Event Details

"Commas in the air" new orthographies in the primary languages classroom. with Gee Macrory, Manchester Metropolitan University at the Lancaster Literacy Research Centre

Research with L1 English learners of French in England (see e.g. Woore, 2016) suggests that the new orthography presents a challenge to learners and that more attention needs to be paid to this in the classroom. Given the relatively recent introduction (2014) of compulsory language learning at age 7 in England, this is now an issue confronting all younger learners and their teachers. This talk will report on a small-scale project in one primary school, which investigated young children’s experiences of being exposed to the orthographies of French and Spanish. It aimed also to investigate teachers’ views of the introduction of a new orthography. The study points to the importance of understanding children’s perceptions of their own learning.