Pre-Service Preschool Teachers' Beliefs about Early Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Dječje učenje i usvajanje materinskog i stranog jezika tema je brojnih rasprava u znanstvenom i stručnom okruženju. Cilj ovoga istraživanja je istražiti uvjerenja budućih odgajatelja (studenata) o učenju i poučavanju stranoga jezika u ranoj dobi. Stoga je u sklopu ovoga cilja bilo bitno utvrditi imaju li studenti pozitivan stav prema ranom učenju stranoga jezika, prema jezicima i učenju jezika općenito. Anketnim upitnikom ispitala su se uvjerenja budućih odgajatelja o učenju i poučavanju stranoga jezika u ranoj dobi. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo 38 ispitanika, i provedeno je u svibnju 2019. godine. Ispitanici su studenti treće godine Učiteljskog fakulteta u Rijeci. Studenti-budući odgajatelji pokazali su pozitivne stavove kada je riječ o učenju stranog jezika. Smatraju da bi učenje stranog jezika u ranoj dobi trebalo biti utkano i u najvažniji dokument predškolskog odgoja i obrazovanja, u Nacionalni kurikulum za rani i predškolski odgoj i obrazovanje. Smatraju da se učenje stranog jezika treba odvijati u procesu igre. Studenti smatraju dijete kompetentnom osobom sa specifičnim potrebama, koja je u stanju ovladati predstavljenim problemima.Children's learning and acquisition of their mother tongue and foreign language has been the topic of many debates in the scientific and professional environment. The aim of this research is to explore the beliefs of future preschool teachers (students) about teaching foreign languages at an early age. Therefore, the aim was to determine if students have positive attitudes towards early learning of foreign languages, towards languages and language learning in general. The study included 38 respondents, and it was conducted in May 2019. The respondents are third year students of the Faculty of Teacher Education in Rijeka. Students show positive attitudes when it came to foreign language learning. They believe that learning a foreign language at an early age should also be woven into the largest document of pre-school education, the National Curriculum for Early and Preschool Education. They consider that early learning ofa foreign language should be in a game-like process. Students consider child as a competent person who has certain specific needs, and is able to overcome presented problems