Implementation of audiovisual material in an early sequential bilingual model during the early years

Abstract

This research arose from the need to consolidate a meaningful bilingual methodology for children from three to five years of age from low socioeconomic backgrounds belonging to the public education system, where they could begin learning English and Spanish by means of a bilingual methodology that provides them with the same opportunities as middle to upper class children. Its aim is to implement an Early Sequential Bilingual Methodology Model in a public Early Childhood Development Center - ECDC (Centro de Desarrollo Infantil - CDI), and to collect data from class observations, student’s responses, early childhood teachers’ and English teachers’ views as well as parents’ perceptions towards its methodology and implementation in order to consolidate the model. Likewise, it will provide children with new opportunities to develop higher cognitive and high order thinking skills that can maximize their academic performance throughout their school years. This present Early Sequential Bilingual Model is a descriptive case study funded by a public university in Colombia and was implemented in a public ECDC (CDI) in Pereira (Risaralda-Colombia) based on the bilingual methodological proposals portrayed by Rodao (2011) and Arias et al. (2015). This research project depicts and systematizes the most predominant methodological techniques employed when teaching English at public ECDCs (CDIs) and interprets their effectiveness based on the data collected from interviews, fieldnotes and surveys. This article describes the responses of three- to five-year-old children to audiovisual material implemented in class.