Abstract:

Until September 1, 2023, parents of minority children in Latvia were provided with the opportunity to choose either the basic education programme with Latvian as the language of instruction or the minority basic education programme, but from now on all children will start learning in Grade 1 in the Latvian language. Since teachers organize the education process and are responsible for the acquisition of the education content, as well as many of them have accumulated experience in integrating minority children into Latvian language programmes, their viewpoints about the necessary support for minority learners’ successful studies in the Latvian language is very important.
The research problem: beginning with September 1, 2023, the primary education teachers, who have previously implemented minority education programmes, will work by using Latvian as the language of instruction; the level of language proficiency of many children is not sufficiently high for them to be able to successfully study in the Latvian language, and parents do not have the necessary knowledge to support their children in the acquisition of the education content.
The research aim: to find out the educators’ viewpoints about the necessary support directions for minority primary school learners’ successful studies in the Latvian language.

As part of the research, interview questions were developed to find out the viewpoints of primary education teachers concerning support for minority learners’ studies in the Latvian language. The participants of the semi-structured interview were 17 primary education teachers.
Having analysed the viewpoints of primary education teachers, it was concluded that they need additional teaching and methodological aids, as well as appropriate further education programmes; parents, according to the teachers, need a broader understanding of the peculiarities of language acquisition by primary school children and the development of a positive attitude towards language learning in the family.

Keywords:

Language acquisition by minority primary school learners, support for the acquisition of the education content, primary school teachers' viewpoints.