Foreign Language Teaching in a Preschool Educational Institution as a Condition of Children's Social Communicative Development: Specific Features and Methods

Abstract

The article dwells upon specific features and peculiar methods of teaching a foreign language to preschoolers which will contribute to their social communicative development. The authors emphasize a stage character of this process distinguishing the initial phonetic stage, the second lexical stage and the final evaluative and reflective stage. The enhancement of phonetic, lexical and speech skills stipulates such forms of classwork arrangements as individual, paired and choral, each with its advantages and functions. For this age group, an analytico-imitative method has been recognized as the most effective one: cognitive imitation and reproduction are the basic forms of learning. In this respect, the content of the material intended for cognitive imitation has to be valuable, informative and thought-provoking. Special genres have to be found and applied to motivate children to learn and take part in activities: songs, counting rhymes, poems, fairy-tales and games. Children should be constantly involved into the emotionally appealing canvas of the lesson. The results of the research show that emotional impact, exciting forms of presentation and the informative content of the material increase preschoolers' self-consciousness about their progress, create positive motivation and push forward their cognitive, communicative and social development.