Is There Room for English in Swedish Nursery Schools? : A study of teachers’ opinions regarding an introduction of the English language in Swedish nursery schools

• Main Author: Tärngren, Susan
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik, didaktik och utbildningsstudier 2015
• Subjects: nursery school; pre-school; English; Sweden; teachers; Förskola; Engelska; Sverige; förskollärare
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-269231

The purpose of this study was to discover what nursery teachers thought about an introduction of English to Swedish nursery schools, whether they had seen children showing an interest for the English language and if so how they had reacted. Theories and research used in the analysis of the results were amongst others the sociocultural theory of learning and the critical period hypothesis. Qualitative semi-structured interviews of four nursery school teachers was the method chosen. The results showed that the teachers felt that an introduction of English could be easily implemented if it were to be unofficial, fun and voluntary and not by force through an addition to the curriculum. The teachers felt that it was currently not part of their job as it was not included in the curriculum. The teachers thought the children could have positive outcomes in their English language development if introduced to English in nursery school. The teachers thought that the main hindrances in introducing English would be due to staff competence in the English language and a possible problem in children’s Swedish language development, mainly in children learning Swedish as a second language. The teachers had seen various instances where children had expressed an interest in the English language, for example in role-play, at mealtimes and at song time. They had acknowledged this interest by asking to hear the children use English, translating English words into Swedish and by expanding the amount of English used in the children’s day to day life at nursery school.