We aim to present in this symposium the results of an experimental study which took place from 2019 to 2022 in French junior high schools and covered 8 classes of year 7 (11 years old pupils, nearly 200 participants) in three different environments: priority education, semi-urban and semi-rural. Indeed, second language (L2) learning in school often causes at least three recurring problems: irregular pleasure in learning, difficulty in expressing oneself orally, and an insufficient level of proficiency (McAllister & Narcy-Combes, 2011). While French teenagers skills are gradually improving in writing, the ability to express themselves orally remains weak. The questions of how to acquire the L2, and therefore how its oral acquisition works, arise first and foremost in our study.
A pedagogical method, called the Neurolinguistic approach (NLA) by its designers (Germain and Netten, 2012) developed in Canada showed benefits in response to these problems relating to motivation and oral production (Germain, 2018). Most of its fundamental principles are based on the same principles as DUB approach: Exposure first, Frequency of exposure through repetition, Associative learning through multimodal real life exemplars (Backus, 2012). The general objective of our work is to measure for the first time in our educational context, if an approach like the NLA which favors implicit oral acquisition, as well as a project-based approach, allows more confidence and more acquisition of oral language skills. The challenge here is twofold: would an implicit oral teaching based on the principles of the DUB approach in the context of extensive learning (4 hours per week) improve the average oral level? And would the pleasure of learning a second language be increased by these principles?
Our work is both qualitative and quantitative with 4 experimental classes that teached NLA (after training and one-year follow-up of the teachers) and 4 control classes. We conducted comprehensive semi-structured interviews with a sample of learners participating in the experiment (52 pupils in T1 and T2), and participating teachers. We coupled these interviews with the measurement of the oral interaction skills of their pupils. Indeed, we assessed the ability of each pupil to interact orally using the OPI rating scale (Oral Proficiency Interview) whose objective is to assess the ability to use a language orally in real situation.Finally, we used AEQ-E achievement emotions questionnaires to determine students' feelings about L2. We will see that the DUB and NLA principles facilitate the use of spontaneous oral interaction in 11 years old beginner learners.
References
Backus, A. (2012). A usage-based approach to borrowability. Tilburg University: TPCS. Paper 27.
Germain, C. (2012). Pour une nouvelle approche de l'enseignement de la grammaire en classe de langues-Grammaire et approche neurolinguistique (ANL). Actes du Congrès de la SJDF. Tokyo : Université de Keio.
Germain, C. (2018). The Neurolinguistic Approach (NLA) for Learning and Teaching Foreign Languages:
Theory and Practice. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
MCALLISTER, J. & NARCY-COMBES, M-F. (2011). Evaluation of a blended language learning environment in a French university. ASp. Bordeaux : GERAS.
