Facts
The timing of when a primary school begins teaching English varies, as the start time is not legally fixed. Research by the National Expertise Center for Curriculum Development (SLO) shows that most schools (66%) start English in the upper grades, in group 7 or group 8. The number of schools that start English in group 5 or 6 is about the same as the number of schools that start English in group 1/2. In practice, there are three variants:
- Regular Eibo (English in primary education): English in group 7 and 8
- Advanced Eibo: English from group 5
- VVTO (early foreign language education): English from group 1
The last variant, VVTO, is gaining more ground. But is it worthwhile to start teaching English from group 1?
Effects of VVTO
It is generally assumed that starting to learn a foreign language early at school leads to better results. However, research results are not unequivocal. Some studies show that starting early with English does not outweigh the benefits of starting later. With an early start, students have more lesson hours, but starting at an older age has the advantage that students are further along in their cognitive development. This means that young students need more time and therefore more input to reach the same level as students who start learning a foreign language at an older age.
According to multiple studies, the amount of input and the quality of foreign language education are important conditions for effective second language acquisition. When conditions are limited, language development in young students is minimal. Ultimately, results then show no difference between VVTO and regular Eibo. But with a large amount of input and good quality, VVTO does yield better results than regular Eibo. In short, starting early only makes sense if there is a lot of input and the quality of foreign language education is good. How can you ensure this?
Input
Often, English is scheduled once a week. Some schools give an hour of lessons, while others give half an hour to three-quarters of an hour. Compared to foreign schools, we provide few English lesson hours in the Netherlands. The amount of English input can be increased through Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). This means that during another lesson, such as geography or science, English is the language of instruction. This integrated approach has proven to be very effective for learning a foreign language, especially for young students. Moreover, CLIL does not hinder the acquisition of the Dutch language.
Quality
Many teachers give group-oriented lessons without differentiating. At the same time, half of the teachers experience the large differences in levels among students as a problem when teaching English. Students with developmental delays, learning problems, or English as a third language have more difficulty learning a foreign language. Additionally, other students already speak a fair amount of English due to input from home, such as YouTube, social media, movies, or an English-speaking parent. Differentiation ensures that the quality of education improves. Modern digital methods can provide this differentiation without increasing the teacher’s workload. In fact, an online method might even reduce the teacher’s workload.
Besides differentiation, the principle of ‘target language as the language of instruction’ is essential in good foreign language education. A lot of exposure to the target language contributes to the effectiveness of second language education. With younger students, the target language and the language of instruction can sometimes get mixed up. To manage this, you can make speaking English visual by, for example, wearing an English hat or using a hand puppet.
Ready to Start?
There is no clear start time for English. The conditions of a large amount of input and good quality are crucial. The question to ask within the team is: from when can we guarantee these conditions? Any group can then serve as the starting point, although it is advised not to start in groups 3 and 4 due to learning to read and write. Make a decision as a team and go for it together!
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