Young Learners Corpus
Learners
About 20 young learners in each of Year 1 (5 year-olds), Year 3 (7 year olds) and Year 7 (11 year-olds) were identified in two different schools in the North East of England.
Year 1 and Year 3 pupils came from the same community primary school. Year 7 pupils came from a large inner-city secondary school (academy). Both schools are relatively new and both were built amalgamating several schools within one school. The percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals (in both schools) is well above average (according to OFSTED reports), which in the UK context means that most families are from a working-class background. The only difference between the two schools in terms of pupils’ background is that in the primary school the large majority of pupils are White British with none requiring support for English as an additional language. In the secondary school, students from minority ethnic communities comprise approximately one third of the student population with about 30% speaking English as an additional language.
Here is a summary of the learners included in this study:
| Year | Girls | Boys | Total | EAL pupils |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | 9 | 27 | |
| 3 | 11 | 15 | 26 | |
| 7 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 7(36%) |
| Total | 38 | 34 | 72 |
As far as possible, these learners had not had any exposure to French. Some of the Year 7 pupils had had a few taster sessions while in primary school though.