ABSTRACT

Current foreign language education policies advocate plurilingual approaches to learning and teaching languages and call into question the ‘ideal native speaker’ as the ultimate model. Observations within a teacher training context indicate that this ideal still holds considerable weight among pre-service teachers. A study was carried out with students enrolled on the degree programme in Early Childhood Education at a university in Catalonia to explore the extent to which the ‘ideal native speaker’ model prevails within this community. The study analysed data from different instruments applied within the context of a core module which includes an innovative approach to embedding English as a foreign language in the early years. Findings confirm the prevalence of the model and reveal beliefs and assumptions which not only perpetuate the ideal itself, but also reinforce disempowering and discriminatory attitudes which are incongruent with current policies regarding language education. Changes reported in post-intervention findings highlight the need to develop reflective skills alongside linguistic and didactic competences in Early Childhood EFL Education. One of the main contributions of the study is its identification of deficit views of non-specialist teachers and its call for collaborative practice in which all linguistic abilities have a place.

摘要

当前的外语教育政策提倡多语言学习和教授语言的方法，并质疑“理想的母语人士”作为最终模式。在教师培训背景下的观察表明，这一理想在职前教师中仍然占有相当大的比重。对在加泰罗尼亚一所大学攻读幼儿教育学位课程的学生进行了一项研究，以探索“理想的母语人士”模式在该社区中的流行程度。该研究分析了在核心模块背景下应用的不同工具的数据，其中包括早期将英语作为外语嵌入的创新方法。研究结果证实了该模型的普遍性，并揭示了不仅使理想本身永久化的信念和假设，而且还强化了与当前有关语言教育的政策不符的剥夺权力和歧视态度。干预后调查结果报告的变化强调了在幼儿英语教育中发展反思技能以及语言和教学能力的必要性。该研究的主要贡献之一是它确定了非专业教师的缺陷观点，并呼吁所有语言能力都有一席之地的协作实践。干预后调查结果报告的变化强调了在幼儿英语教育中发展反思技能以及语言和教学能力的必要性。该研究的主要贡献之一是它确定了非专业教师的缺陷观点，并呼吁所有语言能力都有一席之地的协作实践。干预后调查结果报告的变化强调了在幼儿英语教育中发展反思技能以及语言和教学能力的必要性。该研究的主要贡献之一是它确定了非专业教师的缺陷观点，并呼吁所有语言能力都有一席之地的协作实践。