Is "the earlier the better"? - Investigating the effects of earlier English education in China

Jun Liu

Many scholars in second language acquisition (SLA) believe there is a period of time (critical period) when learning a language is relatively easy and typically meets with a high degree of success. Although age has been considered a major factor determining success in learning a second or foreign language, it is unclear whether it is the context of learning or the biological capacity to learn that matters. This study attempts to gain new insights by investigating the effects of earlier English learning in China, a language learning context lacking sufficient input in English. Since September 2001, English has been introduced at Grade 3 in almost all primary schools, lowering the age of compulsory instruction of English as a school subject from eleven (Grade 5) to nine (Grade 3). But we not know what possible effects can be expected in earlier English education in China where English input is limited to a few hours a week in English classrooms. I will explore three research questions: 1. Do students who receive English education in primary school (early starters) outperform their counterparts who start learning English in junior high school (late starters)? 2. In what English language skill areas (e.g., listening, speaking, reading, and writing) do early starters have advantages over late starters when they reach junior high school? 3. What differential impact will the geographical location, English teacher qualification, school facilities, class size, and weekly contact hours in English have on the effects of students' learning English in primary school and junior high school? A yearlong multi-grade and cross-sectional study is proposed. I will collect data at three different grade levels (Grades 7, 8, and 9) in two selected junior high schools in China, with one in a metropolitan city and the other in a rural area. I will randomly select 30 students who started learning English in the 3rd grade (Group I), and 30 who entered junior high with no prior English learning experiences (Group II) at each grade level. In all, I will have 360 participants, with 180 at each research site, 60 at each grade level with 30 in each of the 2 groups, early and late starters. In addition to obtaining the school records of English curricula and the selected students' English performance across various measures, I will conduct a series of skill-specific (e.g., listening, speaking, reading, and writing) tests and assessments with the selected students in both groups, and all the scores will be statistically analyzed. I will also collect qualitative data via interviews with a small number of students, their current English teachers as well as former primary school English teachers, their parents, and school administrators. I will also observe English classes at each of the three grade levels in the two participating schools and also observe primary school English classes at both research sites. The data from interviews and observations will be triangulated to offer plausible interpretations for any potential differences the quantitative data might have generated. This study will contribute to the field of SLA by showing the effects of earlier vs. later English instruction in China on the four skill areas of English language development. This study will also help SLA researchers interested in the critical period hypothesis gain insights from an EFL context. Finally, this study will contribute to the language teaching profession in EFL contexts by developing pedagogical implications for English teachers and teacher trainers, curriculum and syllabus designers and material/textbook developers, in order to collaboratively improve the efficiency and effectiveness of early English education in EFL contexts.

About Jun Liu

Jun Liu received his Ph.D. from the Foreign and Second Language Education Program in the College of Education at the Ohio State University in 1996, prior to his ten-year teaching experience in China as a university language educator. Jun is now assistant professor of English at the University of Arizona. His research interests include second language acquisition focusing on sociocultural and sociopolitical aspects of second language learning and teaching in both English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts, classroom-oriented research methodology, and L2 writing. He has published in TESOL Quarterly, ELT Journal, Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, Language and Intercultural Communication, and Educational Research Quarterly, among others. He is the author of the book entitled Asian students' classroom communication patterns in US universities published by the Greenwood Publishing Group in 2001, and the co-author of Peer Response in L2 Writing Classrooms, published by University of Michigan Press in 2002. Jun is also co-editor of Michigan Series on Teaching Multilingual Writers. A recipient of The 1999 TESOL (Teachers of English to the Speakers of Other Languages) Newbury House Award for Excellence in Teaching, and co-founder and Past Chair of Nonnative English Speakers in TESOL Caucus (NNEST), Jun is currently on the TESOL Board of Directors serving as Director at Large (2001-2004).