Scholars in the field of primary English teaching advocate the use of authentic picturebooks, for reasons related to language development and more holistic goals of primary education. Picturebook read-alouds facilitate joint meaning-making and interactions around interesting content that motivate young learners to learn about themselves and others. Nevertheless, picturebooks are rarely used in early English instruction. To address this discrepancy, the current study illuminates the perspectives of primary teachers of English and their experiences of picturebook read-alouds. Three teachers, who were not used to working with authentic multimodal narratives in class, chose two titles each to use with their respective groups in school year 5 in Sweden, with learners aged 11/12. Interviews were conducted after each read-aloud. Findings reveal that the teachers were positive about the potential of picturebook read-alouds, and the analysis generated four categories illustrating these benefits: (1) learner engagement and motivation, (2) authenticity, (3) catering to various needs in mixed-ability groups, and (4) target language learning and use. Issues related to classroom management and control were also addressed. The findings offer valuable insight into the potential of picturebook read-alouds, and carry implications for the advancement of pedagogy in early language education.

Recent European studies in the field of primary English education identify a number of challenges related to language development, motivation, and diversity of proficiency levels among learners. Nevertheless, early language instruction remains under-researched. The current study investigates challenges perceived by Swedish primary teachers of English and their thoughts and experiences regarding teaching materials. The study takes a special interest in picturebooks because they are often foregrounded as useful resources for promoting both motivation and language learning. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through an online questionnaire with 109 Swedish teachers for school years F–6. The findings reveal that the substantial heterogeneity of proficiency levels among learners is the biggest challenge facing teachers. In addition, the teachers reported challenges related to this diversity, such as a shortage of teaching materials to cater to varying needs and difficulties in engaging all learners in oral language production. Teaching materials used often comprise downloaded resources, coursebooks, or YouTube clips. Although many teachers are positive toward the potential of picturebooks as an instructional resource, most reported not using them. Thefindings are discussed in relation to the goals of early English instruction, the current understanding of young language learners, and communicative language teaching.

Instilling a sense of agency (SoA) in young learners is an important aspect of foreign language instruction, as is the counteracting of emergent foreign language anxiety (FLA). Focusing on learners who frequently experience FLA, this study explores young learners’ beliefs and classroom experiences in relation to teaching and learning of English, in order to highlight the way they perceive their own agency, that is, their situated SoA. Together in small groups, learners from seven Swedish classrooms, across years 2–5, were prompted with open questions to discuss target language use, oral interaction, instructional work mode and the role of the teacher and the learners. The present study is based on discussions among 31 of those learners. Qualitative content analysis of the recorded discussions reveals conflicting beliefs and experiences. These frequently anxious learners stressed the importance of extensive input in English and of learners engaging and speaking the target language. However, they also expressed that they felt insecure about oral instructions and prompts, and combined with fear of embarrassment, they refrained from volunteering or asking questions. Their FLA and the mismatches that they accounted for apparently hampered their SoA, and illustrate the interrelated nature of beliefs, emotional experiences and agency. Implications for primary language teaching are discussed.

This study investigates how Swedish learners make sense of and perceive English instruction and the process of foreign language learning in a target language-only primary school classroom. In small group discussions, 26 learners aged 9-10 were audio recorded while discussing questions related to their language learner beliefs and their classroom experiences. Learners expressed a strong consensus about the importance of both the teacher’s extensive target language input and the learners’ oral engagement, in alignment with the beliefs of the teacher. However, the analysis identified three mismatches among high anxiety learners in this context, related to incomprehensible teacher talk, social fear of making mistakes and classroom organization. As their voiced beliefs were at odds with their emotionally guided behavior of refraining from asking questions or volunteering to speak, their sense of agency was reduced. In this context, the target language-only approach appeared to have a negative impact on the emotional, organizational and instructional dimensions of foreign language instruction for many of the young learners. The findings illustrate the interrelated dynamics of beliefs, emotions and classroom context, and contribute to our understanding of learners’ foreign language anxiety and sense of agency in the primary foreign language classroom.

This thesis explores young language learners’ experiences of classroom interaction in English instruction, focusing on foreign language anxiety (FLA), sense of agency and learner beliefs, aiming to inform and problematize language pedagogy for young learners. Learners from ten classrooms in years 2–5 participated. Study I focused on levels and triggers of FLA, by means of a learners’ questionnaire about common language classroom practices. Findings revealed that 18% of learners frequently felt anxious during English lessons and that these negative emotions centered on speaking in class. With this study serving as a baseline, the following two studies investigated learners’ beliefs about language learning and teaching, as well as their actual experiences of classroom communication during English lessons, using recorded group discussions among learners with similar levels of FLA. Study II compared learners in one year 3 classroom, with many frequently anxious learners, whereas study III centered on learners with recurrent anxiety across seven classrooms, in years 2–5. 

Together, the studies illustrate young language learners’ beliefs, and how they perceive and position themselves in relation to English instruction. In general, learners expressed positive attitudes to the English subject and the teaching. Regardless of anxiety levels, learners stressed the importance of extensive English input and for learners to guess and dare to speak. Learners who experienced recurrent FLA were confronted with three dilemmas that reduced their sense of agency. Incomprehensible English input made it difficult for them to follow instructions and understand what they were expected to say or respond to. Furthermore, the fear of social exposure and negative reactions made them prefer to remain silent and refrain from speaking or pose questions. Nevertheless, these learners favored whole class instruction, as they relied heavily on teacher support, and feared falling behind during individual work, although this setting sparked FLA. 

The findings foreground the interaction of social, cognitive and emotional processes of language learning and the development of learners’ sense of agency in the classroom. The strong consensus and many recurrent themes expressed across classrooms, related to language use, instructions and organization, suggest that the findings may have bearing beyond these ten specific classroom contexts. The perspectives of primary school learners themselves are valuable in the development of age-appropriate language teaching that strives to foster motivation and a sense of agency, while counteracting the development of FLA. The thesis hopes to inspire academic and professional discussion about how to best organize English instruction that benefits all young learners, with varying language proficiencies in the same classroom.

Although foreign language anxiety is a widely studied construct assumed to develop from negative experiences of language instruction, few researchers have focused on young learners in this regard. This multiple case study investigates levels and triggers of language anxiety in Swedish primary classrooms under rather favorable learning conditions with a supportive, non-competitive atmosphere, and without formal knowledge requirements or grades. A total of 225 learners, aged 8–12, studying English as their first foreign language completed a self-report questionnaire, a modified version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986), eliciting learners’ reactions to oral classroom participation. Foreign language anxiety was found along a continuum among learners. To investigate similarities and differences among students of differing anxiety levels, they were grouped into three categories: low, medium and high anxiety. The high anxiety group included 18.2% of learners, and for most of them, this anxiety was situation-specific and closely related to their own oral performance during English lessons. However, many classroom situations triggered language anxiety in other learners as well. It may therefore be advisable for teachers to reflect on common classroom practices that induce anxiety, rather than viewing language anxiety as a disadvantageous characteristic of individual learners. The results call for in-depth studies of classroom contexts where language anxiety develops. Moreover, the study’s contribution encompass new perspectives on research methodology with respect to young learners and in relation to foreign language anxiety.