Audio-visual enrichment among under-12-year-old English learners (AVENUES): Investigating effects on language proficiency and attitudes

• Alexandra Schurz ^[1] ; Shona Whyte ^[2] ; Valérie Coumel ^[3] ; Jean-Claude Tocabens ^[3]
  1. [1] University of Vienna

     University of Vienna

     Innere Stadt, Austria

     
  2. [2] Université Côte d'Azur

     Université Côte d'Azur

     Arrondissement de Grasse, Francia

     
  3. [3] Académie de Montpellier

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• Localización: EuroCALL 2025. Advancing CALL: New research agendas / Yazdan Choubsaz (dir. congr.), Paz Díez Arcón (dir. congr.), Ana Gimeno Sanz (dir. congr.), 2025, ISBN 978-84-1396-326-6, págs. 445-455
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • With L2 English a core component of early elementary education in Europe, generalist teachers face challenges due to limited specialized L2 training (Jaekel et al., 2017), which can affect learners’ input and motivation. Limited engagement with informal English may compound this issue (Avello & Muñoz, 2023). While audiovisual materials have shown promise in supporting early L2 learning (Avello & Muñoz, 2023; Teng, 2022), their impact remains underexplored in ecological settings – hence the AVENUES (Audio-Visual ENrichment among Under-12-year-old English learnerS) project. This project used a two-year experimental/control group design to investigate French elementary school classes (grade 4-5): during the first year, baseline data on standard instruction (teaching/learning context, learning outcomes, and learner attitudes) were collected (control group, N = 46). In the second year, a new cohort with the same teachers received instruction integrating 35 minutes of weekly video exposure (experimental group, N = 74). The present paper describes the design of the study and reports results concerning learner attitudes, with the aim of informing L2 pedagogy on using audiovisual input to support early English learning. Although no statistically significant improvement in learners’ attitudes was observed across the two years, qualitative data suggest that learners generally perceived video-based instruction positively.