Reflections of Lower Primary Teachers Teaching in Bilingual Special Language Classes

Abstract

The survey summarises the findings of structured interviews carried out with teachers of two provincial German-Hungarian bi-lingual schools. They teach German as a second language as well as other subject areas in German in the lower primary. The survey summarizes their experiences and opinion concerning the principles, advantages and disadvantages of the bi-lingual lower primary program and those of the early language teaching programs, it reveals their professional achievements, hopes and problems. Based on the findings of the interviews we get the impression that the interviewees do not have a clear view of the natural acquisition processes. Their views are dominated by the contrastive view striving to provide language awareness and the application of the grammar-translation method, which cannot be considered as the most successful ways of language development for the given age group in the lower primary. The present essay is part of a greater research, which aims to analyse and assess German language teaching in bi-lingual lower primary teaching, that is how to analyse this kind of teaching process, what are its underlying pedagogical and language developmental principles and how these are carried out at the two particular schools. An empirical research is needed for the bi-lingual lower primary teaching process in order to define its quality and present position.