Cognitive and Linguistic Predictors of Foreign Language Literacy in Elementary School Students - Preliminary Analysis of Research Instruments
Abstract
Although the teaching of the English language (as a foreign/second language) is now compulsory in many European countries at the level of primary education, we still lack research-based information about how young school-age pupils learn English in a formal environment and what skills are needed for development foreign language competences are key. Attention in this regard has so far been paid mainly to adult students.
However, with regard to the development of cognitive and language skills, these findings cannot simply be applied to childhood. The paper will present a longitudinal study, the aim of which is to map the development of foreign language literacy (reading, writing and listening) in the first two years of formal English language teaching at primary school and to assess the influence of selected cognitive and linguistic abilities, as well as motivational and environmental factors, on individual differences in performances among pupils.
Specifically, the contribution will focus on the analysis of data from the first phase of testing, which took place among monolignous Czech 3rd year students (N= 92) in the fall of 2021/2022. It will then deal in detail with the psychometric properties of test tasks and questionnaires and their interrelationships.