The possible effects of target language learning prior to secondary dual language school studies by Anna Várkuti 10th Summer School of Psycholinguistics June 3-8, 2007, Balatonalmádi

Contents  Introduction  The goal of the study, motivating factors, hypothesis  Methods and the population studied  Analysis of the data, conclusions  General conclusions

Bilingual schools - the target language is used for teaching different school subjects → very effective in foreign language acquisition The target language - including both the communicative and cognitive language competence - has to be mastered at a high level → differently structured dual language schools Balatonalmádi Dual Language School has a five-year teaching system with a special strategy: in the language preparatory year mainly English is taught very intensively (18 classes/week) school subjects in English are introduced only afterwards in turns. Introduction

Nowadays dynamic changes in the educational system → many of the students come with some English knowledge gained through: primary school education private lessons language courses, etc. The school still offers the first-year intensive language teaching in mixed groups → several questions: What are the possible effects of previous English studies? How does it affect the target language achievement of the students in the high school? Does it mean any advantage? Are the students with no previous English knowledge at any disadvantage? The goal of the study, motivating factors

Teachers working in team in the first preparatory class declared that students who never learnt English before, usually do better in English than those who studied it for many years many students who have some English knowledge at the beginning lose their advantage in the first weeks, months In a survey, students formulated a similar opinion. Motivation: I have decided to reveal whether their opinion is supported by the facts or not by answering the previous questions in this empirical study Isn’t that incredible?

Hypothesis (based on the teachers’ and students’ opinions) The English knowledge gained prior to a bilingual high school does not necessarily affect positively the acquisition of the language during the high school. So, students with some previous English knowledge may benefit or not from it, depending on many other influencing factors (attitude, mental capacities, etc) also those who did not learn any English earlier may be, or not be at disadvantage; with appropriate mental abilities, by studying industriously, they can reach the same level as anybody else

The empirical study to test the hypothetical answer is based on: data collected from the student population of Balatonalmádi Dual Language School at the end of the academic year of population size: 307 students (ages 15-20) distributed evenly in five classes. I performed the descriptive and the mathematical statistical analysis of (with the SPSS -Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) of the English grades (reflects language knowledge) of the general average grades (indicates general school success) I also analyzed the students' opinions about the possible advantages and disadvantages (collected with the help of a written questionnaire). I considered the English teachers’ opinions (oral interview) Methods and the population studied

Analysis of the data Analysing the English language achievement (longitudinal study) the averages decline with time almost in all classes (requirements increase faster than the language of the students improves) class 13 was outstandingly successful when they were in class 10 The achievement of class 10 is abruptly declining usually the first term grades are lower, the second term grades are higher Table 1

Graph 1.

Graph 2. The normal distribution of all the English term grades

Graph 3. The distribution the English term grades in the different classes

Table 2 about 2/3 of all the students learnt some English before only about 1/3 did not learn any English this ratio remained relatively constant in the last five years How many students studied English prior to high school?

Graph 4. The number of students who studied English prior to high school in class 10, there is even a greater ratio of those who studied English earlier (Remember that this class showed the greatest decline in the English achievement).

Do previous English studies affect the students‘ English knowledge ? Table 3. Comparing the average English results of the two groups students who studied some English earlier have higher average term grades than those who did not.

Graph 5. The means of the English term grades in time according to whether the students studied English previously or not Independent Samples T-Test also indicates a significant positive effect (p = 0,005) → learning some English prior to high school is an advantage in acquiring the language at a higher level later

Graph 6. The English grades of the classes according to whether English was studied previously or not In class 10 the English grades are higher among those who did not learn the language earlier → previous English studies proved not to be an advantage How can students be not so successful in English despite of studying it earlier? → due to the low level of previous English knowledge? → the inappropriate school attitude and learning abilities?

Table 4 Studying English for 4 school years in 2 h/week = about 560 hours Many students (65 from 208) ) are in that category (completed with private lessons/courses) Most students (71) learnt less English Some students (47) studied English for 8 years in 1-3 hours a week Less students (18) in a higher number of hours Just a very few students (7) studied English for a longer period very intensively How much English did students learn before coming to high school?

Graph 7

Is there any connection between the number of hours spent on studying English prior to high school and the English achievement? Table 6. The means of the English term grades according to how much English was previously studied 1.) What is the correlation between the study hour categories and English grades changing with the terms?

Graph 8 Generally, the more hours were spent on learning English prior to high school, the higher the average English grades are. There are some exceptions as well.

Graph 9 2.) What is the correlation between the English averages and study hour categories?

students with no previous English studies do better in English than those who studied a little English are at the same level than those who learnt English roughly for 4 years in 2 h/a week or more their achievement coincides with the total English average students with more serious previous studies proved to be the best in English students with the greatest number of English study hours have the lowest English grades, well below the average (only 7 → no statistical value) The relationship between the English average grades achieved and „study hour category” →The English achievement is effected not only by previous English studies, but by many other factors that have a even a greater role in meeting the English expectations

Possible explanations (supported by the teachers’ experiences): Many students with some previous English knowledge were bored at the beginning, or "overappreciated" their knowledge → they neglected their studies and remained behind the beginners within a short time In the meantime, being aware of their language deficiencies, beginners studied more intensively from the very beginning → they showed a more positive attitude toward learning → they could make up for their "being behind" → on its own, the fact that English has been studied earlier is not a criterion of success in language development; positive effects can be expected only above a level (about 900 study hours) English achievement is also determined by a great number of other factors that affect the general school success as well, such as general attitude toward learning, mental capacities, family support, social background, the personality of the teacher, and so on) Why learning English earlier is not always beneficial to the English language development? Why beginners can „overtake” the others?

Table 7. Comparing English and general average grades within the English study hour categories There is a strong positive correlation between the English grades and general average grades of the students (p = 0,000, which means a 99,99% value of confidence). What is the correlation between the students’ general school success and English achievement?

Graph 10. Correlation between the averages of all the school subjects and English students who have good grades in English, have generally good grades in all the other school subjects regardless whether they studied English prior to high school or not → the same factors that determine general school success, affect the English achievement as well.

Under the conditions provided by the Balatonalmádi Dual Language School, studying English prior to starting high school does not necessarily mean an advantage, and not knowing the language is not necessarily a disadvantage the school provides equal chances to everybody to acquire the English language according to the high expectations regardless whether one had or not prior studies. The efficiency of acquiring the language is basically determined by all the other factors which are responsible for general school success as well. General conclusions

The presentation has focussed on the possible effects of previous English studies on the efficiency of the language acquisition only → the non-language, especially physiological effects (with great importance, as signalled by the students’ opinions) need further studies Thank you for your attention!