The study included data from approximately 3,000 students participating in a longitudinal study conducted in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between 2010 and 2014. Similar data were used in the previous study. , results that the researchers published in 2017. At that time, they compared two groups, in which one group had begun learning English in first grade, the other in third grade. In grades five and seven, they compared both groups in terms of English reading and listening comprehension. The new analysis combined another dataset collected in 2016 to measure the English performance of the same children in ninth grade.
Previous research has shown that: Children who start learning English earlier in primary school have worse reading and listening comprehension in seventh grade than children who don’t start learning English until third grade.
Additional baseline variables such as gender, language of origin, or cognitive ability could not explain the difference between poorer academic performance in seventh grade and late academic performance in ninth grade.
The transition between school types is decisive
“We believe the most likely explanation is that post-middle school lessons have been increasingly tailored to the needs of children starting to learn English at an early age,” said Nils. Jkel, formerly at RUB, now University. by Oulu. “This explanation is consistent with research that considers transitions between school types to play a key role in the long-term success of English education across school boundaries.” With this in mind, it is important to optimize the co-ordination and didactic alignment of English classes at the intersection of school types. In addition, students can benefit in the long run from more implicit language lessons in elementary school.
“We recognize a strong need for research to develop the factors for successful language education, and we recommend well-coordinated, evidence-based measures in policy,” the researchers said. education in general,” the researchers said.
Source: Newswise
