The Happy Series in the teaching of English in Year 1

Abstract

This study explores the use of Happy House 1, which is part of the Happy Series (OUP, 2000) of English course books, recently introduced in Year 1 classes of Primary State schools. The research involved in-depth interviews with two Year 1 teachers who were using Happy House J in a Maltese State Primary school. These were conducted with the aim of finding out the teachers' perceptions of, and views about the series. A total of eighteen classroom observation sessions were conducted to investigate how the course book was used in class. In order to acquire more data on a wider level and also to extend the evidence collected from the interviews and classroom observations, a brief questionnaire was distributed among twenty other teachers who were using the same course book in other Primary State schools. The study indicates a favourable view among teachers of this course book, in terms of both content and presentation. Similarly, the course book appeared to interest and engage the pupils observed in this study.