Introduction

Abstract

According to EUROSTAT data from 2014, nearly 80% of all primary school pupils in the 28 EU countries are learning English at the primary school level. In Germany, foreign language education has to be offered in primary schools in all states and is compulsory for everyone from grade 3 onwards (Kultusministerkonferenz, Fremdsprachen in der Grundschule: Sachstand und Konzeption. https://www.kmk.org/themen/allgemeinbildende-schulen/unterrichtsfaecher/fremdsprachen.html. Accessed 30 Oct 2017, 2013, p. 5).

Although a number of publications are available that provide helpful ideas and information on what teaching approaches and materials may be most suitable for teaching a foreign language to young learners (e.g. Klippel, English in der Grundschule: Handbuch für einen kindgemäßen Fremdsprachenunterricht. Cornelsen, Berlin, 2000; Kirsch, Teaching foreign languages in the primary school. Continuum, London, 2008; Schmid-Schönbein, Didaktik und Methodik für den Englischunterricht. Cornelsen Scriptor, Berlin, 2008; Maynard, Teaching foreign languages. Routledge, Abingdon, 2012), very few research monographs exist to date (e.g. Brunsmeier, Interkulturelle Kommunikative Kompetenz im Englischunterricht der Grundschule: Grundlagen, Erfahrungen, Perspektiven. Narr, Tübingen, 2016) that examine the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language (EFL) in the primary school contexts from different angles. This book aims to provide a more detailed picture of EFL teaching in the primary school context by analysing data from multiple sources, such as textbooks, children’s books, teachers’ views on a variety of primary EFL issues that were collected with an online survey, and finally young learners’ data that were elicited with spoken and written tasks.