How to test Flemish children’s level of English prior to instruction?

Children in Flanders only start studying English when they are 11-12 years old. Since there is a lot of exposure to English before that, pupils very often are false beginners (VVKSO, 2011). This poses problems for teachers and policy makers as some pupils are real beginners whereas others have been learning the language implicitly through exposure via the media, which leads to very heterogeneous class groups. Presently there is no instrument to test what pupils are able to do before the start of formal instruction. In the poster I will present the results of a study in which we have tried to identify a suitable measurement instrument that would give learners, teachers and policy makers an opportunity to get a better insight in the competencies of their learners. Earlier research on Flemish children's level of English has focused mainly on vocabulary acquisition (Kuppens, 2010) whereas the targets set by the government mainly focus on communicative skills and have been linked to the CEFR. We had to take this into account, even though working with the CEFR poses problems when dealing with young learners (Hasselgreen, 2013). After a thorough literature review, we decided to test learners' proficiency (link with the targets set by the government and the CEFR) and their receptive vocabulary (to make a link with earlier research). A focus group, with teachers, policy makers and researchers was organized to develop a questionnaire in order to gain insights in the manner and amount of exposure, the learners' motivation and other factors that might influence their English competencies. A pilot study was carried out with pupils in the last year of primary school (n=25) who received the two tests and the questionnaire in order to test the validity of the design. After the test learners were invited to comment on the questionnaire in a focus group.

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