English at Primary Education In Madrid. Biliteracy or Bilingualism? Writing Skills

Laburpena

This study aims to assess (first approach) the level of written English of 3rd graders from two Primary Education schools in the Community of Madrid (bilingual and non-bilingual). Both quantitative (amount of mistakes made in a dictation activity carried out in class) and qualitative (analysis of aforementioned mistakes) measures have been used. More than 90% of the analysed students made mistakes in the graded dictation showing that, although the Government has made a great effort to implement quality bilingual education since the 2004-2005 academic year (by increasing the number of centres, language assistants, English lessons and qualified teachers), the students in the bilingual school have a low level of written English and those from the non-bilingual school an even lower one. This suggests that although the teaching of English in the Community of Madrid has improved since the program’s implementation, the intended objectives have not yet been fulfilled (students from 2nd, 3rd and 6th grades of Primary Education reach A1, A2 and B1 levels). It would be necessary to broaden this study in order to confirm this fact.