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

However, a vast amount of resources, both human and material, had been
invested in the Pilot Scheme and while the findings by Burstall et al. were
generally accepted at the time, the conclusion drawn was not accepted by all.
As the success of the Pilot Scheme had largely been judged on the basis of
pupils' achievement in French, it seemed only natural that most of the research
that followed should focus on those factors that could have affected
achievement. The following sections will summarise the critique.

1.5 Critiques of the NFER^,s Final Conclusion

Test validity, the composition of control groups, size of cohort samples,
continuity, methodology and teacher training all came under criticism, for
example by Bennett (1975), Gamble & Smalley (1975), Buckby (1976),
Kunkle (1976), Lee (1977), Hoy (1977). Both Bennett (1975) and Gamble &
Smalley (1975) pointed to the fact that due to pupil mobility and drop out rates,
the total number of pupils tested had declined sharply from 11,300 in 1964 to
1,227 pupils in 1973 and argued that percentage results were therefore not
based on the original number of pupils taking part in the experiment but on
shrinking samples. Bennett also reported that experimental cohorts and ∞ntrol
groups had not been matched in respect of 3 crucial variables: gender, type of
school and social class. He argued that, given what was known about better
performances by girls and by pupils from higher socio-economic backgrounds, a
closer match between cohort pupils and ∞ntrol groups might have led to a
different result. Buckby (1976) questioned the content validity of the test
material and claimed that the tests did not focus sufficiently on speaking and

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