THE ATTITUDES OF PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS TOWARD FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING IN KINDERGARTENS IN THE NORTH-EASTERN PART OF SLOVENIA

V diplomskem delu so predstavljene številne sodobne teorije o pridobivanju jezika. V teoretičnem delu diplome so opisane osnove govornega razvoja v prvem in tujem jeziku, dejavniki, ki vplivajo na učenje jezika, ter vpliv tujega jezika na materinščino. V nadaljevanju je opisano učenje in poučevanje tujega jezika v predšolskem obdobju, kjer so predstavljeni glavni cilji in načela pri učenju ter poučevanju tujega jezika na predšolski stopnji, dejavniki uspešnega učenja tujega jezika v vrtcu, metode učenja tujega jezika ter vloga vzgojiteljice pri načrtovanju in izvajanju tujega jezika v vrtcu. V empiričnem delu diplome sem želela pridobiti podatke o tem, kakšno je stališče vzgojiteljic do tujega jezika in pripravljenost za poučevanje le-tega. S pomočjo anketnih vprašalnikov sem dobila odgovore na vprašanja glede zastavljenih ciljev in hipotez. Podatki so pokazali, da imajo vzgojiteljice dober odnos do učenja tujega jezika v vrtcu in menijo, da bi se le-to moralo odvijati v skupini z vzgojiteljico (integrirana oblika). Kljub temu, da je zgodnje učenje tujega jezika v vrtcu še precej v povojih in še ni dodobra poznano, je veliko vzgojiteljic pokazalo podporo in pripravljenost izvajati igralne urice iz tujega jezika ter se dodatno izobraževati v didaktiki zgodnjega poučevanja tujega jezika.The diploma thesis presents several modern theories of acquiring languages. The theoretical part presents the basic elements of the linguistic development of mother tongue and the foreign language, the factors that influence language learning, and the influence of the foreign language on the mother tongue. Further on, the diploma thesis presents learning and teaching of foreign languages at the pre-school age, including main aims and principles of foreign language learning and teaching at the pre-school level, the factors of successful foreign language learning, teaching methods, and the role of pre-school teachers in planning and performing of foreign language teaching. The empirical part of the diploma thesis presents the viewpoints of pre-school teachers to foreign languages and their willingness for foreign language teaching. We collected the data with the help of a questionnaire survey. The data show that pre-school teachers have a positive attitude toward foreign language teaching at the preschool. According to their opinion, foreign language teaching should be carried out as team work, expert in foreign languages together with a pre-school teacher (integrated method). Although early foreign language learning is not yet widely spread, lots of pre-school teachers support it, and show willingness to carry out play-related activities in a foreign language, and are willing to participate in additional foreign language teacher training