A Critical Examination of the Beliefs about Learning a Foreign Language at Primary School

It seems therefore essential not to fall into the trap of confusing the experience
of an immigrant child learning English in an American school with that of a child
learning French in a school located in the English-speaking world. However, it
has to be admitted that, while every effort has been made to use available
terminology consistently, it has not always been possible to do so. It would, for
example, be confusing to discuss a quotation from another writer’s work while
trying to change that writer's terms and more than forty years Ofterminological
confusion cannot simply be swept aside.

The Concept of 'Primary School Education'

The term 'Primary School Education' carries a range of meanings in different
parts ofthe world. The age at which children start primary education varies
across countries as does the number of years children spend at their primary
school. The age Oftransfer from primary to secondary school therefore also
differs and what is conceived as primary school age in one country might be
secondary school age in another. Eurydice, a series of publications by the
European Commission on education across Europe, states that although there
are characteristically three stages in the educational process between the ages
of 2 and 18: pre-school, primary and secondary, the organisation and division of
schooling as well as the school day and teaching time vary greatly from country
to country. Children ofthe same age can therefore be experiencing different
stages Ofschooling (Eurydice, 1994).

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