Gemäss Raphael Berthele von der Uni Fribourg handelt es sich bei der Untersuchung von Simone Pfenninger und David Singleton um eine «ausgeglichene und einfühlsame Studie», die sich mit einem Thema befasst, das uns alle interessiert. Pfenninger und Singleton präsentieren dabei neue Daten und analysieren diese sorgsam. Die Autoren untersuchen die Auswirkungen sowohl interner als auch externer Faktoren unter Anwendung modernster statistischer Modelle.
Die
Studie ist die bisher einzige Schweizer Langzeitstudie, welche frühe mit späten
Englisch-Startern vergleicht. Die Datenerhebungen erfolgten zwischen 2009 und
2015.
Beim Werk
handelt es sich um einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Altersdebatte im
Fremdsprachenunterricht. Die beiden Wissenschafter liefern überzeugende
Hinweise dafür, dass ein späterer Beginn linguistische, kognitive und affektive
Vorteile bringt. Ausserdem wird das Phänomen «Alter» auf seine spezifischen
Einzelfaktoren wie Motivation, Transferstrategien, Einfluss anderer Sprachen
und schulischer Kontext untersucht. Die Autoren nennen auch Implikationen für
die Schulpolitik.
Im folgenden liefere ich Auszüge aus dem Buch in der englischen Originalsprache. Dabei habe ich die Aussagen thematisch geordnet.
Momentaner
Stand des Wissens
«… very few linguistic and extralinguistic advantages
have been found to be associated with beginning the study of a foreign language
earlier in an instructed situation».
Späte
Starter holen schnell auf
«… six months into secondary school, the late classroom learners had
already been able to catch up with the early class learners…. What is more, the
early learners failed to surpass the late learners in the long run».
«… none of the tested skills turned out to be
negatively affected by a later AO (starting age) ».
«…the efforts to effect a successful introduction to
the foreign language at primary school seem not to bear fruit later in
secondary school and progression generally seems not to be maintained“.
«The late classroom learners were thus able to assimilate
as much in 6 years as the early classroom learners were able to in 11 years».
«… the early classroom learners were not able to
retain their learning advantages in the long run”.
«Just six months into secondary school, the five-year
difference in instruction time had no significant effect on the learning
outcome with respect to the English article system».
Motivation
«… young learners soon start to develop negative
attitudes to foreign language learning».
«… motivation had a stronger influence on foreign
language achievement than AO (starting age) ».
«… the early classroom learners had extremely
unfavourable attitudes towards foreign languages in general».
«… we cannot say that more hours of instruction per se
are associated with more positive attitudes».
«These results thus run counter to the commonly held
view that younger school learners have a more positive attitude towards a
foreign language than older school learners».
«Our results thus run counter to the commonly held
view that younger school learners have a more positive attitude towards a
foreign language than older school learners and that this is a definite
advantage of an early start».
Früher Unterricht
«Seventy-two percent of the learners pointed to the
perceived inefficiency of early foreign language instruction».
«By and large, the picture that emerges relative to
the evolution of attitudes and motivation is of a piece with what emerged from
the earlier discussion. At Time 1, early high achieving starters in English
tended to value the importance of their early experience of English in primary
school. Early low achievers in English, as well as late starters in English in
general, were much more diffident regarding early L2 instruction. At Time 2,
the attitudes of these latter groups had not altered markedly. The attitude of
the early high achievers, on the other hand, had moved away from the enthusiasm
for primary school language instruction evidenced at Time 1, and showed signs
of being affected by disappointment with the effectiveness of such instruction».
Einfluss der Erstsprache
«Educators concerned with additional languages should
consider the role that initial literacy plays in learning such languages, and
should bear in mind that mastery of such literacy skills in the primary school
years is important for students in this connection».
«It becomes clear at first glance that the factor
which influenced the learners’ English production was Standard German literacy
skills rather than AO (starting age)».
«… the factor that appears to explain the late
classroom learners’ high productive and receptive scores on the various EFL
measures at Time 1 was ‘Standard German literacy skills’».
«… students with well-developed L1 skills, especially those
related to literacy, are expected to have a head start».
«… it pays off to devote the first few years of
primary school to the acquisition of skills in the language of literacy».
Klassengrösse
«… as the number of students within a class increased,
foreign language performance and particularly motivation tended to decrease at
both data collection times».
«… we found a strong negative effect for class size:
as the number of students within a class increased, the foreign language performance
and particularly motivation tended to decrease at both data collection times».
Schlussfolgerungen
«… intensive exposure in the classroom is a more
determinant factor than starting age».
«Real empirical evidence of long-term advantages
emerging under such conditions is in fact not available. Indeed, there are, on
the contrary, negative findings regarding the effects of early instruction
going back a long way».
«These findings, along with similar findings which
have accrued on this topic around the world over more than 40 years, seriously
call into question the notion that in a normal school context an early start
yields better results».
Schulpolitik
«Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there is the
issue of the possibility of loss of face; education politicians are not willing
to consider intensifying foreign language instruction over shorter periods of
time later in the school curriculum (i.e. in secondary school), as this would
almost certainly be considered ‘backpedalling’ and an admission of the failure
of the new Education Acts».
«… all those educational authorities whose policies
(and whose spending of public money) is founded on the premise that an early
start does yield better results have a serious responsibility to re-examine the
basis for such policies».
«Another use of available means which would
undoubtedly bring perceptible benefits would be to significantly increase the
amount of L2 input and interaction on offer in secondary school».
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