Transition in modern foreign languages

Author(s): Louise Courtney

Source: Oxford Review of Education , August 2017, Vol. 43, No. 4, SPECIAL ISSUE: New
educational researchers in the UK (August 2017), pp. 462-481
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26801146

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Oxford Review of Education, 2017
VOL. 43, NO. 4, 462–481
https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2017.1329721

Transition in modern foreign languages: a longitudinal study

of motivation for language learning and second language
proficiency
Louise Courtney
University of Reading, UK

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
The current longitudinal study examines the similarities and Transition; early language
differences between primary and secondary foreign language learning; primary languages;
curricula and pedagogy along with the development of motivation modern foreign languages
for language learning and second language proficiency. Data from 26
English learners of French (aged 10–11) were collected across three
times points over a 12-month period. The study employed the use
of lesson observations, along with questionnaires and focus group
interviews to examine the development of attitudes and motivation.
To measure linguistic progression an oral role play task, an oral
photo description task, and a free writing task were administered at
each time point. The results show that an abrupt shift in pedagogy
may negatively influence learner attitudes and motivation in early
secondary and, while early language learning does appear to generate
positive attitudes to language learning, questions remain as to its
effectiveness over the longer term when learners encounter language
teaching that appears incongruous with their aims. Learners did make
significant linguistic progress across the transition phase as measured
by objective and fine-grained measures, which raises the question
as to whether it may in fact be assessment practices that account for
the reported ‘hiatus’ in progression across transition rather than lack
of actual progress.

Introduction
Providing a smooth and effective transition from primary to secondary school has been a
major long-standing challenge for educators in many subjects across the curriculum, but is
a relatively recent issue facing teachers of modern foreign languages (MFL). Over the last
decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of primary schools teaching a
foreign language across Key Stage 2 (Tinsley & Board, 2016) and in September 2014, foreign
language teaching became a compulsory element of the National Curriculum in England in
Key Stage 2 (age 7–11 years). As a consequence, a large proportion of learners now arrive
in secondary school with up to four years’ experience of language learning. This change has
significant implications for the teaching and learning of languages across both phases since

CONTACT Louise Courtney [email protected]

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

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OXFORD REVIEW OF EDUCATION  463

successful transition is considered crucial for the effective implementation and ultimate
success of any early language learning initiative (Blondin et al., 1998). While previous research
has highlighted the issues of transition that are common to subjects across the curriculum,
such as the documented ‘hiatus’ in progress in Year 7 (first year of secondary) and the dip in
learner engagement and motivation (Galton, Gray, & Ruddock, 2003), research has shown
that there are issues unique to the teaching and learning of MFL. Inconsistencies in the
amount and nature of provision, and variability in the language taught at KS2 have led to
increasingly heterogeneous intake in Year 7 and as a result secondary teachers face difficult
decisions regarding the organisation of Year 7 language classes (Evans & Fisher, 2009). There
are, however, relatively few MFL transition studies, the majority of which have focused on
attitudes and motivation, with the exception of a small number of studies by Burstall,
Jamieson, Cohen, and Hargreaves (1974), Graham, Courtney, Tonkyn, and Marinis (2016),
and Low, Brown, Johnstone, and Pirrie (1995) that have incorporated an investigation of
progression, attitudes, and pedagogy. This paper builds on previous research by providing
novel and detailed insights into the primary to secondary transition in MFL, including an
examination of the similarities and differences in language pedagogy from Year 6 (final year
of primary) to Year 7, and the resulting impact on learner motivation and linguistic
progression.

Transition across the curriculum

The primary to secondary transition has long been recognised as a major educational issue
in the UK and across the world (e.g. see Anderson, Jacobs, Schramm, and Splittgerber [2000]
in the US, and Pieterinen [2000] in Finland). As far back as 1977, the document ‘Education in
Schools’ (DES, 1977) highlighted notable problems at the point of transfer1 (Galton, Morrison,
& Pell, 2000). Even though transition is described by Zeedyk et al. (2003, p. 67) as: ‘one of the
most difficult [steps] in pupils’ educational careers’, a number of transition studies indicate
that schools’ transition procedures are, in general, effective in alleviating many of the chil-
dren’s fears and anxieties (Galton et al., 2003). Nevertheless, research in the UK has shown
that discontinuities in curricula and pedagogy remain which are claimed to have an adverse
impact on learner attainment and motivation. For example, Hargreaves and Galton (2000),
in relation to Maths and English, reported little evidence of continuity in curriculum or ped-
agogy and a ‘hiatus’ in progress (as measured by standardised tests) from the end of primary
school to the end of the first year of secondary school for around 40% of learners. Similar
results were reported by Galton et al. (2003), with 49% of pupils making no progress in
English and Science, and 33% making no progress in Maths at the end of Year 7. However,
they do note that no consistent measure of attainment was available; end of Year 7 results
were based on teacher assessment and concerns have been raised about the reliability of
teacher assessment across educational phases (Braund, 2009).

Self-efficacy and motivation across transition

Regarding motivation and enjoyment, the results from Galton et al. (2003) show that pupils
were looking forward to going to secondary school in the few months prior to transition.
These positive attitudes to secondary school remained for the first three months, but by the
end of Year 7 the pupils’ level of enjoyment had dropped significantly. This was attributed

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464  L. COURTNEY

to secondary teachers’ preference for a ‘fresh start’ approach and lack of transfer data, findings
that are mirrored by Rainer and Cropley (2013) in relation to physical education. ‘Starting
from scratch’ is a long-standing and deliberate strategy employed by secondary school teach-
ers which, according to Hargreaves and Galton (2000), allows secondary school teachers to
gather direct information on pupil ability, rather than relying on primary school assessment
data. While it could be argued that there are benefits to levelling the playing field somewhat
by employing a ‘tabula rasa’ approach in Year 7, research shows that repeating previously
learned content can have a negative impact on progression and learner motivation across
a range of subjects, particularly for more able learners (Symonds, Long, & Hargreaves, 2011).
For the most part, transition studies have focused on learners’ perception of self-efficacy
and motivation as they transfer to secondary school. Academic self-efficacy relates to the
beliefs learners hold about their ability to be successful within a given subject (Bandura,
1997) and has been shown to be strongly related to academic outcomes more generally
(Caprara, Vecchione, Alessandri, Gerbino, & Barbaranelli, 2011) as well as a significant pre-
dictor of subject choice (Britner & Pajares, 2006). However, previous studies have shown that
learners’ perceptions of their own ability in different subjects diminishes as they move
through the education system (Arens, Yeung, Craven, Watermann, & Hasselhorn, 2013) and,
in particular, children’s sense of competence decreases across the transition period (Cantin
& Boivin, 2004). Eccles and Midgeley (1989) attribute the observed decrease in perceived
self-competence to contextual factors such as: stricter and more explicit achievement criteria
and a decrease in learner autonomy. Similar findings were reported by Ward (2000) in New
Zealand, who described a ‘subtle disaffection’ (p. 373) with secondary school that was not
so much related to content but to how it was delivered.

Transition in MFL
A principal reason for the implementation of primary languages in England is the expectation
that it will serve as an effective means to generate long-term, and enduring, favourable
attitudes to language learning with the aim of increasing language uptake in post-compul-
sory phases. There are a limited number of MFL-related studies that have examined a variety
of aspects related to transition. An evaluation by Burstall et al. (1974) of the first early lan-
guage teaching initiative in England and Wales concludes that poor transition and liaison
arrangements contributed to the failure of the programme reporting that there was no
‘significant influence’ (p. 242) on pupils’ overall attainment and that large numbers of pupils
‘failed to achieve even a modest and impermanent measure of success’ (p. 242). Low et al.
(1995), in their cross-sectional study of young learners of French and German, analysed
linguistic progression and showed that learners in the first year of secondary school for the
most part outperformed the primary learners. Bolster, Balandier-Brown, and Rea-Dickens
(2004) also reported a ‘total lack of liaison between primary and secondary phases’ (p. 36)
in relation to MFL which led to a perceived lack of progress and disillusionment on the part
of the learners.
School approaches to transition will determine how smooth the transition will be for
learners. Chambers (2014) observed that only one of the 12 secondary schools in his study
had an appropriate transition policy and strategies in place. There was a notable lack of
cross-phase liaison, with three of the 12 schools reporting no involvement with their feeder
primary schools. This mirrors the findings of the most recent Language Trends survey (Tinsley

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OXFORD REVIEW OF EDUCATION  465

& Board, 2016) which reports that all of the primary schools surveyed stated they were
offering language teaching during class time, but only 51% of primary schools reported
having any contact with their local secondary school.

Second language (L2) motivation across transition

The findings of earlier transition studies in MFL show that motivation and enjoyment
decreased over the transition period. Burstall et al. (1974) observed that pupils were initially
highly motivated in primary French lessons but became significantly less so in secondary
school due to repetition of content and mixed-ability grouping. Low et al. (1995) also reported
a drop in motivation across transition. In primary school the learners viewed language lessons
as fun. In contrast, the secondary school lessons had a greater focus on literacy and for some
pupils this led to anxiety around spelling and accuracy. McElwee (2009) argue that the
observed loss of enthusiasm for language learning in his study was due to repetition of
content resulting in a lack of perceived progress, as did Hill and Ward (2003) in Australia.
However, two recent studies have observed L2 motivational trajectories that demonstrate
similarities but also notable differences with those of previous studies in MFL and other sub-
jects. Richardson (2014) collected data from 335 learners of French and at the end of Year 6,
61% of learners agreed that they enjoyed their language lessons. This increased to 72% at the
beginning of Year 7, but by the end of Year 7 this had dropped significantly to 55%. Language
lessons were enjoyed significantly less than lessons in other subjects, although learners’ per-
ceptions of the usefulness of language learning remained stable over the year. Despite some
complaints about repetition of content and lack of progression, learners’ feelings of compe-
tence did increase from Year 6, but this figure decreased significantly by the end of Year 7,
although it did remain higher than in Year 6. Graham et al. (2016) investigated the develop-
ment of learner motivation across transition in 233 learners of French. The results show that,
for the most part, learners held positive attitudes to learning French at the end of Year 6 and
these positive attitudes remained high throughout Year 7. Again, learners’ perceptions of their
own abilities increased significantly in all areas in Year 7, except for holding a conversation
with a real French person, which is ironic since the learners cited travel and communication
as their main rationale for language learning. When asked, 89% of learners said they preferred
language learning in secondary school because they felt they made more progress and that
lessons were more challenging. By the end of Year 7, there was a wider variation in responses
between learners of different abilities: more able learners enjoyed the increased challenge of
secondary language lessons, whereas lower ability learners made increasing references to
the perceived difficulty of language lessons and a decrease in self-efficacy.
It is clear that the characteristics of the learning situation play a significant role in gener-
ating and maintaining positive attitudes to language learning (Bartram, 2010). While there
are commonalities with other subject areas, motivation for language learning is arguably
qualitatively different from other curriculum subjects. Even though learners may hold pos-
itive attitudes to language learning in general, attitudes to specific languages may differ
considerably based on perceptions of usefulness, gender, and national stereotypes (Bartram,
2010). The most widely-researched theory of L2 motivation is Gardner’s social psychological
model (Gardner, 1985). The key tenets of this model are that an individual’s motivation to
learn a language is influenced by two ‘orientations’: integrative (attitudes to the language
and language speaker community) and instrumental (the perceived pragmatic benefits of
learning the language), both of which are influenced by broader societal values and attitudes.

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466  L. COURTNEY

However, in the early 1990s there was a call to develop L2 motivation models that have a
greater focus on instructed language learning (Crookes & Schmidt, 1991). One such model
is Dörnyei’s (1994) educational framework of L2 motivation that builds on Gardner’s model,
and comprises three levels: Language Level (desirability and usefulness of a specific lan-
guage); Learner Level (need for achievement and self-confidence); Learning Situation Level
(factors related to the course, teacher, and classroom ethos). This framework is employed in
the current study to capture the range of factors related to instructed L2 motivation.
While previous research has provided valuable insights into transition in MFL, the majority
of studies have focused on learner attitudes and attainment data, where presented, tend to
be cross-sectional. Several earlier studies have described differences in primary and second-
ary pedagogy and learners’ reaction to this, but few, if any, studies of young learners examine
in detail the interaction of pedagogy, motivation, and outcomes in the same learners over
time. Furthermore, to assess the development of the learners’ knowledge and proficiency
in French it is crucial to measure individual learner progression based on detailed, objective
linguistic analyses rather than relying on broad levels of progression that may not be suffi-
ciently detailed to capture the progress learners make over a 12-month period. The current
study aims to address these gaps in knowledge in the field.

Study aims and methods

The current study addresses the following research questions:

(1) What are the similarities and differences between the primary and secondary foreign
language curricula and pedagogic practices?
(2) To what extent does children’s motivation for foreign language study develop across
the transition from Year 6 to Year 7?
(3) How does the children’s target language proficiency develop across the transition
from Year 6 to Year 7 and is there evidence of linguistic progression?

Research design
A longitudinal mixed-method case study approach was adopted in order to generate rich,
detailed data to provide a holistic view of the development of L2 progression and motivation
over the transition period. Data were collected at three time points over a 12-month period:
at the end of Year 6, three months into Year 7, and at the end of Year 7.

Participants
Several school clusters that taught French across the whole of Key Stage 2 (age 7–11) and
in Year 7 were identified and contacted. The school cluster in the current study comprised
two primary schools and one secondary school in the South of England. The two primary
schools had a similar profile in terms of measures of socioeconomic status (free school meals)
and numbers of learners with English as an Additional Language (EAL), both of which were
significantly below the national average according to government figures retrieved from
www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk (School A: EAL 0.8%, FSM 19.6%; School
B: EAL 1.5%, FSM 11%). Twenty-six children (16 girls and 10 boys) across the two primary
schools participated in the study. Teachers were asked to identify learners from across the

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OXFORD REVIEW OF EDUCATION  467

ability range, in terms of broader academic attainment, who had received four years of French
teaching in primary school and who might be willing to take part in the study. Parental
consent was sought and background data were verified to ensure none of the participating
learners had a French-speaking parent, or significant out-of-school contact with French. All
learners had English as their first language and reported no significant knowledge of addi-
tional languages. The two primary teachers were experienced primary practitioners. The
teacher in School A was a general primary class teacher and had studied languages up to
the end of secondary school. The teacher in School B was the languages specialist, with a
French degree, who taught French to all Years 3–6 throughout the week.

Data collection instruments

Lesson observations were conducted in Years 6 and 7 in order to monitor the content and the
process of the French lessons, as well as the contributions and engagement of the participants.
An observation schedule (adapted from Cable, et al. [2010] see Appendix 1) was used to
systematically document key aspects of each lesson. Two lessons in each primary school were
observed in the Summer term of Year 6. Seventeen Year 7 French classes containing partici-
pating learners, with six different teachers, were observed across the Autumn and Summer
terms. The qualitative analysis of the observation schedules was organised thematically based
on the observed activities using Nvivo®. To gain information on teachers’ rationale for primary
language teaching, transition arrangements and organisational plans for Year 7, semi-
structured interviews were conducted with both primary teachers and the languages coor-
dinator in School A. Questions were related to their language background and training, school
staffing model, their teaching approach, schemes of work, and planning for secondary transfer.
Six Year 7 French teachers were also interviewed, along with the secondary Head of MFL. The
teachers were asked about their involvement in the transition process and planning, teaching
resources, and their opinions in relation to primary language teaching.
The same three language tasks were administered at each time point: a paired oral role
play task, an oral photo description task, and a free writing task. The teachers and schemes
of work were consulted to confirm the validity of the task design and content. The tasks were
designed to elicit data for an analysis of not only the learners’ underlying linguistic system,
but also their ability to use the language communicatively and to overcome gaps in linguistic
knowledge. Moreover, it was considered essential to include tasks that reflect familiar inter-
active, meaning-focused classroom activities. Both the role play task (Appendix 2) and the
photo description task were adapted from tasks used in Cable et al. (2010) where they were
shown to be effective in eliciting production data in beginner language learners. For the
paired role play task the learners had to ask and answer questions related to themselves,
their family, and their likes and dislikes (e.g. food, sport, hobbies). The photo description task
included four photographs of different scenes with which the pupils should have been
familiar and required familiar vocabulary such as: parts of the body, clothes, classroom equip-
ment. The participants were asked to describe the photographs in French. All of the instru-
ments were successfully piloted in March and April 2010 with a small group of learners from
a local primary school, who had been taught French systematically for four years. Only minor
amendments to the wording of the final questionnaire items and the role play card were
required. The oral tasks were recorded and transcribed in CHILDES CHAT (Codes for Human
Transcription) format (MacWhinney, 2000a, 2000b). For the writing task, learners were asked

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468  L. COURTNEY

to compose an email in reply to a pen pal and were instructed that they could write about
any topic in a minimum of three full sentences. Written data were also transferred to CHAT
and, to measure vocabulary and grammatical development, data from all three tasks (a total
of 234 transcriptions) were analysed in CLAN (Computerised Language Analysis [MacWhinney,
2000a, 2000b]). For the vocabulary analysis, the transcription data were lemmatised (con-
verted to the root form) following Tidball and Treffers-Daller (2007). This is crucial to ensure
that vocabulary knowledge is not over-estimated. In recognition of the learners’ lack of
practice in writing, French learners were not penalised for spelling mistakes. Misspelled,
correctly used, words were included in the vocabulary analysis which measured the number
of words (tokens) and the number of types (different kinds of words) each learner produced.
The analysis of the development of verb production was based on the percentage ratio of
verbs per number of propositions produced. A proposition is an utterance that should ordi-
narily contain a verb to communicate the learners’ intended meaning. For each transcription
the number of propositions, with and without a verb included, were counted. A large pro-
portion of the learners produced propositions that contained only noun phrases or prepo-
sitional phrases where the inferred meaning clearly required a verb.
For a fuller discussion of the rationale and theoretical foundations of the selected linguistic
measures, see Courtney (2014).
The motivation questionnaire was based on an instrument used by Harris and Conway
(2002), which itself was adapted for use with children from Gardner, Clément, Smythe, and
Smythe’s (1979) ‘Attitude/Motivation Test Battery’ which has been widely used and empiri-
cally tested. In consideration of the age of the participants and school time constraints, the
instrument was limited to 18 items with a four-point Likert scale response format and three
open questions (see Appendix 3 for example items). Table 1 details the mean scores and
scale reliability coefficients for each round. The items were grouped into four main motivation
scales that map onto Dörnyei’s (1994) framework: Language Level—Integrativeness (atti-
tudes to language learning in general, France and French speakers); Instrumentality (use-
fulness; importance); Learner Level—Linguistic Self-Efficacy (perceptions of their own ability
in French); and Learning Situation (factors relating to lesson content, teacher, and resources).
Semi-structured focus group interviews with the learners were conducted at all time points,
in small groups of between four and six. The learners were asked if they enjoyed French,
what helped them to learn, whether French was different from other subjects, their percep-
tions of progress, and the usefulness of language learning in general and of French in par-
ticular. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analysed thematically in Nvivo®,
with reference to Dörnyei’s (1994) framework.

Results

(1) What are the similarities and differences between the primary and secondary foreign
language curricula and pedagogic practices?

An analysis of school documentation and teacher interviews shows that similar content
topics were covered from Year 3 to Year 6 in both schools, for example: talking about yourself,
animals, my body, my family, my school, days of the week and months, the weather, my town,
holidays. Following several primary–secondary cluster meetings (around two per year,
arranged by the cluster several years prior to the study), and observation visits from the

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OXFORD REVIEW OF EDUCATION  469

secondary head of MFL, the secondary school decided to alter the Year 7 scheme of work to
a ‘Your School’ topic because it had not been extensively covered in either of the primaries,
thereby aiming to avoid simple repetition of previously learnt language. The topic did, how-
ever, permit the revision of previously learnt items such as numbers, colours, and days of
the week, and the inclusion of potentially new vocabulary related to clothes and school
subjects, and was considered by teachers to be of interest as the learners had themselves
just started a new school.
The French lessons observed in both schools displayed the characteristics commonly
seen in primary French classrooms (Driscoll, Jones, & Macrory, 2004). The lessons began with
a ‘bain français’ which is an oral revision of previously learnt language as a warm up activity.
Songs were also used as a warm up and a way to motivate and engage the learners, as were
games using items such as beanbags. Flashcards were used in all lessons combined with
choral repetition. The final part of the lessons were focused on more literacy-based activities
such as sentence matching tasks or writing one or two sentences in French based on sen-
tence models. There was little evidence of explicit grammar instruction or any formal or
informal assessment of learner progress. On the whole, the observed lessons were interactive,
engaging, fast-paced, and active and the emphasis was on transactional, formulaic chunks
of language with little focus on explicit grammar instruction.
In Year 7, while there were some minor differences in individual teaching style from lesson
to lesson, both resources and teaching approach were consistent across the classes. The
findings of the observations mirror those reported in previous studies (e.g. Evans & Fisher,
2009). On the whole, the secondary lessons started on a far more formal note than in primary
school. In most lessons the exercise books and textbooks were distributed first and the
learners had to write the date and title in French in silence before any other activity began.
Some classes began with a written starter activity such as matching pictures to word labels
and recording in exercise books. Literacy-focused activities featured heavily in the secondary
lessons and there was very little observed opportunity for the learners to partake in ora-
cy-based activities. The only opportunity to speak any French came in whole class plenary
sessions with the teacher asking individuals for particular vocabulary items or translation of
sentences into French. Only two Year 7 teachers made use of recorded songs in their lessons
and the majority of learners participated when they were played.
Explanations of grammatical concepts and forms were far more common and were often
centred around grammatical gender, highlighting the use of different articles for masculine,
feminine and plural nouns and also the placement and agreement of colour adjectives.
Nevertheless, these explanations normally only lasted a few minutes and appeared to feature
on an ad hoc basis as the issues arose during the course of the lesson. Alongside this there
was also a greater emphasis on accuracy with learners frequently reminded to check their
spelling and ensure the correct use of accents. Spelling tests were a strategy often used by
the teachers to encourage learners to revise vocabulary.

(2) To what extent does children’s motivation for foreign language study develop across
the transition from Year 6 to Year 7?

The questionnaire were administered at three time points and item scores were entered into
SPSS® for analysis. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire and scales were ascertained
by calculating Cronbach Alpha (CA) coefficients. Table 1 displays the group motivation mean
scores, standards deviations, range, and CA coefficients for rounds 1–3.

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470  L. COURTNEY

Table 1. Group motivation mean scores, standards deviations, and CA coefficients, rounds 1–3.
Round Motivation Mean Range CA coefficient
1 (Y6) 3.14 (0.42) 2.19–3.88 0.814
2 (Y7a) 3.01 (0.46) 1.94–3.75 0.891
3 (Y7b) 3.06 (0.41) 2.31–3.81 0.822

As seen in previous studies of young learners, the group mean scores indicate that the
learners were generally positively motivated to learn French, especially at the end of Year 6
(e.g. Cable et al., 2010; Mihaljević Djigunović, 1993). The pattern of motivation, however,
does not replicate that of other transition studies, for example, Galton et al. (2000, 2003) in
which a consistent drop in overall motivation across Year 7 was reported. The results of a
Friedman test of repeated measures show that the differences across the three time points
are not significant (χ2 = 5.61, p = 0.061).
To gain a greater understanding of the nature of learner motivation, and to enable a
comparison with recent MFL transition studies, mean scores across the five motivation scales
were calculated and are displayed in Table 2.
Questions related to the importance of French for travel and communication purposes
and French culture (Integrative) scored highest and means remained stable across the three
rounds. Learners indicated that they felt relatively confident in their own ability in Year 6 and
this remained consistent across Year 7 unlike the learners in Graham et al. (2016) who dis-
played increasing self-confidence in Year 7. While there is a slight drop in mean scores for
questions related to the usefulness of French for future work and study, the results of a
Friedman test of repeated measures indicate that the decrease is not significant from Year
6 to the end of Year 7 (χ2 = 2.83, p = 0.243) and learners by and large agree that learning
languages is both useful and important. As in other studies (e.g. Chambers, 2000) it is the
Learning Situation component that demonstrated the most variation across time with a
significant decrease across the 12 months (χ2 = 7.04, p = 0.03). The results of pair-wise com-
parisons with Bonferroni adjustment show the decrease was only significant between rounds
1 and 2 with a small effect size (z = 2.43, p = 0.015, r = 0.29).
The focus group interview data corroborate these findings. In Year 6, 77% of learners said
they enjoyed learning French. This figure dropped to 68% in term one of Year 7 but did
increase slightly to 69% by the end of Year 7. In Year 6 the lessons were considered fun and
interactive with activities such as songs, games, and videos featuring heavily. Negative
responses were infrequent but when expressed they often related to the choral repetition
of words and a dislike of writing that was considered difficult and time-consuming. Despite
the noticeable dip in enjoyment, there was still a wide range of activities that the learners
enjoyed in their Year 7 classes: games, songs (although these were infrequent), videos, and
computer work. There was, however, almost unanimous agreement on what was not to like
about the Year 7 lessons and that was writing/copying off the board. The learners failed to
see the educational benefits and future relevance of the writing that they did in their French
classes. Learners found it boring and unchallenging, and some also believed that it did not
aid the learning of new words. Interaction and the opportunity to use the language were
considered fundamental to language learning and their absence became a source of frus-
tration for learners who felt that they did not get the opportunity to use their French
interactively.

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Table 2. Descriptive statistics and Cronbach alpha internal reliability coefficients for each of the motivation scales, rounds 1–3.
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
Motivation scale Mean Range CA coefficient Mean Range CA coefficient Mean Range CA coefficient
Instrumental 3.38 (0.63) 2.0–4.0 0.54 3.21 (0.57) 2.50–4.0 0.63 3.22 (0.76) 2.0–4.0 0.60
motivation (Lang.)
Integrative motivation 3.39 (0.51) 2.75–4.0 0.55 3.36 (0.65) 1.75–4.0 0.83 3.38 (0.55) 2.75–4.0 0.80
(Lang.)
Self-efficacy (Learner) 2.99 (0.72) 1.50–3.75 0.72 2.98 (0.62) 2.0–4.0 0.74 3 (0.64) 2.25–4.0 0.52
Learning situation 2.98 (0.76) 1.60–4.0 0.90 2.7 (0.81) 1.20–3.60 0.81 2.8 (0.80) 2.25–4.0 0.83

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OXFORD REVIEW OF EDUCATION 
471
472  L. COURTNEY

Inconsistent with findings of previous transition studies in MFL (e.g. McElwee, 2009) there
was a lack of complaints regarding the repetition of content or ‘starting from scratch’. The
majority of learners felt that primary languages had given them a good start and a spring-
board from which to work and progress in Year 7. A small number of learners admitted that
they were finding learning French more difficult in Year 7. However, despite the perceived
increased difficulty, most learners considered they had improved in French based on their
belief that they knew more words, could write longer and more complex sentences, and
had a growing awareness of grammatical features. External validation by way of teacher
assessment based on National Curriculum levels also enhanced their perception of progres-
sion. Nevertheless, by the end of Year 7 assessment was deemed to dominate the French
lessons and the resulting pressure and anxiety felt by many of the learners contributed to
the fact that secondary French lessons did not compare favourably with their primary school
experience.

(3) How does the children’s target language proficiency develop across the transition
from Year 6 to Year 7 and is there evidence of linguistic progression?

Vocabulary knowledge features prominently in the primary Programme of Study for modern
foreign languages (MFL) (DfE, 2013), as does the expectation that learners will develop basic
grammar knowledge including; ‘the conjugation of high-frequency verbs’ (p. 3). As observed
in previous studies of younger learners (e.g. Housen, Bulté, Pierrard, & Van Daele, 2008),
vocabulary progression over time is evidenced by a generally linear increase in the number
and range of words produced (although the rate of development has been shown to slow
after several years of instruction). Therefore the indices of vocabulary progression in the
current study are: number of words (tokens) produced and number of different word types
produced. Additionally, Myles (2005) argues that verb production is the first indication of
emergent syntactic knowledge and therefore we would expect to see an increase in the
number of verbs produced over the 12 months as indicated by the percentage ratio of verbs
per number of propositions produced. The results for both measures of vocabulary and verb
production for rounds 1–3 are displayed in Table 3.
The results show that, over the transition from primary to secondary school, the learners
continued to make good progress in both measures of vocabulary development. The results
of a repeated measures ANOVA show that the increase was significant at all time points for
both measures (tokens F = 123.15, p ≤ 0.001; types F = 83.91, p ≤ 0.001). Pair-wise compari-
sons with Bonferroni correction indicate that differences in tokens produced are significant
between all time points with large effect sizes (rounds 1–2: t = 7.21, p ≤ .001, d = 1.78; rounds
2–3: t = 5.48, p ≤ .001, d = 0.96; rounds 1–3: t = 11.74, p ≤ .001, d = 2.60). Results are similar

Table 3. Group mean scores and standard deviations for measures of linguistic progression, rounds 1–3.
Measure Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
Vocabulary Mean no. of tokens 161.58 243.85 304.31
Standard deviation 41.96 49.64 62.21
Range 92–245 177–396 191–411
Mean no. of types 57 68.85 79.77
Standard deviation 11.48 11.16 15.86
Range 44–79 52–108 57–118
Grammar (verb production) Mean % verb/prop ratio 46.57 64.12 79.88
Standard deviation 12.89 13.39 10.36
Range 23.81–77.78 18.92–82.35 52.08–100

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OXFORD REVIEW OF EDUCATION  473

for the production of word types (rounds 1–2: t = 6.58, p ≤ .001, d = 1.03; rounds 2–3: t =
6.03, p ≤ .001, d = 0.87; rounds 1–3: t = 9.49, p ≤ .001, d = 1.75). While overall learners did
make significant progress, it is clear from the standard deviations and range reported in
Table 3 that there was a great deal of variability in both the amount and range of vocabulary
produced by the learners.
Turning to verb production, Table 3 shows that the ratio of propositions containing a
verb increased consistently across the transition period. The results of a repeated measures
ANOVA show that this increase was again significant across all time points (F = 137.61, p ≤
.001). In Year 6, just under half of utterances produced contained a verb (47%), with most
learners relying for the most part on simple noun phrases, and by Year 7 this figure had
increased to 80%. Pair-wise comparisons with Bonferroni correction indicate that the increase
in verb production is significant between all time points with large effect sizes (rounds 1–2:
t = 6.58, p ≤ .001, d = 1.24; rounds 2–3: t = 6.03, p ≤ .001, d=1.29; rounds 1–3: t = 9.49, p ≤
.001, d = 2.80). While learners continued to produce a greater number and range of words,
verbs were the least produced word class, with nouns most frequent which is a common
feature of language development (Bassano, 2000). Group means indicate that overall the
learners made significant progress for all linguistic measures. However, as with the vocabulary
scores, there was variability in performance among the individual learners (for more details
on individual differences in motivation and outcomes, see Courtney [2014]).

Discussion and conclusions

It is clear that the schools involved in the current study were well aware of the issues facing
them in terms of transition in relation to MFL and had begun to tackle the issue of an increas-
ingly heterogeneous intake in Year 7. The secondary school made a creditable attempt to
adjust the Year 7 scheme of work to take into account the language previously encountered,
thus supporting progression for learners with previous experience, and also to make the
lessons accessible and relevant to complete beginners. There were positive reactions from
the pupils to the ‘Our School’ topic area covered in the first term of Year 7 as it provided
learners with the opportunity to revise previously learnt vocabulary such as: colours and
numbers, days of the week, and clothing alongside new and unfamiliar language, in addition
to simple grammatical structures. However, the current study shows that ensuring progres-
sion and continuity applies to both content and pedagogy, and not just content alone. The
findings of the current study corroborate those of Ward (2000), who observed an abrupt
shift in pedagogy across transition which resulted in a decrease in levels of enjoyment and
motivation. While the learners generally held positive attitudes about their primary French
lessons, their attitudes to the learning situation, were more negative at the beginning of
Year 7.
In the focus group interviews, when commenting on the learning situation, the learners
made value judgements based on four main criteria: whether the activities were intrinsically
interesting; whether they aided language learning; the perceived difficulty of the tasks and
activities; and their perceived relevance to future goals. In Year 7 the learners became increas-
ingly critical of their language learning experience and whether it was ‘fit-for-purpose’: it
would seem that for many their goals seemed to be at odds with those of the teacher and
curriculum. Whereas the learners were more focused on communication and speaking, the
pedagogy and curriculum appeared to be aimed at passing assessments, which tended to

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474  L. COURTNEY

be more literacy focused. Primary language experience may well have exacerbated this
problem as it consisted of a predominantly oracy-based pedagogy which emphasised lan-
guage learning for communication purposes. Language teaching in the primary school was
more in line with the pupils’ perceptions of usefulness and purpose, whereas the more
assessment- and literacy-focused secondary approach appeared to be more distant from
the learners’ own aims. The topics covered in secondary school were considered irrelevant
and the learners complained about the lack of spoken interaction, and lack of opportunity
to say what they wanted to say. In both primary and secondary French classes there was not
much evidence of activities related to intercultural understanding and little, if any, oppor-
tunity for interaction with the target language community. The results from the current study
are in line with earlier studies that have shown that language learning in primary school
cultivates positive attitudes to language learning in general (e.g. Cable et al., 2010; Mihaljević
Djigunović, 1993). For the most part, the learners were still inherently interested in learning
languages at the end of Year 7, but the question remains as to how effective these favourable
attitudes will be in fostering and maintaining positive motivation for language learning over
the longer term, when faced with a language pedagogy that appears to be incongruous
with their overall objectives. Rebalancing the emphasis on literacy and oracy skills in sec-
ondary classrooms, as well as incorporating intercultural activities that provide greater target
language contact such as video links, visits, and online communities may help to reduce the
disparity between teaching experienced and learners’ objectives.
Regarding the trajectory of learner motivation and the development of learner self-
efficacy from Year 6 to Year 7, the results of this and the other studies reviewed (both for MFL
and other subjects) are inconsistent. This is attributable to two keys factors: inconsistency
in the conceptualisation and measurement of attitudes, motivation, and self-efficacy from
study to study, and the influence of context and prior experience. Also, as L2 motivation
theory postulates, there are numerous factors that form part of a learner’s overall motivation
for language study. The questionnaire responses show that overall attitudes to language
learning remained relatively stable over the year, as did learners’ perceptions of self-efficacy.
The appraisal of self-efficacy is, however, very much related to the nature of the questions
asked. The self-efficacy questions in the current study are related to oral ability only (e.g. I
am getting better at speaking in French). On the other hand, the questionnaire used by
Graham et al. (2016) contained self-efficacy questions related to both speaking and writing.
The scores for the writing questions increased significantly in Year 7, which is undoubtedly
a reflection of the more literacy-based approach in secondary school. Had questionnaire
items related to literacy been included in the current study, it is likely the results would have
been similar. Indeed, in the focus group interviews (reported in Courtney [2014]), learners
judged their progress in French on the fact that they knew more words, could write longer
and more complex sentences, and had increased their knowledge of grammar, and not on
speaking. Nevertheless, while overall levels of self-efficacy remained stable, some learners
displayed very low levels of self-efficacy across all time points and reported finding lessons
increasingly difficult across Year 7. Given Block’s (2007, p. 137) assertion that pupils’ self-per-
ceptions are ‘linked to the community of practice emergent inside the classroom’, the growing
disaffection with the language content and pedagogy suggests there is a high risk that
learners will become less engaged, may doubt the achievability of their aims, and ultimately
give up on language study at the end of Year 9.

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OXFORD REVIEW OF EDUCATION  475

A key finding of the current study, and one that contradicts many earlier studies, is that,
despite the shift in language pedagogy and the fluctuations in learner motivation, the learn-
ers continued to make significant progress across the transition period in all areas investi-
gated. The amount and range of vocabulary produced increased consistently over the year
for the majority of learners. Moreover, while verb production was relatively slow to develop
for some learners, there is clear progress in the amount and range of verbs produced, sig-
nalling developing grammatical knowledge and productive ability. The results also support
previous studies that have demonstrated that there is a great deal of variation in learner
outcomes (e.g. Courtney, Graham, Tonkyn, & Marinis, 2015) which indicates that greater
differentiation in language lessons is required for learners across the ability range. While
previous research has provided valuable and informative insights into motivation and pro-
gress across transition in a range of curriculum subjects, more research highlighting the
differential experience and progress of learners across the ability range is needed.
It is evident that the finding of significant progression reported in the current study is
attributable to the inclusion of a series of fine-grained, objective measures of language
development used to evaluate learner progression, rather than reliance on broad level
descriptors and teacher assessment that would have yielded less detailed information. It
would be interesting and very useful to conduct future research in transition in the core
subjects of English and Maths, for example, employing agreed, detailed objective measures
of progression. This would help to ascertain whether it is discontinuity in grading practices
that may go some way to explaining the previously reported ‘hiatus’ in progression, rather
than solely focusing on discontinuity in content or pedagogy. Furthermore, the instruments
used in the study demonstrate that one can obtain a great deal of valuable information on
young learners’ progression in MFL using enjoyable oral interactive tasks rather than having
to rely on pencil and paper tests. While many primary teachers are reluctant to introduce
assessment, using activities such as those described here would provide useful and detailed
information to pass on to secondary colleagues and would provide a basis for the creation
of agreed cross-phase assessment practices to monitor progress across the transition period
and beyond.
While the cluster of schools in the current study made a praiseworthy attempt at medi-
ating the issues of an increasingly mixed intake and the learners continued to make progress
in all areas of investigation, it is clear that ensuring continuity in content is not sufficient on
its own and that the abrupt shift in language pedagogy had a negative effect on learner
attitudes. The teachers involved in the study expressed the need for greater information
exchange between the two phases, and it is evident that all involved would benefit from
having more mutual lesson observations to try to avoid such a marked change in language
pedagogy. This is crucial for ensuring progression in the early stages of language learning
and for maintaining motivation for language learning over the longer term. If the reasoning
behind the introduction of primary languages is to encourage more children to continue
with their language studies beyond the compulsory phase at secondary school then any
discontinuity in approach following the transition to secondary school may in fact work
contrary to these aspirations. The stated rationale for teaching languages and the objectives
of the learners have to be matched with a sustained consistent pedagogy and content that
is perceived as relevant for learners’ communicative aims. Forcing learners to learn something
they do not see as inherently valuable and interesting may actually serve to impede them
in future life when they may see the need to learn a language.

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476  L. COURTNEY

Note
1. 
Transfer and transition are used interchangeably in the literature.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Funding
This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [grant number ES/H010440/1].

Notes on contributor
Louise Courtney is a Lecturer in Language and Education at the University of Reading. Formerly, Louise
was a primary school languages teacher in England and has worked on several large-scale research
projects evaluating the teaching and learning of French at Key Stage 2 and the transition to second-
ary school. Louise’s publications report findings related to individual differences in young language
learners, longitudinal studies of motivation and the development of grammar and vocabulary.

ORCID
Louise Courtney http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2075-5617

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OXFORD REVIEW OF EDUCATION  479

Appendix 1. Lesson observation schedule

Languages observation schedule
School
Teacher ID
Date and time
Researcher
Year group(s) in class
Number of girls
Number of boys
Other adults present (TAs etc):
Lesson plan Yes/No
Description of lesson observed
Qualitative description of classroom tasks and interaction
Teacher explanation of classroom tasks, methods, and approaches
Teaching methods
What the pupils were doing in the lesson
Opportunities for pupils to interact directly with the teacher
Opportunities for pupils to interact with each other
Pupil participation in the lesson
Pupils motivation and engagement
Nature of teacher responses or feedback on pupil contributions in the course of the lesson
Teacher use of target language
Use of the target language by pupils
Lesson structure
Teacher reference to learning objectives in the lesson
Pace of lesson—sequencing of content
Progression within the lesson
Evidence of learning
Progress monitoring and assessment within the lesson
Additional information

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480  L. COURTNEY

Appendix 2. Role play card

Qui es-tu?
Nom: Robert Sophie Age: 10 ans A toi de
Philippe Rakshah 11 ans décider ?
Omar Betty 15 ans
Jonathan Joanne

Ta famille ?
Famille: un frère, 7 ans Animaux: A toi de décider ?
une sœur, 13 ans un lapin
deux sœurs, 5 et 8 ans deux chats
maman, 37 ans un chien
papa, 40 ans trois poissons

Qu’est-ce que tu aimes / tu n’aimes pas ………….

Comme sports?

A manger ?

A l’école ?

Comme loisirs ?

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OXFORD REVIEW OF EDUCATION  481

Appendix 3. Motivation questionnaire

Year 6 Questionnaire

Pupil number ____________

I am a ______________ (boy/girl)
My school is ______________________________
My class is _______________________________

Bonjour! This questionnaire is about how you feel about learning French and also your
feelings about moving to your new school in September. I have written some opinions about
learning French and moving school. I would like you to tell me how you feel about each
opinion by ticking one of the four boxes; ‘strongly disagree’, ‘disagree’, ‘agree’, and
‘strongly agree’.

Please remember there are no right or wrong answers. Don’t spend too much time thinking
about the answer. Just be sure to tick what you really feel. I am the only person who will see
the answers you have chosen.

Here is one for you to practice:

Summer holidays from school are too long.

Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree

Ok now for the real ones ….

I would like to visit France.

Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree

French is useful for getting a good job.

Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree

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