Teacher Competences for Teaching English as a Foreign Language in the First Educational Cycle of Primary Education

Darija Skubic,Mirjam Grahut,Mateja Dagarin-Fojkar

doi:10.12973/eu-jer.11.1.427

Abstract

<p style="text-align: justify;">Foreign language teaching in the Slovenian educational context begins in the first grade (age 6). Many studies report a lack of qualified teachers at this stage of learning around the world and numerous authors emphasise the misconception that basic linguistic and didactic knowledge of teachers is sufficient for teaching children. All three Slovenian public universities are aware of this problem and offer pre-service and in-service programmes for (student) teachers who want to specialise in teaching English to young learners. In the present article, we focus on the subject-specific teacher competences for teaching English in the first three years of primary education; namely, linguistic, subject didactic and intercultural competences. We explore teachers’ self-assessment of these competences and their perception of certain elements pertaining to them. The study seeks to answer the following research questions: (1) What subject-specific competences do teachers consider essential for teaching English in the first cycle of primary education? (2) To what extent do teachers believe they have developed certain subject-specific competences? (3) What are teachers’ attitudes toward certain subject-specific competences that the teacher needs for teaching English in the first cycle of primary education? The results of the quantitative survey, in which 100 teachers participated, show that teachers perceive their subject didactic competence to be the most developed and their intercultural competence to be the least developed. Moreover, they consider that a basic level of English is not sufficient for teaching English in the first grades.</p>

Highlights

Teacher competences in teaching a foreign language at an early stage are extremely important, because in the first years of primary education students are in a sensitive stage when they either embrace the foreign language or get the feeling that they are unsuccessful in learning it
64% believe that they have some deficits in this area, and 19% believe that they have many deficits in this area, while they rate their language competence and subject didactic competence
The research shows that the surveyed teachers of English in the first cycle of primary school in Slovenia feel qualified didactically and linguistically for teaching at this stage, but that they assess the development of their intercultural competence as inadequate

Summary

Introduction

Teacher competences in teaching a foreign language at an early stage are extremely important, because in the first years of primary education students are in a sensitive stage when they either embrace the foreign language or get the feeling that they are unsuccessful in learning it. This feeling is difficult to alter, and it can prevail throughout their whole lives. Extensive research by Garton et al (2011) showed that teachers want to develop their foreign language teaching skills at an early stage and many of them feel that they are not sufficiently qualified for this task. A competent teacher must have a good knowledge of the child’s cognitive and psychological development and learning approach, the curriculum and the didactics of early language teaching, as well as a high level of knowledge of the foreign language being taught

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Discussion

Conclusion