New times in teaching English in Primary in Spain: the theory behind Cool Kids

By Plcido Bazo and Marcos Peate

The teaching of English in Primary has become widespread throughout the country in the past few years. We should therefore be aware of how our pupils develop throughout the six years of primary now that English is being taught in nearly all schools.

Characteristics of our pupils

First cycle
The prime characteristic of children in first cycle is their facility to pick up pronunciation easily. It is therefore vital to develop their oralaural skills at this level. In the first cycle, particular importance is placed on listening activities and on activities working on the rhythm, stress and typical intonation patterns of English. There should also be activities which aim to make good use of this facility for listening that children have at this age, such as songs and Total Physical Response (TPR) activities.

Second cycle
During second cycle, the pupils become more aware that they are learning a language and that this has certain rules that they can follow. This means that the pupils can now handle more advanced activities than the cutting, sticking and colouring that is used more frequently in first cycle. In the second cycle the children are asked in particular to branch out into reading and writing by doing matching tasks, wordsearches, crosswords and writing sentences, etc. Alongside this, they are beginning to form their own picture of English through speaking activities as well.

Third cycle
By third cycle, the pupils have a much greater awareness of the more formal aspects of language, and in particular, of grammar rules. This in turn allows the pupils to form rules for themselves about how the language works. For this reason, the third cycle should include activities covering basic areas of English grammar and functional expressions. The grammar materials should be divided into two parts: the children first see how a rule works and then they do an activity putting it into practice. Colour-coded grammar cards are a good resource for grammar games and further grammar practice. In this way they build their knowledge of English in terms of both form and usage.

Clarifying objectives
There are now clear official objectives for English in Primary, and these have been further refined by practising teachers and the different regional educational authorities. The objectives have been broken down into a series of sub-objectives which build up through the three cycles of Primary.

Listening
For this skill, its important to bear in mind that the pupils need both linguistic and non-linguistic support in order to do a task successfully. Therefore we will start with very simple texts and build to more complex ones, but always with visual support and a variety of approaches to the same language.

Reading
Visual support also plays a key part in developing reading skills. The written word is introduced in the second year of first cycle. Following on from that in second cycle, the children develop reading skills at word and sentence level, and finally in third cycle they work on both global

meaning and specific information tasks from short paragraphs. It is never the aim that the pupils need necessarily understand every word, nor are they ever encouraged to translate.

Speaking
The Speaking objective encompasses two areas. The first of these is the reproduction of the sounds and intonation of English. This, as noted above, is vital in first cycle but should not be forgotten in second and third cycles either. For this reason, we should continue with songs, chants, sound discrimination activities and acting out comic strips throughout second and third cycles. The second area of speaking is the development of the communicative functions listed in the curriculum. At least one pairwork activity should be included in each teaching unit in second cycle, and two in third cycle, in order to give the pupils chance to use this functional language for genuine communication.

Writing
Writing is closely linked to reading, as writing is used as part of the reading process in second cycle. By third cycle, the pupils begin to work on short paragraphs following a model. This is controlled writing in parallel with a model, but its important to understand the value of freer writing with mistakes, as this is a sure sign of the pupils acquisition of language.

Organization of the syllabus

The syllabus in primary should develop our pupils ability to understand and to express themselves in short, to communicate even at a basic level. The different parts of the syllabus correlate with the objectives outlined in the previous section.

Communication skills
Pupils should be given plenty of oralaural exposure in first cycle to allow them to build to a little more oral expression in second cycle; and they should then broaden their reading and writing skills in third cycle. Third cycle develops reading skills alongside guided writing. We shouldnt forget that reading is a very important tool in foreign language learning and it is an area of the curriculum in all subjects in third cycle.

Functions and uses of the language

Structures are introduced with a view to their communicative value and difficulty. In first cycle, structures are mainly for passive use as it is the teacher who makes most use of them while the pupils response is limited to single words. In second cycle, the pupils are asked to use simple questions and answers. In third cycle, these structures are recycled and others are introduced, such as the third person and past and future forms.

Vocabulary
Vocabulary is recommended to be presented in sets of six words in first cycle and then eight words in second and third cycles. This allows ample repetition during the six years of Primary and establishes a solid base of vocabulary for the start of ESO. It isnt that pupils should necessarily know all these words by the end of Primary but its useful for them to have seen them several times.

Sociocultural topics
There should be plenty of work on sociocultural topics throughout the three cycles of Primary. That is the reason why our new new series (Cool Kids) is based in the real world and has a specific real world section which develops through the course, giving the pupils cultural information to accompany and support the linguistic progress they are making. Cool Kids also has a supporting DVD and Festival units which contribute to the sociocultural material in the course. Its important to note that the sociocultural content is not only about the UK, but also about other societies, with the aim being that the pupils should respect other cultures and compare them with their own.

Learning strategies
Learning strategies also affect the organization of the syllabus, as, for example, the lack of reading and writing requires more use of memory skills in first cycle. Meaningful repetition, songs and chants are used to develop memory skills specifically in the area of learning vocabulary. More cognitive strategies are developed in second and third cycles with activities that not only practise the language in a controlled way, but that also include fun and puzzle elements to encourage the pupils to use guessing strategies, which are vital for foreign language learning. Compensation strategies are also developed with visual support and clues to help pupils understand reading texts.

Intercurricular themes
Intercurricular themes should be woven in throughout the six levels of Primary. These themes are generally to do with having certain attitudes and bringing about a change in behaviour. They are very important in social terms and, in the case of foreign language learning, they are a key factor in the education of the next generation as they help to stamp out xenophobia and will result in a more tolerant society. In addition, the pupils come to realize that they can learn about other cultures through English. IWe should tackle these themes alongside language work in English, trying wherever possible to integrate the intercurricular themes with a language aim in the same activity.

Evaluation
Evaluation in Primary should be an integral part of the teaching / learning process, and above all, formative. So, with Cool Kids we therefore offer Evaluation Booklets which contain various tools for observing and measuring progress. In a European context, we are moving towards the use of the Portfolio and to that end the course also suggests activities that strengthen the idea that we should not only evaluate with a test, but also be aware of, and assess, each pupils ongoing learning. There is also a role for self-evaluation, which is seen as a key motivating factor. Therefore we should include activities to help with this.

Conclusion
Cool Kids has been thoroughly planned to take on board everything that should be taught and learnt in English at Primary level. It has a gradual progression with plenty of recycling of both vocabulary and structures. We should never forget that, according to psycholinguists, a word needs to be seen 100 times, and in different contexts, for it to be thoroughly learned. Cool Kids is centred around carefully selected topics. It is based in the real world, but this in no way prevents it from incorporating fun elements that develop fantasy and creativity.