{"id":1840,"date":"2025-05-11T22:49:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T21:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/progression-primary-languages\/?p=1840"},"modified":"2026-03-24T11:17:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T11:17:30","slug":"childrens-attitudes-towards-language-learning-preliminary-findings-from-the-pipl-focus-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/progression-primary-languages\/childrens-attitudes-towards-language-learning-preliminary-findings-from-the-pipl-focus-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"A Deeper Look at Children\u2019s Attitudes Towards Language Learning: Preliminary findings from the PiPL focus groups"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of the Progression in Primary Languages (PiPL) project, we have been exploring children\u2019s attitudes towards language learning at Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6, ages 7-11) and how they may change over time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Following Jasmin Silver\u2019s <\/span>blog<\/span><\/a> about our children\u2019s attitudes survey, here, we share some of our initial findings from our <\/span>focus group interviews<\/span><\/b> with children and what light they may shed on children\u2019s attitudes towards language learning.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Methods and Sample<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n

In addition to the attitudes survey, we conducted focus group interviews with small groups of Key Stage 2 children in each school to explore their attitudes towards language learning in more depth. In summer 2024, we conducted 83 focus groups with more than 320 children across Years 3, 4, 5, and 6 from 17 primary schools, who were learning French, German or Spanish at school. In particular, they were asked to share their views on:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n