Málfríður - 15.10.2007, Side 25

•   to encourage interest and motivation in lan­
guage learning
•   to develop general language awareness
•   to develop a view of language as a means of
communication and expression
•   to promote learning about other cultures and
instill positive attitudes
•   to provide more opportunities for English learn­
ing at school
Language learning is a long term process. Young
children are active learners; they are open to new
experiences and are less inhibited than older learn­
ers. They are imaginative and explorative. They
‘learn by doing’, for example through play, move­
ment, and interaction with others. It is natural for
them to ‘negotiate meaning’ from language input
in their surroundings. This holistic, natural way
of learning languages is sometimes lost with older
learners.
A survey of English teaching in grades 1­4
In order to get a better picture of the current situa­
tion regarding English teaching at the primary level,
I did a survey of all the schools that were teach­
ing English in the youngest grades in the spring
of 2007. Björg Jónsdóttir, an English teacher at
Hofsstaðaskóli, assisted me in the study. The objec­
tives of the study were to gather information about
the number of schools that offer English in grades
1­ 4, the nature of the instruction, and the education
and experience of the English teachers.
All of the primary level schools in the country that
teach grades 1­ 6 were contacted (173). The school
principals were asked to provide the names of all
the teachers who were teaching English in grades
1­ 4 during that year. These teachers were sent
a short questionnaire and asked to describe their
English teaching. Forty nine teachers from 33 schools
answered the questionnaire (18 schools in the capital
area, 15 schools from around the country).
A growing trend?
The outcomes of the survey showed that last year
English was being taught in approximately 30% of
the countries’ primary schools. This is an increase
from the year 2002 when a survey done by Auður
MÁLFRÍÐUR 
Fær fjölskylda þín
endurgreiðslu?
Skráðu fjölskylduna á spron.is fyrir áramót
og þú gætir tryggt henni endurgreiðslu þessa árs!
SPRON Fjölskylduvild er vildarþjónusta sem
hentar fjölskyldunni í hvaða mynd sem hún er
og er án endurgjalds. Í fjölskylduvildinni getur
fjölskyldan notið fjárhagslegs ávinnings í formi
endurgreiðslu og fríðinda.
„Ég er mín eigin fjölskylda“