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

gave backing to the teaching Offoreign languages in primary schools (NALA
View, June 1994) and the Association for Language Learning published a policy
statement demanding the introduction of a foreign language at Key Stage Two
at primary school on a national level (ALL, 1992).

A major National Pilot scheme has been under way in Scotland since 1989 and
in England several Local Education Authorities offer a foreign language, usually
French, to some or all children in their primary sdhools. The slimming down of
the National Curriculum by Sir Ron Dearing in 1993 encouraged such
developments in suggesting that 'freed time' in sdhools ∞uld be used for the
teaching of a foreign language:

"My recommendation that the bulk of the time released during Key Stages 1
and 2 be used for extension work in the subject areas of the National
Curriculum should not preclude the introduction of, say, a foreign language in
Key Stage 2 if the school has the expertise to do this."
(Dearing Report, 1993: 38, para 4.46)

Only recently (January 1998) the Secretary of State for Education, David
Blunkett, lifted the requirements for time spent on individual subject areas in the
primary curriculum to allow schools to focus on the 3 Rs (reading, writing and
arithmetic) and suggested that schools could offer taster courses' in other
subject areas including Modem Languages 'if they wish to do so'.

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