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@Linguist_CIOL FEBRUARY/MARCH The Linguist 21 FEATURES The way forward Neither of the two explicit approaches proved significantly effective when used in isolation. Consequently, the study recommends an integrated approach to teaching reading in French as the most effective way forward. This should combine explicit instruction in phonics and strategies with the use of suitable texts. These approaches need to be used in the long term, beyond Year 7, to sustain their benefits, and should be integrated into overall literacy development. The texts themselves proved to be more important than the type of instruction. The selection of engaging and suitably challenging reading materials was found to be paramount in promoting pupils' reading in a foreign language. Dr Woore concludes: "Our study shows that it is possible to raise expectations concerning the kinds of texts that beginner learners of French are able to access. We believe that including such texts in the Year 7 curriculum can be beneficial for students' linguistic and motivational development. Pupils need not be restricted to a sole diet of the shorter, simpler and more predictable texts that are traditionally used with this age group." Exposing students to a greater diversity of texts, which are adapted to ensure accessibility, presents teachers with a challenge. This new approach is a significant departure from current practice, where pupils often work with short, easily accessible texts. Similar guidance in the Department for Education's National Curriculum Programme of Study (2013), which promoted the use of literary texts and "original and adapted materials from a range of different sources", provoked a negative response from many teachers when it was published. The demands that such recommendations make on teachers do not go unnoticed in the study; the research team recognises the need for further development work to enable teachers to adapt existing schemes of work. But they argue that the challenges presented should be balanced against the benefits, as long as teachers are given the creative space and time they need to develop materials. "Both during and after the study we noticed how enthusiastic the teachers were about participating in classroom research and engaging with innovative and creative teaching practices," noted researcher Dr Alison Porter. "We believe that teachers should be given more time and space to develop their professional expertise in these ways." Notes 1 Wilson, S & Werno, M (2016) 'Not Dumbing Down but Stimulating Up: Reading in the reformed GCSE modern foreign languages classroom.' In Research Matters, 21; Ofsted (2011) 'Modern Languages: Achievement and challenge 2007 to 2010'; bit.ly/gov-uk-mflachievement 2 Woore, R et al (2018) 'Foreign Language Education: Unlocking Reading (FLEUR): A study into the teaching of reading to beginner learners of French in secondary school'; bit.ly/nuffieldfoundation 3 Teaching Schools Council (2016) 'Modern Foreign Languages Pedagogy Review'; bit.ly/tscouncil-org tightrope walker, Philippe Petit. The researchers hoped to create a sense of pupils genuinely learning something new from the texts, rather than simply seeing them as a means of language practice. Links to related video clips on YouTube encouraged students to explore the topics further. Lessons learnt Students in all three groups made progress over the course of the project in the three areas of reading comprehension, phonological decoding and vocabulary knowledge. None of the three interventions was found to be more effective than the others in improving pupils' performance in reading comprehension. Learners in all three groups, but especially the strategies group, became more confident in reading challenging texts in French, and reported enjoying the cultural content. However, the strategies group and, more so, the phonics group learnt more new vocabulary over the course of the study. Unsurprisingly, the phonics group made more progress in their knowledge of the sounds of written French, leading the team to conclude that phonological decoding (the ability to read words aloud accurately and fluently) should be regarded as a foundation literacy skill in a foreign language. They conclude: "It cannot be assumed that students will develop this skill spontaneously in French. It is highly likely that explicit phonics instruction is beneficial, and indeed may be necessary, for many MFL students to learn to decode in French." © SHUTTERSTOCK