Naomi Flynn

Vocabulary acquisition in young children: The role of the story

Sharing storybooks with babies increases their future achievements in literacy, especially in reading (Hall, 2001; Moore and Wade, 1997, 2003; Scarborough et al., 1991; Wade and Moore, 1998; Wells, 1985). This study, focusing on case studies of two 20-month-old children, attempts to identify the role the storybook plays in children’s vocabulary acquisition. Their mothers adopted a regime of daily reading of specific picture books over a six-week period, and recorded the children’s acquisition of new vocabulary, in order to explore what specific contribution these texts made to the children’s speech. The findings demonstrate that storybooks form one source of children’s newly-acquired vocabulary. Factors that might account for this were more difficult to determine through a study of this scale.

Good practice for pupils learning English as an additional language: Lessons from effective literacy teachers in inner-city primary schools

This article presents observations and discussion of the successful teaching of English to pupils, in English primary schools, for whom English is an additional language (EAL). It draws on research in Year 2 (6—7-year old) classes in three inner-city primary schools carried out in 2003 and 2005. Three recognized, effective teachers of literacy were selected for case study; all worked in successful schools where results for literacy, measured by national tests, were in line with or better than national averages. Following analyses of lesson observations and interviews with the teachers, their head teachers and the EAL coordinators in the schools, a number of common elements in their practice emerged. Discussion centres on how these pedagogical features supported effective learning environments for the early literacy development of bilingual children, and on the implications for the practice of teaching English to all pupils.

Encountering migration: English primary school teachers’ responses to Polish children

Schools in England have recently undergone a shift in their pupil demographic, which in part reflects changing patterns of trans-European migration since the accession of new member states to the EU in 2004 and 2007. There is evidence that this shift is one experienced not just in inner-city schools most commonly associated with minority ethnic populations, but in a wide range of schools in rural and smaller town settings in a number of counties across the country. This article explores the responses of English primary school teachers to Polish children arriving since 2006 in a county in the South of England. Using Bourdieu’s logic of practice, interview data are analysed to examine attitudes towards Polish children and their families. Discussion centres on how teachers’ professional habitus may unconsciously govern their reception of children from Poland and on how the teacher-friendly behaviour of Polish children and families may support a generalized construction of the Polish model learner.

Facilitating evidence-informed practice

ABSTRACT This article draws on the notion of communal constructivism to explore its potential to frame and facilitate the development of evidence-informed practice. The explicit aspiration to nurture a research-informed workforce is prominent in discourse across policy makers, educational researchers and teacher professional groups in England; however, research evidence indicating how and why teachers might actually use research to inform their practice is limited. Furthermore, the vision for research engagement of itself is not necessarily shared between researchers and practitioners. This study examines the relationships between research and practice when academics and professionals work together. Drawing on data from the co-construction of an online research-informed guide for the teaching of English as an Additional Language (EAL), analysis highlights the complexities inherent in translating research into practice for different stakeholders. Discussion argues for the recognition of communal constructivism as a pedagogy of learning that can build understanding between researchers and practitioners for how practice might become research-informed.

Teachers and Polish children: capturing changes in the linguistic field

Abstract This article presents original insights into the English learning experiences of Polish children and contributes a longitudinal perspective on teachers’ relationships with them. Data from interviews conducted in 2016 with primary school teachers, Polish children and their parents are compared with outcomes from an earlier study ending in 2009, in order to examine whether teachers’ practice for their Polish children has persisted or changed. Previously, findings suggested that teachers in England are constrained by a monolingually-oriented curriculum and that they identify Polish children as a ‘model minority’. In the current study, interviews with teachers, parents and children were used to develop and question these findings. Using Bourdieuian notions of linguistic field, habitus and capital, data analysis illuminates: the changing responses of teachers to migration; the ways in which teachers’ pedagogy has adapted for children who have English as an additional language; and the fluid nature of children’s linguistic identities.

Intentions versus enactment: making sense of policy and practice for teaching English as an additional language

ABSTRACT This article examines the relationship between policy and practice for the teaching of children with English as an additional language (EAL) in English schools. It contributes original insights into how teachers are supported or restricted in developing the nuances of pedagogy needed for children new to English. The reported research took place against a backdrop of rising numbers of migrant children with EAL in English schools, partnered with a significant reduction in educational funding for these children and a limited focus on EAL in educational policy. Policy documents for EAL from two contrasting but contiguous periods of government were compared through an intertextual lens, and this was set alongside responses to a survey of teachers about their sense-making of policies and practices for EAL. Findings contribute to much-needed practical understanding of how policy enactment in practice may be divorced from policy makers’ intentions. Outcomes provide a timely evidence-base which enhances our grasp of the complexity of teachers’ professional lives in relation to children from different linguistic backgrounds. Moreover, analysis uncovers where policymakers’ discourse reflects how children with EAL are perceived and received in their host countries during a period of hitherto unseen high levels of migration.