Transformational Change for Primary Years' Foreign Language Programs - Developing Oral Language Skills for Spoken Interaction in the Classroom

This thesis evaluates an innovative and comprehensive approach to transformational change in primary years' foreign language programs. Drawing on principles from change management, autonomous learning and second language acquisition, an extended professional learning program provided support to 89 Catholic schools. The research highlights that while changes in pedagogy enabling students to use the language to communicate, and to monitor their own progress led to significant improvements, optimal results occurred when school leaders implemented structural changes to allow increased frequency of language use. Case studies present an innovative model involving classroom teachers as co-learners, which is both successful and scalable.