Málfríður - 15.10.2007, Blaðsíða 26

 MÁLFRÍÐUR
Torfadóttir showed that 10% of primary schools
were offering English before grade 5, the required
grade level for beginning English instruction at the
time (Auður Torfadóttir, 2003).
Many of the schools that participated in the study
started English instruction in grade 1 while oth­
ers introduced it in grades 3 or 4. In most cases
the amount of teaching offered per week was ½ ­ 1
lesson a week in grades 1 and 2 and two lessons a
week in grades 3 and 4. In a few schools the instruc­
tion was broken down into shorter lessons, e.g. 15
minute lessons two or three times a week.
What are teachers doing?
The teachers were asked to describe the nature of
the English instruction in their schools and their
answers showed a range of approaches and areas of
emphasis. Over 60% of the teachers said they used
conventional whole group instruction for teaching
English. Some teachers used other approaches such
as rotating centers or stations, theme teaching, or
integrating English with other subjects. Most teach­
ers said they focused primarily on spoken English
and the use of songs and games. Others placed
emphasis on vocabulary and listening to English. A
few teachers said they mainly used workbooks and
worksheets in their teaching and one teacher said
writing and grammar instruction was given the least
emphasis.
The teachers’ answers in regard to teaching mate­
rials were also varied. Most teachers said they looked
for materials on the Internet or from other sources.
Some teachers used the materials intended for grade
5, Portfolio, for younger learners, while others used
materials from other countries and children’s books
in English. Many teachers collected ideas and mate­
rials from various resource books and handbooks
for English teaching and produced their own work­
sheets and exercises. The most common topics that
teachers worked with were colors, numbers, body
parts, food, animals, household objects, things in the
environment, personal descriptions and holidays. A
few teachers said they taught grammar items such
as synonyms, opposites, singular and plural forms,
verbs and pronouns.
Teachers were also asked to describe how they
assessed the children’s English learning. The major­
ity did not use formal assessment; instead they
reported using on­going assessment or portfolios.
Many of them based their assessment on the chil­
dren’s participation and their work over the course
of the winter. Some teachers gave written comments
on their report cards rather than letter or number
grades. Four of the 49 teachers who answered the
questionnaire said they used written tests, e.g. in
December and May, to assess the children’s learn­
ing.
Descriptions of English teaching
What follows are a few of the teachers’ own descrip­
tions of their teaching. As mentioned earlier, most
of the teachers put emphasis on spoken language
and the use of songs and a variety of activities. The
examples show how teachers create opportunities
for children to use English in the classroom.
Kennd í samverustund í byrjun dags, í spjallformi þar
sem nemendur mínir eru ekki læsir. Samþætting við
lífsleikni og tónmennt. Ég nota ekki námsefni í kennsl-
unni heldur spjöllum við saman og fáum enskumæl-
andi stúlku í bekknum til að segja okkur hvernig hlutir
eru sagðir á ensku. Svo æfum við okkur sjálf í að segja
orðin í sameiningu. Einnig syngjum við lög á ensku.
(grade 1)
Ég nota mikið tal og samtalsæfingar. Læt nemendur
gera lítil þemaverkefni. Hef einnig búið til samstæðu-
spil þar sem ég legg mikla áherslu á orðaforðavinnu
frá upphafi. Tala eingöngu ensku í timum og það þarf
jafnvel að biðja um að fá að fara á salerni á ensku.
(grade 4)
Kennsluhættir eru mjög fjölbreyttir en mikið á samtals-
formi. Ýmsir söngvar, leikir, gönguferðir úti og fundið
út hvernig hlutir í umhverfinu eru sagðir á ensku,
hreyfileikir, föndur, þrautir og svo margt fleira. (comb­
ined teaching in grades 1­ 2 and 3 ­ 4)
How much English is used?
Using English in the classroom can be challenging
for teachers, especially those who have not been spe­
cially trained as English teachers. But many teach­
ers recognized the importance of speaking English
in the classroom and used it in varying amounts.
Teachers in the survey were asked to estimate how
much English they spoke in their lessons and their
answers are shown in Figure 1. More than half said
they used English less than 40% of the time during
lessons.
Teachers were also asked how much English the
pupils used. Almost half of the teachers said that
the pupils spoke very little English in the classroom,
or less than 20% of the time. However, it was inter­
esting to note that the teachers who reported using
English most often in the classroom also reported
more English use by their pupils.