Project EAGLeS
Acquisition of English as a foreign language by pupils with reading and spelling difficulties
The EAGLeS project focuses on the acquisition of written language skills when learning English as a foreign language in Years 5 and 6. It will look for systematic differences between children with reading and/or spelling difficulties and those without. This will be followed by the development and validation of an English diagnostic procedure.
The EAGLeS project measures the reading, spelling and grammar skills of fifth and sixth graders in German and in English, their first foreign language. In addition, the general learning ability of fifth and sixth graders is assessed using logical thinking tasks. The data analyses are intended to provide information on whether and to what extent deficits in written language skills in the mother tongue German influence the learning of the first foreign language English. In collaboration with Meister Cody GmbH, which specialises in digital diagnostic and support procedures, the English diagnostic procedure used in the project will be further developed and validated for years 5, 6 and 7. The test is designed to provide information on: (1) reading competence at word, sentence and text level; (2) spelling competence in terms of vowel, consonant and capitalisation usage; and (3) grammatical competence in terms of morphosyntax and homophones.
The aim of this project is to develop and validate a digital diagnostic tool for the objective and reliable assessment of the English proficiency of students in grades 5, 6 and 7 in Germany. The test is designed to provide a standardised assessment of English language performance, differentiating between lower and upper ability levels.