Viewpoints of Foreign Language Teaching at Early Childhood Period (Antalya Case)
Erken Çocuklukta Yabancı Dil Eğitimine Bakış (Antalya Örneği)

Author : Zeliha YAZICI -- Binnur GENÇ İLTER
Number of pages : 438-453

Abstract

Foreign Language Teaching at early childhood period has been of great importance recently. Foreign language teachers, linguists and preschool teachers have caimed different ideas on this topic. Foreign language teachers have explained that foreign language teaching at early childhood period helps children improve both their cognitive and linguistics development. Preschool teacher candidates share the same ideas with foreign language teachers. English Language Teacher candidates did not have the same ideas with both of the groups. In this study, English language teacher candidates’, preschool teacher candidates’ and foreign language teachers’ ideas on language learning at early childhood period were examined. In this qualitative study, focus group design was used. 10 participants from each group joined in this research and the gathered data were analysed by Nvivo 10. The results have revealed that both preschool teacher candidates and preschool teachers think that foreign language learning at early childhood is important but English language teacher candidates stated that children can start foreign language learning when they have completed their mother tongue acquisition process. English Language teacher candidates have more conscious knowledge than preschool teacher candidates and preschool teachers. This is because English language teacher candidates have knowledge about child language learning and language acqusition in detail.

Keywords

Language teaching, foreign Language Teaching, foreign language teaching at preschool

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