Teachers’ Conceptualisations and Needs in Developing Foreign Language Literacy Skills at Primary Level / Konceptualizacije i potrebe učitelja u razvoju osnovnih vještina pismenosti na stranom jeziku u primarnom obrazovanju

Abstract

As many European countries have introduced English language teaching at pre-primary and primary levels, the need for effective development of foreign language literacy skills has proved to be essential. Traditionally, literacy is defined as the ability to read and write. However, broader definitions include understanding of a wide range of texts and the ability to communicate in multilingual environments. Most teacher education programmes do not provide sufficient training for the development of initial and basic foreign language literacy skills of learners, and teachers feel they do not receive enough support in this area. As a result, Slovenian pupils of English are the least proficient in reading of all the language skills, with 12% of them failing to reach A1 level in reading and 29% remaining at this level at the end of primary school (European Commission, 2012). The aim of the present study was to investigate the perceptions of English teachers (N=112) regarding the development of foreign language literacy skills in Slovenian primary schools. For this purpose, a questionnaire was used to research how teachers conceptualise the development of FL literacy, how they assess pupils’ difficulties with reading and writing tasks and the literacy areas in which they think they would need more support in their teaching. A quantitative approach and a content analysis of the open questions were used. The differences between the teacher groups were measured with the Chi-square test. The study indicated teachers’ restricted views on the meaning of literacy in the open questions, while the closed questions implied a broader understanding of the concept. Most teachers expressed a desire to gain more professional knowledge in this area. The results of the study will provide a starting point for developing more effective teacher training programmes in foreign language literacy and for supporting in-service teachers in developing foreign language literacy at primary level. Key words : primary education; professional development; reading; teachers’ perceptions; writing --- Buduci da su mnoge europske države ukljucile poucavanja engleskoga jezika na predskolskoj i osnovnoskolskoj razini, potreba za ucinkovitim razvojem jezicnih vjestina na stranom jeziku pokazala se važnom. Tradicionalne definicije određuju pismenost kao sposobnost citanja i pisanja, a sire definicije pismenosti ukljucuju razumijevanje sirokoag raspona tekstova i sposobnost komunikacije u visejezicnom okruženju. Vecina programa obrazovanja ucitelja ne osposobljava ih dovoljno za razvoj inicijalnih i osnovnih vjestina pismenosti ucenika na stranom jeziku, a sami ucitelji smatraju da ne dobivaju dovoljno podrske u ovom podrucju. Zahvaljujuci tome najmanje razvijena jezicna vjestina slovenskih ucenika engleskoga jezika je citanje: 12 % ucenika ne uspijeva dosegnuti A1 razinu citanja, a 29 % ucenika ostaje na ovoj razini na kraju osnovne skole (Europska komisija, 2012). Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati percepcije razvoja vjestina pismenosti na engleskom jeziku ucitelja engleskog (N = 112) u slovenskim osnovnim skolama. Pri tome je koristen upitnik kojim se nastojalo utvrditi konceptualizacije razvoja pismenosti na stranom jeziku ucitelja, njihove procjene ucenickih teskoca u citanju i pisanju te podrucja pismenosti u kojima smatraju da im treba vise podrske u poucavanju. U istraživanju je upotrijebljen kvantitativni pristup i analiza sadržaja za odgovore na pitanja otvorenoga tipa. Razlike između skupina ucitelja izmjerene su Hi-kvadrat testom. Rezultati istraživanja ukazuju na uciteljsko ograniceno viđenje znacenja pismenosti u pitanjima otvorenoga tipa, dok pitanja zatvorenoga tipa ukazuju na sire razumijevanje koncepta. Vecina ucitelja izrazila je želju za stjecanjem dodatnoga profesionalnog znanja u ovom podrucju. Rezultati istraživanja predstavljaju polaznu tocku za razvoj ucinkovitijih programa obrazovanja ucitelja u podrucju pismenosti na stranom jeziku i podrsku zaposlenim uciteljima u razvoju pismenosti na stranom jeziku na razini osnovne skole. Kljucne rijeci : citanje; percepcije ucitelja; pisanje; primarno obrazovanje; profesionalni razvoj