Workshop The learning of foreign languages in primary schools in England
This two-day event is organised by the University of Essex with the support of the British Association for Applied Linguistics and Cambridge University Press. It will initiate an in-depth dialogue between researchers from a range of disciplines and practitioners. The aim is to investigate and report on fundamental issues raised by the introduction in September 2014 of foreign languages as a compulsory part of the National Curriculum in primary schools in England.
It will focus on seven broad themes:
- the role that age plays in the learning of foreign languages in the classroom
- multilingual children in the foreign language classroom
- linguistic development and expectations in primary school age children
- pedagogy and teacher expertise for this age group
- curriculum models appropriate for young children
- cultural competence and intercultural understanding in young children
- the relationship between literacy, foreign language learning and wider academic achievement