English vocabulary development of first graders

V magistrskem delu obravnavamo učenje in poučevanje besedišča v angleščini na zgodnji stopnji, natančneje v prvem razredu devetletne osnovne šole. Predstavljene so značilnosti učenja tujega jezika v otroštvu s poudarkom na učenju besedišča. Učenje tujih jezikov v otroštvu v optimalnih okoliščinah poteka na podoben način kot usvajanje materinščine, zato si je smiselno prizadevati za to, da s pripravo ustreznih okoliščin učencem omogočimo usvajanje (tj. nezavedno učenje) tujega jezika. Temu primerno mora učitelj izbirati ne le pristope k poučevanju, temveč tudi same aktivnosti znotraj pouka, ob tem pa imeti ves čas v mislih tudi razvojno stopnjo učencev. Poudarek je na slušnem razumevanju in govornem sporočanju, ki ju razvijamo z dejavnostmi, prilagojenimi starosti učencev, tj. prek pravljic, pesmic, izštevank in različnih jezikovnih iger, ki spodbujajo učence k aktivnemu sodelovanju ter se v veliki meri prepletajo tudi z gibalnimi aktivnostmi. Predvsem pri mlajših učencih je potreba po gibanju zelo velika, kar lahko učitelj upošteva pri načrtovanju pouka. V empiričnem delu predstavimo kvalitativno raziskavo, s katero smo raziskali, kako poteka razvijanje besedišča v angleščini v prvem razredu slovenskih osnovnih šol. 16 učiteljicam, ki poučujejo angleščino v prvem razredu v različnih delih Slovenije, smo v polstrukturiranem intervjuju zastavili vnaprej pripravljena vprašanja. Zanimalo nas je, katerih metod in oblik dela se pri poučevanju besedišča poslužujejo učiteljice, na kakšen način uvajajo in razvijajo besedišče in katere didaktične pripomočke pri tem uporabljajo. Želeli smo ugotoviti tudi, kakšno vlogo pripisujejo utrjevanju besedišča, na kakšen način z učenci besedišče utrjujejo ter kako znanje besedišča preverjajo. Ugotovili smo, da sodelujoče učiteljice k poučevanju angleščine v prvem razredu pristopajo na različne načine, pri čemer pa vse upoštevajo načela poučevanja tujega jezika pri mlajših učencih, ki jih za poučevanje na podlagi raziskav priporočajo strokovnjaki s področja poučevanja in so predstavljena v teoretičnih izhodiščih pričujočega dela. Učenci sodelujočih učiteljic so deležni kvalitetnega in starosti primernega pouka tujega jezika, ki bo pozitivno vplival tudi na njihov nadaljnji odnos do učenja tujega jezika. Poleg zaključkov in rezultatov raziskave na koncu magistrskega dela navajamo tudi primere dejavnosti, ki so po oceni učiteljev primerne in učinkovite za razvijanje besedišča v angleščini pri prvošolcih.Our master\u27s thesis discusses the teaching of English as a foreign language to young learners, precisely to first grade students of Slovenian nine-year elementary school. The characteristics of foreign language learning in very young learners are presented, with an emphasis on vocabulary development. As (very) young learners learn a foreign language very similarly to learning their mother tongue, it is reasonable to enable them to acquire (i.e. subconsciously learn) the language by preparing an appropriate learning environment. The teacher has to choose appropriate teaching approaches as well as appropriate classroom activities, keeping in mind the level of the learners\u27 development. The emphasis in teaching very young learners is on listening comprehension and oral production, which are developed through age-appropriate activities, such as fairy tales, songs, chants and different language games, which encourage learners to participate actively in class. Teachers should plan a lot of physical activities to include in the lessons as well, since the need for movement is very high in young learners. The empirical part presents a qualitative research with which we investigated how English vocabulary is being developed in 1st grade of Slovenian elementary schools. In a semi-structured interview, 16 teachers who teach English in 1st grade in different parts of Slovenia were asked pre-prepared questions. We were interested in the methods and forms of teaching teachers use in developing vocabulary, in the ways they present and develop vocabulary, and in didactic materials they use for that purpose. We also wanted to find out how important they find vocabulary consolidation, in what way they consolidate it with young learners and how they assess their vocabulary knowledge. We found out that the teachers participating in our research, teach English to young learners in different ways, but all of them take into acount the principles of teaching a foreign language to young learners recomended by experts and presented in the theoretical background of this master\u27s thesis. All learners of the participating teachers get quality and age-appropriate foreign language teaching which will have a positive impact on their future attitude to learning foreign languages. In addition, examples of activities that are appropriate and effective for vocabulary development in 1st graders according to participating teachers are presented