners can have overly simplistic concepts of grammatical gender (focused on meaning) (1,2) but only 10.5% of French noun gender assignment is actually based upon the meaning of the word (46)There is evidence of insufficient input for the effective acquisition of adjectival agreement in KS2 and KS3Colour adjectives (in French) are generally taught in primary school but do not contain sufficient input to learn adjectival agreement as they contain many invariant and phonologically indistinct forms (2)Y7 textbook contain mainly masculine forms (2)Explicit teaching of grammatical gender yields positive results and without instruction learners find it difficult to infer patterns (47, 48, 49)Learning will be enhanced if explicit instruction is received and the learners have frequent opportunities to learn and produce sentences containing nouns with adjectivesInstruction favours the use of explicit knowledge but we need to ensure learners can convert declarative knowledge of grammatical gender into productive language use i.e. by frequently including communicative activitiesSourcesGraham, S.; Courtney, L.; Marinis, T. and Tonkyn, A. 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