Sometimes less is more: Educational effectiveness of English as a foreign language instruction in German classrooms

This paper evaluates the effect of differing amounts of schooling on outcomes of lower secondary education. Two groups of German academic track students are compared who chose English as either their first (EFFL; n = 2,771) or second (ESFL; n = 345) foreign language throughout secondary school. While EFFL students receive an additional school year of EFL instruction, ESFL students are known to be positively selected in terms of cognitive aptitudes and socioeconomic background. This paper evaluates the impact of varying amounts of schooling on EFL achievement while accounting for student selectivity within a potential outcomes framework. Corresponding results illustrate no such impact. Alternative explanations are discussed and implications regarding the field of educational effectiveness research (EER) are highlighted.