Teachers’ Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Bilingualism: Implications for Early Childhood Education
Volume 8- Issue 1 (January 2023)
Abdulhamit Karademir Hatice Busra Yilmaz-Tam
Pages: 63-80 Download Count : 515 View Count: 589 DOI Number 10.24331/ijere.1185809 Facebook Twitter Share on Google+
Abstract:
Bilingual children face various challenges when they start school. They have difficulty communicating with peers and adapting to school and have poor academic performance. This paper investigated teachers’ views of and solutions to problems experienced by bilingual preschoolers. In this study a case study research design was adopted. The sample consisted of 11 preschool teachers from provinces in Eastern Anatolia and Southeastern Anatolia regions. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview questionnaire developed by the researchers. The data were analyzed using inductive content analysis and presented in Tables with direct quotations from participant opinions. Participants stated that bilingual children had difficulty implementing receptive and expressive language skills, communicating with teachers, and obeying the classroom rules. Participants also noted that they had difficulty with classroom management and educational planning because they could not communicate with bilingual students. However, they reported that their bilingual students developed language skills in the later stages of preschool education. Teachers remarked that parental involvement and collaboration were critical. They advised their colleagues to be mentally and cognitively prepared, perform word-based teaching, collaborate with parents, and make use of books, songs, and rhymes.
Keywords
- Bilingualism
- difficulties
- early childhood education
- implications
- teacher’s perceptions.