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

for example, the answer 'J^,ai neuf (leaving out 'ans^,) was frequently heard even
after several weeks of practice indicating possibly interference from English,
possibly a lack of ∞ncem for the structural properties of language. Children
seemed to experience particular problems with questions and answers both in
understanding and formation. Frequently heard and practised questions such
as 'Quel age as-tu?' and 'Comment t'appelles-tu?' were still not understood by
some children when addressed directly by the teacher or researcher. This
seems to indicate that on previous occasions they had simply repeated what
somebody else had said or responded to stimuli without necessarily
understanding the content of the message.

Especially when asked a series of questions or when questions were mixed,
answers to the one were frequently given in response to the other. A question
such as 'ou habites- tu?', for example, would then be answered with 'j'ai huit...'.
Children also tended to repeat part of a question in their answers. In response
to the question 'Comment t'appelles-tu?' constructions such as 'Commentje
m'appelle...' were not uncommon. Myles, Hooper & Mitchell (1998) reported
that repeating part of a sentence was also common amongst learners of French
at secondary school; such utterances are therefore not limited to beginners of a
young age. It was stated in Chapter Three that 'gains made in grammatical
understanding and sentence manipulation are often accompanied by some loss
of accuracy in surface details of pupils' speech' (Mitchell & Dickson, 1997: 2).

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