Trilingual education in primary school, Qazaq Republic
Есалиева Ляззат Беделхановна
Учительница английского языка
Частная начальная школа “ORDA school”
Author: L.B. Yessaliyeva
Mood: optimistic
Keywords: development of education, early learning, language skills, policy of trilingualism, foreign language, primaryschool, game, motivation
City: Qyzylorda
Modern school involves the study of a foreign language from the second grade. This is a confirmation of the fact that a “foreign language” is an important and socially significant subject in the implementation of promising tasks of personal development. The immediate task of teaching a FL as is known, is the formation of communicative competence in unity with the cultivation of respect for the cultural traditions of different peoples and readiness for intercultural cooperation. It is obvious that the earlier this process starts, the more opportunities there are to achieve high results.
Therefore, a reform of trilingualism was issued. In Qazaq Republic society politics of trlingualism is conducted which leads to mastering by Qazaqs of the Qazaq, the Russian and the English languages. A language is the key phenomenon of culture, probably main mechanism of nationality, instrument of origin and reproduction of nation as a social structure. It`s the maintenance of language variety in Qazaq Republic.
Emmm … from 2013 till 2017 I was worked at college with students. There were students who didn`t study FL or were not interested in a FL, from the walls of the school. When I started working with them, we found different topics, «Why do we have to learn FL?» And then gradually all the students (from different professions) had their own reasons to study the FL. It turns out that students needed this subject like an air.
Therefore, the «FL- is an important subject and socially significant in the implementation of promising tasks of personal development.» As it`s known, the immediate task of teaching FL is the formation of communicative in unity with the cultivation of respect for the cultural tyraditions of different nations and readiness for intercultural cooperation.
That`s why I agreed that trilingualism is useful for our country`s education system. But after 5 years of work with students, I wanted to work in primary school. Now I have been working in primary school for 2 years. Now I think to study FL from the first grade or even from the kindergarten is superfluous.
And now from March, 2019 reforms about trilingualism in the primary school, in the field of education in Qazaq Republic are being discussed. Several years ago, various slogans about trilingual education began to appear everywhere. The Ministry of Education has tried to explain to us their reform. And the questions was «Why do we need trilingualism?» In order to create a Qazaq Republic society that can learn, master and use the news of world civilization, science and technology, as modernity requires.
Our first president, N.A.Nazarbayev, said: «We will be trilingual, it`s not because someone`s whim is living. State languages the language of the people where we all live, we need to know. We need to know English. Because it`s the language of science, innovations. And society needs to say the Russian language, the language of our big neighbor,» and there was a heated discussion about it. Some said that in general, this is good. At one time, many Turkic scholars knew several languages as Arabic and Persian.
But some said that studying FL from the 1st grade even kindergarten it`s the most obscene reform in the field of education. I think learning FL at least from the 3rd grade is little bit normal.
Oh, there were a foolish fact that 2 or 3 yaers ago, already in Qazaq Republic, FL is studied from the kindergarten, from the 1st grade. On this occasion, Aldan Ismail a member of the Mazhilis of the Parliament, spoke out against studying English from 1st grade. He said, after primary grades, children will know the Qazaq language or English? Even deputy was indignant.
It seems to me not only that. He and Senator Murat Bakhtiyaruly asked the Ministry of Education and Science of the Qazaq Republic not to rush to introduce English into the primary schools of Qazaq Republic. And «To know English is not an indicator of education. It should be only a tool for understanding the highest level of world education and science. If we take into account the research of psychologists, then 25% of pupils are gifted. If we recognize this talent in it`s time and improve it, the result would be enormous,» said Senator M.Bakhtiyaruly.
And I absolutely agree with them. Why do I say that…? Because psychological features of younger schoolchildren give them advantages in learning a FL. Children 9–10 years of age absorb FL indirectly and unconsciously. The amount of attention is small and the time of concentration is very short, but with age they increase. I`ll agree that younger pupils have a well-developed long-term memory (what is learned is remembered for a very long time). The best incentive for further education for students in grades 3–4 is a feeling of success. Ways to obtain and assimilate information in children are also different: visual, auditory, kinesthetic. And when working in primary school, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the physical development of children of 7–10 years old. The development of muscles affects the child’s ability to concentrate on a page, line or word that is necessary for reading. It also affects the ability to hold a pencil or pen, scissors, brush. In order for students to achieve fine motor coordination, as well as coordination between visual perception and mechanical movement, their hands need constant training. Small children can not sit quietly for a long time due to lack of control over motor muscles. Therefore, it is desirable during the lesson to give them such tasks that would allow children to move around the class (games, songs with movements, dances). Physical activity at a lesson helps not only to make the process of repeated repetition and learning of educational material more exciting and diverse, but also just to relieve tension, to give an opportunity to once again get up from behind the desk, which is so necessary for small students.
How to make each lesson interesting, exciting and to ensure that it develops cognitive interest, creative thinking activity of students?
It is very important to remember that the lesson of FL in primary school should be united by a common theme, but the activities of children in the classroom should be diverse. It is necessary to frequently change the types of work, intersperse them with dynamic pauses, games with elements of movement. But at the same time, each element of the lesson is needed to solve a common problem.
So, I am two-minded positions about FL in primary school. At the beginning of my article I said that for high school pupils and students knowing many languages is very important and useful. And for the primary school learners studying 3 languages seems to me too early.
Emmm… What about you, What do you think, dear compatriots?
P.s. Linguists, deputies and social activists shared their views on the correct spelling of the name of Kazakhstan or Qazaq Republic in English.
“The next level is an understanding of our uniqueness, distinguishing from neighboring objects. Writing through Q goes back to medieval European maps. The next step in branding is understanding. And then tomorrow there will be the task of creating and promoting world-class works of art that will explain us to the world, which will really be able to significantly occupy the movie screens and bookshelves of the planet. The next stage is respect. And only after that there will be influence, “said Yerlan Askarbekov and I absolutely agree with him!
Links & resources
Bim I.L. Personality-oriented approach – the main strategy of school renewal // INR. – 2002. – № 2. – p. 11–15.
N.A. Nazarbayev Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan of June 29, 2011 No. 110 “On the State Program for the Functioning and Development of Languages for 2011–2020”.
www.kz/rus/bm/gosudarstvennii_yazik/programma_ry (address of 29.06.2011).
Galskova N.D. Modern methods of teaching foreign languages. – M., 2008. – 190 p.
Gamezo M.V., Petrova E.A., Orlova L.M. Age and pedagogical psychology. – M .: Pedagogical Society of Russia, 2003. – 512 p.
http://today.kz/news/kazahstan/2016-11-03/729182-kazakhstan-ili-qazaqstan/