Early Foreign Language Teaching Research Articles

Технология использования мультипликационных фильмов в обучении бурятскому языку детей дошкольного возраста

The Buryat language is in danger of extinction. Vitality of the language is determined by children's use of it. At present, there is an urgent need in the republic to develop and apply in the process of teaching the Buryat language such technologies that will be interesting and demanded by pre-school children. The purpose of the study is to show the possibilities of using cartoons in the process of teaching Buryat language as a second language to preschool children. In the course of the study we applied the following methods: generalization of experience in teaching Buryat language as a second language to preschool children, analysis of scientific literature on the methods of early foreign language teaching, speech development of preschool children, use of cartoons in language classes, observation of the process of language skills formation in preschool children, experimental and pedagogical work, conversation with Buryat language teachers of preschool educational organizations of the Republic of Buryatia. The study revealed that cartoons created in the Buryat language have a great didactic potential. To use them for the purpose of teaching the Buryat language, a selection of cartoon series was made and a set of tasks for them was developed. This set of tasks realizes the methods of teaching second languages and the algorithm of work on video materials. Scientific novelty of the study consists in methodical analysis of the teaching potential of cartoons in the Buryat language, the study of linguistic and speech content of cartoon texts and the possibility of using them in the formation of linguistic skills and the development of technology of using these cartoons in teaching the Buryat language to preschool children. The practical significance of the study lies in the description of a set of tasks for working on cartoons, which makes it possible to use the results of the study in the development of new technologies of teaching Buryat language and other languages with the use of cartoons, in particular, in the development of a set of tasks and exercises for different types of language and speech skills, in the creation of educational cartoons.

Early foreign language education: play as a site for child agency

ABSTRACT Understanding the role of play in early childhood education is crucial. Current research suggests that play is increasingly seen as a vehicle for achieving pre-established curricular aims that prioritise school readiness, often reducing opportunities for stimulating child agency. This paper reports on a study conducted within the context of foreign language education in the early years (English as a foreign language in the Catalan context), which aimed to address the following questions: To what extent do pre-primary EFL teachers (1) recognise child agency and take it into account in foreign language education; (2) recognise the affordances play scenarios offer for children to enact their agency? A small-scale qualitative study was designed which included self-reporting questionnaires, an elicitation technique in the form of a Play Scenario Evaluation Activity, and online interviews with teachers to reflect on the Evaluation Activity and their own practice. Findings raise concerns about the ever-widening gap between understandings and implementations of play in general early childhood education and the foreign language classroom. Prevailing assumptions regarding best practice in early years ELT (teacher-centred practice, target language only policies, emphasis on fun) limit children’s opportunities for enacting agency and taking an active role in their own development.

Early foreign language teaching: some critical remarks and some recommendations

Dieser Beitrag ist eine kritische Beurteilung von Wert und Nutzen des Fremdsprachenunterrichts bei Grundschulkindern, gestützt aufForschungsergebnisse des frühen Spracherwerbs. Dabei werden auch globale sprachpolitische Faktoren diskutiert. Der Beitrag schliesst mit Empfehlungen für eine gute Fremdsprachenlehrpraxis.

An Investigation of The Features of Early Foreign Language Education in Azerbaijan

This article discusses why early foreign language learning is essential. The study also describes the development of preschoolers at all stages. The study touched on how it is necessary to properly organize the process of teaching a foreign language for preschoolers to learn the material faster and easier and how teachers make lessons fun to motivate students. Participants of the study are ten experienced teachers who teach English as a foreign language in Baku (Azerbaijan). Data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with ten English teachers. Observations in the city of Baku have shown that many private preschools have an English education and that this element is the reason for parents’ school preference. In the research, factors such as teachers’ approach to education and methods of making lessons were acquired from interviews through the qualitative content analysis method and examined under different categories. The research found that teaching foreign languages to children at preschool was more effective, and that varied teaching approaches for children had long-term effects on teaching foreign languages.

Teacher training in early foreign language education: Problems of organization of teaching placement

Teacher training in early foreign language education: Problems of organization of teaching placement

University Preparation of Kindergarten Teachers for English Teaching in the Czech Republic

An ever-increasing trend of early foreign language teaching requires adequate responses to the university training of future kindergarten teachers. However, research in this area, including policies, suggests that the situation is not entirely satisfactory. This paper aims to determine the level of preparation of future teachers for teaching English to pre-primary children at individual universities in the Czech Republic. It presents findings obtained through quantitative content analysis of the syllabi of eight universities that provide education in the field of teacher training for kindergartens and focus on the preparation of future teachers for English tuition. The results show that courses for English tuition in kindergarten are not implemented by every university. Universities differ in their emphasis on foreign language tuition in kindergarten, which is reflected in the number and content of provided courses.

Oppimisympäristöt A1-kielen opetuksen mahdollistajina vuosiluokilla 1–2

This article presents how teachers implement early foreign language (FL) teaching in first and second grades in Finnish primary schools. The purpose of the research was to gather information on how different kinds of learning environments are being used in FL teaching. The participants planned and conducted their own teaching development projects. Their reports of the projects were collected during spring 2020, and they also included information on how the teachers conducted remote teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Altogether 10 reports written by general class teachers and FL teachers were analyzed using qualitative content analysis with a theory-oriented framework. The results show that teachers implement functional language teaching methods in various learning environments. Use of digital learning materials has become more essential during the remote teaching period. The study provides valuable insights into the use of learning environments in early foreign language teaching in Finland.

The early the better? Or, the more the merrier? The relative effects of onset age and exposure hours on EFL learners’ implicit and explicit grammatical attainment

AbstractDrawing on methodological insights from psycholinguistic research protocols, the present study employed a structural equation modelling approach to examine whether explicit and implicit grammatical knowledge of English language learners would be influenced by their onset age of language learning and hours of exposure to language instruction; and if so, in what way? The present study further examined how the hypothesized causal effects might be mediated by explicit and implicit grammatical knowledge. The results showed that while early onset appeared to exert a facilitative effect on the participants’ implicit grammatical attainment, the role of exposure to instructed input was more relevant to their explicit grammatical attainment. Importantly, early onset facilitated the participants’ implicit grammatical attainment more than their explicit grammatical attainment, most likely because early learners’ analytical learning mechanism was still immature. Notably, while superior implicit grammatical attainment was conducive to the participants’ explicit grammatical attainment, their better explicit grammatical attainment did not necessarily facilitate their implicit attainment. The insights of this study shed light on the necessity of implementing early foreign language education when the curriculum goal concerns developing learners’ intuition regarding the FL, and provides empirical evidence of the need to adjust current instructional hours and foci in school.

Development of the Methodology of Early Foreign Language Teaching in Modern Research

The article describes the results of the research, revealing the analysis of dissertation research devoted to two areas: firstly, the problems of teaching foreign language methods, and secondly, the problems of teaching and educating preschool children. The purpose of the research is to determine the ways of developing the methodology of early foreign language teaching. As a result, a quantitative and qualitative analysis of 123 dissertation studies on scientific specialties 13.00.01 General pedagogy, history of pedagogy and education, 13.00.02 Theory and methodology of teaching and upbringing (by fields of education), 13.00.08. Theory and methodology of vocational education, for the period from 2012 to 2021, that allow to determine the main directions of the methodology development of early foreign language teaching. The question of the interdisciplinary orientation of the works is considered. Scientific developments are devoted to the methodology of early teaching foreign languages, in particular, the integration of foreign language education in the process of education of value orientations, moral education, intellectual development, the development of speech communication. It is concluded that most studies in the field of foreign language teaching methods are devoted to the formation of language sub-skills, speech skills, and the formation of competencies, however, they are focused on school-age students, adult learners. Insufficient attention is paid to the methodology of early learning of foreign languages; despite the fact that many local and foreign researchers believe that preschool children are ready for foreign language learning. Dissertation research is devoted to education and upbringing of preschool children studies aspects such as the formation of cognitive interest, development of socio-personal qualities, formation of emotional and moral guidelines, study of general pedagogical principles that contribute to the development of preschool children, that is, first of all, pedagogical aspects, while methodological aspects of teaching a foreign language are integrated into the process of upbringing a child.

Има ли място музиката в обучението по чужд език?

The results of a survey conducted in 2022 with teachers and foreign language university lecturers are presented and analyzed in the article. The opinion of the respondents regarding the use of musical activities in foreign language learning is taken, and their expertise in the field is studied. Conclusions that would be useful for methodology experts are derived. The survey is a part from a more comprehensive research on the relationship between music and language development, good practices for applying music activities in early foreign language teaching and learning and unused opportunities for including music in the teaching process and language learning.

The Early Bird Gets The Word Games and Play: Creating a Context For Authentic Language Learning

Early foreign language teaching has recently been made compulsory in Finland, making this an area open to development and innovation where policy - makers and teachers play a significant role in creating new kinds of learning environments, operating cultures, and pedagogy for foreign language learning. This article discusses the early foreign language learning landscape in the context of early foreign language learning theory, initial education pedagogy as well as functional foreign language learning. The cornerstone of this study is the Contextual Pedagogical approach to Learning, which creates a bridge between the theory and practice of early foreign language learning, creating an inspiring and stimulating basis for later language learning. Language is a precondition for learning and thinking. Language is involved in all the activities presented in school and every teacher is a language teacher “(the Finnish National Board of Education 2014, 127). In this article we focus on this idea, presented in the core national curriculum. We attempt to explain the learning environments of language teaching, operational culture, and pedagogical solutions within the theoretical frame of reference of learning another language. The challenges of creating learning environments that support authentic learning experiences, have become still more demanding in today's rapidly changing world.

Preparing teachers of Early Childhood Education to teach a foreign language: the PEPELINO portfolio in practice

Teaching a foreign language at pre-primary level has been officially introduced in Poland in 2015 as a follow-up to European policy guidelines (European Commission 2011b). Teachers are agents of any language policy as it is them who have to warrant its implementation through pedagogical practice. While most of the studies conducted on policy implementation focus on teacher beliefs and multilingual practices (e.g., Haukås 2016; Lundberg 2019), the following paper concentrates on implementing European language policy guidelines in respect of early foreign language education and pluralistic approaches. It describes a quantitative study of early education in-service teachers who attended a 3-semester preparation course for language teaching. The data analysis revealed that ‘supporting the linguistic development of children with other first languages than Polish’ gained the least support among the respondents, despite a significant course module devoted to this issue. Therefore, the conclusion can be drawn that the teachers will be able to raise interest in language learning by very young learners, by drawing on their experience as Early Childhood Educators, yet it will be difficult to foster plurilingualism and attitudes of intercultural interest by teachers who often lack intercultural experience and plurilingual awareness themselves.

English parenting for Japanese parents

The popularity of English in early foreign language teaching is a global phenomenon. Parents and policymakers in Europe are eager to expose young children to a foreign language, which is usually English (De Houwer, 2015). Likewise, in Japan, English is the de facto foreign language subject in schools (Sakamoto, 2012). The introduction of English education in lower elementary grades and the use of English examination scores to enter schools or universities or gain employment has made English more important than ever. These educational policies motivate many Japanese parents to send their children for English lessons or enroll them in English preschools or after-school programs. Attending an international school is a definite way to acquire high English proficiency, but not every family can afford the high tuition.

УПОТРЕБА НА РОДЕН ЕЗИК В ЧУЖДОЕЗИКОВОТО ВЗАИМОДЕЙСТВИЕ

The article offers a brief historical overview of some of the main methods in foreign language teaching and focuses on the use of the native language in their application. A modern study conducted among children from nursery schools in Bulgaria shows that when language education is carried out only in the target language, children also use only this language in their language interactions and vice versa. Some of the research findings are that 42.2 percent of the children whose teachers communicate with them in both languages, also make use of Bulgarian when trying to convey meanings and messages in English language. In general, children’s comprehension skills are better developed than their English speaking skills. In conclusion, the research results show that at the present stage, the offered foreign language education of children in nursery schools as entertaining as it may be, is not effective enough. Working methods and well-established approaches should be applied in early foreign language education of children in order to develop their skills to communicate in a new language.

Organizational and methodological support of preschoolers’ thinking skills development during problem foreign language teaching

Introduction. Contemporary requirements to quality improving organizational and methodological support of preschoolers’ thinking skills development in object spatial environment and insufficient development of technological aspect of the problem highlight the search for new pedagogical opportunities among them on the basis of developing potential of children foreign language education.Resolving the contradiction lies in multifunctional substantively rich program creation in this direction and its implementation in the pre-school educational institution. Materials and methods. The study covered 114 (the control group – 57 children, the experimental group – 57 children) Voronezh and Yelets (Russian Federation) preschoolers at the age of 5,5–7,5. To diagnose the development level of imaginatively logical, visibly active and verbally logical thinking skills we used the methods of L.A. Venger, M. I. Ilyina, R. S. Nemov, G. A. Uruntayeva. The results were proved by the χ2-Pearson statistical test. Research results. The quantitative and qualitative review of the experimental teaching statistical data proved the fact that implementation of the authors’ experimental program based on problem teaching and creation of certain pedagogical conditions for preschoolers’ thinking skills stimulation enhance significantly the level of children’s intellectual development during early foreign language education (χ2 = 13,376 > χ20,05). Discussion and conclusion. For the first time a program was created and implementation conditions on the basis of the problem approach were identified. They included different types of children’s’ activity for joint foreign language communicative task performance and stimulated greatly development of preschoolers’ imaginatively logical, visibly active and verbally logical thinking skillsduring problem foreign language teaching. On the basis of the program a tutorially methodical set may be developed which would contribute to improving organizational and methodological support of preschoolers’ thinking skills development.

Реализация социально-педагогического взаимодействия в процессе раннего иноязычного образования

Актуальность статьи обусловлена необходимостью изучения особенностей социально-педагогического взаимодействия в процессе раннего иноязычного образования. Проведенный анализ литературных источников в области педагогики и психологии позволил рассмотреть содержание понятия «взаимодействие», на основе которого определена специфика взаимодействия педагога английского языка с родителями детей, с социальными партнерами (педагогами иностранного языка начальной школы, организациями дополнительного образования детей, преподавателями и студентами вуза в рамках профильных программ педагогического направления: «Дошкольное образование», «Иностранный язык») в условиях современной дошкольной организации. В статье раскрыто содержание понятия «взаимодействие субъектов дошкольного образования с социальными партнерами». Показана важность развития личностного потенциала участников, повышения активности, сплоченности коллектива, следовательно, и качества процесса освоения иностранного языка детьми. Статья предназначена для работников системы образования, исследователей. The relevance of the article is caused due to the need for studying features of social and pedagogical interaction in the process of early foreign language education. The analysis of literary resources in the field of pedagogy and psychology devoted to the issue of "interaction", based on which the specificity of the English teacher interaction with parents and social partners (teachers of a foreign language primary school, institutions of additional education of children, teachers and students in the framework of the core programs teaching areas: "Early childhood education", "Foreign language") in modern pre-school organizations. The content of the "interaction the preschool education actors with the social partners" have been revealed. The importance of development of personal potential of participants, increasing activity, team cohesion, and, consequently, the quality of the process of learning English by children is shown. The article is intended for employees of the education system, researchers.

Формирование готовности старших дошкольников к обучению иностранному языку в начальной школе

The relevance of studying the process of early foreign language education is determined by the significance of social and communicative development preschool children’s problem, carried out only in the conditions of communication and interaction of the child with peers and adults. Scientific interest in the problem of forming of older preschoolers’ readiness to further more conscious learning foreign language is relevant, first of all, in the aspect of implementing the principle of continuity in the content of preschool and primary general foreign language education. Aim: to conduct an analytical review of foreign and domestic scientific sources, to identify the structure and main conditions for the formation of senior preschoolers’ readiness to learn a foreign language in primary school. Research material were the domestic and foreign scientific sources of studying the process of early foreign language education, the peculiarities of the formation of the readiness of older preschoolers to learn a foreign language in primary school. Research methods: analysis and generalization of psychological and pedagogical, linguistic and educational literature on the topic of research, analysis and generalization of pedagogical experience. Results and discussion: the analysis of the problem of early foreign language education in linguistic, pedagogical and psychological studies, the analysis of the concept of “readiness for school” allowed us to identify the definition, structure and basic conditions for the formation of older preschoolers’ readiness to learn a foreign language in primary school. The planned results of the successful adaptation of the child to the study of a foreign language are defined as: the development of children's ways of performing actions that ensure communication in a foreign language (elementary norms of phonetics, vocabulary, grammar, the English alphabet, the construction of a foreign language dialogue/monologue); the expansion of linguistic horizons; overcoming psychological anxiety to the perception of a foreign language; the development of cognitive, speech, creative, physical, musical, sensory, etc. ability, thinking, imagination; development of personal qualities of the child: diligence, sociability, organization, independence, etc., mastering the types of children's activities in the areas of child development in accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard for Children (integrative nature).

PREPARATION OF FUTURE TEACHERS FOR DIGITALIZATION IN EARLY LEARNING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

The education system must respond to changes in society, its demands and needs of students at all levels, so the mission of modern pedagogical institutions of higher education is to train teachers ready and able to accept such challenges. The article presents the experience of the Department of Foreign Languages at the Pedagogical Institute of Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University in training students majoring in 012 "Preschool Education" and 013 "Primary Education" and methods of teaching them to implement digital tools in the process of forming foreign language communicative competence of 3-10 year-old children at preschool institutions and the New Ukrainian School. It should be noted that this work took place within the research on the scientific topic: "Strategy of foreign language teacher training in the context of European integration." The basis of the study is the understanding of the specifics of language as a means of communication, and therefore the emergence of new digital ways and tools of communication, their widespread penetration into various spheres of life naturally requires their use for educational purposes. In addition, the normative documents of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine recognize information and digital competence as a component of professional competence of a teacher of any subject, which also requires modernization of components of teacher training in early foreign language learning. In the process of research we relied on the levels of digital competence of teachers defined in DigCompEdu and aimed to prepare future teachers of early foreign language teaching for the practical application of digital tools and instruments taking into account Generation Theory, Alpha children, current foreign language programs in modern conditions of educational institutions in Ukraine. In the process of research in the curriculum of disciplines "Modern technologies of teaching preschool children a foreign language" (specialty "Preschool education") and "Modern technologies of foreign language teaching in primary school" (specialty "Primary education") content modules "Organizational and pedagogical conditions of application of modern technologies of teaching foreign languages (FL) to preschool (PS) children / FL in PS”, “Digital technologies of teaching FL to preschool children / FL in PS”, “Media-based learning in early foreign language learning in PS / in primary school”,“ Technologies of blended learning of foreign languages in primary school” are introduced, within which theoretical, practical and methodical work takes place, the purpose of which is the formation of digital competence of future teachers.

Lehrwerkbegutachtung für den frühen Fremdsprachenunterricht

The subject of the article is the development of a proprietary catalogue of criteria helpful in making decisions about the selection of textbooks and teaching materials for learning foreign languages at the first stage of education. The catalogue was prepared based on an analysis of the methodological assumptions of early foreign language teaching and the criteria for evaluating textbooks at higher levels of education, which should also be taken into account when assessing teaching materials intended for teaching foreign languages to children. The analysis of methodological principles focuses primarily on the principles of language competence education and the appropriate selection of teaching content. It allows concluding to what extent the selected didactic material supports the proper development of a foreign language in children and whether it engages them emotionally.

Специальные методические принципы развивающего иноязычного образования обучающихся начальных классов

The author proposes principles of early foreign-language education of 1st-grade pupils in the period of transition from pre-school to primary school. The article analyses the existing principles of foreign language teaching in primary school. The paper focuses on developing efficient principles of teaching foreign-language speech activity to 6-7-year-old children. Scientific originality of the study involves developing personally oriented methodology of teaching a foreign language to primary school pupils. The conducted research allows concluding that early foreign language learning should be based on taking into account individual, psychophysiological peculiarities of junior schoolchildren.