Young Learners’ Experience and Interaction in a Three-way Partial Immersion Program

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to investigate and find out how effective the communication is in the three-way partial immersion program in a child development centre in Yerevan, Armenia. Consequently, to provide answers to the research questions, the qualitative method was chosen and the teacher-student, student-student interactions, scaffolding, negotiation of meaning have been observed and investigated for two months. It also aimed to answer the teachers’ and parents’ attitudes towards early child language acquisition/learning. To answer the second research question, both parents and the program teachers have been interviewed based on semi-structured interview guidelines. The findings suggest that the communication is mostly successful and effective for students at the ages of 4-6, as the teachers can use the L2 or the FL most of the time. The 3-4 aged students still have difficulties with understanding the foreign languages. The study also lends support on the empirical studies according to which students at this age still acquire their mother tongue and have relatively limited vocabulary as compared to relatively older children (Kent & Miolo, 1995; Singleton, 2004; Ortega, 2009; Pinter, 2006). It can be inferred from the teachers’ interviews that the students’ language acquisition depends on various factors, particularly, the age,the mothertongueacquisition,the individual differences. Meanwhile, the parents’ interview findings suggest that their attitudes are mostly postivie and they believe that the earlier the foreign language learning the better.