Abstract:

Foreign language education is an important issue in education policies worldwide. Strategies for foreign language teaching to achieve effective outcomes have been discussed at both international and national levels. This study presents the results of the content analysis of the contributions by primary foreign language teachers shared in professional-oriented groups in the online forums of social network sites. The research objective was to identify themes and strategies for responding to the challenges that teachers address. The findings of the content analysis of the discussion forums are presented in the overview of the wide range of discussed topics, including the shared methodological materials designed to develop the language skills of young school-age learners. The research findings showed the variability of different approaches and teachers' views in facing the problems or challenges in the foreign language teaching process. The results presented in the study contribute to a positive perception of professional communication and the possibilities of sharing professional methodological support in language education in online spaces. The presented results provided part of the basis for the conceptual scopes within the development of language programmes and methodological support in primary education.

Acknowledgement:
The paper is the output of the research task within the project Creation of a web portal for methodological support of foreign language teaching in primary education - KEGA 011UMB-4/2022 supported by the Cultural and Educational Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and as well the project Programme of Linguistic Development for children with a different mother tongue in Slovak - creation and verification, supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the Contract no. APVV-22-0450.

Keywords:

Foreign language education, in professional-oriented groups, online platform, methodological support, young school-age learners.