Evaluation of the Key Stage 2 Language Learning Pathfinders

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The routines in these lessons were often evidently very well-established. Examples of goodpractice were frequently observed:• objectives shared with the pupils at the start of the lesson• recap and practice of familiar material• variety of (short) activities resulting in good pace• throwing a soft toy in a personal information question/answer session• use of visual aids and realia to motivate and aid memory• use of whiteboards for numbers test• active involvement of pupils (often in kinaesthetic activities)• inclusion of all pupils• incorporation of sound/spelling links• all four language skills incorporated at appropriate level• linguistic structures/patterns highlighted• language learning strategies includedMost lessons were primarily teacher-led focusing on whole class presentation or practice,although occasional examples of pair work were seen.Methodology and approaches to primary languages are varied. Some saw the aims asenthusing the children through games, songs, fun activities, without incorporating much inthe way of structure. The emphasis in these cases was on listening and speaking - acommon pattern for many schools in some of the Pathfinders. Many teachers, however,spoke of the desire to improve pupils’ awareness of language and languages, as well asdeveloping their competence and confidence in a particular language.However, the package of learning provided in some schools was primarily based onintensive question and answer work, with lots of repetition and recapitulation. Games andcompetitions – typically between girls and boys – formed the backbone of the lessonsobserved. The children responded well within the confines of the language presented. Theirunderstanding of instructions and teacher talk in the target language was good but there waslittle evidence of sentence construction and knowledge about language. In one case, theAST tried to express her own worries about the lack of ‘initiation’ or spontaneous use oflanguage by her own pupils:‘When they say ‘Ça va?’ to me, I am delighted because they don’t very often ask youanything. They are all happy to answer.’ (AST)53
In most Pathfinders, however, there was a distinct move towards incorporating more readingand writing in the lessons as primary languages became more embedded. In some schoolsthis was a result of revisions to the scheme of work following the publication of the draft KeyStage 2 Framework in recognition of the need to prepare pupils adequately for their move tosecondary school. Some teachers acknowledged the difficulties for pupils with writtenFrench in particular:‘Children are still learning to spell English words phonetically; when they see French wordswritten, they have problems with pronunciation. Also, the grammar, they get confused aboutsentence structure and are only just developing terminology. French is a complex languageto write; they need to know the terms in order to write.’ (languages teacher)Pupils were generally very perceptive of the methods used in languages and the skills oftheir teachers; they were aware of revision and recap activities and the thinking time allowedin good oral activities.‘Mrs X is really good because she knows everything in French, the accent and she can teachus how to say and write it properly. Everything that you’d like to do you get to do. It’s reallygood that Mrs X teaches it because she gives you stuff like time and you work at it untilyou’re really good at it.’ (pupil)Pupils’ concerns about the need to memorise new words were allayed when giventechniques and recap activities:‘Sometimes it goes into your head and it starts to escape but then we lock it up again.’(pupil)Pupils appeared to be very aware of differences in teaching approaches, when theirlanguages are delivered by, for example, an FLA and a class teacher. They sometimesperceived the latter as relying too heavily on games and not getting the same level of pupilparticipation. Some were apparently aware of their teachers’ ability in the target language.In one school pupils said they preferred the visiting teacher because:‘She knows all the words correctly, she doesn’t get mixed up, she’s good at the games; hasall the right equipment, CDs, a box of equipment.’ (pupil)54
Page 1 and 2:
RESEARCHEvaluation of the Key Stage
Page 3 and 4: Contents1. Executive summary 32. In
Page 5 and 6: practice and factors that might imp
Page 7 and 8: of the experience. Individual feedb
Page 9 and 10: • The analysis revealed the need
Page 11 and 12: • Are pupils with SEN and gifted
Page 13 and 14: Both respondent characteristics and
Page 15 and 16: Interviews were recorded and a 25%
Page 17 and 18: 2.2. Advantages and disadvantages o
Page 19 and 20: 2.2.2. Languages Delivery by the Pr
Page 21 and 22: 2.2.4. Languages Delivery through a
Page 23 and 24: Analysing these models, conditions
Page 25 and 26: • Schools should be encouraged to
Page 27 and 28: however, instances of schools where
Page 29 and 30: 3.1.3.4. Time allocated to language
Page 31 and 32: ‘French would not be taught now a
Page 33 and 34: • beneficial for the subject’s
Page 35 and 36: Many teachers remained very depende
Page 37 and 38: Table 2: Integration and Communicat
Page 39 and 40: ‘We’ve written a letter and dra
Page 41 and 42: ‘it makes you realise that if acc
Page 43 and 44: Table 5: Languages and Learning - Q
Page 45 and 46: 3.1.5. Pupils - Learning and Attitu
Page 47 and 48: • useful for travelling abroad -
Page 49 and 50: • ‘Comments at the end to help
Page 51 and 52: ‘At times they find it difficult
Page 53: teacher who knew our level.’ In t
Page 57 and 58: 3.2.2. Recommendations• Primary t
Page 59 and 60: Effective staffing is essential to
Page 61 and 62: Martin and Mitchell 1993). In anoth
Page 63 and 64: Nineteen respondents had specialise
Page 65 and 66: As revealed in questionnaire 1, in
Page 67 and 68: However, some teachers were pleasan
Page 69 and 70: However, there were frequent instan
Page 71 and 72: • team-teaching on the ground•
Page 73 and 74: involved external bodies in the del
Page 75 and 76: Generally, there was a sense that s
Page 77 and 78: • Methods of recording progressio
Page 79 and 80: However, there were challenges in a
Page 81 and 82: In one Pathfinder one school cluste
Page 83 and 84: One example of assessment included
Page 85 and 86: trying to evaluate, prior to each u
Page 87 and 88: Case study: exemplar of a well deve
Page 89 and 90: In some Pathfinder schools effectiv
Page 91 and 92: ‘Only a very small number (6/7) g
Page 93 and 94: • transfer of more sensitive info
Page 95 and 96: ‘…I know the Year 7 teachers we
Page 97 and 98: 3.4.5. Links to KS3 Framework/Natio
Page 99 and 100: situation was especially difficult
Page 101 and 102: 3.5. Sustainability and Replicabili
Page 103 and 104: develop ‘effective and replicable
Page 105 and 106:
3.5.4. Leadership and managementThe
Page 107 and 108:
on one aspect of delivery. This was
Page 109 and 110:
3.5.5. Staff and staff expertiseIn
Page 111 and 112:
‘Usually it is impromptu: 10 or 1
Page 113 and 114:
‘The reason why I have decided to
Page 115 and 116:
c) there is obvious progression fro
Page 117 and 118:
to be constrained. Methodologies ge
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Time spent on the project was gathe
Page 121 and 122:
Estimating development costs of res
Page 123 and 124:
There were significant differences
Page 125 and 126:
on staff costs, with the impact on
Page 127 and 128:
5. CONCLUSIONSOverall, this evaluat
Page 129 and 130:
5.2. Teacher Competence• Primary
Page 131 and 132:
o for training secondary teachers i
Page 133 and 134:
ReferencesBell, E with Cox, K. (199
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Case Study 2Case study 2 is a compa
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channelled through this school. At
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Case Study 5This LA is a large auth
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Case Study 7Case study 7 is a joint
Page 143:
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