They propose that Catalan students do not do intensive English until 8 years old
A report by Equitat.org warns that the level achieved during school plummets in secondary school, especially in complex centers
BarcelonaFor several years now, knowing English has socially become a key competence, not only for socializing but also for having more educational and work opportunities. The concern that children may achieve a good command of the language has even led to advancing the age at which they start learning English to the beginning of schooling, when they are only three years old. "Research shows us, however, that starting earlier does not automatically lead to a significant advantage," explains professor and researcher in applied linguistics, Elisabet Pladevall Ballester. This is the assessment made by the report "Why is English so difficult for us?" from Equitat.org –the new name for the Fundació Bofill–, which states that the best scenario would be to intensify English teaching from the age of eight or nine, and not before.
Pladevall Ballester, who led the study, details that the determining factor is not the number of years a student has been studying the language, but rather that when they start, they have the necessary linguistic foundations to progress. "A good learning of first languages, such as Catalan in our case, later helps to consolidate others," points out the researcher, who adds that "it is better to achieve the first linguistic objectives with English from middle cycle onwards and to intensify them from upper cycle with a balance of theoretical learning and speaking".
According to Pladevall Ballester, it is when these factors are not taken into account that the way of learning becomes ineffective, even if it is carried out from a very early age. In this regard, the report specifies that between 6th grade of primary school and 4th year of ESO, students with low performance have almost doubled, going from 14% to 25%. "The fact that the learning model is repetitive when they reach ESO generates fatigue in students when learning the language," says Pladevall Ballester. This is a factor also reflected in the results of the basic competence tests for the 2024-2025 academic year, which show that, despite students studying English for an average of ten years, Catalonia fails in this language at the end of ESO, with 69 points. To be considered competent, a minimum of 70 points must be achieved.
Socioeconomic gap
Furthermore, Equitat.org warns that the results of complex centers are lower and that the difference in English level according to school complexity increases over time. Regarding basic competencies, high-complexity centers score 15 points less in primary and 17 points less in secondary compared to low-complexity ones. "When they finish ESO, 20% of students obtain a failing grade, but it is even more surprising when it is seen that, on the contrary, more than 25% of students obtain an excellent grade," highlights Pladevall Ballester.
Thus, the researcher leading the report details that there is inequality in learning English. According to study data, about a third of children attend English extracurricular activities, mostly privately offered, which creates a socioeconomic gap in access to activities to learn the language outside of school hours. Therefore, the entity proposes to promote a public program of English extracurricular activities for centers in vulnerable environments that generates equal opportunities.
In fact, the initiative is one of the seven measures that Equitat.org proposes to ensure that all students reach European standard levels, which would represent an estimated investment of up to 58 million euros annually to be gradually implemented. In addition to the program to reduce the socioeconomic gap, they also plan to update the current evaluation system, define a document with curricular objectives and standards for the English language, or expand conversation assistants, among others.
