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

Pupil offers: 'Cinq sours', and asks: 'How do I say no brothers?'
Another offers: 'trois frðres'

Pupil: 'How do you say no brothers and sisters?'

Teachertells

Pupil repeats, sounds like: Tsche n'ai pas..'

Teacher moves on to revising animals

I volunteer: 'J'ai deux chats'

Teacher: 'Combien de chats a-t-elle?'

Pupil: 'She has two cats'.

Teacher: 'Comment s'appellent-ils?', 'Whatdoesthatmean?'

Pupil: I've got a dog’.

Teacher asks: ^,Who remembers French for 'rabbit'?'

Three children do.

Teacher moves on to game where pupils pretend to be an animal in front of
class

Teacher asks: 'Qu'est-ce que c'est?'

Pupil answers: 'A dog' although class was told to say the animals in French

Pupils seem to enjoy this

Teacher moves on to introducing classroom objects: French native speaker
models

Chorus class repetitions

Teacher asks: 'Cest un∕une...?' with flashcard not matching

Pupils answer: 'Non, c'est un∕une...'

Not many remember the items

Teacher moves on to cassette and worksheet

Pupils are supposed to hold up the classroom item mentioned on the tape.

Most copy me

Teacherwrites 'un∕une' on chalkboard and pupils are supposed to offer words
to fit gender e.g. 'un style', 'une regie'
Teacher asks: ^,What does 'un∕une' mean?'
Pupil volunteers: 'I have'
Not one ofthem can guess!

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