This article investigates the ways in which children from immigrant backgrounds view the place of "other" languages in primary schools in France and England. This article draws on findings from a cross-national ethnographic study, which investigated the experiences of 10- and 11-year-old children of immigrants in two primary schools, one…

A high comorbidity between reading and arithmetic disabilities has already been reported. The present study aims at identifying more precisely patterns of arithmetic performance in children with developmental dyslexia, defined with severe and specific criteria. By means of a standardized test of achievement in mathematics ("Calculation and…

This article examines the role of global representations in immigrant-background children's social imaginaries in primary schools in France and England. Increased globalisation, mobility and migration hold strong implications in terms of identity and belonging for children from immigrant backgrounds in schools in European countries, based on…

In the light of the European Union's interest in creativity and innovation, this paper, drawing on data from the EU project Creative Little Scientists (2011-2014), explores the teaching and learning of science and creativity in Early Years education. The project's conceptual framework, developed from detailed analysis of relevant literatures,…

Under the French national project "1000 video conferencing systems for primary schools", a growing number of schools are being equipped of video conferencing systems. The assumption underlying this project is that, by putting students in a position to communicate with distant native speakers, it will enable them to improve their oral and…

The concept of measurement is fundamental in science. In order to be meaningful, the value of a measurement must be given with a certain level of uncertainty. In this paper we try to identify and develop the reasoning of young French pupils about measurement variability. In France, official instructions for elementary school thus argue for having…

This paper presents an exploratory study of two consecutive reading sessions conducted in primary school by two different teachers. Our purpose is twofold. From a theoretical viewpoint, we propose a tentative set of conditions of teaching effectiveness by relying on the Joint Action Theory in Didactics. From a methodological viewpoint, drawing on…

Classroom foreign language teachers using technology in task-based language teaching (TBLT) may experience pedagogical regression during technological development (Fullan, 2001), and fail to transform pedagogy because tools like interactive whiteboards (IWBs) support traditional as well as newer approaches (Avvisati et al., 2013). IWB-supported…

Studies of children's knowledge of the Earth have led to very different conclusions: some appear to show that children construct their own, non-scientific "theories" (mental models) of the flat, hollow or dual Earth. Others indicate that many young children have some understanding of the spherical (scientific) Earth, and that their…

In monolingual areas such as the southern Spanish Autonomous Community of Andalusia, the progressive introduction of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programmes in a wide range of primary and secondary schools has probably produced the biggest turning point in Spain's modern educational history. CLIL is initially focused on…

Recent emphasis on target language interaction in task-based, technologymediated language classrooms makes the interactive whiteboard (IWB) an attractive tool: it constitutes a "digital hub" particularly suited to younger learners who require greater visual support and active learning. However, recent research in UK and French primary…

This qualitative study investigates the relationship between learning opportunities and teacher cognition in the context of a videoconferencing (VC) project for foreign languages (FL) in French primary schools. Six generalist primary teachers were followed throughout the initial six-month stage of the initiative, and data were collected from…

Recent CALL research suggests that the arrival of new technologies in the language classroom has led to an increased dominance of the socio-constructivist paradigm (Felix, 2006). Borg (2006) suggests, however, that the hegemony of this paradigm may not extend beyond well-researched university and private ESL contexts. The present study tests this…

This article is a glimpse into one primary classroom at a French school. The author, a kindergarten and first-grade teacher from Connecticut, visits a primary classroom for children ages five to eight years in a French village. She shares her reflections, based on observation, research, and interviews, of how a different culture approaches…

Discusses the semistructured interview as a vehicle to understand the experience of taking an inservice education course in a foreign country through the eyes of the participants. This article demonstrates the details of the process based on two corpora of interviews with teachers of French as a Foreign Language studying in France, and with French…