Foreign language learning in Montessori kindergartens

Šepić, Anamarija. (2018). Foreign language learning in Montessori kindergartens. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Phonetics
Department of Pedagogy. [mentor Mildner, Vesna and Car, Sandra].

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Abstract

Learning foreign languages is more accessible and easier than ever. Besides the importance of knowing at least one foreign language, the awareness of learning advantages at an early age is growing. It is known that there are critical periods for mastering both mother tongue and foreign languages, during which learning is more successful than in later stages of development. During these periods, the acquisition of certain aspects of language is considerably better. This thesis gives an overview of the overall development of the child, with a particular emphasis on language development. It mentions the most important preconditions for adopting the mother tongue and the main periods of its adoption and explains the advantages of learning a foreign language at an early age through the factors of successful foreign language learning and the existence of a critical period of language acquisition. The subject of this paper is learning a foreign language at an early age, focusing on Montessori as a kind of stimulating and quality environment for better language development. The thesis describes the main features of the Montessori approach and gives the examples of materials and exercise by explaining the advantages of foreign language learning by the Montessori method. Finally, the thesis offers three exercises for learning a foreign or English as the foreign language in the kindergarten.

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