Overview

Acknowledging the differing motivations between multilingual and monolingual societies in advocating for the adoption of a second language amongst (pre)primary school children, this book discusses universal challenges in implementing early language teaching in various international contexts. Effectively teaching additional languages to young learners requires an understanding of their learning capacities, as well as their socio-linguistic backgrounds and linguistic repertoires. Demonstrating findings from global contexts such as those from Japan, Cyprus, Spain, Poland, Slovenia, Germany, South Korea, Croatia, Indonesia, Canada, and the UK, this book provides valuable means to support additional language acquisition that have garnered local success, focusing on plurilingual contexts, migrant populations, and the need for samples of ELL syllabi, outcomes, and assessment. Through cross-sectional surveys, ethnographic small-scale studies, and experimental empirical research reports, this book looks to foster future plurilingual individuals who can communicate successfully. This book will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and postgraduate students in the fields of Bilingualism/ESL, teaching and learning, early childhood education, and education policy. Curriculum designers working in international language education contexts may also find this volume of use.

Full Product Details

Author:   Joanna Rokita-Jaśkow (University of the National Education Commission, Poland) ,  Melanie Ellis (Silesian University of Technology, Poland)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
ISBN:  

9781041080176

ISBN 10:   1041080174
Pages:   204
Publication Date:   05 May 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  ELT/ESL ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.

Table of Contents

Contents Foreword: Children, teachers and languages in context Marianne Nikolov Introduction: Challenges in introducing early language learning Joanna Rokita-Jaśkow and Melanie Ellis Part I Setting the scene: Challenges in early pluri/multilingual development in education across the globe Chapter 1. Navigating Multilingual Education: Challenges, Solutions, and Collaborative Success Victoria A. Murphy Chapter 2. Diversity in English as Foreign Language Classrooms in Germany: L2 and L3 Learners' Attitudes Towards English Nils Jaekel, Nadine Kolb and Luz de la Paz de la Garma Chapter 3. The challenges of introducing EFL in early childhood multilingual settings: insights from Catalonia Alexandra Bos-Solé and Julie Waddington Chapter 4. English for young learners (EYL) in Indonesia: Challenges and innovations in a superdiverse context Subhan Zein Chapter 5. Foreign language learner self-concept in the transition period from lower- to upper-primary level Werona Król-Gierat Part II Challenges and solutions in early foreign language teaching and teacher education Chapter 6. Language specialists and generalist teachers of EFL to young learners: Two sides of the same coin? Mirna Erk and Ksenija Benčina Chapter 7. Institutional challenges in teacher development in private early childhood English education: The case of English Kindergartens in South Korea Inchull Jang and Jinsuk Yang Chapter 8. Dual Language Tandem Teaching: Teachers’ Cross-Language Collaborations to Promote ESL Learning Sunny Man Chu Lau, Zeina Maatouk and Geneviève Brisson Chapter 9. Enhancing pre-service teacher training in CLIL through project-based learning Tomáš Kos and Grit Bergner Chapter 10. Preparing pre-service teachers for integrating virtual exchange into early language teaching Mateja Dagarin Fojkar, Katarzyna Brzosko-Barratt, Žan Korošec, Nurjona Pinguri and Tina Rozmanič Part III: Insights from the early language classroom Chapter 11. The role of pre-task planning in developing young learners’ grammar accuracy María del Pilar García Mayo and María Luquin Chapter 12. The effectiveness of local instructional strategies for early reading: An exploratory study in Japan Yuko Goto Butler and Eiichi Okazawa Part IV: Looking Ahead Chapter 13. Mapping the routes for future solutions in effective early language learning and teacher education. Melanie Ellis and Joanna Rokita-Jaśkow

Reviews

'This timely volume offers an in-depth view into latest developments in researching English language learning and teaching to young and very young learners. It brings new research-informed insights into major changes prompted by new realities in different contexts across the globe, ranging from insistence on intensive teaching by English native speakers to 'trolley teaching' in contexts where English is perceived as a threat to the official language. The interested reader will find convincing evidence for the need to reevaluate the roles of familiar approaches such as focus on form or pre-task planning as well as novel ideas for dealing with new realities of teaching English in increasingly multilingual classes. New teacher competences necessary to meet diverse needs of plurilingual young learners are suggested based on insights from novel studies on English language teacher education. This is a must-read for both researchers and practitioners engaged in the young language learners field.' - Jelena Mihaljević Djigunović, Retired Full Professor, University of Zagreb 'The editors have put together a rich and insightful collection of papers discussing globally persisting challenges in our field. The chapters take the reader on a world tour of contexts highlighting some globally shared challenges but also focussing on specific issues and questions unique to individual contexts. This volume raises awareness about how the rapid changes happening in our societies impact language classrooms around the world and it also makes some excellent recommendations about how stakeholders can collaborate and begin to address these challenges. This is a ‘must-read’ not just for researchers and teacher educators but also for policy makers and administrators interested in early language learning and teaching.' Annamaria Pinter, University of Warwick, UK 'This volume addresses multilingualism as a defining feature of language teaching to young learners, illuminating the complex status of the English language in a globalised world. It is thus a timely addition to current research in the field of Early Language Teaching. Taking a global perspective, the contributions in the book explore longer-standing as well as new challenges in both theoretical depth and with a view to practical relevance. Positioning practitioners and learners at the centre, the volume highlights the interconnectedness of empirical research, teacher education, policy making and classroom experiences. Covering aspects such as CLIL, grammar and literacy instruction, Virtual Exchange, learners’ self-concepts, tandem teaching, and institutional challenges, the book is a must-read for researchers, practitioners, and teacher educators alike who seek to better understand and navigate multilingual environments.' Karen Glaser, University of Leipzig, Germany

'This timely volume offers an in-depth view into latest developments in researching English language learning and teaching to young and very young learners. It brings new research-informed insights into major changes prompted by new realities in different contexts across the globe, ranging from insistence on intensive teaching by English native speakers to 'trolley teaching' in contexts where English is perceived as a threat to the official language. The interested reader will find convincing evidence for the need to reevaluate the roles of familiar approaches such as focus on form or pre-task planning as well as novel ideas for dealing with new realities of teaching English in increasingly multilingual classes. New teacher competences necessary to meet diverse needs of plurilingual young learners are suggested based on insights from novel studies on English language teacher education. This is a must-read for both researchers and practitioners engaged in the young language learners field.' - Jelena Mihaljević Djigunović, Retired Full Professor, University of Zagreb 'The editors have put together a rich and insightful collection of papers discussing globally persisting challenges in our field. The chapters take the reader on a world tour of contexts highlighting some globally shared challenges but also focussing on specific issues and questions unique to individual contexts. This volume raises awareness about how the rapid changes happening in our societies impact language classrooms around the world and it also makes some excellent recommendations about how stakeholders can collaborate and begin to address these challenges. This is a ‘must-read’ not just for researchers and teacher educators but also for policy makers and administrators interested in early language learning and teaching.' Annamaria Pinter, University of Warwick, UK 'This volume addresses multilingualism as a defining feature of language teaching to young learners, illuminating the complex status of the English language in a globalised world. It is thus a timely addition to current research in the field of Early Language Teaching. Taking a global perspective, the contributions in this book explore longer-standing as well as new challenges in both theoretical depth and with a view to practical relevance. Positioning practitioners and learners at the centre, this volume highlights the interconnectedness of empirical research, teacher education, policy making and classroom experiences. Covering aspects such as CLIL, grammar and literacy instruction, Virtual Exchange, learners’ self-concepts, tandem teaching, and institutional challenges, this book is a must-read for researchers, practitioners, and teacher educators alike who seek to better understand and navigate multilingual environments.' Karen Glaser, University of Leipzig, Germany

'This timely volume offers an in-depth view into latest developments in researching English language learning and teaching to young and very young learners. It brings new research-informed insights into major changes prompted by new realities in different contexts across the globe, ranging from insistence on intensive teaching by English native speakers to ""trolley teaching"" in contexts where English is perceived as a threat to the official language. The interested reader will find convincing evidence for the need to reevaluate the roles of familiar approaches such as focus on form or pre-task planning as well as novel ideas for dealing with new realities of teaching English in increasingly multilingual classes. New teacher competences necessary to meet diverse needs of plurilingual young learners are suggested based on insights from novel studies on English language teacher education. This is a must-read for both researchers and practitioners engaged in the young language learners field.' - Jelena Mihaljević Djigunović, Retired Full Professor, University of Zagreb 'The editors have put together a rich and insightful collection of papers discussing globally persisting challenges in our field. The chapters take the reader on a world tour of contexts highlighting some globally shared challenges but also focusing on specific issues and questions unique to individual contexts. This volume raises awareness about how the rapid changes happening in our societies impact language classrooms around the world and it also makes some excellent recommendations about how stakeholders can collaborate and begin to address these challenges. This is a ""must-read"" not just for researchers and teacher educators but also for policy makers and administrators interested in early language learning and teaching.' Annamaria Pinter, University of Warwick, UK 'This volume addresses multilingualism as a defining feature of language teaching to young learners, illuminating the complex status of the English language in a globalised world. It is thus a timely addition to current research in the field of Early Language Teaching. Taking a global perspective, the contributions in this book explore longer-standing as well as new challenges in both theoretical depth and with a view to practical relevance. Positioning practitioners and learners at the centre, this volume highlights the interconnectedness of empirical research, teacher education, policy making, and classroom experiences. Covering aspects such as CLIL, grammar and literacy instruction, Virtual Exchange, learners’ self-concepts, tandem teaching, and institutional challenges, this book is a must-read for researchers, practitioners, and teacher educators alike who seek to better understand and navigate multilingual environments.' Karen Glaser, University of Leipzig, Germany

Author Information

Joanna Rokita-Jaśkow is Associate Professor and Head of the Faculty of Linguistics at the University of the National Education Commission, Poland. She is a founder member of the Early Language Learning Research Association (ELLRA). Melanie Ellis is Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Linguistics and Law, Faculty of Organization and Management, Silesian University of Technology, Poland. She is a founder member of the Early Language Learning Research Association (ELLRA).

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