the possible effects of target language learning prior to secondary dual language school studies
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The possible effects of target language learning prior to
secondary dual language school studies
by Anna Várkuti
10th Summer School of Psycholinguistics
June 3-8, 2007, Balatonalmádi
Contents Introduction The goal of the study, motivating factors, hypothesis Methods and the population studied Analysis of the data, conclusions General conclusions
Bilingual schools - the target language is used for teaching different school subjects → very effective in foreign language acquisition
The target language - including both the communicative and cognitive language competence - has to be mastered at a high level
→ differently structured dual language schools
Balatonalmádi Dual Language School has a five-year teaching system with a special strategy: in the language preparatory year mainly English is taught
very intensively (18 classes/week) school subjects in English are introduced only afterwards in
turns.
Introduction
Nowadays dynamic changes in the educational system → many of the students come with some English knowledge gained through:
primary school education private lessons language courses, etc.
The school still offers the first-year intensive language teaching in mixed groups → several questions:
What are the possible effects of previous English studies? How does it affect the target language achievement of the students in the high school? Does it mean any advantage?
Are the students with no previous English knowledge at any disadvantage?
The goal of the study, motivating factors
Teachers working in team in the first preparatory class declared that students who never learnt English before, usually do better in
English than those who studied it for many years many students who have some English knowledge at the
beginning lose their advantage in the first
weeks, months In a survey, students formulated
a similar opinion.
Motivation:
I have decided to reveal whether their opinion is
supported by the facts or not
by answering the previous questions in this
empirical study
Isn’t that incredible?
Hypothesis (based on the teachers’ and students’ opinions)
The English knowledge gained prior to a bilingual high school does not necessarily affect positively the acquisition of the language during the high school.
So, students with some previous English knowledge may
benefit or not from it, depending on many other influencing factors (attitude, mental capacities, etc)
also those who did not learn any English earlier may be, or not be at disadvantage; with appropriate mental abilities, by studying industriously, they can reach the same level as anybody else
The empirical study to test the hypothetical answer is based on: data collected from the student population of Balatonalmádi Dual
Language School at the end of the academic year of 2005-2006 population size: 307 students (ages 15-20) distributed evenly in
five classes.
I performed the descriptive and the mathematical statistical analysis of (with the SPSS -Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)
of the English grades (reflects language knowledge) of the general average grades (indicates general school success)
I also analyzed the students' opinions about the possible advantages and disadvantages (collected with the help of a written questionnaire).
I considered the English teachers’ opinions (oral interview)
Methods and the population studied
The means of the English term grades in the classes
Mean
3,92 3,85
4,07 3,88 3,34 3,28
4,17 4,22 3,97 3,95 3,90 3,78
4,13 4,09 3,80 3,87 3,98 4,00 3,49 3,67
3,95 4,13 4,39 4,52 3,56 3,97 3,46 3,44 3,82 3,44
4,04(307)
4,03(307)
3,86(242)
3,89(242)
3,81(175)
3,91(175)
3,47(116)
3,55(116)
3,82(61)
3,44(61)
9 (65)
10 (67)
11 (59)
12 (55)
13 (61)
Total N 307
Class
9_1term
9_2term
10_1term
10_2term
11_1term
11_2term
12_1term
12_2term
13_1term
13_2term
Analysis of the data
Analysing the English language achievement (longitudinal study) the averages decline with time almost in all classes (requirements increase
faster than the language of the students improves) class 13 was outstandingly successful when they were in class 10 The achievement of class 10 is abruptly declining usually the first term grades are lower, the second term grades are higher
Table 1
Graph 1.
9 10 11 12 13 Total
Class
The means of the English term grades in the classes
9_1 term 9_2 term 10_1 term 10_2 term 11_1 term 11_2 term 12_1 term 12_2 term 13_1 term 13_2 term
Terms
3,50
4,00
4,50
Mea
ns
of
the
ter
m g
rad
es
5,004,003,002,001,00
English grades
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Num
ber of stu
dents
33
1512
20
1213
56
9
1816
18
11
16
24
47
1
9
14
7
01
Mean = 3,85Std. Dev. = 0,76328N = 307
Graph 2. The normal distribution of all the English term grades
Graph 3. The distribution the English term grades in the different classes
13
12
11
10
9
Cla
ss
5,004,003,002,001,00
English grades
20
15
10
5
0
Fre
quency
20
15
10
5
0
Fre
quency
20
15
10
5
0
Fre
quency
20
15
10
5
0
Fre
quency
20
15
10
5
0
Fre
quency
The number of students who studied English prior to high school
23 15 21 20 20 99
7,5% 4,9% 6,8% 6,5% 6,5% 32,2%
42 52 38 35 41 208
13,7% 16,9% 12,4% 11,4% 13,4% 67,8%
65 67 59 55 61 307
21,2% 21,8% 19,2% 17,9% 19,9% 100,0%
Count
% of Total
Count
% of Total
Count
% of Total
no
yes
Total
9 10 11 12 13
Class
Total
Table 2
about 2/3 of all the students learnt some English before only about 1/3 did not learn any English this ratio remained relatively constant in the last five years
How many students studied English prior to high school?
Graph 4. The number of students who studied English prior to high school
yesno
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Num
ber
of st
uden
ts
41
20
35
20
38
21
52
15
42
23
13
12
11
10
9
Class
in class 10, there is even a greater ratio of those who studied English earlier
(Remember that this class showed the greatest decline in the English achievement).
Do previous English studies affect the students‘ English knowledge ?
99 3,6737 ,75694 ,07608
208 3,9339 ,75368 ,05226
no
yes
Was Englishstudied prior tohigh school?
N
Mean of allEnglishgrades
Std.Deviation
Std.ErrorMean
Table 3. Comparing the average English results of the two groups
students who studied some English earlier have higher average term grades than those who did not.
Graph 5. The means of the English term grades in time according to whether the students studied English previously or not
no y es Total
9_1 term9_2 term
10_1 term10_2 term
11_1 term11_2 term
12_1 term12_2 term
13_1 term13_2 term
Terms
3,25
3,50
3,75
4,00
4,25
Independent Samples T-Test also indicates a significant positive effect (p = 0,005) → learning some English prior to high school is an advantage in acquiring the language at a higher level later
Graph 6. The English grades of the classes according to whether English was studied previously or not
131211109
Class
5,00
4,00
3,00
2,00
1,00
0,00
Mea
ns
of al
l Englis
h ter
mgra
des
4,0443,9824,1013,62
4,0243,513,703,813,7333,63
yes
no
English studied prior tobilingual high school
In class 10 the English grades are higher among those who did not learn the language earlier → previous English studies proved not to be an advantage
How can students be not so successful in English despite of studying it earlier? → due to the low level of previous English knowledge? → the inappropriate school attitude and learning abilities?
Number of students in the study hour categories distributed in the classes
Count
23 15 21 20 20 99
11 15 13 15 17 71
12 18 8 11 16 65
14 12 12 3 6 47
5 4 4 4 1 18
0 3 1 2 1 7
65 67 59 55 61 307
"0"
1-460
461-920
921-1380
1381-1840
1841-2300
Total
9 10 11 12 13
Class
Total
Table 4
Studying English for 4 school years in 2 h/week = about 560 hours Many students (65 from 208) ) are in that category (completed with private
lessons/courses) Most students (71) learnt less English Some students (47) studied English for 8 years in 1-3 hours a week Less students (18) in a higher number of hours Just a very few students (7) studied English for a longer period very
intensively
How much English did students learn before coming to high school?
6543210-1
Study hour categories
100
80
60
40
20
0
Num
ber
of st
uden
ts
718
47
6571
99
Mean = 1,46Std. Dev. = 1,353N = 307
The distribution of the students in categories ofhow much English they learnt prior to high school
Graph 7
Mean
3,70 3,84 3,74 3,82 3,64 3,66 3,23 3,45 3,45 3,20
3,93 3,77 3,62 3,68 3,71 3,89 3,41 3,53 3,94 3,65
4,20 4,17 4,13 4,09 3,94 4,00 3,52 3,56 3,88 3,38
4,49 4,47 4,12 4,09 4,00 4,33 4,00 3,67 4,17 3,33
4,61 4,39 4,08 4,23 4,22 4,33 4,20 4,00 5,00 5,00
4,29 4,00 3,71 3,43 4,25 4,25 4,33 4,00 5,00 5,00
4,05 4,03 3,86 3,89 3,81 3,91 3,47 3,55 3,82 3,44
"0"
1-460
461-920
921-1380
1381-1840
1841-2300
Total
9_1term
9_2term
10_1term
10_2term
11_1term
11_2term
12_1term
12_2term
13_1term
13_2term
Is there any connection between the number of hours spent on studying English prior to high school and the English
achievement?
Table 6. The means of the English term grades according to how much English was previously studied
1.) What is the correlation between the study hour categories andEnglish grades changing with the terms?
Graph 8
"0"
1-460
461-920
921-1380
1381-1840
1841-2300
Study hours
English grades changing with the terms according to how much English was studied
9_1 term9_2 term
10_1 term10_2 term
11_1 term11_2 term
12_1 term12_2 term
13_1 term13_2 term
Terms
3,50
4,00
4,50
5,00
Generally, the more hours were spent on learning English prior to high school, the higher the average English grades are.
There are some exceptions as well.
Graph 9
The average English grades according to study hours prior to high school
"0" 1-460 461-920 921-1380 1381-1840 1841-2300 Total
Study hour categories
4,1000
4,2000
4,3000
4,4000
4,2295
4,1414
4,2277
4,4232
4,3718
4,0460
4,2426
2.) What is the correlation between the English averages and study hour categories?
students with no previous English studies do better in English than those who studied a little English are at the same level than those who learnt English roughly for 4
years in 2 h/a week or more their achievement coincides with the total English average
students with more serious previous studies proved to be the best in English
students with the greatest number of English study hours have the lowest English grades, well below the average (only 7 → no statistical value)
The relationship between the English average grades achieved and „study hour category”
→The English achievement is effected not only by previous English studies, but by many other factors that have a even a greater role in meeting the English expectations
Possible explanations (supported by the teachers’ experiences):
Many students with some previous English knowledge were bored at the beginning, or "overappreciated" their knowledge
→ they neglected their studies and remained behind the beginners within a short time
In the meantime, being aware of their language deficiencies, beginners studied more intensively from the very beginning → they showed a more positive attitude toward learning
→ they could make up for their "being behind"
→ on its own, the fact that English has been studied earlier is not a criterion of success in language development; positive effects can be expected only above a level (about 900 study hours)
English achievement is also determined by a great number of other factors that affect the general school success as well, such as general attitude toward learning, mental capacities, family support, social background, the personality of the teacher, and so on)
Why learning English earlier is not always beneficial to theEnglish language development? Why beginners can „overtake”the others?
Mean
3,6737 4,2295
3,6025 4,1414
3,9569 4,2277
4,2702 4,4232
4,3194 4,3718
3,8333 4,0460
3,8500 4,2426
"0"
1-460
461-920
921-1380
1381-1840
1841-2300
Total
Average ofall English
term gradesAverage of allterm grades
Table 7. Comparing English and general average grades within the English study hour categories
• There is a strong positive correlation between the English grades and general average grades of the students (p = 0,000, which means a 99,99% value of confidence).
What is the correlation between the students’ general school
success and English achievement?
Graph 10. Correlation between the averages of all the school subjects and English
5,004,504,003,503,00
Averages of all the grades
5,00
4,00
3,00
2,00
1,00
Ave
rages
of al
l the
Englis
h g
rades
R Sq Linear = 0,616
• students who have good grades in English, have generally good grades in all the other school subjects regardless whether they studied English prior to high school or not → the same factors that determine general school success, affect the English achievement as well.
Under the conditions provided by the Balatonalmádi Dual Language School, studying English prior to starting high school does not necessarily mean an advantage,
and not knowing the language is not necessarily a disadvantage
the school provides equal chances to everybody to acquire the English language according to the high expectations regardless whether one had or not prior studies.
The efficiency of acquiring the language is basically determined by all the other factors which are responsible for general school success as well.
General conclusions
The presentation has focussed on the possible effects of previous English studies on the efficiency of the language acquisition only
→ the non-language, especially physiological effects (with great importance, as signalled by the
students’ opinions) need further studies
Thank you for your attention!
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