Framework and Rationale for Developing a Single Language Exploratory Program For Students in Grades 1 – 3
Abstract
This materials development project provides middle and high school language teachers, in a public school setting, the rationale and curriculum for implementing an introductory language program to elementary aged children in their school. This paper explores the author’s school community and the interest in providing an introductory language program for elementary aged students in the school district. The author, a second language teacher in the school, is also an advocate for introducing this type of programming, with the hopes that it will create enthusiasm and motivation for further language study in the students’ middle and high school years. The project begins with an introduction of the author’s philosophies and attitudes towards teaching and learning a second language. The author provides the reader with the necessary materials that she used to teach a four week French exploratory course and then provides her own personal reflections regarding the materials that she developed and implemented