Abstract
The shift to an earlier start in foreign language teaching in Finland took place nationwide in 2020. Both class teachers and subject teachers faced a new situation. They would be teaching children younger than before, or they would be teaching a completely new subject for them. This article examines teachers’ conceptions of the skills and qualities, including the required language skills, that are important for a teacher in early language teaching. The data for this study were gathered through essays that teachers (n=44, subject teachers, class teachers, and double qualified teachers) turned in as tasks during an in-service teacher training for early teaching of foreign languages. The essays were analyzed with content analysis. The findings show that teachers found it the most essential that early language teachers have inspiration for the job and are able to inspire learners. They also considered it important that teachers focus on the learners and the learning environment, as well as have skills for early years pedagogy. The teachers did not consider foreign language education or language skills as important as the other skills but yet wished for teachers to be able to communicate in the target language in the class.
Highlights
There has been a trend to an ever-earlier start to foreign language teaching and learning in Europe since the 1990’s (Enever, 2016)
We present the skills and competencies that the in-service teacher training participants considered important for a teacher to possess in early foreign language teaching, before moving on to the question about language skills
The teachers of the in-service teacher training brought up many different professional skills and personal qualities that are important for a teacher to have when teaching a foreign language to young children
Summary
There has been a trend to an ever-earlier start to foreign language teaching and learning in Europe since the 1990’s (Enever, 2016). The shift to an earlier start in foreign language teaching in Finland, the context of this study, took place nationwide in the beginning of 2020 (Inha & Kähärä, 2018) Before the change, both subject teachers (specialized in the language) and class teachers (generalists who teach at the elementary level) were offered in-service teacher training to enhance their competencies in teaching a foreign (or second) language to young children. Both subject teachers (specialized in the language) and class teachers (generalists who teach at the elementary level) were offered in-service teacher training to enhance their competencies in teaching a foreign (or second) language to young children Both groups of teachers faced a new situation. This article examines subject teachers’ and class teachers’ conceptions of the skills and competencies that are necessary for a teacher in early foreign language teaching, including teacher’s language skills
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