This paper investigates the implementation of the Dai language curriculum within a culturally diverse school setting in Xishuangbanna, China. Employing a qualitative research methodology, including semi-structured interviews, observation, and document analysis, the study examines three key aspects: curriculum implementation, diverse perspectives,…

Over the past six decades, the field of teaching modern foreign languages to young learners has come a long way, from the early surmises about the advantages of a young start to today's widespread integration of foreign languages into curricula in public and private schools. The chapters in this book bring together internationally renowned…

English for elementary education policy in Indonesia states that English is categorized as a local content curriculum area. The local content curriculum is an educational program whose content and media (such as visuals) and delivery strategies are linked to the physical environment, social environment, and cultural environment and regional needs.…

With the rapid implementation of early foreign language programmes in the state of North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, first for Grade 3 (ages 8-9 years) in 2003 and then from Grade 1 (ages 6-7 years) in 2008, primary school teachers had to adapt to teaching a foreign language in Grade 1 quickly. Teachers had little experience with language teaching…

Learning is an omnipresent feature of social life. However, in educational fields, learning is often studied through indirect instruments, such as surveys, interviews and coding schemes. In this paper, a praxiological approach to observe learning moments is proposed. This means that learning moments are not explored here through schematic…

The purpose of this article is to develop and test an invariant of the basic model of the emotionally-valuable component (EVC) of the content of foreign-language education, allowing the implementation of this component at a primary stage in a secondary school (grades 2-4)* . The leading approach to the study is emotionally-valuable, the methods…

In the United States, research on reading difficulties is predominantly carried out by scholars who project findings on L1 English reading difficulty to generalized difficulty in learning a second language (L2; e.g., Galuschka et al., 2020; Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2020; cf. Sparks, 2023). This research extrapolation creates a negative feedback…

This paper investigates the validation of the computer-based listening subtest in the "Certificate of English for Primary Teachers" (CEPT), which is addressed to in-service primary teachers who work in state Italian schools. Since 2004, these teachers, specialists in other subjects, have been asked by the Italian Ministry of Education to…

Despite the growing societal demand for multilingual graduates prepared to engage in local and global contexts, programs to meet these demands are scarce, especially in K-8 contexts. When schools do seek to implement programs, stakeholders struggle to choose from the established models because research documenting desired outcomes is lacking.…

It is said that children are amazing at acquiring their first language (L1); by the time they reach school age, they are using complex grammar and demonstrating a wide vocabulary. Even more impressive, these young learners might show up at school with two languages in their toolbox or add a second language (L2) with far less effort than older…

With the growing popularity of early foreign language learning (EFLL) programmes in elementary schools, the transition to secondary school constitutes a crucial bridge. Ensuring a smooth transition that builds on students' L2 language proficiency and gradually shifts pedagogical approaches is key for long-term success. The present study examines…

Individual differences (IDs) play an important role in the second language learning process and explain the varied experiences of the L2 learner. The two major IDs, language aptitude and motivation, can be primary factors in one's ultimate proficiency. While language aptitude is largely fixed, motivation is malleable and can aid in overcoming…

Previous studies examined the association between motivational characteristics and language learning achievement, but considerably less is known about young language learners' task-specific motivation in assessment contexts. Our study investigated the task motivation of young learners of English when completing computer-administered integrated…

In Japan, English will be officially taught as an academic subject for elementary fifth and sixth graders from 2020. This is a strong initiative of language-in-education policy, aiming at efficient articulation between elementary and junior high schools and targeting the development of English proficiency from early ages simultaneously. However,…

The main objective of this study was to identify ways to incorporate voice-driven Artificial Intelligence (AI) effectively in classroom language learning. This nine month teacher-led design research study employed technology probes (Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, Google voice search) and co-design methods with a class of primary age English as a…