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

the reader with a contextual framework for lesson observations and a brief
summary of the content covered during the lessons. The writer is, however,
fully aware that the following descriptions are rather 'general¹.

The content for the term's work in French focused on basic number work, telling
one's name and age, likes and dislikes expressed as 'j'aime...' and 'je n'aime
pas...' in the context of sporting activities and the ordering of items of drink in a
restaurant. Most lessons followed a similar pattern. The teacher would present
a model utterance supported by flashcards which the children would repeat as a
whole class and then on an individual basis. This would be followed by
question and answer work, for example in the form of: 'Qu'est-ce que tu
aimes?', 'J'aime...'. Pupils would then listen to a tape and complete a
worksheet or do a pairwork activity. Occasionally they would draw or colour in a
sheet. Focus was largely on the spoken word with very little reading and
writing. Reading was limited to single words and phrases on worksheets and
writing was mainly restricted to copywriting from the chalkboard. In most
lessons there was time for some sort of game or 'playful activity'. There was no
explicit teaching of the formal aspects of language.

5.7.7 Teacher Use of English

The teacher used English in explanations to ensure that everybody knew what
they were expected to do and she used English to praise and reprimand. She
used English to encourage pupils to think about language as a system as well
as the learning process as such. She invited pupils to 'have a guess' and to

269

<<   266   267   268   269   270   271   272   >>

More intriguing information