Methodology

Abstract

In this chapter, I will first provide some general information about the German school system and more specifically the educational context in the German state of Thuringia, since this study focuses on this context. I will then introduce the young L2 learners of English that took part in the study and represent two different L2 learning contexts: an immersion context in which English is the official language, and a typical foreign language context in which English is only spoken in designated foreign language lessons. Subsequently, I will describe the data collection techniques that were employed to elicit written and spoken data from the young learners. I will then provide background information on the EFL primary school teachers that completed the teacher survey, and on how the teacher survey was developed and distributed. Following this, the textbooks and picture books that were analysed in this study are introduced. I will then describe the different speech act frameworks that I used in this project.

Appendix

3.1.1 A. Written Task Completed by the Young L2 Learners

W1. Match the words and the pictures

W2. Find the matching words

W3. Complete

3.1.2 B. Spoken Task Completed by the Young L2 Learners

Function	Interviewer	Pupil
Pragmatics	Good morning.
	What’s your name?
	How are you?
	How old are you?
	Do you like English?

Function	Interviewer	Pupil
Colours and Numbers	Show different picture cards.
	Red
	1
	Blue
	5
	Yellow
	Orange
	7
	Can you count from 1 to 10, please?
	What is your favourite colour?

Function	Interviewer	Pupil
TPR	Touch your nose.
	Clap your hands.
	Stamp your feet.
	Touch your chair.
	Stand up.
	Turn around.
	Jump.
	Sit down.

Function	Interviewer	Pupil
Translation	Can you tell me the English words, please.
	Bruder
	Schwester
	Haus
	Bitte
	Danke
	Hund
	Katze
	Buch
	Guten Tag
	Gute Nacht
	Weihnachtsmann
	Mutter
	Vater
	Löwe
	Montag
	Hallo
	Guten Morgen

Function	Interviewer	Pupil
Conversation	Can you give me the ruler, please?
	Thank you.
	Can you give me the rubber, please?
	Thank you.
	Can you ask for this?
	(Child should formulate a request and use please)
	Can I have the pencil, please?
	Thank you.
	Can I have the felt tip, please?
	Thank you.
	Can you ask for this?
	(Child should formulate a request and use please)

Function	Interviewer	Pupil
Favourite word & goodbye	Which favourite words do you know in English?
	Thank you for the interview. (Pause – give the pupil the chance to reply to the expression of gratitude)
	Good bye.

3.1.3 C. Questions in the Teacher’s Survey

Part	Question	Format	Items
1	1.1) How important do you consider the following lesson components to be?	MC	10
	1.2a) Do you assess your learners?	YN	1
	1.2b) If so, how?	O	1
	1.3) How important do you consider the following skills, knowledge and competences to be?	MC	7
	1.4) How frequently have you taught the features in 1.3 in the last teaching unit?	MC	7
	1.5a) What classroom activities /learner groupings do you use in your English lessons?	MC	5
	1.5b) If you use forms not listed here, which ones are they?	O	1
	1.6) How frequently have you used these activities/groupings in the last unit you taught?	MC	4
2	2.1) How important do you consider the teaching of politeness forms to be?	SC	1
	2.2) How often do you teach your pupils the following expressions? Consider the last unit you were teaching. How frequently have you – the teacher – used these expressions?	MC	17
	2.3) How often have your pupils used the following expressions in your last unit?	MC	17
	2.4) Do you use a welcome ritual?	YN	1
	2.5a) If so, which one?	SC	1
	2.5b) Please briefly describe the welcome ritual you use.	O	1
	2.6) Do you use a goodbye ritual?	YN	1
	2.7a) If so, which one?	SC	1
	2.7b) Please briefly describe the goodbye ritual you use.	O	1
3	3.1) Do you use differentiation in your English lessons?	SC	1
	3.2) If so, which forms of differentiation do you use?	MC	8
	3.3a) Does the textbook that you use include differentiation options?	SC	1
	3.3b) If so, which ones?	O	1
4	4.1) Do you have special needs students in your classes?	SC	1
	4.2) Which opportunities for special needs teaching do you see in English lessons?	O	1
	4.3a) Does the textbook that you use offer sufficient options for special needs learners?	SC	1
	4.3b) If so, please describe the options here.	O	1
5	5.1) Do you set homework in your English lessons?	YN	1
	5.2) If so, how often do you set homework?	SC	1
	5.3) If so, what kind of homework tasks do you set?	MC	6
6	6.1a) Which textbook do you use in your English lessons?	SC	1
	6.1b) Edition of the textbook	O	1
	6.1c) Year of publication	O	1
	6.2) How satisfied are you with the textbook that you use?	SC	1
	6.3) Do you use supplementary material recommended by the publishing house?	MC	6
	6.4) How happy are you with the supplementary material offered by the publishing house?	SC	1
	6.5) Do you use additional material that is publicly available (e.g. children’s books, materials available on the internet) or do you design your own materials?	MC	4
	6.6) Do you use realia?	YN	1
	6.7) Do you use or would you like to use one of the following children’s books?	MC	15
	6.8) Which other children’s books have you already used?	O	1
	6.9) Do you use children’s songs in your lessons?	YN+	1
7	7.1) Your age	SC	1
	7.2) Your gender	SC	1
	7.3) How many years have you been teaching English?	SC	1
	7.4) Which degrees do you have?	MC	7
	7.5) Which subjects did you study at university?	O	1
	7.6) Which schools are you qualified to teach at?	MC	6
	7.7) Which qualifications do you have for teaching English?	O	1
	7.8) From which grade is English taught at your school?	O	1
	7.9) How many hours of English lessons do children at your school have?	O	4
	7.10) Is there a sufficient number of English teachers at your school?	SC	1
	7.11) Do you teach English at more than one primary school?	SC	1
	7.12) What is the average class size in your English classes?	O	1
	7.13) In which school district do you work?	O	1
8	8.1) Do you have any comments on the questionnaire?	O	1
	8.2) Do you have any recommendations on how English lessons in primary schools could be improved?	O	1
9	9.1) Would you or your school be interested in taking part in a study involving your pupils?	YN	1
	9.2) If so, at which school do you work?	O	1

1. Notes: MC (Multiple Choice), O (Open question), SC (single choice) Y/N (Yes or No question), YN+ (yes and no question, where in the case of yes, a textbook is added to allow the teacher to specify what they are doing); Items here refers to the overall number of items listed that the teachers were asked to provide answers for, e.g. in Question 1.1 the teachers were asked to evaluate 10 phases of the lesson and evaluate their importance on an 5 part Likert scale ranging from very important to not at all important