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



Michael thinks he is doing really well in French because 'I'm enjoying it a lot and
I'm learning a lot from it so I really just want to go to France and try and test
some of it out'.

Laura

Laura says she likes drawing and the writing that goes with drawing. She does
not always understand the French that goes with the 'colouring' and when she
had to colour things in she 'just picked any colour*. She says she finds listening
to the tape 'going on and on and on’ more difficult as they 'speak to you really
fast and I can't make out what they're saying at all'. She also likes colouring in
sheets but she does not really like working in a group 'because they always tell
you what to do and I don't like it if they tell me what to do'. She says that
whether she likes speaking up in front of the class depends on 'what I have to
say in other words it's OK'. She does not seem worried about making mistakes.
She says she 'usually just takes a think and then just puts her hand up'. She
does not seem too sure whether she likes learning French or not. There are
some parts she likes but others she dislikes although she does not really know
why. Laura says that there is nothing much she likes in English and that maths
is really her favourite subject. As she has spent time in Sweden and has
Swedish cousins she says she would probably prefer Swedish to French as she
is 'used to the language'. Nevertheless she says that she wants to carry on with
French.

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