Early language learning

Since 2020, the teaching of the first foreign language, the so-called A1 language, starts already on the first grade of the Finnish primary education. With this reform, the language choice for primary school is often made already in pre-primary education. Our group is researching both language immersion sessions in early childhood and pre-primary education, as well as the teaching of the A1 language in grades 1-2.

Tampere has excellent conditions for exploring early language learning and A1 language teaching in grades 1-2, as many different languages can be studied as A1 languages in the City of Tampere’s basic education, including English, Chinese, French, German, Russian, Spanish, or Swedish. In addition, since 2016, Tampere has been running functional language immersion sessions, or language showering, in early childhood education and pre-primary education groups, led by language teaching students from Tampere University. A course on early language learning and teaching has been offered to language students at the university in cooperation with the City of Tampere. The course gives students the opportunity to learn about early language pedagogy and to implement language showering sessions in the city’s early childhood education and pre-primary education groups. This cooperation also offers research opportunities.

Researchers:

Kirsi Aaltonen-Kiianmies

Soili Hakulinen

Raisa Harju-Autti

Ritva Heinonen

Zea Kingelin-Orrenmaa

Dinah Krenzler-Behm

Johanna Koivisto

Laura Lahti

Aleksandr Zelenin

Contact person: Laura Lahti, University Lecturer (Language Education), Faculty of Education and Culture, Tampere University, laura.lahti(at)tuni.fi