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

Pupil 2: What's the question again Sir?

Teacher: 'Ou habites-tu?'

Pupil 2 now gets question right

Pupil 3: 'Quel ðge as-tu?'

Pupil 4: 'J'habite ð...'

Pupil 4, after correction from teacher: 'dix ans'

Teacher gives three possible answers and asks class for the questions
Much confusion

Teacher: 'Combien de freres as-tu?'

Girl next to me: ^lWhat does that mean?'

I tell her the answer, she's quick to put her hand up and obviously very pleased
for 'getting it right'

Pupils are asked to stand up in response to the number of brothers or sisters
they have got. Teacher: 'Ieve -toi si tu as...'

There is no checking if they are actually correct in what they do.

Teacher moves on to revising 'il∕elle s'appellle', 'Comment s'appelle ton pere∕ta
mere?'

Most pupils get this right and offer' ll∕elle s'appelle...'

Teacher moves on to exercise on worksheet from last week

Half ofthe class forgot to bring their sheets

Visuals are not very clear on worksheet and tape is rather difficult to
understand, contains some language they don't know e g. 'Combien de
personnes y-a-t-il dans ta famille?' Although some should be able to guess
Teacher: 'Nous sommes trois', what do you think this means?'

One girl offers 'I have 3 sisters' when in fact there is no picture with 4 people on
the worksheet.

Does not realise that speaker has to include herself!

They probably benefit from copying the French names but the listening
advantages are very limited

Teacher moves on to introducing pets with flashcards

Gives model as: Voici un∕ une...'

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