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

The writer's personal involvement in European early language learning projects
and discussions with colleagues have shown that results are not all rosy even in
contexts where children are learning English. Although there is usually
widespread enthusiasm amongst policy makers, teachers and learners,
linguistic learning outcomes would appear rather limited. Lesson observations
have shown a degree of reluctance amongst children to use the foreign
language even after several years of exposure and children often do not
remember language material which, ac∞rding to the teachers, had been
practised over a considerable length of time. It seems important to add,
however, that not all early foreign language learning schemes Considerthe
measurement of 'formal attainment' important, necessary or even desirable, as
seems to be the case with some projects in Germany where according to
Kubanek-German (1996) the development of pupils' understanding of other
cultures is seen as the issue of major importance. Interestingly enough, such
'understanding' of other cultures has led to situations where children in Greece
communicate with children in Spain through the medium of English! Chapter
One already commented on the increase of early language learning projects,
usually English, across Europe. A very important question would seem to be
whether countries would give equally strong support to the large-scale
introduction from an early age of a foreign language for which children might
have little or no obvious future use.

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