Teachers’ Views and Experiences on Teaching Second and Subsequent Programming Languages

Tshukudu, E., Cutts, Q. , Goletti, O., Swidan, A. and Hermans, F. (2021) Teachers’ Views and Experiences on Teaching Second and Subsequent Programming Languages. In: 17th ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER 2021), 16-19 Aug 2021, pp. 294-305. ISBN 9781450383264 (doi: 10.1145/3446871.3469752)

Full text not currently available from Enlighten.

Abstract

Motivation More and more high schools are teaching programming, and in many cases, teachers teach multiple programming languages to the same group of students. Objectives The goal of this paper is to explore the views of high-school teachers on second and subsequent programming languages, including their motivation for teaching multiple languages, their struggles, and their use of transfer strategies when they teach their second or third programming language. Method The study consists of semi-structured interviews with 23 high-school teachers in two European countries. Results Our findings indicate that school pupils face the same issues as university students when moving from first to subsequent languages. Furthermore, the teachers’ attitudes towards second language learning are highly variable, both positive and negative, with some supportive teaching strategies used, but many less helpful ones in evidence too. Discussion Our findings suggest that the value of second language learning needs to be highlighted in teacher professional development materials more strongly and that teachers might need more support in implementing transfer strategies.

Item Type:Conference Proceedings
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Tshukudu, Ethel and Cutts, Professor Quintin
Authors: Tshukudu, E., Cutts, Q., Goletti, O., Swidan, A., and Hermans, F.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
Journal Name:Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research
Publisher:ACM
ISBN:9781450383264

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record