Language acquisition at school during the transition from primary to secondary school (MSE)
From primary-school level onwards, all pupils in Switzerland are taught a second national language and, in addition, English as a foreign language. The project that is jointly conducted by the PHSG and the FHNW School of Education and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation investigates the reading, writing and oral skills of pupils in grades 6 and 7 in the subjects of German, French and English (compulsory languages in schools in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). For this purpose, it takes several personal characteristics of the pupils into account and pursues the question as to how their language skills develop during the transition from primary to secondary school. Moreover, the project seeks to examine the extent to which the pupils’ knowledge of other languages benefits them when they learn a foreign language.