Help with a project; Survey on transition learners

British Council Madrid asked for our help with the following  survey. It is aimed at English teachers working with the 9-14 age group and  can be completed as a word document (attached with return instructions) or via the survey monkey link below and should only take 20 minutes.

British Council Madrid

Dear Primary/Secondary School English Teacher,

We would like your help with a project which is exploring what happens when pupils move from primary/elementary to secondary/middle school English language learning in classrooms around the world. This process is often called 'transition'.

The project is being run by the Centre for Language Education Research at Aston (CLERA) within the School of Languages and Social Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, UK and is funded by The British Council.

The aim of the project is to find out about teachers' experiences of teaching English as pupils move from the initial level (which we are calling Level 1) to the higher level (which we are calling Level 2), the challenges they face and the solutions they have developed. Results from the project will be used to help us to better understand transition issues in teaching English around the world. We will publish our findings with The British Council so that teachers can learn about each other's experiences and discover how the solutions to transition problems developed in one context may be effective in another.

There are two ways in which you can help. Firstly, by completing the questionnaire yourself if you teach English to young learners between approximately 9 and 14 who are in transition. Secondly, you can pass on this message to all your colleagues who teach English to transition learners.

The questionnaire will only take about 20 minutes to complete. Your answers are completely confidential and will be used only as summaries in which no individual's answer can be identified. You will find the questionnaire at

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TransitioninELT

If you cannot open the link, please complete the attached word version (level 1 or level 2) of the questionnaire and send it to Dr Juliane Schwarz (j.schwarz@aston.ac.uk).

You can find more information about the project at

http://www1.aston.ac.uk/lss/research/centres-institutes/language-education-research/news-and-events/transitions-between-primary-secondary-schools/

Thank you very much for your help.

Professor Anne Burns (a.c.burns@aston.ac.uk) Dr Fiona Copland, Aston University (f.m.copland@aston.ac.uk) Dr Sue Garton, Aston University (s.garton@aston.ac.uk) Dr Muna Morris-Adams (m.m.adams@aston.ac.uk)

Dr Susan Sheehan
Adviser Learning and Teaching
English and Exams, UK

British Council I Bridgewater House I 58 Whitworth Street I Manchester M1 6BB I United Kingdom

Tel +44 (0) 161 957 7436
Fax +44 (0) 161 957 7074

e-mail: susan.sheehan@britishcouncil.org