Tímarit um menntarannsóknir - 01.01.2009, Page 117

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Tímarit um menntarannsóknir, 6. árgangur 2009
Breytingar á uppeldissýn í leikskóla
drills. Considerable classroom time was used
for checking homework, sometimes by showing
answers on an overhead transparency. English
use in the classrooms varied greatly. In a few
cases the teacher used English extensively but
more commonly little English was used for
communicative interaction between teacher
and pupils. Oral discussions in English were
not common and pupils rarely used English
during group work. In some classrooms pupils
answered the teacher’s questions in English.
Another survey of English teaching practices
was conducted by Helga Sigurjónsdóttir in 2006
as part of her B.Ed. thesis. A representative
sample of grade 10 English teachers completed
a questionnaire about their English teaching.
Twenty-seven teachers participated in the
survey, which gave a response rate of 75%
(Helga Sigurjónsdóttir, 2006). The teachers
were asked to indicate the skill areas they
emphasized most in their teaching. The skills
most frequently mentioned were reading
comprehension, vocabulary, writing and
listening comprehension - the same skills
that are tested on the school-leaving exam
(samræmd lokapróf). Only 10% of the teachers
gave speaking and communicative activities
the highest ranking in terms of emphasis,
even though the National Curriculum clearly
stresses the importance of oral skills. In the
same survey over half of the teachers said they
emphasized the teaching of grammar and many
of the teachers said they assigned grammar
activities for homework. The findings of this
survey indicate that traditional workbook
use including grammar and vocabulary
activities received more teaching time than
communicative activities.
A few studies have been conducted that
give insight into English teaching at the
primary level. In a survey done in 2002, Auður
Torfadóttir investigated how the curriculum
changes introduced in the 1999 National
Curriculum had been implemented. With the
adoption of the 1999 National Curriculum
the beginning level of English teaching was
lowered from grade 7 to grade 5. Auður
surveyed 75% of the teachers who taught
English in grade 5 during the year 2001-2002.
The findings showed that teachers placed
most emphasis on the areas of speaking and
listening, followed by vocabulary and reading.
The most commonly used teaching methods
and activities were songs, games, workbook
use and pair work. Least emphasis was given to
role play and theme work (Auður Torfadóttir,
2003). Although teachers used songs and
games with the pupils, the difference between
the amount of workbook work and activities
that allow for more creative language use was
noticeable and illustrated the teachers’ reliance
on traditional teaching methods. Teachers in
the survey also seemed to place importance on
direct grammar teaching since many of them
criticized the teaching materials for a lack of
grammar exercises. However, the National
Curriculum recommended that beginning
English learners at this age learn grammar
indirectly and that grammar instruction be
integrated with the learning of the other skills
(Menntamálaráðuneytið, 1999).
Similar results regarding English teaching
for beginners were found in the 2006 evaluation
discussed above (Lovísa Kristjánsdóttir et al.,
2006). The grade 5 teachers said it was most
important to teach speaking, listening and
vocabulary in English. Half of the teachers
said direct grammar instruction was important
at this level. Almost all of the teachers placed
emphasis on workbook use, pair work and
having pupils read aloud. Many teachers
emphasized using songs and games but role
play, computer activities and using video
materials received the least emphasis.
The most recent study of teaching methods
in the upper grades of primary school (grades
5-7) was carried out in 2007 (Lefever, 2008a).
The study sample consisted of 30% of the
nation’s primary schools from all geographical
areas. Teachers answered a questionnaire about
their background and education, teaching
methods and areas of emphasis, use of teaching
materials, target language use, and assessment
methods.