Creating and evaluating a foreign language area in an early childhood setting

Abstract

Despite the growing tendency to introduce a foreign language in early years settings, little guidance is provided for practitioners in government steering documents or in the published literature. This article aims to bridge this gap by presenting a study which considers the importance of deploying the holistic approaches used in early years settings when introducing a foreign language. It focuses particularly on the creation and evaluation of a foreign language area as a strategy to help strike a balance between structured teacher-led instruction and the free play and interaction essential at this stage. The results of an interpretative qualitative study with a group of 4-year-olds show a positive correlation between the language used in the teacher-led sessions and children's interactions during free play in the newly created learning area. The results will be of interest to all practitioners aiming to introduce a foreign language in early years settings