Raising language awareness and intercultural competence in primary school

Abstract

Članek predstavlja jezikovno ozaveščanje in medkulturno razgledanost na nižji stopnji osnovne šole, ki v zadnjem času spadata, še zlasti v strokovnih krogih, med zelo aktualni temi. V prvem delu članka je opredeljeno jezikovno in medkulturno izobraževanje na nižji stopnji osnovne šole. V drugem delu so prikazani rezultati raziskave, katere osnovni namen je bil proučiti jezikovno in medkulturno ozaveščenost pri učencih razredne stopnje in ugotoviti morebitne razlike med starostnimi skupinami. Rezultati pričujoče raziskave so pokazali, da se otroci na razredni stopnji zanimajo za učenje tujih jezikov, so tudi pozitivno naravnani do tujih kultur in njihovih pripadnikov, a jih pri komunikaciji in druženju z njimi ovira predvsem neznanje jezika in nepoznavanje njihovih kultur. To dejstvo bi se z učinkovito jezikovno politiko in uvajanjem različnih medkulturnih vsebin v nižje razrede osnovne šole dalo spremeniti. S tem bi prihodnjim generacijam omogočili mirno sobivanje v večkulturni družbi.The paper presents language awareness and intercultural competence at the primary level. They are both highly important topics, especially in professional circles. The first part introduces theoretical issues of foreign language learning and inter- cultural understanding at the primary level. The second part presents the results of the studyits purpose was to determine language awareness and intercultural competence of primary level learners and to determine the differences between age groups. The results of this study show that young learners at the primary level are interested in foreign languages and they show positive feelings about other cultures and their members, however, insufficient knowledge in foreign languages and culture are the main obstacles for their lack of communication and socializing with other cultures. This could be avoided by introducing an effective language policy and intercultural contents in the lower classes of primary schools. This would allow future generations to peacefully coexist in a multicultural society