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

Choral repetitions of ^,Je n^,ai pas de...'

Teacherwrites on chalkboard: Je n’ai pas de...

Several pupils use this to add freres∕soeurs

Six pupils have not put their hand up at all so far

Teacher: ^,What's the word for mother?'

No answers ∞me forward

Teacher: 'Sounds like 'pere' but with a different starting letter

One pupil comes up with 'mere'.

Teacherwrites on chalkboard: 'Je suis fils unique'

All the boys repeat: 'Je suis fils unique'

Teacherwrites on board: 'Je suis fille unique'

All the girls repeat

Whole class repeats both sentences

Teacher: How do you say 'I haven't got any...?'

Nobody remembers

Teacher: 'Je n'ai pas de freres.'

Checks understanding in English.

Teacher: The other phrase you need is: 'Je n'ai pas de soeurs∕freres'

Teacher: 'Je suis fils unique', what does it mean?'

Nobody knows∕guesses

Have they been repeating earlier without understanding?

Teacher clarifies in English and moves on to tape with worksheet with speech
bubbles on brothers and sisters

Teacher: 'Ecoutez bien' uses body language to support setting up listening
exercise

Class listens attentively

Teacher stops tape after first speech bubble: ^,What do you think is the word for
family?'

Pupils answer correctly Tamille'

Class repeats French after each speech bubble

Teacher: ^,What do you think 'grandpere' means?'

Pupils answer correctly with help of picture

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