Learning vocabulary in the primary languages classroom: What corpus analysis can tell us

Mitchell, Rosamond and Rule, Sarah (2022) Learning vocabulary in the primary languages classroom: What corpus analysis can tell us. In, McManus, Kevin and Schmid, Monika (eds.) How special are early birds?: Foreign language teaching and learning. (EuroSLA Studies, 6) Berlin. Language Science Press, pp. 37-61. (doi:10.5281/zenodo.6811427).

Abstract

The national curriculum for primary schools in England now includes study of a foreign language in Key Stage 2 (years 3-6). However organised instructional time is very limited (typically 30-40 minutes per week), and there is little or no informal exposure to the target language outside class. Yet it is known that a sense of progression is crucial for children’s sense of motivation and self-efficacy as language learners. It is therefore important to use classroom time as effectively as possible, taking account of children’s characteristics as learners to develop and consolidate their TL knowledge.
This chapter draws together a range of evidence from the ESRC-funded study ‘Learning French from Ages 5, 7 and 11’, (Myles 2017; Myles et al. 2012) regarding the development of target language vocabulary knowledge by early learners over a year’s instruction in French as foreign language. The available data include lesson plans, videorecordings and transcriptions of complete lesson series, as well as receptive vocabulary tests constructed to sample systematically the vocabulary actually taught, which were administered on 3 occasions (part way through the instructional period, then as Posttest and Delayed Posttest). We examine the influence on vocabulary development of a variety of contextual and pedagogic factors, including word frequency and word functions in classroom talk, the status of lexical items as cognates/non-cognates, the nature of observed multimodal support for novel lexical items (including use of images and gestures), activity types in which new words were encountered and practised (focused repetition/ role play/ story/ song) and the relationship between spoken and written input. We further examine briefly how far variation in vocabulary learning is due to individual learner characteristics (age, Working Memory scores, L1 literacy levels, and observed classroom engagement). We draw tentative conclusions regarding the rate of progress in vocabulary learning which can be generally expected in a constrained classroom context, and highlight the factors which seem to promote development most consistently.

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Contributors

Author: Rosamond Mitchell

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