Who is best able to teach Primary Modern Foreign Languages (PMFL)? Kerrie Simpson University of Manchester, 13 th February 2014

Introduction & Aims Historical provision of PMFL Current provision of PMFL Context: Park Road Academy Primary School (Pathway Placement)

Types of PMFL programmes 1.Language sensitisation programmes 2.Language awareness programmes 3.Language competence programmes (Martin, C: 2000)

Aims of teaching PMFL ‘substantial progress in one language’ (Curriculum 2014). ‘Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures… an appropriate balance of spoken and written language and should lay the foundations for further foreign language teaching… The focus of the study in modern languages will be on practical communication’ (Curriculum 2014). ‘We must provide opportunities for lifelong language learning; we must recognise language skills as central to breaking down barriers.’ (National Languages Strategy 2002: 4)

Teaching & Learning Policy Year 6 MFL French is taught to the whole class each week by a French TA. French is reinforced at other times in the week, e.g. register time. Topics include:  Numbers to 100  Sentence structure  Grammar  Times tables  Revision of past objectives. (Park Road Academy Primary: 2013)

Current models of provision 44% of schools offered some form of PMFL (35% used curriculum time). Where it was offered, PMFL was taught by: Class teachers in 41% of schools; Peripatetic teachers in 16% of schools; Volunteers or parents in 15% of schools; Secondary teachers in 13% of schools; Language teacher on the staff in 12% of schools; Foreign Language Assistants in 5% of schools; Teaching Assistants in 4% of schools. (Driscoll et al: 2004)

The specialists or generalists debate There are five main advantages [of specialist teachers]: Excellent expert linguistic role model. Correct pronunciation and intonation are taught. Specialist teachers are able to use the target language spontaneously. Specialist teachers have knowledge of the linguistic and cultural context. Lessons are planned in the context of full knowledge of the target language. However, there are three possible disadvantages in having specialist teachers: Variability in pedagogic expertise. Outsider status: fragmented teacher-pupil relationships. Inability to integrate the foreign language into the whole curriculum or embed it in pupil experience. (Sharpe, K.: 2001, pp )

Conclusion ‘What needs to be borne in mind in reviewing the current initiatives is that they have all been set up in a context where there is no commitment to universal provision of primary MFL’ (Sharpe: 2001) Subject knowledge versus pedagogy. Primary teachers are not just the only feasible way of delivering an MFL curriculum, they are also the best way.

References DCSF The Key Stage 2 Framework for Languages. DfE Languages programmes of study: key stage 2. National curriculum in England. DfES Languages for All: Languages for Life. A Strategy for England. Driscoll,P., Jones, J. and Macrory, G The Provision of Foreign Language Learning for Pupils at Key Stage 2. Canterbury Christ University College: Canterbury. Johnstone, R Evidence-based policy: early modern language learning at primary. In The Language Learning Journal, 28 (1), pp Martin, C Modern foreign languages at primary school: a three pronged approach? In The Language Learning Journal, 22 (1), pp Sharpe, K Modern Foreign Languages in the Primary School: The What, Why and How of Early MFL Teaching. London: Kogan Page Limited. Woodgate-Jones, A Training confident primary modern foreign language teachers in England: An investigation into preservice teachers’ perceptions of their subject knowledge. In Teaching and Teacher Education, 24 (1) pp. 1–13.