Problems of early teaching foreign languages

If you turn to the encyclopedia, it says: “Dead languages ​​are languages ​​that are no longer used in colloquial speech and, as a rule, are known only from written monuments. Having ceased to serve as a means of live communication, they are preserved in writing and used for the needs of science, culture, religion".

Accordingly, a living language is the language in which people communicate.

Although no one doubts the fact that often a foreign language remains "dead" in our books, in notebooks, in test sheets. This, it seems to me, cannot be allowed, especially if foreign language learning begins at an early age.

Russia is one of the few countries in which the idea of ​​early learning of foreign languages ​​was posed as a scientific problem several decades ago, theoretically researched and experimentally tested, and then tested in a wide experiential learning in different types of schools.

The results of scientific and practical work on this issue suggest that the study of a foreign language in senior preschool and primary school age can be considered as a powerful reserve for increasing the effectiveness of teaching foreign languages ​​in the system of general secondary education and as a means of developing children.

Let's start with the fact that early learning of a foreign language is useful and accessible to all children, regardless of their starting abilities, since it:

• - has an indisputable positive effect on the development of the child's mental functions: his memory, attention, thinking, perception, imagination;
• - stimulates the development of the child's speech abilities, which also has a positive effect on the knowledge of the native language.
• - opens up opportunities for learning a second/third/foreign language, the need for proficiency in which in a multicultural environment is becoming more and more obvious.

In recent years, the educational and informative value of early learning of a foreign language has become more and more obvious, which manifests itself in the earlier entry of a child into universal culture through communication in a new language for him. If at the same time there is a constant appeal to the experience of the child, taking into account his mentality, the way he perceives reality, then he begins to better understand the phenomena of his own national culture in comparison with the culture of the countries of the language being studied. In the process of learning a new language, the child acquires such qualities as tolerance towards representatives of other peoples, flexibility in assessing situations and choosing options for their own speech behavior, the ability to work in a pair, group, team, team; curiosity and independence, etc.

In addition, the subject "foreign language" makes primary school education more pronounced humanitarian, attractive and joyful for children.

At the same time, as in any living process in the early learning of foreign languages, problems arise every year. new tasks which are associated both with global changes in educational strategies and with the need to improve the methodological side of early education.

Here are some of them:

• 1. It is required to get away from the unreasonable variability observed in the field of language education at the present time and regulate it somewhat. This can be done, for example, with the help of an educational standard for a subject for elementary school, which will describe the planned level of foreign language communicative competence of children by the end of the initial stage; with the help of programs that clearly define the goals and content of education in foreign languages ​​in primary school and the appropriate test tools that make it possible to judge whether children have reached the planned level of language proficiency.
• 2. It is necessary to comply with the conditions of student-centered learning, which, in particular, implies various forms and types of differentiation of learning. For elementary school, first of all, differentiation according to the individual language abilities of students is relevant, that is, how, with the difference in the ability of students to learn in general and to the language in particular, to carry out teaching a foreign language in conditions of mass language education.

One of the possible ways to solve this kind of differentiated learning can be multi-level learning.

At the same time, children should have the opportunity to move in the process of studying to a higher or more accessible level of difficulty. Moreover, at any level, a student can be assessed with a high mark, depending on the efforts that he made. This approach, among other things, teaches children to value not so much grades as knowledge. ( Slide 5) 3. Strive to observe continuity in language education, which is required to be carried out in two directions: structural and content.

AT structural plan, it is desirable not to allow:

• - Firstly, the termination of teaching a foreign language at all stages, for example, to provide continuous education in a foreign language for those children who have begun to study it before school. This is actually a matter of recognizing the law of foreign languages ​​as a compulsory subject in a comprehensive elementary school.
• - secondly, a decrease in the quality of education (for example, due to a decrease in the planned number of teaching hours). It should be remembered that, given the peculiarities of the memory of younger students, the minimum teaching load can be 2 (or better 3) lessons per week, which has been proven experimentally. Learning a new language for children at one hour a week simply does not make sense.

In terms of methodical continuity, it is desirable to ensure a smooth transition of children from one level of education to another, avoiding the loss of formed skills and injuring children as little as possible. The easiest way to achieve this is if, throughout the course of teaching a foreign language, one adheres to a single learning strategy that ensures a clear formulation and achievement of the learning objectives of each stage in the interaction between them. Such interaction is achieved through cross-cutting programs and through the use of aids that consistently lead the child from preschool to primary school and from primary to secondary.

In this context, teaching aids that are built on unified copyright concepts. A favorite and familiar textbook is an interlocutor whose character the child already knows well, with whom it is easier for him to communicate. Teachers know how difficult it is for them and for the children to move from one WCU to another.

4. The need for constant methodological support for a foreign language teacher working in primary school. As you know, the number of foreign language teachers who have special training for working with kids is negligible.

At the same time, the ability to competently teach communication in a foreign language to younger students who do not yet fully master communication skills in their native language is a very difficult and responsible task. Love for the subject at this age is very closely related to the feeling of psychological comfort, joy, need and readiness for communication that the teacher creates in the classroom.

That is why the teacher of a foreign language in the primary grades needs the constant development of his creative potential, the expansion of his methodological horizons and the range of professional actions. Creating such a course for foreign language teachers for elementary school will require serious efforts.

From what has been said, it can be seen that early learning of foreign languages ​​continues to be problem promising in both scientific and applied terms, a problem to which everyone who is interested in raising the level of education of our children can contribute.

In practice, starting teaching English from the second grade, you may encounter some problems which I would like to talk about today.

Any school class is heterogeneous, since the pupils studying in it differ in many ways: the level of education, the potential ability to learn, the ability to master languages, the ability to communicate in a foreign language in a group, intellectual abilities, motivation to learn a foreign language. Schoolchildren also differ in priorities in choosing the form of perception of the material, character traits, interests, and general development.

The second grade is attended by children who have not started learning a foreign language and children who already have experience in learning a foreign language at preschool age. Children who studied English before school are more receptive to the language, more liberated, more motivated, easier to communicate, work better with a book and other components of teaching materials, and are more willing to work in pairs and small groups. They are more successful in mastering the articulation of the English language, they are familiar with phonetic exercises that cause certain difficulties for children who have not completed the course of study. Therefore, it is required to distribute the educational material by lessons, taking into account the skills and abilities developed by children who studied and did not study English in a preschool institution. The solution to this problem is not only in planning, but also in the implementation of the plan in the learning process. Student-specific lesson plans are based on an analysis of the student's needs. The capabilities and needs of specific students in the class determine how the goals of the lessons are formed, how the content, methods and methods of work are selected, as well as methods and forms of control.

One of the challenges of early learning is psychological and age peculiarities specific child. Given the psychological characteristics of the development of perception, attention, memory, imagination and thinking of younger students, it is beneficial to use the figurative thinking of children, elements of the game in the educational process. The game is a powerful stimulus to mastering the language, it leads to development. The developing value of the game is inherent in nature itself, because the game is always emotions, practical activities for the formation of skills and abilities - where there are emotions, there is activity, there is attention and imagination, thinking works there.

The next problem is contradiction, emerging at studying grammatical material.

Students at the time of acquaintance with the grammar of the English language do not know the grammar of the Russian language in full, which creates certain difficulties. There is a need to explain the Russian grammar, and then the grammar of the English language. Which takes some time.

A certain problem in teaching a foreign language at primary school age is created by mastery written speech. Writing is a complex language skill. In teaching English at the initial stage, writing plays a big role. It contributes to a stronger assimilation of lexical and grammatical material, as well as improving skills in reading and speaking. But in order to fulfill this important role, it is at the initial stage and, in particular, in the first year of study, that students must master the technique of writing, learn how to write letters and master the spelling of words learned in oral speech and used in written exercises. More time is spent on teaching written language than planned by the program. The pace of writing students is very slow and in Russian. Therefore, all written tasks must first be performed orally, and then in writing.

It should be noted that the level of physical development and fitness is of no small importance in teaching younger students. It is no secret that 90% of children suffer from various chronic diseases. Poor health affects the assimilation of educational material. Children need extra physical activity. Some students get bored quickly. In this regard, it becomes necessary to plan the lesson taking into account the physical capabilities of students.

To solve all the problems that have arisen in the organization of teaching English in primary grades, today there are various methods and technologies in the arsenal of pedagogy. The following have become the most acceptable and used:

1) Person-centered approach.

A student-centered approach to teaching foreign languages ​​involves learning in collaboration, the method of projects and multi-level learning. This technology creates conditions for active joint learning activities of students in different learning situations. Students are different: some quickly grasp all the teacher's explanations, easily master lexical material, communication skills; others need not only more time, but additional clarifications. In such cases, you can combine the guys into small groups and give them one common task, as a result, a situation arises in which everyone is responsible not only for the result of their work, but also for the result of the entire group. Therefore, weak students try to find out from strong students all the questions they do not understand, and strong students are interested in ensuring that all members of the group, especially the weak student, thoroughly understand the material. As a result, problems are eliminated by joint efforts.

2) Design methodology.

One of the promising forms of teaching a foreign language is the project method. The application of this method in a learning situation allows us to speak of a school project as a new pedagogical technology that allows you to effectively solve the problems of a student-centered approach to learning. The project methodology can be applied in the study of any topic provided for by the school curriculum. While working on the task, the project team is united by a single activity, the group turns into the subject of the educational process. This technique allows you to create conditions for the development of independence, creative activity, emotional sphere of students, for the education of personal and collective responsibility for the work assigned. By working on the project, students learn to use the acquired knowledge in practice, to bring the matter to the end. The project methodology allows you to involve weak students on an equal basis with strong ones, to increase the interest of students in a foreign language. The systematic use of this technique helps to strengthen motivation, significantly increases the effectiveness of training.

previously taught a foreign language

Thus, the technologies of a student-centered approach help to create a situation of success for the student, contribute to the development of the intellectual and creative abilities of students, reveal their mental potential, independence, responsibility, and sociability. The psychological situation in the classroom is changing radically, for many children the learning process becomes joyful and desirable, the style of relationships between all participants in the educational process is changing.

3) Game technologies.

Among the various methods of organizing classes, younger students are most interested in games and game situations, since they bring speech activity closer to natural norms, help develop communication skills, contribute to the effective development of language program material, and provide a practical orientation to learning. The games that I use in the classroom, at all stages of teaching English, help, in my opinion, to solve these problems. Depending on the purpose of using games in the lesson, you can use the following groups of games:

• games for the formation of speech skills, role-playing games; games for the development of lexical, grammatical and phonetic skills; control games;
• games for the development of thinking; games for the development of ingenuity;
• stress relief games.

From the point of view of methods and means of conducting games, they can be divided into: games using verbal visualization (creating speech situations) and games using subject visualization (cards, pictures, objects).

Observation of the process of teaching English using games and game situations showed that their use makes it possible to instill in students an interest in the language, creates a positive attitude towards learning it, stimulates the independent speech and thinking activity of children, and makes it possible to more purposefully implement an individual approach to learning.

· Usage health-saving technologies

As mentioned above, in elementary school there are such problems as the poor health of students, their low level of activity. For a more effective achievement of practical, general educational and developmental goals, to maintain the motivation of students, elements of health-saving technologies should be used, which gives positive results.

First of all, the physiological and psychological characteristics of children are taken into account and such types of work are provided that would relieve stress and fatigue. The teacher should strive to ensure that the entire lesson goes at ease, and the teacher's tone is cheerful and friendly, a pleasant, conducive environment for classes would be created. Charging - relaxation became obligatory elements of the lesson. By the time it takes 3-5 minutes. The purpose of relaxation is to relieve mental stress, give children a little rest, evoke positive emotions, good mood, which leads to better assimilation of the material. Such types of relaxation are used as: various kinds of movements, games, singing, dancing, interest in something new, unusual.

The use of health-saving technologies makes it possible to create favorable conditions for the successful acquisition of the necessary knowledge in the classroom, overcoming difficulties.

List of sources used

• 1. Aryan M.A. Personality-oriented approach and teaching a foreign language in classes with a heterogeneous composition of students // IYaSh. - 2007-№1 - p.3-11.
• 2. Ivanova E.P. Learning in cooperation as a way to enhance the educational and cognitive activity of younger students in foreign language lessons // AYASH. - 2004-№1 (5). - p.32-39.
• 3. Shlyakhtova G.G. Elements of health-saving technologies in English lessons // IYaSh. - 2007-№2. - p.44-47.
• 4. Vaysburd M.L., Kuzmina E.V. The role of individual characteristics of students in teaching foreign language communication // IYaSh. - 1999. - No. 2. - p.3-6.
• 5. Stepanova E.A. Game as a means of developing interest in the language being studied // IYaSh. - 2004 - No. 2. - p.66-68.
• 6. Polat E.S. New pedagogical and information technologies in the education system // M .: Publishing Center "Academy". - 2000.
• 7. Gribanova K.I. Teaching written speech at the initial stage // IYaSh. - 1999. - No. 2. - p.18-21.
• 8. Mustafina F.Sh. Supporting notes for the special course "Communicative Orientation in Teaching Foreign Languages ​​in Secondary School" // BIRO Publishing House. - 1999.
• 9. Kudashev R.A., Grishin K.P. Experience, problems and prospects of pedagogical learning technologies // 1996.
• 10. Babenko E.I., Gerasimova N.N., Oganesyan M.R. On the experience of early teaching English in the system "preschool education - primary school" // IYaSh. - 2003. - No. 4 - p. 20-25.
• 11. Barannikov A.V., On the organization of teaching foreign languages ​​in the 4th grade of educational institutions participating in the experiment to improve the structure and content of general education // AYASH. - 2004 - No. 3 (7). - p.36-39.

We bring to your attention excerpts from the book " Theory and practice of teaching foreign languages. Elementary school: Methodological guide."Galskova N. D., Nikitenko 3. N. - M .: Iris-press, 2004. - 240 p. - (Methodology).

The initial stage of teaching a foreign language in Russia and abroad

Early learning of foreign languages ​​(FL) is one of the priorities in the educational policy of both the Russian Federation and Western European countries. Suffice it to say that since 1994 more than 10 international seminars have been held within the framework of the Council of Europe, dedicated to this or that aspect of this problem.

At the same time, there is no consensus among scientists and practitioners as to what should be understood as early learning of a foreign language. Some believe that early learning can only be discussed if we are talking about introducing children of preschool age to the FL. Others believe that early learning of a foreign language is the teaching of children of primary school age. We will distinguish between early preschool education and early school education. The first is carried out in a preschool institution from the age of 5 (and in some cases even earlier, for example, from the age of 4) until the child enters school.

In turn, early school education is the first stage of education for younger students (from grades 1 to 4 or from grades 2 to 4). It is at this stage that students lay the foundation of the language and speech abilities necessary for their subsequent study of a foreign language as a means of communication.

Today we can state with confidence that teaching a foreign language is becoming an integral part of the initial stage of education both in domestic and foreign schools.

Psychological and physiological factors

Psychologists and physiologists substantiate the introduction of early learning of a foreign language by the natural predisposition of children to languages ​​and their emotional readiness to master them. In this case, they usually refer to the sensitivity (sensitivity) of children of preschool and primary school age to mastering languages ​​in general, and foreign languages ​​in particular. The duration of the sensitive period is different for different researchers, but basically it is a period of 4 to 8 years. It is at this age that children are distinguished by natural curiosity and the need to learn new things. They tend to be more flexible and faster than at subsequent stages, assimilation of language material. With age, a person gradually loses these abilities, his sensitivity to the perception of sounds and the ability to imitate them decrease, short-term memory weakens, as well as the ability to visual, and most importantly, auditory perception.

Another very important advantage of preschool and primary school age lies in the globally acting motivation of children, which allows you to naturally and effectively organize the teaching of a foreign language as a means of communication and build it as a process as close as possible to the natural process of using your native language. This becomes possible, because with the help of a specially organized game in the educational process, almost any language unit can be made communicatively valuable. And then the effectiveness of the formation of the ability to communicate in a new language in younger students increases due to the interaction of game motivation and interest in schooling.

Psychological and physiological factors are far from isolated, and today, based on numerous studies, it can be argued that they are not the main ones that justify the relevance of early learning of a foreign language.

It is possible to successfully master a non-native language at any age, if the chosen ways of studying and teaching it are focused on the specifics of a particular age, including an adult. True, there is one aspect, the mastery of which is most successful in the sensitive age period. This is an unaccented pronunciation of foreign sounds, words, intonation, provided that a small child constantly listens and imitates authentic foreign language speech. However, this fact is clearly not enough to justify the need to familiarize children at an early age with a foreign language. For this, it is necessary to turn to the second group of factors - anthropological.

Anthropological factors

The main meaning of these factors boils down to the fact that a preschooler and a junior schoolchild, studying a foreign language, along with the language, gains experience in communicating with the outside world, with other people, the process of socialization of his personality takes place. This becomes possible due to the natural openness and susceptibility of the child to all circumstances that affect his development. If we take into account that the acquisition of social experience most often occurs in a monolingual (mono-lingual) and monocultural environment (i.e., in an environment in which subjects interacting - carriers of the same culture), then the child learns the "rules of the game" accepted only in a certain linguo-society - community of speakers of one language and one culture. However, as you know, the modern world and the immediate environment of the child are many-sided and multicolored in terms of both languages ​​and cultures. Moreover, global integration not only in the financial and economic field, but also in other areas of public life, modern information technologies make this world so “small” that every preschooler or primary school student, even being geographically distant from the country of the language being studied, can face every day linguocultural phenomena of a foreign world and its representatives. And therefore, ignorance of languages ​​and features of foreign cultures can lead to problems in communicating with their speakers: a feeling of fear of another language and possible rejection of a foreign culture can become stable. To avoid this and to enable children to adapt to the multicultural living conditions in the modern world, children should be introduced to a foreign language and, through language, to the world of other cultures.

The main stages of early learning of a foreign language in preschool institutions and in primary grades of general education schools in our country

We conditionally distinguish three stages.

The first stage - the beginning of the 60s - the middle of the 80s of the XX century.

During this period, the problem of reducing the age threshold for the mass study of foreign languages ​​is of particular relevance. It was at this time that a large number of scientific papers appeared on various aspects of early learning of a foreign language (I. JI. Bim, E. I. Negnevitskaya, E. A. Lenskaya, etc.); the first special manuals for preschool educational institutions were published (O. S. Khanova, T. A. Chistyakova, S. I. Gvozdetskaya, and others).

A lot of scientific and methodological work was carried out in the field of early education at the Research Institute of Content and Teaching Methods of the APS of the USSR. The results of scientific and practical research conducted during the period under review showed the promise of the idea of ​​introducing children to the FL from preschool age. It was possible to formulate the main provisions regarding the organization and content of preschool teaching of a foreign language, namely:

The optimal age for the beginning of the study of IA was revealed - 5-6 years;

It was possible to determine the optimal occupancy of the educational group in a preschool institution (no more than 15 people);

The duration and frequency of classes in the “visiting teacher” mode of work was established;

The educational and educational value of early learning of a foreign language has been proven, as well as the fact that preschoolers can develop an interest and a positive attitude towards learning a non-native language outside the natural language environment.

However, if we generally evaluate the results obtained in the theory and practice of early FL teaching of this period, it should be noted that due to a number of organizational and methodological miscalculations, FL teaching in kindergarten has not become widespread. Organizational problems were caused by the lack of a well-thought-out system of continuity between the teaching of a foreign language in preschool institutions and school (there was a break in teaching a subject for one year at a school with a number of subjects taught in a foreign language and for three years in a public school). A significant reason was also the lack of teaching staff capable of teaching foreign language to children of preschool age. As for methodological miscalculations, they were associated, first of all, with excessive enthusiasm in the practice of work, both with preschoolers and younger schoolchildren, with imitative teaching methods. The consequence of this was the inability of children to use FL as a means of communication in new situations. Yes, and the methodology of teaching children in principle differed little from the school methodology.

The second stage - the middle of the 80s - the middle of the 90s of the XX century.

In the second half of the 80s, a wave of interest from scientists and the public to the problems of teaching foreign language to children of preschool and primary school age again rose. The beginning of this stage was marked by the International Meeting of UNESCO-MAPRYAL Experts (Moscow, 1985), which was devoted to the psychological and pedagogical aspects of teaching children of preschool and primary school age in the spirit of mutual understanding between peoples. The participants of the conference were unanimous that:

Teaching children a foreign language has a number of specific features (emphasized by us. - N. G. and 3. N.), associated with both the age characteristics of the trainees and the learning conditions;

The study of a foreign language is an important process for the development of a child's language, cognitive, mental and communicative abilities; it allows you to expand your horizons, to learn through the language of another country, its people and culture;

It is best to start learning a foreign language at the age of 5-8, when the system of the native language is already well mastered by the child and he is conscious of the new language.

In 1987, by decision of the collegium of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, a large-scale Russian experiment began on the early teaching of a foreign language in preschool institutions and primary classes of general education schools. This experiment was carried out under the direction of the Research Institute of Schools of this Ministry. As part of the experiment, in 22 regions of the country, including Moscow and Leningrad, not only new methodological approaches were worked out, but also (for the first time an attempt was made to massively teach foreign language children: 4-year-old children attending kindergarten, and 6-year-old students Note that there were no analogues in the world practice of such teaching of a foreign language during the period under review, and there are none at the present time.

A new model of teaching was being created in the kindergarten: a foreign language was taught by an educator with knowledge of the language; for the development of foreign language skills in children, he used not only the opportunities of classes, but also everyday communication. The results of experimental teaching of preschoolers were very positive: the proposed method of teaching a foreign language provided a stable motivation for studying the subject and was focused on developing the ability to independently solve elementary communicative problems based on the conscious use of the means of the language being studied. At the same time, problems were also found related to both the low professional training of educators with knowledge of a foreign language, and the insufficient development of the content and methods of teaching dialogic and monologue speech and the lack of stable teaching aids.

More successful in this regard was an experiment in elementary school, one of the main results of which was the release of a series of conceptually new educational and methodological kits in foreign languages ​​(English, German, French and Spanish) for grades 1-4 of a general education school. A number of them are used, of course, in an improved form at the present time.

It is important that it was during this period, or rather, from the second half of the 80s, that a program for training teachers with knowledge of a foreign language for preschool institutions and elementary schools began to be implemented. At the faculties of preschool education and primary education of pedagogical universities and colleges, an additional specialty "foreign language teacher" was introduced.

The development of scientific and methodological thought in the field of early learning of a foreign language is reflected in numerous dissertations that address the issues of the content of education (N. N. Achkasova, O. A. Osiyanova, N. A. Malkina, S. A. Natalina, O. A. Denisenko, N. N. Trubaneva, JI. B. Cheptsova, etc.), teaching methods (N. N. Achkasova, E. V. Zhirnova, N. A. Yatsenko, S. V. Snegova, etc.), modeling of foreign language communication (A. P. Ponimatko, V. N. Simkin, S. S. Chasnok), etc.

One of the main achievements of this period should also be considered the Program in Foreign Languages ​​for Primary School (grades 1-4), created by the team of the teaching laboratory of the Institute of Foreign Languages ​​of the Research Institute of Schools in 1994. This program for the first time formulated goals and determined the content of teaching a foreign language from the standpoint of the possible real use of the studied language. language both in conditions of direct communication, including with its native speakers, and in situations of indirect communication (understanding of authentic audio and printed texts). The level approach to goal setting adopted in this document allowed its authors to show the links between the general pedagogical goal of elementary school, which is to develop the student's personality, and the goals of teaching the subject. The latter were first presented in the form of learning tasks for each type of speech activity (speaking, reading, listening, writing) in their relationship with the topics and situations of communication, linguistic and linguistic and cultural material, with regional information) with subsequent access to specific communication skills that should be master the students.

The third stage - the middle of the 90s of the XX century - to the present.

During this period, interest in early learning of a foreign language becomes more intense. It is enough to look through the issues of the journal "Foreign Languages ​​at School" published over the years to be convinced of this: the journal regularly publishes publications covering both theoretical and practical aspects of early school teaching of the subject. The practice of general educational institutions shows that work with preschoolers and younger students is considered as an integral part of the entire system of language training for children. Thus, since 1995, early education has become one of the priority and promising areas for organizing the educational process in general educational institutions in Russia. The demand for FL in society, on the one hand, and the parents' understanding that FL is not only evidence of education, but also the basis for the future social and material well-being of their child in society, on the other hand, make early education during this period especially popular and relevant. This circumstance, coupled with new trends in the field of educational policy in general, as well as the achievements of methodological science, determine the period under consideration in the development of the theory and practice of early learning of a foreign language. Its main trends are:

Further development of pedagogical and methodological pluralism;

Stimulation of creative activity of educators/teachers and students;

Development of new methodological approaches, forms, methods and techniques for teaching children a foreign language, including integrated courses (which, however, have not been widely used);

Finding ways of flexible management of the foreign language teaching system in the presence of different options for teaching the subject both in kindergarten and in elementary school;

Establishing continuity between the content of early and subsequent education;

Personal development of the child by means of the subject, the strategic goal of teaching a foreign language;

Rejection of the "imitative" methodology and recognition of the priority of children's conscious mastery of language and speech means of communication;

The emergence of a variety of training courses and manuals on foreign language of domestic and foreign publishers (the latter, however, did not justify the hopes of teachers for high performance, since they were focused on teaching a second language in the country of the language being studied and, therefore, are not entirely suitable for the conditions under consideration);

The rapid development of scientific and methodological thought: linguodidactic, psychological, pedagogical and methodological problems of primary teaching of foreign languages ​​are becoming the subject of research by scientists.

Similarities and differences between the academic disciplines "Ia" and "mother tongue"

The commonality of these subjects of the language cycle is manifested in the fact that each of them is aimed at the formation of the student's linguistic personality (Karaulov Yu. N. Russian language and linguistic personality. M .: Nauka, 1987. P. 48). The concept (notion) of a linguistic personality, which is discussed below, is associated with such personal qualities as emancipation, creativity, independence, the ability to build interaction and mutual understanding with communication partners, etc.

In addition, there is a commonality between the processes of mastering native and foreign (non-native) languages. This commonality is due to the unity of the language as an entity, as well as the fact that the processes of mastering any language are based on the same fundamental laws of assimilation and the object of assimilation, the language, is fundamentally the same.

The differences between the academic disciplines "FL" and "native language" are primarily related to the goals of teaching these subjects. Within the framework of the first academic discipline, unlike the second, students do not form a new language communication system, and educational and developmental tasks are more related to familiarization with the theory of the native language, with its system. At the same time, the communicative goal of teaching the native language is to improve the skills and abilities of oral speech and teaching writing and reading, as well as mastering the ability to accurately choose the means of transmitting information (General teaching methods ... P. 13). For the subject "FL" the communicative goal is also the leading one. However, the general educational goals of teaching a foreign language are realized directly in the process of achieving a communicative goal. Moreover, the very process of achieving this goal, as well as the process of mastering a foreign language, is different from what is specific to the native language.

According to J.I. S. Vygotsky, the assimilation of a foreign language goes in the opposite direction to that in which the development of the native language takes place. The child assimilates the latter unconsciously and unintentionally, and the foreign one - starting with awareness and intentionality (Vygotsky L. S. Thinking and speech: Collected works in 6 vols. M .: Pedagogy, 1982. Vol. 2). Consequently, the ways of mastering the language are multidirectional: the native language is characterized by the “bottom-up” path, for the foreign language - “top-down”. At the same time, the process of mastering speech in the native language is inextricably linked with the simultaneous development of thinking, since the child, assimilating the language means of expressing thoughts, simultaneously and inextricably cognizes the surrounding reality. In the course of cognition of the world around him, concepts are formed that are reflected by the language. Thus, awareness of the simplest cause-and-effect relationships in the objective world occurs simultaneously with the child's mastery of the linguistic means of conveying these relationships.

A different picture is observed when students master a foreign language. Starting to learn this language, the child already has a certain language and speech experience in his native language and the ability to perform basic mental operations in this language. The process of assimilation by him of new language means is not accompanied by the simultaneous formation of concepts about the reality surrounding him, the mastery of mental operations. In the course of this process, only the student is introduced to new ways of expressing thoughts for him (including those with national and cultural characteristics), but not to a new type of thinking. From this it is obvious that in the educational process in a foreign language there are opportunities to rely on the student’s thinking formed on the basis of his native language and improve his mental operations.

It is also important to note that, while mastering the native language in childhood and not being able to resort to the “intermediary” language, the child nevertheless learns the meaning / meaning of each sounding word. To learn new words for him means to correlate each word with some object and use this word in his direct objective activity. The word of the native language is learned when the child establishes strong links between the material object/phenomenon and its verbal equivalent. At the same time, the child must learn to handle this object properly, to know its qualities and properties (how it looks, what it tastes like, etc.), that is, together with the sounding word, he learns the world around him, creates a certain world about this world. performance. A child learning a second language already has a certain understanding of the world around him. For him, the process of language acquisition will be effective if strong connections are established in his mind between a new word and its equivalent in his native language. According to I. A. Zimnyaya, it is precisely this circumstance that, on the one hand, determines the fragility of preserving a foreign word in the memory of students, and on the other hand, it confirms the need to rely as much as possible in the educational process on the speech experience of children in their native language (Winter I. A Psychology of Teaching Foreign Languages ​​at School, Moscow: Prosveshchenie, 1991, p. 29).

No less significant is the fact that in the process of mastering the native language, the social development of the child takes place. This means that the child masters not only the language system, but also the means of expressing his feelings, desires, and also learns the norms of social behavior. Since it is the language that serves as a means of forming the "image-I" of the child, then simultaneously with the acquisition of speech experience in his native language, his social and individual identification takes place. He understands his belonging to a certain linguistic ethnos, his nationality, etc. In the process of mastering a foreign language, the student, as a rule, strives not to lose his own identity, which causes certain difficulties in mastering this language. True, children, unlike adults, quickly and easily learn a new language for them, which can be explained, first of all, by their lack of fear of losing their community with a certain social and linguistic environment (Apeltauer E. E. Gesreuerter Zwetspracherwerb. Voraussetzungen und Konsequenzen ftier den Unterriecht, Hiieber Verland and Miinchen, 1987).

It should also be noted that for a small child, the native language is a vital tool - the only means of communication, so there is no problem of motivation for language acquisition. A child “learns” his native language not in order to learn a certain number of words, read a text, etc., but in order to satisfy his vital needs: he did not learn the rule of plural formation, instead of two sweets you will get one candy. A different picture can be observed in the process of teaching a foreign language. Here the problem of students' motivation is one of the central ones, as well as the problem of students' understanding of language means. Therefore, it is the early age that presents unique opportunities in this regard, since children of 5-6 years old have a game motivation, the use of which makes it possible to make practically any language units communicatively valuable (Negnevitskaya E.I. Foreign language for the smallest: yesterday, today, tomorrow / / IYASH, 1987, No. 6). But at the same time, it seems extremely important to know the basic patterns according to which the process of mastering a child's non-native language in educational conditions is built in isolation from the country of the language being studied.

Psychological characteristics of children 6 years old, taken into account when teaching a foreign language

The age of six is ​​the most favorable for starting the study of a foreign language. It is no coincidence that in the recommendations of the International Seminar under the Council of Europe (Graz, 1998) it is noted that it is preferable to start the early study of a foreign language in primary school from the age of 6.

As you know, each age period is characterized by its own type of leading activity. So, at the age of six there is a gradual change in the leading activity: the transition from playing activity to learning. At the same time, the game retains its leading role. On the one hand, children have an active interest in new educational activities, in the school as a whole, and on the other hand, the need for play does not weaken. It is known that children continue to play until the age of 9-10.

One of the main areas of personality formation at the age of six is ​​the formation of learning motives. Studying the motives that encourage six-year-old children to learn, psychologists found that the most common of them are the following: broad social, cognitive learning motives (interest in knowledge, the desire to learn something new) and game motives. The full development of learning activity occurs due to the action of the first two motives, but they are formed in six-year-olds when the game motive is satisfied. Moreover, if the needs of children in the game are not satisfied, then the development of their personality is significantly damaged, learning becomes formal and interest in learning fades.

It is known from the theory of speech activity that speech, with its motivational and target aspects, goes into other types of activity - intellectual, labor, communicative, gaming. With one speech, as the well-known Russian psychologist A. A. Leontiev correctly noted, a person has nothing to do. Speaking for the sake of speaking is a psychologically unjustified process. The uniqueness of the age of six lies in the fact that it is at this time that it is possible to include the process of learning a foreign language in the context of gaming activity in order to create internal motivation and interest in mastering a new language in conditions when children have no natural need to communicate in the language being studied. According to the apt definition of I. A. Zimnyaya, a new game (with new fairy-tale characters, animals that speak only a new foreign language) is a psychological justification for switching to a new language in conditions when all communication tasks can be solved in their native language and not need for a foreign Therefore, it is this age that provides unique opportunities for the implementation of a communicative approach to teaching a foreign language due to globally acting game motivation, which makes it possible to ensure the creation of natural motives for all speech actions of students, to make even the most elementary statements meaningful and interesting.

As for the development of such mental processes in children as memory, attention, perception, their main characteristic is arbitrariness. So, when perceiving material, six-year-olds tend to pay attention to its vivid presentation, emotional coloring. However, their attention is notable for this instability: they are able to concentrate only for a few minutes. Children do not perceive long (more than 2-3 minutes) monologic explanations of the teacher, so it is advisable to build any explanation in the form of a conversation. Six-year-olds are very impulsive, it is difficult for them to restrain themselves, they do not know how to control their behavior, so they quickly get tired. The decline in performance occurs within 10 minutes after the start of the lesson. At the first signs of a decrease in attention, the teacher is recommended to conduct an outdoor game with the children (preferably to music) and change the type of work. The development of voluntary attention of children is possible through the organization of a variety of interesting activities with a clear transition from one type of work to another, with specific instructions on what they should pay attention to.

The mnemonic activity of six-year-olds is also imperfect. They are dominated by involuntary memorization, that is, they remember well and quickly what is interesting and causes an emotional response. Involuntary assimilation of material is possible in the process of fascinating interaction of children with each other. The widespread use of toys and pictures will contribute to the development of figurative and associative memory, and a clear statement of communication tasks and organization of their solution - verbal-logical.

The imagination of a six-year-old student is sufficiently developed and is not only reproducing, but also creative. In turn, the development of thinking goes from visual-effective to visual-figurative. Given this feature of six-year-olds, it is recommended, for example, to use blocks of different colors when familiarizing children with the structure of speech samples, and toys and pictures - when organizing training and using mastered language means of communication (lexical and grammatical). It is advisable to gradually replace toys with pictures, this will also ensure the transition from the game to the actual learning activity. Visual-figurative and logical thinking develop the following skills of children:

Independently analyze linguistic phenomena, based on speech experience in the native language;

Highlight the main thing and establish cause-and-effect relationships;

Consciously apply knowledge and learned methods of action in independent foreign language and speech activity. Children of six years of age are very sociable and love to be in a peer group. Of the various types of communication between a child and adults (business, cognitive, personal), personal communication prevails at the age under consideration. By communicating with adults, children get to know themselves better, as they seek an assessment of their personality. When organizing communication with children, it must be remembered that they do not personally relate to themselves the comments and instructions of the teacher if these instructions are of a general nature and apply to all students. A six-year-old student does not understand that when addressing everyone, the teacher addresses him personally. He will react only if the teacher addresses him personally.

In order for children to easily and naturally engage in school reality, behavioral requirements (“you can’t get up without the permission of the teacher during the lesson”, “raise your hand if you want to ask about something”, etc.) must be introduced gradually, achieving their implementation only by the end of the first year of study. These requirements should take the form of requests and wishes, and their violation should cause regret in the teacher, but not irritation.

Among six-year-old children, very significant individual differences in mental development (emotional-volitional sphere, memory, attention, thinking, etc.) are observed, which is determined by the different experience of their life and activities in the family and kindergarten. The process of children getting used to school also takes place in different ways. Some children behave confidently, others experience a state of anxiety, others are capricious, etc. Some children experience difficulties in the process of communication in their native language. These children are either overly impulsive, impatient, or, conversely, passive and timid. Impulsive, restless children with a particularly unstable psyche should be paid attention from the very first lessons. They need to be occupied with work, entrusted to them with roles that require constant involvement in common activities. It is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that toys are not kept by children longer than necessary to solve the educational problem, otherwise the children will be distracted. But you need to take away toys from children in a natural and harmless form for them: “The animals are tired and want to rest”, “Dolls go to bed”, etc.

It is very important to find an individual approach to each student, and the constant contacts of a foreign language teacher with an elementary school teacher, with parents and coordination of their actions can help in this. Of great importance will be the first meeting with the children (as, indeed, with students of any age), the gentle voice and friendly smile of the teacher, his kind attitude towards the students.

- "The program of pre-school education "Teaching foreign language communication for children of senior preschool age"" Makarenko E.A. - 67-79 p. "Psychological and pedagogical support of the child's life in the conditions of pre-school education (Part II) (recommendations for parents, educators, teachers)" // Ed. N.B. Romaeva. - Stavropol: Publishing house of SGPI, 2008. - 124 p. (www.sspi.ru)

LLC Training Center
"PROFESSIONAL"

Abstract by discipline:
"Methods of teaching a foreign language"

On this topic:

« Early foreign language teaching»

Executor:
Nikitaeva Ekaterina Valerievna

Zheleznovodsk 2016

Content

Introduction ………………………………………………………………3

Early learning of a foreign language………………………… …..4

Conclusion ………………………………………………………… 17

Literature ……………………………………………………………..18

Introduction

The popularity of learning English is growing year by year. And more and more parents are striving to introduce their children to foreign languages ​​from an early age. It is well known that demand creates supply. And since the demand for learning a foreign language in the market of educational services is great, the problem of high-quality language teaching for children of preschool and primary school age arises. The problem of early learning lies in the need to find reserves in the organization of education in order not to miss and take advantage of the sensitive period of learning a foreign language in preschool age. Experimental studies indicate that after 9 years, the child partially loses the flexibility of the speech mechanism. The optimal age to start training is 4 years. This age is most favorable for mastering foreign languages ​​due to a number of psychological features characteristic of a preschool child, namely, the intensive formation of cognitive abilities, quick and easy memorization of language information - imprinting, special sensitivity to language phenomena, the ability to imitate.

One of the urgent problems of modern methods of teaching a foreign language is the organizationearly learning of a foreign language.

The urgency of this problem is caused by a number of factors.Early learning of foreign languages ​​is, first of all, a game activity aimed at the development and upbringing of the child, it is a way of socializing the baby, as well as a process whose goal is to unlock the potential of the child, taking into account his individual characteristics.

Secondly,this is connected not so much with the development of pedagogy and methods of teaching various disciplines and subjects, but with fashion trends and trends among parents. Nevertheless, the problem of early learning is also being actively studied by modern scientists: psychologists, teachers, and methodologists. Especially a lot of discussions are caused by the problems of early teaching children a foreign language. It may seem that this issue is quite new and has just begun to be studied, however, if we look at the history of the development of pedagogical thought, we will see that the problems of early teaching a foreign language have been considered for several centuries.

Early learning contributes to the implementation of important methodological tasks:

Creation of psychological readiness of children for verbal communication;

Ensuring the natural need for repeated repetition of language material by them;

Training students in choosing the right speech option, which is a preparation for learning English.

Early learning of a foreign language.

The question of early learning of foreign languages ​​arose in the 19th century. It was then that the methodology of early teaching of foreign languages ​​began to emerge as a branch of methodological science. At that time, in no country in the world was the experience of teaching foreign languages ​​to children as widespread as in Russia. According to contemporaries, in Russia in the 19th century it was possible to meet a child who was fluent in three foreign languages: French, English, German. The education of 5-10-year-old children of the wealthy segments of the population was massive.

In a modern, dynamically developing society, tendencies towards internationalization and integration of various spheres of human activity are more and more clearly visible. Today, the development of versatile relations with other countries has made the language really in demand by society.

The early start of learning a foreign language has become one of the priority areas in the practice of teaching the subject. At present, in many preschool educational institutions, in various centers, children get acquainted with a foreign language from an early age. Integrative classes provide additional opportunities for the versatile education of a preschooler, for the development of not only linguistic, but also general abilities.

RelevanceThe problems of teaching a foreign language in a preschool and primary school are substantiated by scientific data on the need to make the most of the sensitive period for learning a foreign language.

The problem of how to teach a foreign language to preschool children has not been fully resolved either in our country or abroad, although many methodologists show great interest in it. For example, shortly after the Second World War, the US Modern Language Association headed by Theodore The problem of early learning of foreign languages ​​was reflected in a number of scientific works of domestic and foreign researchers and methodologists, such as V.N. Meshcheryakova, N.V. Semenova, I.N. Pavlenko, I.L. Sholpo, Z.Ya. Futerman, L.P. Guseva, N.A. Gorlova, M.A. Khasanova, Carol Read, Cristiana Bruni, Diana Webster and others.

At the same time, there is no consensus among scientists and practitioners as to what should be understood as early learning of a foreign language. Some believe that early learning can be discussed only if we are talking about introducing a foreign language to children of preschool age. They're underearly learning FL understand learning that takes place on the basis of an intuitive-practical approach from the moment a child is born to his or her entry into school. Others believe that early learning a foreign language is teaching children of primary school age. N.D. Galskov and Z.N. Nikitenko is offered to distinguishearly preschool education andearly schooling . The first is carried out in a preschool institution from 4-5 years old until the child enters school. Early school education is the first stage of education for younger students (grades 1 or 2 to 4).

If the problem of teaching a foreign language in primary school is sufficiently studied and methodically developed, then the question of the advisability of teaching a foreign language in a preschool educational institution is still debatable. Methodists cannot come to a common point of view regarding the most favorable age to start learning a foreign language. This is probably due to the fact that each age has its own advantages and disadvantages for mastering a foreign language.

Let us analyze different points of view on the problem of psycholinguistic abilities of an older preschooler. MM. Gohlerner and G.V. Eiger distinguishes the following components of linguistic abilities:

§ pronounced verbal memory;

§ speed and ease of formation of functional-linguistic generalizations;

§ imitative speech abilities at the phonetic, lexical, grammatical and stylistic levels;

§ the ability to quickly master a new psycholinguistic point of view on objects of the objective world in the transition from one language to another;

§ the ability to formalize verbal material.

However, we believe that not all of the above listed components are mandatory, speaking about the linguistic abilities of an older preschooler. As components of fundamental importance for this age category, we single out a pronounced language memory that allows you to quickly replenish your vocabulary, master new forms and grammatical structures, translate words from a passive dictionary into an active one, and imitative speech abilities at the phonetic, lexical, grammatical and stylistic levels, suggesting sensitivity to various aspects of speech. Methodist I.L. Sholpo highlights additional parameters by which one can judge a person's greater or lesser giftedness in the field of learning foreign languages. We list only those that we consider the most significant:

lexical sense, which allows you to connect the meaning of a word and its form, draw parallels with other languages, feel the meaning of individual word-forming suffixes and prefixes;

grammatical (constructive) flair, which makes it possible to create a harmonious whole from disparate elements, to feel the commonality of grammatical structures;

emotional-figurative perception of the language, which includes the subjective assessment of the word, the feeling of "taste", the originality of the given language, its beauty, providing a connection between the word and the concept;

functional-stylistic perception of the language, which implies the distinction of its stylistic layers and the ability to assess a specific speech situation from this point of view.

Before you start teaching a child a foreign language, you should find out if he is psychologically ready to learn this subject. At one time L.N. Tolstoy wrote: "Teach children only when their psyche is ready for learning." Therefore, it is not possible to accurately determine the age at which all children can begin to learn a foreign language, since the psychological prerequisites for learning it in different children are formed differently. In his article, A.A. Zagorodnova indicates the main parameters of the child's psychological readiness for learning a foreign language. We list some of them:

§ formation of conscious perception, sustained attention;

§ ability to switch, observation;

§ developed visual and auditory memory, logical thinking;

§ the ability to carefully listen and hear the teacher, understand and accept the educational task, clearly and clearly answer questions in the course of educational work, observe speech etiquette when communicating;

§ Formation of the skill of self-control - the ability to show strong-willed effort to achieve the educational goal (to do what you should, and not what you want), the ability to work at a given pace.

Preschool age is unique for language acquisition due to such mental characteristics of the child as quick memorization of language information, the ability to analyze and systematize speech flows in different languages ​​without confusing these languages ​​and their means of expression, a special ability to imitate, the absence of a language barrier. Learning a foreign language at an early age has a beneficial effect on the overall mental development of the child, his speech abilities, and on expanding his general horizons.

Many experiments have been carried out on teaching children aged 2-6 years a foreign language. Experiments show that a foreign language has an impact on the formation of concepts in young children, and since the concept is a form of abstract thinking, it is legitimate to identify the connection between learning a foreign language and the development of abstract thinking.

Experiments confirm the possibility of learning a foreign language from birth, testify to the special ability of young children to do this.

Psychologists note that teaching a foreign language has a beneficial effect on the development of a child's speech in his native language; more than half of the children studying a foreign language have a high level of memory; they have a significant increase in attention span.

The statements of researchers are known that it is best to start learning a foreign language at the age of 5-8, when the system of the native language is already well mastered, and the child is conscious of the new language. In addition, at this age there are still few cliches of speech behavior, it is easy to encode thoughts in a new way, there are no significant psychological difficulties when making contact in a foreign language. Both in domestic (L.S. Vygotsky, S.N. Rubinstein) and in foreign psychology (B. White, J. Bruner, R. Roberts) there is evidence that a child masters a foreign language more easily than an adult. Young children spend less energy on memorization, they are not yet burdened with prejudices, they have fewer stereotypes in thinking and behavior, they are very curious, and therefore it is easier to accept the rules of the “new game”. The playful nature of communication is the main feature of teaching a foreign language to young children.

Psychology has data indicating that children from 2 to 7 years of age have developed concrete-figurative thinking, which is realized in the form of associative actions on ideas about objects. The conclusions of children at this age are based on visual premises given in perception. These features of preschoolers' thinking serve as the basis for the widespread use of visualization in teaching, which at the same time increases children's interest in the subject, and thereby relieves possible fatigue in the learning process. Developmental psychology has data that children of preschool and primary school age do not yet have focused attention, their voluntary attention is unstable, since they do not yet have internal means of self-regulation, so fatigue quickly sets in at this age. In this regard, the learning process should be structured in such a way as to systematically switch the voluntary attention of children to involuntary.

And, finally, teaching foreign languages ​​to children in kindergarten will lay a solid foundation for successful mastering the basics of a foreign language at school. It will have a favorable effect on the speech and general development of children, provided that the educational process is methodically correct and due to the consideration of the psychological and physiological characteristics of children of this age.

The goals of teaching foreign languages ​​at an early stage

The leading goal of early learning of foreign languages ​​is, first of all, a developing goal. This, however, does not mean a decrease in the importance of practical goals or a decrease in the requirements for the level of proficiency in oral-speech communication in a foreign language. Moreover, the development of effective technologies for early teaching a foreign language allows you to take a fresh look at the problems of intellectual development of primary school students.

The implementation of this goal provides for:

The development of the child's language abilities (memory, speech hearing, attention, etc.), which can become the basis for further study of foreign languages;

Introducing the child to the language and culture of another people and the formation of a positive attitude towards them; children's awareness of their native culture;

Raising a child's sense of self-awareness as a person belonging to a particular linguistic and cultural community, developing an attentive attitude and interest in languages ​​that a child can meet in everyday life;

The development of the mental, emotional, creative qualities of the child, his imagination, the ability to social interaction (the ability to play, work together, find and establish contact with a partner), the joy of learning and curiosity;

Learning poems, songs in a foreign language, listening to and staging fairy tales of another people, getting acquainted with the games that their peers play abroad, carrying out this or that activity, children master the communicative minimum sufficient for foreign language communication at an elementary level. We are talking about the formation of practical skills of oral foreign speech, namely:

Skills in typical situations of everyday communication and within the framework of the lexical and grammatical material indicated by the program, to understand oral foreign speech and respond to it both verbally and non-verbally;

Skills in conditions of direct communication with a person who speaks a foreign language, including a native speaker of this language, to understand statements addressed to him and adequately respond to them verbally;

To carry out their verbal and non-verbal behavior in accordance with the rules of communication and the national and cultural characteristics of the country of the language being studied.

Since the child has to deal mainly with poems, songs, rhymes in a foreign language in the educational process, the register of practical learning goals includes the development of children's skills to reproduce this material.

Based on the function of language to be a means of cognition and communication, the ultimate goal of teaching a foreign language at an early stage is seen in the achievement by students of the ability to communicate, using a foreign language as a means of direct live contact, the ability to listen to the interlocutor, respond to his questions, start, maintain and end a conversation, express your point of view, extract the necessary information when reading and listening.

The main educational and developmental and educational goals are as follows:

In the formation in children of a positive attitude towards the activities performed and interest in the language being studied, in the culture of the people who speak this language;

In the education of the moral qualities of students: a sense of duty, responsibility, collectivism, tolerance and respect for each other;

In the development of preschoolers' mental functions (memory, attention, imagination, arbitrariness of actions), cognitive abilities (verbal logical thinking, awareness of linguistic phenomena), the emotional sphere;

In expanding the general educational horizons of children.

The educational goals are as follows:

In the formation of skills and abilities of independent solution of elementary communicative tasks in a foreign language;

In the formation of interpersonal communication skills and self-control skills;

In the acquisition of elementary linguistic and cultural knowledge.

In addition, one of the most important psychological tasks of early learning of foreign languages ​​is the formation of a positive attitude towards learning a new language, as well as the creation of internal interest in children at every moment of learning.

Speaking about the goals of early learning of foreign languages, it can be noted that it is necessary:

Contribute to the earlier introduction of children to a new language space, when children do not yet experience psychological barriers in using a foreign language as a means of communication;

To form elementary communication skills, taking into account the speech capabilities of children;

To acquaint children with the world of foreign peers, with foreign song, poetry and fairy-tale folklore;

To introduce children to a new social experience using a foreign language by expanding the range of playable social roles in game situations typical of family, everyday, educational communication;

To form universal linguistic concepts observed in native and foreign languages, while developing the intellectual, speech and cognitive abilities of students.

The goals set for the subject "foreign language" should be solved by a methodically competent teacher who owns modern teaching technologies, who knows the psychological and pedagogical characteristics of children of this age.

The content of teaching foreign languages ​​at an early stage :

Language material: lexical and grammatical;

Communication skills that characterize the level of practical knowledge of the language being studied;

Information about some national and cultural features of the countries of the studied language.

The content of the training must meet the following requirements:

Firstly, it should arouse interest in children and positively affect their emotions, develop their imagination, curiosity and creativity, form the ability to interact with each other in play situations, and so on.

Secondly, the content of the training and its subject matter (what to talk about, listen to, what to do) should take into account the personal experience of the child, which he acquires by communicating in his native language, and be correlated with the experience that they must gain in foreign language classes. language.

Thirdly, the content of the training should make it possible to organically integrate into the educational process in a foreign language various types of activities typical for preschool children: visual, musical, labor and others, and thereby create conditions for the harmonious development of the child's personality.

Teaching English to preschoolers is considered as one of the important preliminary stages that prepare the child for schooling, laying the correct pronunciation, the accumulation of vocabulary, the ability to understand foreign speech by ear and participate in a simple conversation. In other words, there is a gradual development of the foundations of communicative competence,which at an early stage of learning English includes the following aspects:

a) the ability to correctly repeat English words from a phonetic point of view after a teacher, native speaker or announcer (meaning working with a sound recording), that is, the gradual formation of auditory attention, phonetic hearing and correct pronunciation;

b) the accumulation, consolidation and activation of the vocabulary, without which it is impossible to improve verbal communication;

c) mastering a certain number of simple grammatical structures; construction of a coherent statement, in which speech should be built intentionally, since the child uses a limited vocabulary, and planned, because even within a limited vocabulary, one must express one's thoughts;

d) the ability to speak coherently within the subject and situations of communication (based on the assimilation of the sound side of a foreign language, a certain vocabulary and grammatical structures);

Criteria for organizing foreign language classes for preschoolers. Forms of education should not be aimed at mastering as many lexical units as possible, but atraising interest in the subject , development of communication skills of the child , ability to express yourself . It is important to achieve certain qualities of mastery of the material, which should allow the child, with a minimum of funds, assuming a subsequent increase in language units in the child's competence, to use them situationally and meaningfully.

Forms of classes can be as follows:

Daily 15 - 25 minute lessons, accompanied by a speech in a foreign language during regime moments.

Classes twice a week, 25 - 45 minutes with breaks for outdoor games in a foreign language and time for modeling, drawing and making crafts thematically related to the lesson.

Special classes - fairy tale lessons and watching video fragments - as an addition to the main classes.

Meetings with native speakers.

Matinees and holidays where children can show their achievements - stage a fairy tale, recite a poem.

Lessons are conversations.

Foreign language lessons in nature.

The most successful methods are based onthe principle of the gradual formation and development of speech action, when the simpler precedes the more complex. At all levels of presentation of the material, the principle of communication is implemented, that is, everything serves to achieve a certain result in communication. The independent use of speech units should be preceded by their listening comprehension, which corresponds to the psycholinguistic patterns of speech acquisition.Can learning a foreign language improve pronunciation skills in your native language? Some speech therapists, psychologists, believe that for the development of speech function, namely, for the "development" of the articulatory speech apparatus of the child, one should study English. It is important to avoid mixing English and Russian pronunciation in the child's language, therefore, if the child has a speech disorder, you should wait a little while learning another language

Conclusion

Thus, the early teaching of a foreign language to children has a positive effect on the formation of both linguistic and general culture. It can be a good motivation for learning your native language. Learning takes place in an artificial language environment. During classes, phonemic hearing, visual and auditory memory, touch and even smell, memory for taste, development of attention, thinking and speech develop. Efficiency is achieved by integrating various types of activities (game, subject, speech, etc.) with real activities (all sensitive moments, reading books, etc.). During classes, the child develops linguistic abilities, taking into account age characteristics.

Bibliography

Arkhangelskaya L. S. Learning English. M.: EKSMO-Press, 2001

Biboletova MZ Problems of early teaching of foreign languages. - Moscow Committee of Education MIPCRO, 2000

Ivanova L.A. Dynamic changes in techniques in English. The system "Kindergarten - primary school// Foreign languages ​​at school. – 2009.- №2. – p.83

Negnevitskaya E. I. Psychological conditions for the formation of speech skills and abilities in preschoolers: Abstract. - M., 1986

Continuity between preschool and primary levels of the education system.// Primary education. - No. 2, 2003

http://pedsovet.org

PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS OF EARLY TEACHING ENGLISH TO CHILDREN

Esakova I. N.

MOU "Krasnenskaya secondary school named after M. I. Svetlichnaya"

Four-year primary education is considered as the first stage of the new Russian school, which is faced with tasks that meet global trends in the development of education. At this stage, the formation of the personality of the younger student, the identification and development of his abilities, the formation of the ability and desire to learn take place. Biboletova M.Z., Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Leading Specialist of the Russian Academy of Education believes that early learning of students in a foreign language has its undeniable advantages:

Learning foreign languages ​​at a young age is useful for all children, regardless of their starting abilities, since it has an indisputable positive effect on the development of the child's mental functions - memory, attention, thinking, perception, imagination, etc. Learning has a stimulating effect on the child's general speech abilities, which also has a positive effect on native language proficiency. [M. Z. Biboletova]

Early foreign language teaching has a great practical effect in terms of the quality of foreign language proficiency, creating the basis for continuing its study in the main school.

The educational and informative value of early learning of foreign languages ​​is undeniable, which is manifested in the earlier entry of the child into the universal culture through learning in a new language for him. At the same time, constant appeal to the experience of the child, taking into account his mentality, the way he perceives reality, allow children to better understand the phenomena of their own national culture in comparison with the culture of the countries of the language being studied.

The introduction of a foreign language into the number of subjects studied in primary school has undoubted pragmatic advantages, it expands the range of humanitarian subjects studied at this level, and makes primary education more joyful and attractive for children.

A modern child hears foreign speech everywhere: in the media, in the cinema, using a computer. Focusing on the current situation and the ever-increasing needs of the child in mastering a foreign language, it seems important to study this issue more deeply.

It should be remembered that the method of learning a language at an early age should be fundamentally different from the methods of teaching it in middle and older age.

Many educators and psychologists emphasize the need for linguistic development as an important lever for the child's intellectual development. The well-known psychologist D. B. Elkonin notes that preschool age is the period in which there is the greatest sensitivity to linguistic phenomena. E. A. Tinyakova, in turn, argues that familiarity with other languages ​​teaches you to isolate in detail and subtly notice shades of meaning: unusual phonetic situations polish pronunciation abilities; other grammatical structures serve as good logical training.

From what will be the first steps of the child on the path of mastering a foreign language, his future knowledge in this area and in other subjects depends. Concerning

an English teacher in kindergarten and elementary school needs to take into account the age and individual characteristics of each child in order to create sustainable interest.

It should be remembered that there are certain difficulties in early learning a foreign language. They are connected with the fact that there are differences in the psychophysiological development of five-six-year-old children and seven-year-old students. In the transition from kindergarten to school, a child's social role changes dramatically. In his play activity, which before coming to school was the main way of knowing the world, educational activity is connected, which will act as a leader in subsequent years of study. [Sh. A. Amonoshvili]

There is a problem of continuity in teaching a foreign language, without which a smooth transition from preschool to primary education is impossible. According to M. Z. Biboletova, continuity in this case can be considered in terms of vertical connections, which are ensured by the continuity of the goals and content of teaching foreign languages ​​and the choice of a reasonable modern teaching strategy.

Education must be built taking into account the peculiarities of perception, thinking, attention, memory of children, to give only those tasks that fit into the child's personal experience, do not go beyond the objects and phenomena known to him.

Existing approaches to teaching foreign languages ​​are divided into predominantly cognitive and predominantly intuitive, imitative. Approaches vary depending on the learning conditions, such as the availability of the language environment, the age of the students, and motivation.

At preschool age, the formation of language skills and speech skills occurs mainly on the basis of imitation, unconsciously.

At preschool age, the leading form of activity is a game. The speech of preschoolers is elementary, uncomplicated, the child is not yet aware of the structure of his native language, and with the transition to elementary school, with the mastery of educational activities, the mental development of children receives an additional impetus.

During the transition of preschoolers to primary school, the following changes are observed in their speech development:

Speech in the native language becomes more complex linguistically, which affects the nature of communication skills in a foreign language;

The nature of educational activity becomes more complicated and becomes more diverse;

Students have aspirations and the opportunity to analyze their speech in a foreign language, since they form some theoretical concepts in the process of teaching their native language [Ivanova L. A.].

As a result, the intuitive way that was used in teaching preschool children does not give the expected effect in teaching younger students due to significant changes in their mental and speech development.

Understanding the intuitive and conscious ways of mastering a foreign language indicates that they are largely determined by the degree of development of psychological processes and differ in the following:

The degree of reliance on the native language, in particular, the presence or absence of translation in the semantization of language units;

The degree of participation of consciousness in mastering the language system, mastering elementary grammatical material.

The degree of development of the cognitive forces of students (memory, thinking, imagination) when mastering speech in a foreign language.

The importance of providing a flexible transition from preschool to early childhood education is clear. There are two technologies for early teaching English:

Education, built mainly on intuitive ways of mastering the material, which is acceptable for preschoolers of five to six years old due to their psychophysiological level and their leading type of activity

Training built on the interaction of methodological methods of an intuitive nature with the gradual connection of conscious ways of mastering the material. This technology is more suitable for children who develop learning activities.

The use of these technologies should be based on their reasonably balanced ratio, depending on the age characteristics of students and learning conditions.

In the process of teaching preschoolers, it is advisable to use the strategy of an intuitive way of mastering the material:

Techniques that contribute to better memorization of educational material: gestures, mimicry, association, singing;

Building a canvas from interrelated plots of lessons;

Distribution of roles - masks;

Block supply of educational material;

Block presentation of educational material.

During the transition to elementary school, children learn a volume of lexical units and speech samples sufficient for a given age.

In the process of teaching first grade students, the following methodological techniques of a conscious nature should be connected:

Communication with the native language, the use of reliance on it;

Carrying out sound-letter analysis;

Correlation of a lexical unit with a picture;

logical grouping;

Using modeling to form affirmative, negative, interrogative sentences and utterance structure in English.

The inclusion of methodological techniques in line with a conscious approach to teaching will provide solid knowledge and a more complete development of psychological capabilities.

At the beginning of teaching a foreign language to first-graders, it seems appropriate to apply mainly methodological techniques in line with an intuitive approach. And as you adapt to the conditions of schooling, gradually introduce certain methodological techniques of a conscious nature. This approach contributes to the possibility of rational use of the capabilities of a child of primary school age at the transitional stage from preschool to school education.

It should be noted that the psychological characteristics of younger students give them certain advantages in learning a foreign language. One of the best incentives is the feeling of success. The ways of obtaining and assimilating information in children are different: visual, auditory, kinesthetic. All children follow the same paths of cognitive development, but at different rates. periods of rapid progress may alternate with periods of lesser success. In order to effectively plan the learning process, this fact must be taken into account.

The emotional side is just as important as the cognitive side. The affective side of communication includes communication skills and interpersonal interaction, purposefulness. It should also be noted that children have different temperaments, some are aggressive, others are shy, others are too painful for their failures and are afraid to make a mistake. Accounting for all these differences will help the teacher to match each child with a more appropriate task or role.

It is also necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the physical development of preschoolers and younger schoolchildren. The development of muscles affects the child's ability to focus on a page, line or word, which is necessary for the ability to read. In order for students to achieve fine motor coordination between visual perception and mechanical movement, their hands need constant training. Children cannot sit still for a long time due to lack of control over the motor muscles, so during the lesson it is necessary to give tasks that would allow them to move around the class (games, songs with movements, dances).

Taking into account the psychological, emotional, physical features of development, it is necessary to highlight the means that a foreign language teacher uses when teaching preschoolers and younger students:

Scenario plans, plans - summaries of lessons of various forms (integrated lessons; lessons using multimedia aids; lessons - games, lessons - fairy tales);

A set of games (lexical, grammatical, phonetic, interactive);

Development of physical education minutes, dynamic pauses, finger gymnastics

A variety of didactic material: training and control cards.

It should also be noted a number of difficulties of a psychological and methodological nature:

Lack of regulatory documents, educational programs;

Technologies for teaching a foreign language in the first grade at the transitional stage from preschool to school education have not been developed.

Solving these and other problems is a task that needs to be solved by joint efforts, combining theoretical knowledge and practical experience to organize the process of effective early foreign language learning.

Nevertheless, despite the existing problems, the main fact should be noted - the inclusion of a foreign language in the primary school curriculum is a serious practical step in the implementation of the personality-oriented paradigm of liberal education in the context of the modernization of the Russian school.

Literature:

1. Arkhangelskaya L. S. Learning English. M.: EKSMO-Press, 2001
2. Biboletova MZ Problems of early teaching of foreign languages. - Moscow Committee of Education MIPCRO, 2000
3. Ivanova L.A. Dynamic changes in techniques in English. The system "Kindergarten - primary school// Foreign languages ​​at school. – 2009.- №2. – p.83
4. Negnevitskaya E. I. Psychological conditions for the formation of speech skills and abilities in preschoolers: Abstract. - M., 1986
5. Continuity between preschool and primary levels of the education system.// Primary education. - No. 2, 2003
6. http://pedsovet.org

Bilingual children and their opportunities: why teach a child a second language from childhood

...to. there is a stable demand for the service among families with a high level of income. Knowledge of two languages ​​as native is called bilingualism. And bilinguals are called those who own them as relatives, can easily switch in communication from one to another. Natural bilinguals are formed during a constant life in different linguistic environments, and artificial ones, when they start learning a foreign language from an early age. Bilingualism has a positive effect on memory, the ability to understand and analyze speech, quick wits, quick reactions, mathematical skills and logic. It used to be thought that bilingual children develop more slowly, but new research has shown that the extra work that the brain constantly does to switch between languages ​​stimulates and...

Discussion

This topic has always been of interest to me, as a teacher and mother. I think that children should learn foreign languages, but the degree of their impact on the child should be the same. Bilingualism, as a rule, develops well in international families, where dad speaks one language, and mom speaks the second. If, from the very birth of a child, there is a desire to raise a bilingual, then you need to clearly distribute the time of communication in different languages ​​so that there is no feeling of "failure" (for example, 30 minutes of English and 15 minutes of Italian).

English for kids. Free open English First lessons in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk

Discussion

From my own experience I can say the following: it is optimal to start learning a language a year before the start of its study at school. In a playful way. Then the child will have a smooth immersion in the language and there will be no such breakdown, when he still doesn’t know the letters, but phonetics already needs to be studied ...

Quite often, young mothers begin to teach languages ​​(especially English) to one and a half year old and even three month old (!) babies - they show them cards with English words, put on cartoons in English, etc. At first glance, it's a total benefit. But is it? From a linguistic standpoint, no. Judge for yourself. Problem one. The sounds in English and Russian are very different. In English, th is this, think is the norm. And in Russian &...

Discussion

We live in Germany, our daughter was born here, we speak Russian at home, naturally everyone speaks German in the kindergarten, our daughter is now 2 years old, she understands everything in both languages, she says something in German in a mix, something in Russian. Our grandmother tells us all the time that the child somehow speaks very little (no long sentences), I explain it precisely that the child is a duolingo. Let's see how it will be further, there are plans to send to a kindergarten with the study of English from the age of 4, in this kindergarten we were advised that English will be only once a week and in a playful way, there are also many children in the kindergarten for whom English is a third language . I also know about the wonderful Lexilize Flashcards mobile application, but this is for older children for schoolchildren, where you can directly fill in your words that the child goes through in the lesson and teach them with games. I myself learn German with this app, maybe someone is looking for something similar.

English is of course the priority. But it is easier to superimpose other foreign languages ​​on German, as the teacher explained to us. German was easy for us, we began to study in the 1st grade, when the child's interest in learning appeared. Now he speaks it easily, sometimes even unconsciously starts in German, they are encouraged to do this in the courses) We go to school all the time, even when we are sick, we just study via Skype. We go to the school of foreign languages ​​Linguist-I.

"Oh, why didn't I learn English!" - we often sigh, thinking about what help in business or scientific work would be a good knowledge of a foreign language.

"Advanced" parents ask if it is necessary to introduce foreign languages ​​for about a year?! We think that if you have two active languages ​​in the house, then you should definitely speak two languages ​​with your children, trying not to disturb them. But artificially introducing a foreign language, which you may know perfectly well, but you don’t communicate in it at home, is definitely not necessary for up to a year. Let him deal with his family!

According to a number of researchers, there are more bilinguals in the world than monolinguals. It is known that by now children's bilingualism covers almost half of the children on our planet. This trend is expected to continue to grow.

Discussion

It's very nice to read that someone can do it so easily.
My daughter (2.5 years old) speaks Russian with difficulty and a strong accent. And this is despite the fact that we only watch Russian cartoons, read a lot and often speak Russian. It seems to me that only studying at home with my mother cannot be enough. We need Russian-speaking children or classes in a group. Unfortunately, this is not always possible :(

06/25/2007 01:37:23 PM, Katja

Iz moego opita, detjam nuzhno realnoje obshenie na jazike. Moja doch (3 g) free speech in Russian and German. Moi muz svejcarec i doma mi govorim po nemecki, ja s detjmi govorju po russki, muz po nemecki. Doch hodila s 9 months. v nemeckij sadik i nemeckij u nee bil luchshe, Kogda ej isponilosj 2, mi otdali ee na 1 denj v russkij sad i russkij zametno uluchshilsja. Kogda deti imejut vozmozhnostj (neobhodimostj) obshatsja na jasike, oni bez problem razvivajut ego. Sejchas zhivem v USA i doch nachala govoritj po anglijski, t.k. deti govorjat in english. V sentjabre pojdet v Preschool. Moi advice: ischite obshenije dlja detej.

Interestingly, children can distinguish languages ​​from birth. At the University of British Columbia, during the experiment, it was found that up to 9 months, children only by visual signs distinguish between languages ​​spoken by adults. Babies can "read" lips. Observations on children from families and children who speak two or three languages ​​allow us to conclude that early learning of foreign languages ​​contributes to the formation of positive motivation for children during subsequent language learning. These children go on to school with much more fun, interest and ease. The language immersion method is the most effective method of learning English. It lies in the fact that in the life of the baby there is a time of immersion in the language. And there are more and more such moments (from 5 to 30 minutes) and the pain ...

Discussion

I am sure that in the first years of life the child learns and absorbs information better. My child and I started learning English at the age of 1.5. We were engaged in the Linguamama system. This is a technique developed specifically for kids. I really liked it. There are results.

We do not have such an opportunity to go abroad, and we do not know the language, so we decided to try classes with a tutor.

Since most of the "Nikitinsky" games are aimed at developing spatial thinking, they must be supplemented with tasks for the development of speech. It is believed that the younger the child, the more chances he has to master a foreign language to the maximum extent. Early language learning Basic principles. The child creates conditions for involuntary copying of foreign speech, because this is how he learns his native language. No grammar rules, pronunciation training and other memorization of dialogues about the weather! The kid plunges into the world of poems, fairy tales and songs and imperceptibly masters the vocabulary that accompanies outdoor games. It is believed that the younger the child, the more chances he has to master a foreign language to the maximum extent possible. Teachers and parents...

Discussion

They tell me here that the article is 370 years out of date - even Comenius created "Mom's Schools" for newborns all over Europe! :) - back in the 17th century, he showed that children by the age of 6 should be able to read and count ...

Yes, and all parents and educators who have watched the program "Best of All" at least once are unanimous in their opinion: "A completely mediocre and deceitful, ignorant and irresponsible article is an example, a masterpiece of mediocrity in its own way. :(
The author of the article, who calls herself a "psychologist", has never seen normal children, who are almost all genetically gifted and brilliant! :) But these obviously ignorant "psychologists" are doing everything to prevent our children and grandchildren from developing.
It is also clear that the author is not to blame for having received a flawed occupational education.
She is not to blame for the fact that our universities do not teach this and train psychologists as mediocre executors of instructions from across the ocean to curb psychological development - see [link-1]
But at least human eyes should see the facts of the widespread victorious march across Russia of the theory and practice of early development since 1988.
Yes, and it's time to turn on the head in order to revise the false and anti-Russian ideas. 7 years have passed! - it's time for the author to publicly repent and ask for forgiveness from all the parents he deceived ...
It remains only to wish the author to read the books: "How to accelerate the intellectual development of a child", "Reading before walking" and others available on this site
book "Count - before walking" -
as well as the book by P.V. Tyuleneva "Knowing notes - before walking. How to educate a musical genius":
Yes, and every parent can see the results of early development with their own eyes: [link-5]

It is also interesting that those commentators who "supported" the author all write that they are engaged in early development in practice ... That a lot is working, but something is not very good.
But all the same ... they "support" a mediocre article .. Apparently, he also read the wrong books that you need to read. Here is such a phenomenon!

11/13/2018 00:23:34, Velotropa

Discussion

The question is really complex and ambiguous. Each specialist has his own view on this topic. But I, nevertheless, tend to believe that it is better to teach a child to foreign speech from an early age. It is especially great if there is an opportunity to teach English with a native speaker (Peter). Fortunately, many teachers conduct classes remotely via Skype. For example, good specialists can be found on the Preply website [link-1]

I largely agree with the author of the article, but there are some points that cause bewilderment. Inserting words from another language into the language you are currently speaking is not cultural and sounds like a mockery of the language. Knowing three languages, I can say that no matter how difficult it is to find a match, for example, in Russian, English or German, I never allow myself to mix languages ​​\u200b\u200band speak "Surzhik", even if the interlocutor knows German, English and Russian by definition.
My experience of teaching children languages ​​tells a different story. She taught her eldest daughter like everyone else - from the age of 4 with tutors to 13. After that, at 15, she entered the University in the foreign language, now she will receive 2 higher degrees abroad. But this path is so long and difficult that I don’t wish it to my enemy, and I myself won’t agree to go through it again, although the result is very impressive (TOEFL 116 points out of 120).
But with my twins (children adopted in infancy), I chose a different path, easier, less laborious, but giving good results.
Since our family is bilingual, I don’t consider my second native language as a foreign language, children hear it from birth. There was no doubt that English is still necessary, whatever one may say.
Therefore, having analyzed the methods of Doman, Kushnir, my bitter experience -) and simply acting from the logic of the development of the child's speech, I compiled my own program.
The first massive attack on English was when my twins were 1 year and 7 months old. It was Magic English - 32 cartoons lasting 25 minutes. plus presentations on the words and phrases studied in each series. The whole process took about 8 months. English every day. The children watched the cartoons themselves, and the presentations had to be made by me and another mother who, like me, taught her son. Presentations were read after watching the cartoon. This massive study of English brought us immediately to the 4th level of books for teaching reading, used in 80 percent of schools in England. There are 16 levels in English schools following this program. Now the children will soon be 4 years old, they read books of 10-12 levels. This corresponds to 7-10 years old, let me remind you, for children who were born and raised in England.
My children speak English fluently, as well as Russian and German. In addition, they read in three languages. The son reads large volumes of 30-40 pages of children's books with a large rift and pictures. The daughter does not read so well - only short sentences, captions for pictures, but she always carries books with her, which means her time has not yet come. They play role-playing games with each other in English. The vocabulary can be said to be huge, comparable to a native speaker. They use complex grammatical constructions. Yes, I also forgot to mention one, in my opinion an important component. When Magic English ended, I started showing Disney in the original. The first movie they watched to holes was Peter Pan. Now we have a large collection of English films that children watch regularly. Basically, we watch all films in the original language, whether it is Russian, English or German.
And I can say that the Russian and German languages ​​did not suffer. In Russian, we have already read Pippi, Carlson, the Little Prince, the Wizard of Oz several times ... We take German books in the library, mainly for independent reading - these are books for the 2nd grade of a German school.
I can say that my eldest daughter had the same level of language as my kids around 8-10 years old, as a result of my and her titanic work.
Now I don't feel much stress in learning a language with my kids. The only thing is that I regularly buy a huge number of books in England. For English books, I had to buy a separate bookcase, which is already almost full. Moreover, each book was read more than a dozen times. Before going to bed, we read books to children in English and Russian. We read German during the day. We usually discuss books and retell them.
At a certain period of development, all children confuse languages, but it quickly passes, provided that the family speaks clearly, without interspersing words from other languages.
By the way, my family friend, with whom we fraternally shared work on presentations, has the same wonderful result in learning English, only the child is six months younger.
Now we are increasing the speed of reading and pronunciation by reading books under the cassette (children's books are not adapted).
If it goes on like this, then perhaps the son will be able to successfully pass the TOEFL test already at the age of 7-8-)). If he needs it-).
Based on my experience, I can say that to give not only a basic, but complete, at the level of the native language, knowledge of a foreign language is very real. Comparing my experience with my past experience, I understand that I saved time, effort, money for tutors and instilled in children a love for the English language.

Unfortunately, our children, overloaded with various circles and activities almost from the cradle, finally lose all desire to learn by school. If you manage to create a stable motivation to master the English language, no matter how extensive the knowledge gained, the child will easily continue to improve them at school. Early learning a foreign language (do not forget, only on condition that the child has already mastered his native speech, i.e. clearly pronounces all the sounds of the Russian language) contributes to the development of phonetic-phonemic hearing, which is the key to both correct pronunciation and literate writing. Of course, English classes develop memory and attention, teach the child to lively communicate with peers and adults. That is, children receive universal skills that ...

Discussion

For some reason, our "conf" hosts a series of articles that are essentially directed against early development :(
Quite different facts have long been known.
Children of the Papuans, for example, living on an archipelago of 30,000 islands and 1,000 languages, according to some reports, by the age of 5, sometimes master up to 10-12 languages, communicating with multilingual peers.
Well, there are other facts, methods and results - [link-1] and others.

I introduce the baby to English in the course of everyday communication, but it’s too early for us to go to classes.

But studying 2-3 times a week for 45 minutes, it is difficult to simulate the effect of immersion in the language environment. In addition, in a bilingual environment, the child is forced to learn languages ​​in order to communicate, but here he does not feel such a need. Opponents of early learning foreign languages ​​say that the child must first learn their native language. That is, go through the "silent" and "oral" stages, and then start reading and writing. And only then, that is, from the age of 6-7, it becomes possible to learn a foreign language. The communicative technique adheres to the golden mean. “We set a lower age limit of four years,” says Marina P., teacher at EF English First Mitino.
...Besides, in a bilingual environment, a child is forced to learn languages ​​in order to communicate, but here he does not feel such a need. Opponents of early learning foreign languages ​​say that the child must first learn their native language. That is, go through the "silent" and "oral" stages, and then start reading and writing. And only then, that is, from the age of 6-7, it becomes possible to learn a foreign language. The communicative technique adheres to the golden mean. “We set the lower age limit at four years old,” says Marina Podvoiskaya, a teacher at EF English First “Mitino” school. “At three years old, the child is still focused on individual communication and cannot study in a group. Ready to work in social...

Quite often, parents change their country of residence due to work or social reasons. As a result, the child enters a different language environment.

Most parents rightly believe that school lessons are not enough - only on their basis the child will not be able to master a foreign language at a level sufficient to pass the exam ...

Experienced teachers of this conference, tell me. There is a sufficient level of English. The child wants to raise German from zero to a level ... I don’t know what. The goal is to get an internship in Germany. Where to begin? It is advisable to start without tutors. Maybe there are some books, textbooks, websites?

Discussion

I will note in the topic, but not Moscow here with us (

For an internship in German, as a rule, you need a confirmed language level B2. There is also B1.
Courses that prepare for passing exactly testing for these levels are available at the Goethe Institute.
The level system is as follows: A1 (in Goethe it consists of three trimesters A1.1, A1.2, A1.3)
Then comes A2, also consisting of three trimesters.
Then B1 and B.2 on the same principle.
That is, to achieve level B.2 with the standard passage of Goethe's courses without summer intensives, 4 academic years are needed.
Often in the summer there are intensive courses in Goethe.
This is about two weeks of daily classes somewhere from 10 to 16.00.
That is, you can take a couple of intensives in the summer (there are not always two intensives, sometimes one per summer for the level you need), and thus reduce the time of study.
In Goethe, you can take level exams, thus confirming your level.
The textbook, which is used in youth courses (from 14 to 16 years old, it seems) in Goethe-Genial with the appropriate levels. For adults, I don’t know for sure, but it’s probably the same.
For your age, from the age of 17, in my opinion, there are already groups for adults. It seems that training in them costs 28 tyr per trimester.
Yes, but during the school year, not in the summer, classes seem to start at 18.00 at the courses. Two times a week.

2. Conversation-discussion http://www..asp?cid=Psy&tid=2212

Tell me how to teach kids in the right way. language. I am a teacher by education, but I have never encountered children at the age of 3. What methods exist, and can they be ordered by mail abroad? What are the best toys, blocks, cards and visual aids to use? How long to communicate with the child - and will he make contact with a stranger?

Discussion

The most effective technique is the language environment. If you live abroad and learn the language of this country, then just send it to kindergarten and there will be no problems.
If you want to teach a child a foreign language and a foreign language communication environment, then classes for this age are held for 15-20 minutes, in a playful way, no more than 3-4 times a week. Best of all, again, just acting out situations (with people or you can use plush animals), games with the inclusion of foreign words, poems, songs.
BUT (longer purely IMHO, based on the education of a foreign language teacher with experience in teaching children specifically) - is the game worth the candle? The optimal age for teaching a child a foreign language is the time when the concepts of the native language are formed, there is an idea of ​​the structure and structure of speech, reading and writing skills are formed, that is, about 8 years old. The only exception is when the child is surrounded by the language environment of the language being studied (even if artificially created ). Language classes at the age of 3-5 years develop memory, articulation, communication skills, they give little in terms of the language itself, since children have nowhere to apply new words. All methods of teaching a foreign language in preschool institutions are based on the fact that the teacher communicates with the child in English + additional classes. But here the personality of the teacher also plays a big role - since we are all imperfect, it is possible to give the child an incorrect pronunciation, give an erroneous grammar as a model, etc. (in this age it will be remembered well, but it will be oh so hard to retrain)
Try to describe the situation in more detail - what kind of children, what language is foreign, what is native, the country in which this all happens. Maybe more helpful tips.

Dear parents, I am interested to know the answer to such a question. What is the difficulty for your children while learning a foreign language (especially English)? As an experienced tutor, I am working on the author's method of teaching foreign languages ​​and writing articles on this topic, so I ask to get to the bottom of the problem. Thank you in advance for your attention!

Discussion

My daughter is 2 years old. To be honest, someone writes that a child grasps everything on the fly - it's not true. We have 3 languages, Russian at home, kindergarten - Spanish and English. The problem is mainly in the vocabulary, it is still small, the daughter cuts the words in Russian as it suits her, speaks with an accent, although in English it is the other way around - purely without an accent. Words are not cut. And English is understandable. After him, declensions are difficult for her, and the change of words in relation to childbirth (female, male). although in Ipaskom - this is also there. In this regard, at this age it is slower in the development of colloquial speech, by 3-4 months. But teachers say that this is the norm, but by the age of 2.5 there will be 2-3 pure languages ​​at once.

06.10.2006 00:15:07, mamaNicol

and unless difficulties do not depend on a technique? Mine doesn't have any difficulties, they started teaching half a year ago, now he's chatting with might and main.
It would be correct to ask: what method do you use and what are the difficulties?

22.09.2006 02:26:36, mother of a 6 year old boy

Help me understand the situation. We decided to study English at work, a group of 6 people gathered - 5 people with higher technical and independent experience in learning the language and a former red diploma student of the Leningrad State University (specialist in French language). Those. English is her second language. The level of all the entrance test is the same - intermediate. We are engaged. In the process of training, it turned out amazing - that a professional philologist is, let's say, far from the best among them. Especially the phonetics is alarming. And this is not the first...

Discussion

Our second language was also poorly taught. For the last year I have also worked privately. After that, she worked for some time as a translator (oral) with a second language, and took groups to France several times. Then (a year later) I took up another job. Now (10 years later) everything is forgotten, gone into the deepest liability. I can read books. Speaking is only at a very basic level.

11/13/2004 01:42:28, AllaA

I had wonderful German after graduation. But that was 12 years ago. I haven't used it in so many years. Went into a deep passive. But what I remember is very similar to German.
Poor pronunciation... Perhaps your friend had a bad teacher - teaching a second language in language universities is not the most prestigious thing. Plus, to be honest, I work with a lot of people who have graduated from the philological faculty of Leningrad State University. I graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​of another well-known university in our city. My classmates also work with me. So, we all have better pronunciation than Leningrad State University graduates - we have been doing this longer and deeper, there was a lot of practical phonetics. They had more theory.

below discussed why a foreign language is needed at school. Why is it needed in life, I know, I don’t know yet how to preserve and increase a child’s foreign language in a non-linguistic school. This year, my daughter moved from a humanitarian gymnasium with 5 hours of English (training from the 1st grade) and 2nd German (first year of study) to a mathematical school. Class 6th. The language of English has become in the new school - 3 hours a week, the textbook Enjoy Englsih (was Vereshchagin). My daughter has a regular English tutor with...

Discussion

school assignments are school assignments, what does a tutor have to do with it?
the tutor teaches according to his program - teaches the language, and does not help do homework
if you can’t do your homework yourself in a regular school, you can’t lose what doesn’t exist
and the tutor does not have his own program?))))) What then is the question? this is not a language tutor - this is just a help in preparing homework
well, let it help further if so
if you want to learn a language - look for a real tutor
but he will not help with the lessons, but will also set his own tasks that have nothing to do with the school curriculum
but just like that

It seems to me that with such a base, it is absolutely unnecessary for a tutor to check d / s. Let school lessons be exclusively on the child, and with a tutor they are engaged in some good imported course. Igor has been doing this from the very beginning: the school itself, the tutor by itself, first through PlayWay, then Round Up + More!.

In May 2007, the EXAMEN project (www.examen.ru) of the Begin Group company conducted a study "Choice of foreign language courses in Russia and abroad." The study involved 200 people interested in learning foreign languages ​​(out of a sample of those who registered for the exhibition "Professional and Recreational Courses", who noted learning foreign languages ​​as one of their areas of interest). Most of those who are interested in learning foreign languages...

How many languages ​​should a baby learn? Who will say what to decide on, when to start and how much to study? Isn't it harmful? Do you believe in all sorts of things? There are methods of coding, zombies, SAVKO - programming, NLP + coding + zombies ... and others. Probably this issue has been resolved. And what is the quantity? Right next to me, a neighbor taught both of her children from childhood, in addition to English, Spanish - because friends are there, even relatives, and every summer she and her whole family go there for a couple of months ...

Discussion

Rarely do I go into the conference now, but as if yesterday was the last time - all the same Tyulenev crack ...
It is not very clear why your neighbor, teaching young children English and Spanish, takes them to Cyprus as a language practice, where the official languages ​​are Greek and Turkish. Well, God be with her, with a neighbor, with whom it does not happen ;-).
Only a provocation Your shield is very white thread. As usual, no specific descriptions, except for the joyful calls "Buy our C-D-rums, and your child will speak fifty languages." As a linguist and translator ;-), I dare say that in this way no child will learn to communicate in a foreign language. What do you mean by "learning a language"?
I am especially touched by expressions like “here was his interview somewhere, I don’t seem to know for sure, but it’s worth looking for.” And how much immediacy and self-criticism in the statement "there are a lot of agents and ladies in love with Tyulenev, Doman, Zaitsev" ...
“I think that the child will also be grateful to you and happy if in the future he discovers that his head is clogged not with connective tissue, but, say, with tongues.” I would like to leave some room for the brain ;-) 11/14/2003 00:42:14, Svetagul

I know that all the kids in the MIR system are required to study Chinese, though from CDs, voiced by two speakers - a man and a woman, and from cards. They say, kids och. like... I have addresses - if needed.

11/11/2003 10:16:53 PM, Elena Vikt.

At what age is it reasonable to start learning a foreign language with a child? Tell me, plz, what are some good teaching aids for learning German for a small child. Another question is, will the child automatically separate Russian and what foreign language automatically when studying them in parallel or are there problems? Thanks in advance for your replies.

Discussion

IMHO, you can start at any age. The main thing is what and how to give to the child, and this already depends on the level of language proficiency of the parent himself.
With regard to German - I'm indignant! - A flagrant injustice: there are very few children's textbooks and manuals (compared to English). Over the past years, three or four searches have found in the central bookstores and educational stores in Moscow:
- Dyagicheva's book mentioned below - probably the best of the books for kids, although, in my opinion, like all books in this series, the pages in it are overloaded with pictures. Alas, I am not enough to study this book, but it is very academic and requires just classes;
- Zakharova, Morokhova “My alphabet. German language for children and younger schoolchildren” MARCH Publishing House, 1998 (with an audio cassette, a board game and a split alphabet) - good for growth when she learns to write and read. Done competently and pleasantly enough;
- Yartsev "Deutsch fur Kleine" publishing house "Moscow Lyceum". The protagonist of the textbook is the wolf cub Lunk. My eldest at the age of two really liked this Lunk. In general, the book is focused both on the study of the simplest phrases and phrases, and on the assimilation of the rules for reading different letter combinations. By the way, the same “Moscow Lyceum” publishes very pleasant books for German lovers. I recently bought fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm from them (in German, without pictures) and sometimes I read to my child about the pot of porridge he knows and the Bremen Town Musicians;
Now ATTENTION Korvina-officer and others who want to play music:
- audio cassette "Deutsche Kinderlieder" vol. 4 songs for German lessons. It is accompanied by a booklet with texts in German and a parallel (and line by line!) Russian translation. In short, for such "experts" of the language like me - the best option. My son liked it so much that we have already drawn several illustrations for the songs with him and we sing them often and with pleasure, under a tape recorder and in the silence of the night))
- audio cassette "Der Goldfisch" with German folk songs - games. Also a very nice thing, but (alas to me!) without translation, although the general meaning of each game is clear;
- a video cassette about Fafal "German for kids". There are also many songs with lyrics and line-by-line translations. We also love and eat. Very funny and interesting lessons (against their background, the Fafalevsky “English for Kids” loses).
Here. Neither I nor the child learned German, but they raised a great and tender love for it. Perhaps this is also good. Everyone - success!

As long as there is no mixing. But I will not say that I study English with Anka. She just asks how this or that is called in English, I answer. And Anka, in turn, teaches grandmothers :-)

We parted with the mother-in-law (hurray). And this means that the old system “grandmother speaks only English to Daniel” no longer works. And it seemed to me that Danya forgot everything - he no longer used English words. But when rearranging, we put all Danya's cartoons in both English and Russian on a separate shelf. And he began to watch cartoons in English not only with his grandmother, but as much as he wanted. Those. he always chooses the cassette himself, inserts it into the video recorder and turns on the TV, presses ...

Discussion

I have a different opinion :) I believe that children should be taught a foreign language not through their native language, but through images and concepts WITHOUT TRANSLATION, without early learning to read and write. Therefore, in principle, you can start early. I myself never managed to start with children before the age of 3, but this was always considered too early, many were skeptical of my methodology until they saw the classes themselves and real results. But this business is very time-consuming and requires a certain temperament from the teacher in addition to a good knowledge of the language :)
Maybe with my children I will be able to start earlier, then it will be possible to compare the results :) Only the students will have grown up by that time :)

It depends on what is meant by language learning. If it is supposed to pronounce mother ten times so that the th sound becomes automatic, then I agree that it is better to do this after the Russian sounds have finally settled down. I am for such a method of teaching a language, where a small child is not taught to speak specifically and even more so correctly, but helps the child begin to understand the language. For me, the ideal situation is that by the age of 4 the child fully understands spoken English, then by the age of 5 you can create motivation to speak - and there will be no problems with speech therapy and knowledge of the language will be at a much higher level.

Today I heard the following phrase: children with speech therapy problems cannot be taught a second language until the age of 6 until the problems are solved. is this correct?

Discussion

The thing is that teaching a language is traditional and teaching a language as a means of communication are two different things. If sounds are put in the lessons, words are learned, etc. - then everything that can be done badly for a 3-7-year-old child is already being done. And if a child learns a second language in a natural way (as they studied their native language!!!), then there are no difficulties and problems! Real speech therapists work on the principle: silence-singing-speaking. So, if you teach a foreign language to children from the age of 3, then you need to choose teaching methods that adhere to the same principle. Children here begin to speak after repeated listening, when the correct image has already been created in the head and the child is ready to say it. I can advise those who live in Moscow to visit the author's seminar of Valeria Meshcheryakova: September 10-12, "Peresvet" gymnasium No. 1842, Bolshaya Gruzinskaya st., 67. 10th beginning at 18.00. There, the author will tell in detail how to naturally teach kids a foreign language without harm to the child and difficulties for parents.

09/04/2004 15:45:25, Olga Goncharova

In our kindergarten, in the speech therapy group, there is no English, and for additional paid classes from the speech therapy group, children are not taken with any persuasion. So your information is correct.

03.09.2004 22:28:37, Yulich is not from his computer