Abstract:

Children entering Slovak education with different mother tongues often struggle with understanding concepts and building initial vocabulary in Slovak as a second language. Research shows that visualisation is a highly effective approach in early second-language learning, as it connects meaning and language in a concrete way. This review summarises evidence on visual strategies such as picture cards, visual glossaries, illustrated stories and concept maps, highlighting how they support comprehension, vocabulary retention and emerging metalinguistic awareness in young beginners. It also outlines practical recommendations for teachers in inclusive and linguistically diverse classrooms, emphasising the importance of structured visual scaffolding when bridging images and Slovak verbal expression. The paper concludes with implications for designing activities and materials aligned with current knowledge on early second-language acquisition.

Acknowledgement:
This study was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the Contract No. APVV-22-0450 and the project KEGA 008UMB-4/2024 Creation of Textbook and Methodological Material for Teaching Slovak Language for Children of Slovaks Living Abroad.

Keywords:

Slovak as a second language, visualisation, didactics, inclusive education, early language learning.