Components assigned to the teaching of foreign languages in primary schools

• Functional and communicative component (developing R/S/W/L) including:

- greeting, saying goodbye, introducing (oneself and others);

- identifying and explaining where you are going / where you are coming from;

- starting and finishing a conversation, giving and requesting information;

- spelling, naming, counting and calculating, correcting oneself;

- accepting, refusing an invitation;

- comparing, locating in time and space;

- giving orders and advice;

- expressing tastes and preferences;

- expressing one's opinion, agreement and disagreement;

- speaking of past events, describing and narrating;

- expressing feelings, reporting questions and so on.

• Linguistic component (phonetic, lexical and semantic, syntactic and textual aspects): for comprehension and expression, oral and written work (i.e. the four skills), taking into account the characteristics of learners at this level and in particular their psychocognitive development. It has been the most frequently and most broadly detailed area.

• Social and intercultural component – expresses the original perspective of the teacher as an "intercultural education manager".

• Thematic and situational component which, at this age level are of essential importance; a short list of what it covers is presented below:

- School, friends and peers

- Home and toys

- Days, work, sport and leisure

- Food and meals

- Clothes and different times of day

- Weather (forecasts) and holidays

- Animals (pets and others)

- Stories and fairy tales, imaginary journeys

- Cartoons, comics and so on

and more general topics such as people's behaviour and habits, traffic, money, customs and traditions, ecology, nature conservation.

• Finally, educational component - last but by no means least! In fact, given the level of education with which we are dealing, such component should even be given priority, since it encompasses all the other aspects. All the factors which help to develop a pupil's metalinguistic consciousness, or which make it easier for him/her to discover a different culture and to assimilate it - which are by definition and in their own right important elements in linguistic and intercultural areas - are also elements of the general educational component which cannot be omitted. To them should be added all the factors which (in terms of the components, activities and procedures) are designed to initiate pupils into independent learning; all in all, learning how to learn.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-10