Countries in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines consider English to be their second language, which is compulsory in schools. In Singapore, children's groups and kindergartens offer bilingual programs: Chinese (or Malaysian, Tamil) and English. 4 -5 year old children not only learn English through listening and speaking skills but also learn to read and write.
They spend half their time in school with English and half the time at home with their mother tongue. The second language approach in preschool is taught as a subject on its own or its integrated into the diverse activities of children at school. Children learn, develop language through singing, music, reading poetry, storytelling, playing games, acting plays. etc.
In Australia, a country with a multicultural population, having immigrants from over 200 countries, speaks more than 300 languages. When attending elementary school, children learn English as a second language.
Even in English speaking countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, there is a significant body of immigrants who learn English as a second language to live, learn and work. For immigrant families, children under 5 years old learn their native language through playing. This helps them develop a second language, like English, until they reach elementary school, which in turn can integrate into native speakers.
Countries in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines regard English as a second language in addition to their mother tongue, which is compulsory in schools and children learn English as their first language. hat. In Singapore, children's groups and kindergartens offer bilingual programs: Chinese (or Malaysian, Tamil) and English. 4-5-year-olds not only learn English in listening and speaking skills but also learn to read and write in a model.
European students (who are not native English speakers) can use English for cultural, economic and tourist exchanges.
In Japan and Korea, two strong Asian countries with economic power, also have policies on the importance of English. South Korea has adopted a strategy to improve English proficiency by 2015, with major subjects including math, science, Korean, and English. Private schools are familiar with English from kindergarten level.
"The above shows that preschoolers are capable of learning a second language other than their mother tongue if they have the right conditions in terms of teachers, facilities, family and social environment," said Rector Cao, Central Teacher Training Center.
Master Le Thi Luan from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Education said that, in Vietnam, through direct observation in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, there is no written guidance from the Ministry of Education and Training, so preschool institutions are spontaneous and are being applied in kindergartens as an extracurricular course, similar to the gifted subjects. Schools only teach children English when parents have the need. Preschools, district education divisions and school administrators conduct regular monitoring and follow-ups.
Teachers involved in teaching preschoolers are becoming familiar with Foreign languages at schools as they themselves are contracted with Foreign language centers. Thus they are either language teachers or Foreigners, but they do not have certificates of pedagogy. In addition, to accommodate the activities of preschool children, all teachers have tutors. These are the kindergarten teachers who are trained in Foreign languages.
"There is no official document stipulating the age of children to be familiar with foreign languages in kindergartens because there is no formal study of the English language program for Vietnamese children. On applying the foreign program, the management agencies will have difficulty in evaluating the quality of the program of teaching children to become familiar with Foreign languages," Luan said.