Facing Diversity in Child Foreign Language Education

This edited book uses the concept of diversity in child foreign language education as a major organizing principle. Since a foreign language, most typically English, is taught globally to an increasing number of children, the variability in the process and varied learning outcomes are inescapable phenomena. This book has been constructed on the premise that heterogeneity, first, concerns young language learners, who due to the disparity in the pace of development need appropriately tailored educational solutions, and, second, it refers to a diversity of contexts in which learning takes place. The contexts can be defined on a macroscale (e.g. different countries), mesoscale (e.g. different institutions), and microscale (e.g. specific learner groups). The book consists of four thematic strands. In Part One the learner-internal causes of heterogeneity of young language learners are clarified. Part Two presents a sample of classroom studies in which learner variables, such as gender, learner preferences, and special needs are taken into account. Part Three looks at teaching materials and how they meet learners' needs. Finally, Part Four highlights diversity issues that teachers should be prepared to face.

Inhaltsverzeichnis:

What makes the difference in early foreign language education? Theoretical considerations.- Cognition and second language experience - broader considerations of bilingualism.- Trainability of foreign language aptitudes in children(state-of-the-art).- Relevance of local learning context and informal contact with English for heterogeneity in EELL.- An ethnographic study of reading skills in English in primary school.- EFL reading in young learners: The teacher's perspective.- Reading accuracy measure in screening for dyslexia in the EFL classroom.- Learning preferences of SEN children in an inclusive English classroom.- Working with Teachers and Young learners in Multilingual Classrooms: Introducing the Multilingual Approach to Diversity in Education (MADE).- Is strategy training necessary in L3 learning? - the study of communication strategies used by upper-primary school learners.- Assessment for learning, learning for all: a case study in the foreign language classroom.- A liter ature review on preparing preservice primary foreign language teachers for diversity via the practicum.- A Note on the Influence of Topic Prominence in Japanese on Japanese Beginner-level EFL Learners' Interlanguage: An Empirical Study.- Corpus-based evaluation of textbook content: A case of Russian language primary school textbooks for migrants.- A Multimodal Analysis of ELT Materials for Young Learners.- "Picture this!" - the educational value of illustrations in the process of teaching L2 to young learners.- Teachers' opinions on heterogenous classes: insights for EFL teacher education.