Development of early literacy skills in English according to the convergent pedagogy principles in the first triad

Prvi sklop magistrskega dela zajema splošen pregled obstoječe literature o glavnih spoznanjih s področja učenja in poučevanja tujega jezika v prvem izobraževalnem obdobju, s poudarkom na procesu razvijanja opismenjevanja v angleščini kot tujem jeziku. Osnovna problematika zajema področje vzporednega začetnega opismenjevanja v maternem (MJ) in tujem jeziku (TJ) – kakšni so vzroki, postopki in posledice zgodnjega poučevanja angleščine kot tujega jezika otrok, ki se še opismenjujejo v slovenščini kot maternem jeziku. V prvih letih šolanja je zaznava otrok še izrazito celostna, globalna, zato je tudi pouk tujega jezika temu prilagojen. Ker imajo učenci v maternem jeziku že razvite določene predopismenjevalne spretnosti, je prehod na učenje tujega jezika lažjivečina raziskav še posebej poudarja pomen koriščenja pozitivnega transferja med maternim in tujim jezikom. Po načelih konvergentne pedagogike (KP) je ta proces učinkovitejši, če učenci gradijo znanje s pomočjo enotne metodologije pouka obeh jezikov. Namen magistrskega dela je bil pregledati obstoječe gradivo in zbrati glavne ugotovitve in stališča učiteljev, ki so poučevali po načelih KP, za natančnejši vpogled v začetno opismenjevanje v tujem jeziku ob vzporednem opismenjevanju v maternem jeziku, s poudarkom na globalni metodi opismenjevanja. Raziskovalni pristop je zajemal pregled in analizo gradiva za razvijanje opismenjevanja v angleščini s področja KP (zapisniki seminarjev, evalvacij, skript in zbornikov) in intervju s petimi učiteljicami razrednega pouka in tujega jezika, ki so metodo izvajale več kot deset let. Na podlagi glavnih ciljev raziskave so bila oblikovana sledeča vprašanja polstrukturiranega intervjuja: kako poteka uvajanje v proces opismenjevanja po načelih KPkako k sistematičnemu začetnemu opismenjevanju pripomore metodika dela (podrobneje je obravnavana uporaba dejavnosti izraza telesa ob glasbi (ITG) in plakata)kako poteka proces uvajanja v delo z besedilom po globalni metodikako KP razvija temeljne povezave med opismenjevanjem v MJ in TJkatere elemente te pedagogike je po mnenju učiteljev mogoče uporabiti v sodobnem izobraževalnem kontekstu opismenjevanja v TJ oziroma kateri so okviri, znotraj katerih lahko ta pristop učinkovito izvajajo še danes. Skozi raziskavo se je pokazalo, da pri uvajanju učencev v opismenjevanje učitelji namenijo veliko pozornosti socialni funkciji branja, skozi uporabo različnih didaktičnih elementov pa učence urijo v rabi specifičnih strategij (ne)besednega organiziranja lastnih miselnih idej v smiselne enote (pripoved o doživetju, obnova s slikami in grafičnimi prikazi, delo s ključnimi besedami, zapisovanje v zaokroženo besedilo na plakatu …). Začetno opismenjevanje globalno-strukturalne metode poteka vzporedno v MJ in TJ, kar dosegajo s tesnim sodelovanjem učitelja TJ in učitelja MJ, s sistematičnim usklajevanjem vsebin in rabo didaktičnih elementov po metodološkem pristopu KP (pripovedovanje zgodb, igre vlog, ITG z uporabo slikovnih kartic in grafičnih prikazov). Po ugotovitvah intervjuvank je za razvijanje vseh štirih sporazumevalnih zmožnosti ključen ponavljajoč stik z enako vsebino tako v MJ kot TJ. Polstrukturirani intervju je osvetlil tudi pomen organizacije učnih ur, tako da vse začetne dejavnosti temeljijo na jezikovni kopeli, kjer prednjači reden stik z izbranim besedilom v različnih učnih kontekstih in tudi z uporabo raznolikega nabora sporočilnih medijev. Tako sistematično nadgrajujejo aktivnosti za razvijanje vseh štirih sporazumevalnih zmožnosti v obeh jezikih. Večina intervjuvank meni, da raba besedila v različnih učnih kontekstih najbolj pripomore pri vztrajnem ozaveščanju fonemike angleškega jezika, sočasno delo s pisano besedo pa posredno pomaga pri urjenju sposobnosti zaznavanja asociativne zveze glas – grafični zapis, kar potrjuje tudi pregled zbranih dokumentov. Specifičnih pravil jezika ne učijo neposredno. Učiteljice, ki so opismenjevale po načelih KP, so pogosto poročale o pozitivnih učinkih istega metodološkega pristopa pri pouku MJ in TJ na razvijanje sporazumevalnih zmožnosti v obeh jezikih in oblikovanje višjih kognitivnih struktur. Načelo enotne metodologije pri pouku MJ in TJ posledično pripomore tudi k naslavljanju specifičnih razvojnih izzivov pri opismenjevanju v obeh jezikih. Učiteljice so v povezavi z uporabo metode KP v današnjem kontekstu pouka najpogosteje izpostavljale problem časovne omejenosti pri implementaciji metode v zgoščenem, krajšem časovnem okviru ter izziv (ne)sodelovanja pri soustvarjanju pedagoškega procesa s sodelavci.The first part of this master\u27s thesis includes a general review of existing literature on the main findings in the field of learning and teaching a foreign language in the first educational period, with emphasis on the process of developing literacy skills in English as a foreign language. The main research problem covers the field of concurrent initial literacy acquisition in the mother tongue and in the foreign language. In addition to that we discuss the causes, procedures and consequences of teaching English as a foreign language early on to children who are still acquiring literacy skills in Slovene as their mother tongue. In the first years of schooling, children\u27s perception is still distinctly holistic, global, so foreign language teaching is adapted to this. Because students have already developed certain pre-literacy skills in their mother tongue, the transition to learning a foreign language is easiermost studies particularly emphasize the importance of taking advantage of the positive transfer between the mother tongue and a foreign language. According to the principles of the ‘Konvergentna Pedagogika’ method, this process is more effective if pupils build their knowledge by being taught both languages with the help of a unified methodology. The purpose of the master\u27s thesis was hence to review existing materials and gather the main findings and views of teachers who taught according to the principles of the ‘Konvergentna Pedagogika’ method, in order to gain a deeper insight into initial foreign language literacy acquisition with parallel literacy in the mother tongue, focusing on the global method of literacy acquisition. The research approach included a review and content analysis of materials for developing English literacy in the field of the ‘Konvergentna Pedagogika’ (minutes of the seminars, evaluations, scripts and proceedings) and interviews with five primary school and foreign language teachers who have been practising the method for more than ten years. The following questions of the semi-structured interview were formulated from the main objectives of the research: how does the introduction to the literacy acquisition process go according to the principles of the ‘Konvergentna Pedagogika’ method?how does the methodology contribute to systematic initial literacy acquisition (the use of the body expression activities with music and posters is discussed in more detail)?how does the process of being introduced to working with texts according to the global method take place?how does the ‘Konvergentna Pedagogika’ method develop fundamental links between mother tongue and foreign language literacy acquisition?which elements of this pedagogy can be, according to the interviewed teachers, used in the modern educational context of literacy acquisition in a foreign language and what are the frameworks within which this approach can be effectively implemented today? Our research has shown that when teaching literacy, the interviewed teachers focus on the social function of reading, and use various didactic elements in order to train students in the use of specific strategies of (non)verbal organization of their own mental ideas into meaningful units (narrative of the experience, summary with pictures and graphics, working with keywords, writing on a poster as a well-rounded text …). Initial literacy acquisition using the global-structural method runs concurrently in the mother tongue and a foreign language. This is achieved through close cooperation of foreign and mother tongue teachers, as well as by systematic harmonization of content and use of didactic elements according to the methodological approach of ‘Konvergentna Pedagogika’ (storytelling, role play, body expression with music) and by using picture cards and graphics. According to the interviewees, repeated contact with the same content in both the mother tongue and the foreign language is crucial for the development of all four communication skills. The semi-structured interview also highlighted the importance of organizing lessons in a way that ensures all initial activities are based on language immersion, whereby the predominant method is regular contact with a selected text in different learning contextsmoreover using a diverse set of message-conveying media is also emphasised as useful. Thus, teachers systematically upgrade activities to develop all four communication skills in both languages. The majority of interviewees believe that using text in different learning contexts is most helpful when it comes to persistently raising awareness of English language phonemics, while simultaneously working with the written word indirectly helps to train the ability to perceive the association of phoneme and grapheme, which is also confirmed by a review of the collected documents. They do not teach specific language rules directly. Teachers who were teaching literacy according to the principles of ‘Konvergentna Pedagogika’ often reported positive effects arising from using the same methodological approach in mother tongue and foreign language teaching on the development of communication skills in both languages and the formation of higher cognitive structures. The principle of uniformity in the methodological approaches of mother tongue and foreign language consequently also helps to address specific development challenges in literacy in both languages. In connection with the use of the ‘Konvergentna Pedagogika’ method in today\u27s teaching context, teachers most often pointed out the problem of time constraints in the implementation of the method in a condensed, shorter time frame and the challenge of (non)cooperation in co-creating the pedagogical process with colleagues