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Article published In:
Language Teaching for Young Learners
Vol. 5:2 (2023) ► pp.122–148

Effects of an early start in learning English as a foreign language on reading and listening comprehension in Year 9

ORCID logo | University of Magdeburg
| Institute for Educational Quality Improvement (IQB) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
| Institute for Educational Quality Improvement (IQB) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | University of Potsdam
| Institute for Educational Quality Improvement (IQB) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | University of Potsdam
For years now, all over Europe a debate has been ongoing concerning the effectiveness of an early start in learning a foreign language. This paper presents findings from a representative large-scale assessment study from Germany and seeks to examine the relationship between receptive skills in English as a foreign language (EFL) of students in Year 9 and their EFL learning onset age. We examined the differences in achievement of early starters – i.e., students who started learning English either before Year 3 or in Year 3 – in comparison with late starters defined as students instructed in EFL from Year 4 or 5 using a sample of more than 30,000 students. The results from multilevel regression modelling point to long-term advantages in reading and listening comprehension for students with an early onset of English instruction in primary school compared to students who began later. The paper finishes by discussing the results and suggesting further research in this field.
Keywords: English as a foreign language, primary school, age of onset, proficiency, receptive language skills
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous studies on the onset of learning English as a foreign language and current practice in Germany
  • 3.The present study
  • 4.Method
    • 4.1Study design and procedure
    • 4.2Participants
    • 4.3Measures
      • Achievement tests
      • Reasoning
      • English instruction
      • Sociodemographic information
    • 4.4Analyses
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Differences in English reading and listening achievement between early and late starters
    • 5.2Group differences taking individual and household characteristics into account
    • 5.3Group differences in the states
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Limitations and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 2 November 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.22017.por
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