Convegno ELLiE («Early Language Learning in Europe»), 26-29 ottobre 2010, Università di Varsavia, Polonia

The ELLiE research project is a large transcontextual longitudinal study of early foreign language (FL) learning in Europe. The four-year study analysed the progress of about 1.200 primary school children (aged 7-11) learning foreign languages in seven countries: England (regarding French and Spanish), Croatia, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden (countries with English as first foreign language). Research themes included national language policies, effective factors for early language learning success, and children’s linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes. The study mainly investigated what is realistically achievable in state school classes where only a limited amount of curriculum time is available for second/foreign language learning. The use of digital media and the teacher’s role in early language learning were also investigated. A research region was selected in each country in order to collect data throughout the study. A sample of 6-8 schools (150-180 learners per country) was selected to reflect urban, suburban and rural areas, including a spread of socio-economic groupings in each region. In each school, one/two classes in their first year of FL learning were selected for monitoring over their four years of FL learning. The ELLiE team presented the key indicators emerging from this study: policy implementation aspects in the seven countries; children’s attitudes to FL learning and their motivational changes over time; the role of socio-economic factors, schools and children’s parents in sustaining the FL process; the teacher’s use of the foreign language in the classroom; the correlation between children’s informal contact and FL exposure.