EFL Teachers’ Reflections on Their Teaching Practice in Spanish Preschools: A Focus on Motivation

Abstract

Teaching a foreign language in preschool is a matter of great interest at the present moment in most European countries. The Council of Europe has paid particular attention to early foreign language learning in order to promote plurilingualism across Europe (European Commission, Promoting language learning and linguistic diversity 2004–2006. Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Retrieved from http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/SK/ALL/?uri=URISERV:c11068, 2003; European Commission, Language learning at pre-primary school level: making it efficient and sustainable. European Strategic Framework for Education and Training (ET 2020). Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/languages/policy/language-policy/documents/early-language-learning-handbook_en.pdf, 2011; Edelenbos P, Johnstone RM, Kubanek A, The main pedagogical principles underlying the teaching of languages to very young learners. Languages for the children of Europe: published research, good practice and main principles. European Commission, Education and Culture, Culture and Communication, Multilingualism Policy, Brussels. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu.education/languages/pdf/doc425_en.pdf, 2006); and the European Council of Barcelona (European Commission, Presidency conclusions. European Council of Barcelona 15–16 March 2002. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-research/pdf/download_en/barcelona_european_council.pdf, 2002) was the beginning of different reports and initiatives aimed at developing this plurilingual European citizenry. Each European country has developed their own strategies to reach this objective and differences exist regarding the starting age of the teaching of a foreign language among the European countries (Eurydice, Key data on teaching languages at school in Europe 2012. Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, Brussels. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/languages/policy/strategic-framework/documents/key-data-2012_en.pdf, 2012). In Spain, a lot of effort has been made in this concern with bilingual programmes in the different regions. However, there is an enormous gap between the legislative and methodological level, mainly due to the lack of uniformity with the decentralization of the education system (Calero J, La equidad en educación: Informe analítico del sistema educativo español (No. 175). Ministerio de Educación, Madrid, 2006). A lack of specific teacher training for this early introduction of the language, as well as vague legislative guidelines, has led teachers to implement their own methodological models and strategies. This chapter covers teachers’ reflections on the implementation of English in preschools in Spain, paying particular attention to the description of teachers’ strategies for increasing students’ motivation towards the FL as a paramount objective in this learning. After reviewing the main literature on teaching strategies aimed at very young language learners, we will present a qualitative analysis of 32 structured interviews with English-as-a-foreign-language teachers across Spain reflecting on their own practice in order to describe their strategies for increasing the motivation of 3- to 5-year-olds, rethinking pedagogical models for promoting languages at preschool and language policy in Spain.