Understanding teachers’ perspectives: A qualitative study on non-specialist early foreign language teachers’ educational and curricular needs

Abstract

Reflecting the increased importance of early English foreign language education globally, Austrian primary English as a foreign language (EFL) education has recently been substantially reformed, ‘upgrading’ EFL classes to a mandatory graded subject. With the backdrop of these imminent curricular changes, this study examined the perspectives of 27 Austrian primary school teachers from all provinces across different career phases concerning their educational and curricular needs and prerequisites in terms of teacher education and curricular provisions. By using semi-structured interviews, data was collected and critically examined through qualitative content analysis. This revealed that primary school teachers value foreign language (FL) focused training at tertiary level, yet they wish for more instruction, particularly regarding their own language skills, but also in terms of teaching methodology. Moreover, the majority of practitioners did not feel adequately prepared to assess primary learners’ FL skills and seemed generally sceptical towards formal assessment at primary school level, fearing that especially summative assessment would be detrimental to the students’ FL development. While the context of this study might be unique, these results can be compared to a wider international context, considering that many school systems introduce FL instruction more intensively and with increasing educational standardization. Finally, the results of this study also offer insights into how teacher education might need to adjust.