The Level of Development of 6-year-old Bilingual Children in a Preschool Education Institution - a Case Study
Abstract
In recent years there has been an increasing interest in bilingual education. Poland’s membership in the European Union, access to state of the art technology as well as the opportunities for communicating with the entire world seem to naturally boost the level of requisite linguistic competence.
The article explores the problems of bilingualism in preschool children. The literature on the subject lists several varieties of bilingualism and so the paper focuses on bilingualism in successive-type children (Wróblewska-Pawlak: 90), where a second language is introduced to the child’s linguistic repertoire once communication in the first language has been established. Accordingly, the study aims to establish the levels of cognitive as well as social and emotional development in bilingual children. For this purpose, we determined the level of development in the above-mentioned areas in 6-year-old children, with special emphasis on language development. We relied on the individual case method as the principal research method, and we applied supported observation and document review as leading techniques. The study covered a group of four children: Paulina, Konrad, Kacper, and Paweł, who, since the age of 3, attended “The Oxford Kids” private English-speaking nursery located in Cieszyn, Poland. The study findings revealed that the level of development observed in children aged 6 can, depending on the area, be classified as high or average. Therefore, early contact with a foreign language has no negative impact on the child nor should it be seen as a threat to the child’s normal development. Finally, it does not constitute an obstacle to achieving other important educational aims.
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