that they simply had no idea about the subject:
“Dazu kann ich leider nichts sagen, weil ich nicht weiß wie es sich auswirkt. Ich könnte mir allerdings vorstellen, dass die Kinder die falsche Satzstellung übernehmen werden, von Englisch auf Deutsch” (qu. 3b-2: no answer).
“Weiß ich nicht” (qu. 3b-2: no answer).
The next question (→ question 3b-3) was to find out if teachers felt that learning a foreign language in preschool would be a burden for the children because preschool life in itself was challenging enough for them to cope with. Results were heterogeneous: while 30.6% of the teachers confirmed this idea, 19.8% felt that the children would not be burdened and about half of the teachers (49.6%) had mixed views and marked partly in the questionnaire (→ statistical data 13). As the majority of the preschool teachers were undecided, no valid answer to this question can be presented here.
Statistical data 13: Comment on the public opinion “An additional language in the preschool would burden children because preschool life is challenging enough for them”
Preschool teachers’ explanatory comments for their choices if they opted for yes or partly in the questionnaire indicated that they viewed children’s low level of German as a cause for preschool life being too challenging to introduce another language. Again, this strongly supports the validity of the questionnaire as this corresponds with the reasons that preschool teachers gave in answering the other prompts in question 3b). It was apparent that the majority of the answers of partly agree were prompted by the distinction the teachers made between the children who were in the early process of learning German and the children who could speak German already. They also were concerned that some children had deficits in other areas as well which would contradict the introduction of another language:
“Eher die nicht deutschsprechenden Kinder” (qu. 3b-3: partly).
“Bei vielen Kindern ist die Muttersprache noch ein Problem und Deutsch erst recht. Noch eine Sprache dazu wäre zu viel. Ist die erste Sprache gefestigt und das „Regelwerk Sprache“ angekommen, sind mehrere Sprachen kein Problem” (qu. 3b-3: partly).
“Viele kommen mit wenig Sprachkenntnissen und auch großen Defiziten aus anderen Gebieten. Ein zu viel an Angeboten könnte einige Kinder überfordern” (qu. 3b-3: partly).
“Kommt auf das Sprachverständnis jedes einzelnen Kinders an” (qu.3b-3: partly).
“Speziell für Migrantenkinder” (qu. 3b-3: partly).
Apart from considering children’s language competence levels they also reflected individual children’s different abilities and aptitudes when commenting on their choice of partly agree. They also maintained that coping would depend on the contextual support provided for the child, either by their parents or the preschool:
“Kommt auf die individuelle Begabung des Kindes, Förderung von zu Hause etc. an” (qu. 3b-3: partly).
“Kommt natürlich auf die Begabung und Einrichtung an” (qu. 3b-3: partly).
“Stimmt wohl für manche. Aber jedes Kind ist anders!” (qu. 3b-3 partly).
But what would preschool teachers think if a further language (e.g., English) were offered in a child-appropriate, playful way and consequently children would then experience that learning languages is fun and as a result they would be open for the new experience? The data shows that the majority of the teachers (85.4%) agreed that the children learnt languages in a playful way, which left only a small percentage of preschool teachers who answered partly (14.6%). None of the preschool teachers answered with no (→ statistical data 14).
Statistical data 14: Comment on the public opinion “Children learn a language in a playful way”
Preschool teachers who answered partly were again generally concerned about the children who were learning German as a second language. But at the same time, they thought that through introducing a foreign language that was unfamiliar to all of the children in a group, German native-speaking children would be able to experience the challenges involved in learning a language – an everyday experience for their peers who are largely non-native speakers of German:
“Außerdem verstehen die Kinder mit Muttersprache Deutsch dann, wie schwer es für Kinder mit Fremdsprache ist Deutsch zu lernen und umgekehrt, sind alle Kinder mal auf dem gleichen Level! Auch Kinder mit nicht Deutsch-Muttersprache können zeigen was sie können, ihr Auffassungsvermögen ist sehr gut” (qu. 3b-4: yes).
The comments of the other teachers who opted for yes or partly did not provide any substantial answers apart from very general sweeping comments saying that if another language were introduced the approach would need to be child appropriate. They admitted that they were inexperienced and therefore could not give satisfactory reasons for their choices:
“Die Methode ist ausschlaggebend” (qu. 3b-4: yes).
“Kinder sind offen zu lernen, wenn sie dabei Spaß haben und ihre Interessen berücksichtigt werden” (qu. 3b-4: yes).
“Ich habe keine Erfahrung damit” (qu. 3b-4: partly).
“Ich denke das stimmt. Ich würde gerne eine solche Einheit ansehen und auch selber daraus lernen” (qu. 3b-4: yes).
To conclude, it can be said that preschool teachers were aware of the challenges when introducing a foreign language and as a result they voiced real and genuine concerns related to this issue. Their attitudes were based largely on their familiarity with the preschool context and their experiential knowledge that they had of the children learning German. But at the time of the questionnaire survey, they could not include any other perspective that would have informed their choices, for example experiences with teaching the children English or research-based knowledge.
For the set-up of my teacher education project this meant that teachers’ attitudes would need to be re-addressed by exposing them to credible, first-hand empirical evidence that learning another foreign language actually is a rewarding and joyful experience for the children in the context of the case study. This would involve exposing them to small-scale context-related positive and credible experiences from preschool classroom contexts. It would also mean that research-based knowledge on the principles, approaches and methods of early language teaching and learning would need to be integrated – given the complete lack of theoretical background knowledge on early language learning that the preschool teachers demonstrated in the survey. Through this, participating teachers would be supported to change their attitudes as they would experience that introducing another language in their context would actually be a benefit for the children. It was the only way their partial reluctance to introduce English could be overcome.
3.4 Preschool teachers’ attitudes towards introducing English in preschool: perspective of the teachers
While the first part of the survey focused on the challenges and benefits that teachers associated with early language learning as seen from the perspective of the preschool children, the second part of the questionnaire survey focused on the teachers’ attitudes which related to themselves as potential preschool English teachers who were asked to consider introducing English in their groups: Would they think that this new area of responsibility would more likely be a benefit or a burden for them? The preschool teachers were therefore asked the following questions:
From your perspective as preschool teacher, would you consider teaching English rather as a benefit or a burden? (Was halten Sie aus Sicht einer pädagogischen Fachkraft davon, die Fremdsprache Englisch im Kindergarten anzubieten? Eher eine Bereicherung oder eher eine Belastung?) (question 4a).
Can you imagine offering English yourself in your preschool? (Können Sie sich vorstellen, Englisch in Ihrem Kindergarten anzubieten?) (question