Drawings as a Research Tool

1. Drawings as a Research Tool Pupils‘ Perceptions of Integrated Foreign Language Learning in Primary School Diana Millonig The Open University, UK

2. Educational aims • to influence learning motivation and interest in foreign languages • to develop communication skills in a FL • to influence and develop intercultural awareness – respect and unprejudiced interaction with others of different cultures • to acknowledge and recognise self as part of a larger community and specifically the European community. • The specific teaching aim for first and second year primary school pupils is to develop oral–aural skills for understanding and communication.

3. Ministry of Education Guidelines (MoE, 2005) In the primary school teaching style, foreign language learning at Stage one should be integrated into the primary school curriculum in short phases … take place during compulsory subjects, for example General Knowledge, Music, Physical Education, Art and Maths, without reducing the educational content. (MoE, 2005, p. 246) The foreign language instruction in primary school should bring about an encounter with the second language undertaken in an informal manner, appropriate for children. (MoE, 2005, p.243)

4. ‘How is English as a foreign language taught in the first two years of Austrian primary schools?’ Main research question

5. Contextual factors Teacher Pupils Government Teacher training universities School Competence, Learning aims, Attitudes, Lesson content, Planning, Timing and integration, Classroom activities, Perceptions Perceptions Three perspectives

6. Where is English integrated into the curriculum? What type of teaching methods and strategies are in use during the lessons? What are teachers’ lesson planning procedures for English integration into the chosen subject content? What are the teaching aims? What are pupils’ perceptions of the lessons? What influence does teacher training have on classroom practice? Do government guidelines influence teacher training? The seven sub-questions

7. Definitions • Perceptions –'intuitive recognition (of truth, aesthetic quality etc).... action by which the mind refers to its sensations to external object as cause' (Oxford dictionary, 1964). • IMPORTANT: Perceptions are the foundations upon which we develop our reasoning and beliefs. • Beliefs - 'acceptance of thing as true' (Oxford dictionary,1969) • Attitudes -'settled behaviour as showing opinion (way of thinking)‘ (Oxford dictionary,1969).

8. Research - Perceptions Wesely (2012) in her review reports that perception studies often investigate either: • how pupils perceive, understand and make sense of themselves in the learning situation • how pupils perceive the learning situation for example, the classroom environment. Positive perceptions will influence the development of positive beliefs which in turn will influence motivation and help pupils' overcome any problems arising during learning - negative perceptions will have negative effects on beliefs and motivation for learning (Puchta, 1999; Schommer, 1990).

9. Research – Beliefs Wesely (2012) describes how beliefs and perceptions are often believed to be interrelated by researchers (p. 100). Studies of learner beliefs although similar differ from learner perceptions and entail: • what pupils think about themselves • what pupils think about the learning situation, for example the teacher. Pupils' opinions of themselves as language learners involve their own capabilities for learning i.e. to accomplish learning tasks (Mills, Pajares and Herron, 2007). Research into learners' beliefs are extended to include their opinions of the target language culture and community, and the task of learning a foreign language (Wesely, 2012).

10. Research - Attitudes • The disposition to respond in a positive or negative manner toward for example a person or FL is defined in social psychology as attitude (Schwarz and Bohner 2001). Studies concerned with attitudes have shown relationships between motivation, attitude and language learning success (Ellis 2008).

11. Research and young children Reliability and validity • Data collection • Methods • Analysis

12. Functional theory of language(Halliday, 1978, 1985) Three communicative meta-functions • Ideational: representation of world around and within us • experiential function: builds upon language to make meaning • logical function: choice of logical-semantic relationships between clauses • Interpersonal: mode of language chosen for social interactions with others • Textual: contains all grammatical systems to guide the flow of discourse between the ideational and interpersonal functions.

13. Visual grammar theory(Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) • Ideational: Three structural types • analytical: participants • narrative: who does what to whom • visual: multimodual representations • Interpersonal:interactionrelationships between viewed and viewer • Textual:distinct relationships between the components contained in the image

14. Case study participants

15. Data collection Two sets of drawings from each case study classroom Drawing set one: Pupils‘ perceptions of lesson content - identification of the teaching methods and strategies in use and associations to language theories. Drawing set two: Pupils‘ perceptions of English per se - related to contextual factors, i.e. MoE policy (2005), teacher training policy and school policy.

16. Methodology • Short classroom discussion prior to the production of each drawing set. • Clarifications • What is in the drawing? (objects) • Venue? (situation) • What is taking place?

17. Drawing set one – Lesson content • The drawing tasks were semi-structured - pupils were requested to draw their perceptions of the English lesson. • Analysis of the classroom discussion showed that practical issues concerned with the drawing task were the pupils’ main concerns: • Can we use colours? • Can we draw anything from the lesson? • I’m not good at drawing – does it matter? • Can we draw the classroom? teacher? book? • Does it have to fill the whole page?

18. Drawing set two– Perceptions of English • Short classroom discussion prior to the production of the drawing consisted of four semi-structured questions: • reasons for English learning • likes/dislikes of English • uses of English • uses of English later when adult. • Clarifications • What is in the drawing? (objects) • Venue? (situation) • What is taking place?

19. Analysis Sequential analysis in two stages: Stage one:three levels for each drawing set and individual case study classroom: • individual analysis of each pupil’s drawing • comparative analysis between the pupils’ drawings • comparative analysis between the case study teacher findings. Stage two: comparative analysis between the two case study classrooms for each drawing set undertaken at two levels: • separate comparative analysis between the two drawing sets • comparative descriptive analysis between the summary findings of each classroom.

20. Coding of the drawings

21. Drawings set one:Categories foranalysis

22. Drawings set two:Categories for analysis Coding for categories of the drawings from set two was undertaken through the lens of the MoE educational aims (2005): • influence learning motivation and interest in foreign languages • develop communication skills in a FL • influence and develop intercultural awareness – respect and unprejudiced interaction with others of different cultures • acknowledge and recognise self as part of a larger community and specifically the European community.

23. Drawing set one examples:Clara‘s classroom Pupil two’s perceptions of the lesson content in Clara’s classroom

24. Summarised visual grammar analysis findings of the drawing from pupil two in Clara’s classroom

25. Summarised formulae findings of pupil two’s perceptions of the lesson content in Clara’s classroom

26. Pupil ten’s perceptions of the lesson content in Clara’s classroom

27. Summarised visual grammar analysis findings of the drawing from pupil ten in Clara’s classroom

28. Summarised formulae findings of pupil ten’s perceptions of the lesson content in Clara’s classroom

29. Drawing set one examples: Helen‘s classroom Pupil three’s perceptions of the lesson content in Helen’s classroom

30. Summarised visual grammar analysis findings of the drawing from pupil three in Helen’s classroom

31. Summarised formulae findings of pupil three’s perceptions of the lesson content in Helen's classroom

32. Main drawing components of set one from the two case study classrooms - pupils’ perceptions of the lesson content

33. Drawing set two examples:Clara‘s classroom Pupil eleven’s perceptions of English in Clara’s classroom

34. Summarised visual grammar analysis findings of the drawing from pupil 11 in Clara’s classroom

35. Pupil seven’s perceptions of English in Clara’s classroom

36. Summarised visual grammar analysis findings of the drawing from pupil seven in Clara’s classroom

37. Pupil five’s perceptions of English in Clara’s classroom

38. Summarised visual grammar analysis findings of the drawing from pupil five in Clara’s classroom

39. Drawing set two example: Helen‘s classroom Pupil ten’s perceptions of English in Helen’s classroom

40. Summarised visual grammar analysis findings of the drawing from pupil ten in Helen’s classroom

41. Drawing components of the second drawing from the two case study classrooms concerned with pupils’ perceptions of English

42. Overall case study findings from the teacher interview, classroom observations and pupils’ drawings in Clara’s classroom

43. Findings: Clara‘s classroom Associations between all the findings from Clara’s classroom reflect a predominantly cognitive approach to teaching and language learning. The teacher’s approach did not reflect MoE policy (2005) regarding English integration into subject content and replaced syllabus time of subjects for English learning.

44. Overall case study findings from the teacher interview, classroom observations and pupils’ drawings in Helen’s classroom

45. Findings: Helen‘s classroom Reflection of socio-constructivist theory and sociocultural theory were identified in all of the findings from Helen’s classroom. Although Helen believes that she is integrating English into the subject content, she uses the same tools, lesson content and materials as Clara but in a different style. Helen also uses English as a classroom language for communication during teaching and learning.

46. Overall findings The overall findings from the two case study classrooms reveal that, despite significant differences in teaching style and both teachers’ belief that they are following official government policy in integrating English into their subject classes, neither in fact fully reflects official policy. Pupils’ perceptions of English are influenced by the teaching approaches and strategies used in the classroom by their teachers.

47. Conclusion The decision to use drawings to gather valid and reliable in-depth qualitative data in combination with clarifications diminished difficulties often entailed in research with young children. The drawings provided a data collection tool that investigated a wide range of factors inherent in pupils’ perceptions of their FL lessons, which may not have come to light in questionnaires and interviews alone. These involved: • pupils’ perceptions of the classroom tools used • pupils placing of self in the learning situation • confirmation of the teaching approach believed to be in use by the teacher • classroom interactions • pupils developing cognition of English • pupil motivation • pupils’ perceptions of English as a communication tool.

48. Further research Future investigation between boys’ and girls’ perceptions of English through the use of drawings in combination with pupils’ clarifications needs to be made. Also, large-scale investigation of teachers’ perceptions of their classroom practice and comparisons between genders through the use of drawings could provide important information for educationalists.

49. References Armstrong, D.M. (1961) Perception and the Physical World, New York, The Humanities Press. Ellis, R. (2008) The Study of Second Language Acquisition, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Halliday, M.A.K. (1978) Language as Social Semiotic,London, Edward Arnold. Halliday, M.A.K. (1985) An Introduction to Functional Grammar, London, Edward Arnold. Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. (2006) Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, 2nd edn,London, Routledge. Mills, N., Pajares, F. and Herron, C. (2007) ‘Self-efficacy of college intermediate French students: relation to achievement and motivation’, Language Learning,vol.57, no. 3, pp. 417–442. Ministry of Education and Women (2005) ‘Primary school curriculum, Section eight, Educational and teaching stipulations as well as curricula contents and didactical principles of the compulsory trainings, primary school - modern foreign language (1. – 4. years), State of affairs: Federal Law Gazette II Nr. 368/2005,November 2005’, Primary school curriculum, Federal Law Gazette Nr. 134/1963 in the version Federal Law Gazette II Nr. 303/2012 from 13. September 2012 [Online]. Available athttps://www.bmbf.gv.at/ ((Accessed 15 February 2013). Oxford University Press (1964) The Concise Oxford Dictionary, Ely House, London, Oxford University Press. Oxford University Press (1969) The Pocket Oxford Dictionary of Current English, Ely House, London, Oxford University Press. .

50. References continued Puchta, H. (1999) ‘Beyond materials, techniques and linguistic analyses: the role of motivation, beliefs and identity’, Plenary paper, 33rd International Annual IATEFL Conference, Edinburgh Conference Selections. Cambridge English Language Teaching. [Online]. Available at / http://www.cambridge.org.br/authors-articles/articles?id=5933 (Accessed 07 April 2015). Rabey, K. (2003) ‘Thinking aloud. Looking at children drawing in response to picture books’, in Arizpe, E. and Styles, M. (eds) Children Reading Pictures. Interpreting Visual Texts,London, Routledge Falmer. Schommer, M. (1990) ‘Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension’, Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 82, no. 3, pp. 498–504. Schwarz, N. and Bohner, G. (2001) ‘The construction of attitudes’, in Tesser, A. and Schwarz, N. (eds) Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology, Vol. 1: Intraindividual Processes, Oxford, Blackwell, pp. 436–457. Wesely, P.M. (2012) ‘Learner attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs in language learning’, Foreign Language Annals,vol.45, no. 1 , pp. 98–117.