Abstract:

The article deals with attitudes of Slovenian public primary school management towards the teaching of English as the first foreign language in the first cycle (classes from 1 to 3). The first foreign language (FL 1) was introduced into the second grade of some of the Slovenian public primary schools with the beginning of the school year 2014/2015 on a trial basis as part of a three year project. The teaching ought to be carried out in the target language according to CLIL approach that integrates content and language learning (CLIL). Nationwide introduction of CLIL into primary schools represents a novelty which deserves closer research. School managements share certain attitudes towards the introduction of FL 1 into the second grade, which represents the main body of the research. Teaching with CLIL represents quite a challenge for the teachers, since it ought to be carried out in the target language. Our interest at this point is to gather the attitudes of school management towards the introduction of FL 1 into the second grade of the primary school. A letter has been sent to the primary schools that has introduced FL 1 in the second grade as of the beginning of the current school year, accompanied by an 18 item survey in form of a 5-point Likert scale. The following research questions have been highlighted: What is the school management’s attitude towards the introduction of FL 1 into the second grade of the Slovene public primary schools based on the level of completed education, years in service, and gender, and what are the school management's attitudes toward CLIL in teaching of FL 1 in the first cycle. We assumed the school management to be in favour of the introducing of FL 1 into the first triad. We do not assume significant differences in attitudes based on gender, but based on years in service and education. The results of the research showed that the management predominantly shares the same attitudes towards the introduction of FL 1 into the second grade, nevertheless statistically significant differences have been found. These could be established among the different groups of participants who have been grouped according to the level of education. Further, statistically significant differences have been found regarding the participants’ years in service, hence we stress the importance of one’s years spent in office as a very significant factor that can shape one’s attitude towards a phenomenon. As regards the participants’ attitude toward FL 1 teaching with CLIL, no major statistically significant differences could be found. The only significant differences here have proven to be the participants’ level of completed education. It can be said that the significant differences in attitudes of the school management are expected at the end of the school year 2014/2015. The underlying research can be regarded as a mid-term research to be continued at the end of the first school year of the introduction of FL 1 into the second grade of primary school.

Keywords:

CLIL approach, early foreign language teaching and learning, first foreign language, management of a public primary school.