Early Language Learning: Complexity and Mixed Methods

This is the first collection of research studies to explore the potential for mixed methods to shed light on foreign or second language learning by young learners in instructed contexts. It brings together recent studies undertaken in Cameroon, China, Croatia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania and the UK. Themes include English as an additional language, English as a second or foreign language, French as a modern foreign language, medium of instruction controversies and content and language integrated learning (CLIL). The volume reviews the choice of research methodologies for early language learning research in schools with a particular focus on mixed methods and proposes that in the multidisciplinary context of early language learning this paradigm allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the evidence than other approaches might provide. The collection will be of interest to in-service and trainee teachers of young language learners, graduate students in the field of TESOL and early language learning, teacher educators, researchers and policymakers. Contents of this book include: (1) Introduction: Mixed Methods in Early Language Learning Research--Examining Complexity (Eva Lindgren and Janet Enever). Part 1: Overviews of Research Findings: (2) Early Language Learning in Complex Linguistic Settings: Insights from Africa (Agatha J. van Ginkel); (3) Considering the Complexities of Teaching Intercultural Understanding in Foreign Languages (Patricia Driscoll); and (4) Literacy Development in Children with English as an Additional Language (EAL) (Victoria A. Murphy). Part 2: Empirical Studies Using Mixed Methods: (5) Verbal Working Memory and Foreign Language Learning in English Primary Schools: Implications for Teaching and Learning (Alison Porter); (6) Piecing Together the Jigsaw: Understanding Motivations of English Learners in Chinese Primary School through a Questionnaire and Elicited Metaphor Analysis (Jiang Changsheng, Zhang Jie, Liang Xiaohua, Yuan Yuan and Xie Qun); (7) Codeswitching Your Way to Language Learning? Receptive Codeswitching with Digital Storybooks in Early Language Learning (Judith Buendgens-Kosten, Ilonca Hardy and Daniela Elsner); (8) Individual Differences and English L2 Learning in Two Primary Classrooms in France (Heather Hilton); and (9) Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): A Panacea for Young English Language Learners? (Karmen Pižorn). Part 3: Longitudinal Perspectives using Mixed Methods: (10) The Dynamics of Motivation Development among Young Learners of English in China (Yuko Goto Butler); (11) Young Italian 'Learners' Foreign Language Development: A Longitudinal Perspective (Lucilla Lopriore); (12) Employing Mixed Methods for the Construction of Thick Descriptions of Early Language Learning (Eva Lindgren and Janet Enever); and (13) Developmental Aspects of Early EFL Learning (Jelena Mihaljevic Djigunovic). Part 4: Evaluating Early Language Learning Programmes: (14) Child EFL Interaction: Age, Instructional Setting and Development (María del Pilar García Mayo and Ainara Imaz Agirre); (15) Evaluating the Educational Outcomes of an Early Foreign Language Programme: The Design of an Impact Study for the Primary English Programme in Mexico (Peter Sayer, Ruth Ban and Magdalena López de Anda); (16) The Development of a Curriculum-Based C-Test for Young EFL Learners (Raphaela Porsch and Eva Wilden); and (17) Mixed Methods in Early Language Learning Research (Janet Enever and Eva Lindgren). An Index is included.

an: ED581471; source: Multilingual Matters; docTypes: Book; pubTypes: Book;