Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Teaching, Learning and Education
Year: 2024
DOI:
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A Study of Teaching English to Young Children in Preschools
Prof Dr. Mei-fang Cho
ABSTRACT:
Is it appropriate to teach English at preschools has been debated in Taiwan. In response to the turmoil in English learning among children, the Ministry of Education proposed a Policy Statement of Early Childhood English Education, trying to direct kindergarten teaching back to normalized teaching. In the policy, it states that preschool English teaching should be taught by qualified preschool teachers, and English should be integrated into the curriculum for preschool education. This study is an experimental project in integrating English into early childhood Curriculum in a public preschool in Tainan city. This study shows the process and results of an experimental teaching project integrating English into early childhood curriculum in a public preschool in Tainan. Being the project supervisor, I visit the preschool teachers regularly to evaluate their teaching. There are five public kindergarten teachers as research collaborators in this project. The project lasted three months (from March 7th and ended at May 30th). Teachers were interviewed to share their opinions in integrating English into their curriculum in classrooms. The results shows that there are many strategies can be used when integrating English to early childhood curriculum. Besides, English ability is not the key for successful English teaching to young children but a heart willing to learn together with children.
keywords: teaching English, young children, integrated curriculum, preschool