The Controversial Issues Experienced by the English Language Teachers in Primary Schools Worldwide Echoing into the Romanian Language Education Context

Abstract

The present article aims to outline the framework for this debated topical issue, focusing its scientific efforts on the critical and relevant aspects of the teaching problems faced by the English language teachers worldwide echoing locally, in the Romanian primary schools. The choice of the field of analysis was not at all accidental, coming mainly from a growing to find answers to a series of personal dilemmas, such as educational field, mainly teaching foreign languages in primary education, especially in the current conditions, when the universe of language teaching is constantly changing. The changes are caused by factors such as the complex policies in the field of education (it is often assumed that it is better to start learning foreign languages early), the political and labor market changes, where it is essential to have a competitive English-speaking workforce. Finally, individual reasons resulting from parents’ desire their children to develop English language skills from an early age. Hence, there are several serious challenges that need to be considered when it comes to teaching English to young primary school students. The present research is an investigative approach that is based on a larger study exploring the practices of teaching English to young school children worldwide, a study conducted by the British Council in 2013 and published a year later, and it also refers to the policy and practice of teaching English in primary schools in Romania. The purpose of this article is to identify the key challenges faced by English teachers in primary school both globally, in several countries involved in the study, and locally, respectively in Romania.