had clearly not understood whether it was a language item in French or an
instruction in English. A number of children did not know how to tick a box or
how to complete the most simple worksheets although they claimed that they
did. 'Unawareness1 of what is involved in the learning process is likely to
prevent children from asking for help when they are clearly in need of it.
Discussions in Chapter Four suggested that older children tend to be more
'aware' ofthe demands of the learning process or a specific task. Observations
would seem to indicate that some ofthe most basic skills and strategies
required in dealing successfully with a foreign language in the classroom cannot
be taken for granted with young children and would need to be explicitly taught.
5.8.6 Writing
Only on few occasions was whole class writing attempted. On these occasions
some children managed to copy a few lines ofthe chalkboard and apparently
enjoyed the experience. Others struggled and some did not even get started
and found the whole experience frustrating. On one occasion it took some
children in the class roughly five minutes to ∞py the day's date in French from
the chalkboard while others finished in no time. On a number of occasions
when individual children were observed at work, some paid no attention to the
separation of individual words or to the end of lines in their exercise books.
These children had little idea of what it was they were copying, once they got to
the end of a line they simply started a new one, even in the middle of a word.
Copying without mistakes also presented problems for a considerable number
of children. How a foreign language, especially one with a close
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