Video about learning English in the first grade
What do some students in the first grade have to say about English? Watch this video from STAGE: "First grade English" (youtu.be).
About the STAGE project
Participants in the project are learners in Norway and Flanders (Belgium) who have similar access to English-mediated activities outside school, but different starting ages for formal English instruction in school.
Objectives
The overall aim of STAGE is to provide new and crucial insights into the input-acquisition relationship by unraveling the relative contribution of formal instruction and Extramural English (‘English outside the walls of the classroom’) to L2 English learners’ English proficiency.
Specifically, the project is the first (of size) to investigate the impact of an early start in an input-rich context by comparing early (Norwegian, age 6-7) and late (Flemish, age 13-14) starters’ English proficiency in grades 1, 6, and 10.
In doing so, STAGE will make a substantial and innovative contribution to theories of language learning and development, as well as contribute with scientific knowledge that will have societal impact.
Background
STAGE is a 4-year international research project involving researchers from Norway, Belgium, and Sweden. The project seeks answers to questions about practical English-language problems.
STAGE can be described as interdisciplinary, as the project is at the intersection of Education and Linguistics, rooted in the field of Applied Linguistics. We will conduct cross-sectional studies with participants from grades 1, 6, and 10 in Norway and Flanders. STAGE employs a quantitative-dominant mixed-methods approach.
Sub-projects
In STAGE, five empirical, cross-sectional studies will be set up.
- Study 1 focuses on learners’ Extramural English.
- Study 2 sheds light on the effect of starting age on learners’ performance on the different language proficiency measures we focus on.
- Study 3 investigates the relationship between starting age, Extramural English, and the different language proficiency measures.
- Study 4 offers insight into learner beliefs about the roles of Extramural English and English instruction for proficiency development.
- Study 5 examines interactional competence in light of learners’ experiences of Extramural English and instruction.
Developing a vocabulary test and speaking test
As part of the STAGE project, we will develop and trial a new picture-based vocabulary test for young learners around the age of 6 or 7 (that is, Grade 1 in Norway and Flanders). For these very young learners, we will also develop and trial a picture-based, 1-on-1 speaking test aimed at eliciting oral English (and possibly, with some test-takers, also interaction). These two new tests (one for vocabulary, one for speaking) will employ the same pictures, representing age-appropriate words.
Financing
- The STAGE project is funded by the Research Council of Norway. The project period starts August 1, 2021 and ends September 31, 2025. Grant awarded: NOK 11,948,000. Project number: 314229.
- STAGE also has a sister project in Belgium funded by the Research Foundation in Flanders (FWO).
Cooperation
STAGE is an international project with the University of Oslo (UiO), Department of Teacher Education and School Research (ILS), as the owner and coordinator of the project. In addition to UiO, the following universities and departments take part:
- Department of Linguistics, KU Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Teacher Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
- Department of Language, Literature, and Intercultural Studies, Karlstad University, Sweden
- Department of Languages, Linnæus University, Sweden
- Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University, Sweden
Advisory Board
The four members of the STAGE Advisory Board are world-leading scholars whose expert knowledge will help sharpening the research by scientific scrutiny.
- Dr Batia Laufer, Professor of English, University of Haifa, Israel
- Dr Hayo Reinders, TESOL Professor and Chair of Research at Anaheim University, USA and Professor of Applied Linguistics at KMUTT in Thailand (innovationinteaching.org).
- Dr Shannon Sauro, Associate Professor of Educational Linguistics, University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA
- Dr Raphael Barthele, Professor of Multilingualism, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Other research project related to STAGE
- STAGE in Flanders, Belgium (sister project)
- MultiLingual Spaces: Language Practices in English Classrooms
- i-LAP: The role of Input in English and French LAnguage Proficiency
- Exposure to English and vocabulary learning: the unique case of young English-as-a-foreign-language learners in Flanders
- ExpoVoc: Exposure to English and vocabulary learning: the unique case of young English-as-a-foreign-language learners in Flanders
- FUS: Funksjonell skriving i de første skoleårene
- STIL: Speech Technology for Improved Literacy