Abstract
This article aims to illustrate the current scenario of English language teaching and learning at preschools in the Chilean context. This study based on bibliographic review highlights how English as a foreign language is considered important in Chile; nevertheless, this has not been properly implemented in the Chilean education system. Chile adventures in becoming a bilingual nation but this is far from becoming a reality due to the fact that English is taught from 5th grade onwards. The results provided by the Education Quality Measurement System (SIMCE) and by the International language teaching organization, Education First (EF), clearly indicates the urgency to start introducing English in early childhood. This study also reveals how to reduce the language gap from the very beginning of children’s school education. Furthermore, literature evidence that not only teaching in early stages is beneficial and necessary, but also it promotes positive attitudes in children towards the language that they are learning, and at the same time, it brings better outcomes towards the goal of making a nation bilingual.
Highlights
A language is a tool for learning that enables children to learn about the world around them as well as the cultural practices within a home to the academic content of the classroom (Gutierrez et al, 2003)
In terms of English, many studies have referred to the importance of incorporating English from early childhood since it is globally used in different aspects of life especially in education and because early EFL education has been demonstrated to have a positive influence on young children’s attitudes towards English (Cepik& Sarandi, 2014).English as a foreign language is considered important in Chile; this has not been properly implemented in the Chilean education system
The results provided by the Education Quality Measurement System (SIMCE) and the International language teaching organization, Education First (EF), clearly indicates the urgency to start introducing English in early childhood, a stage that is considered as the basis for the development of future learning
Summary
A language is a tool for learning that enables children to learn about the world around them as well as the cultural practices within a home to the academic content of the classroom (Gutierrez et al, 2003). The results provided by the Education Quality Measurement System (SIMCE) and the International language teaching organization, Education First (EF), clearly indicates the urgency to start introducing English in early childhood, a stage that is considered as the basis for the development of future learning. In line with this fact, starting from the premise that education from kindergarten is one of the fundamental pillars of human resource development and essential to the development in a country, it is believed that preschool education plays such an important role in the development of a nation. This study takes into account the Chilean reality in terms of English and the need for initiating English to preschoolers and the challenges that lie ahead in this task of becoming a bilingual nation
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