Research And Experimentation On The Activity-based Approach For Young Foreign Languages Learners

The purpose of this research project was to investigate the effect of the activity-based teaching approach on young learners' foreign language learning and the effect on their affective factors concerned. This study also aimed at a critical reflection on the actual practice of this teaching method in the classrooms, including the learners' opinions of the classroom activities and also the teacher's views about or attitudes towards it. The topic was chosen for several reasons: the rapid increase in the number of children who start to learn foreign language in the primary school or even in the kindergarten; a lack of relevant empirical research; a gap between the theory and practice of foreign language teaching and learning for young learners; the researcher's previous teaching experience and personal interest.The subjects in the study were 69 fifth-grade students from two classes in Yangzhou International Primary School. Before the teaching experiment the experimental class (EC) (N=36) and the control class (CC) (N=33) completed pre- oral and written tests. A pre-questionnaire was conducted in EC. During the teaching experiment, the activity-based approach was carried out in EC, while the traditional teaching approach was used in CC as usual. After twenty weeks, post-oral and written tests were administered to EC and CC, and a post-questionnaire to EC. At this stage interviews with six students and the teacher were conducted for the purpose of gaining in-depth information.Detailed analysis of the data yielded the findings as follows:1. The results showed that the oral and written test scores of EC were significantly higher than those of CC after the experiment and that both classes showed improvement in their self-monitoring ability, but at an insignificant level, with EC's average self-monitoring index improved to a greater extent than CC's.2. This approach had a positive effect on the affective factors of the young learners in the process of their foreign language learning, includingmotivation, self-confidence, and anxiety, though most differences were insignificant. However, it was noted that after the implementation of the approach the subjects were more concerned about the results of tests.3. The young learners in EC expressed more favourable opinions about the classroom activities after the teaching experiment, including cooperative and competitive activities and a variety of communicative and non-communicative activities. Activities which challenged the children but did not frustrate them were especially preferred. Pace regulation for classroom teaching was difficult in the mixed-ability English classes, where high achievers tended to find the lesson boringly slow, with the low achievers considering it to be bewilderingly fast. Group work was found to be a solution to the problem.4. Compared with the traditional teaching method, the teacher found the activity-based approach more effective, but more challenging. The importance of ideal class size was emphasized by the teacher.In light of the findings, this paper suggests that teachers should show more concern for and be more strict with learners who have low self-monitoring abilities. The paper also suggests that classroom activities should be suited to learners' abilities and that neither communicative activities nor non-communicative ones should dominate the classroom. Moreover, as is shown in the experiment, more group work and ideal class size are conducive to the implementation of activity-based approach, and too large a class affects its effectiveness.