Dialect use in rural and urban kindergartens on the coast

In my diploma thesis I researched the use of dialect in rural areas and in the urban kindergartens of primorska region. In the theoretical part, I defined speech and language. I described the linguistic functions and social genres of the Slovenian language. Here I have highlighted dialects, their origins and types of research. I have also described the primorska dialect in more detail. I put more emphasis on the use of dialect in kindergartens, and at the end of the theoretical part I presented the use of dialect in educational institutions through the eyes of some European documents. The aim of the thesis was to find out whether urban and rural kindergartens differ in their use of dialect. In the empirical part, I found this out by means of a questionnaire consisting of different types of questions and Likert scale statements. The sample consisted of 59 teachers and assistant teachers who completed the questionnaire anonymously. The survey showed that there are no significant differences in the use of dialect between urban and rural kindergartens. The interviewed educators and assistant educators do not often use dialect versions of the Slovene language. The dialect is most often used in conversation, free play and daily routines. Most respondents cite the more authentic relationship that dialect use enables as a reason for using it. The majority of the teachers and assistant teachers interviewed are aware of the importance of the literary language, but also believe that the use of dialect is appropriate and desirable in certain circumstances. Responders also think that children are encouraged to use the literary language. Most of them do this by encouraging children to describe, narrate, explain and justify in literary Slovene and by setting a good speaking example for children