ENGLISH AT PRESCHOOLS: A NECESSITY OR DUTY? A CHILEAN CASE STUDY

Abstract

This article aims to illustrate the current scenario of English language teaching and learning at preschools in the Chilean context. This study based on bibliographic review highlights how English as a foreign language is considered important in Chile; nevertheless, this has not been properly implemented in the Chilean education system. Chile adventures in becoming a bilingual nation but this is far from becoming a reality due to the fact that English is taught from 5th grade onwards. The results provided by the Education Quality Measurement System (SIMCE) and by the International language teaching organization, Education First (EF), clearly indicates the urgency to start introducing English in early childhood. This study also reveals how to reduce the language gap from the very beginning of children’s school education. Furthermore, literature evidence that not only teaching in early stages is beneficial and necessary, but also it promotes positive attitudes in children towards the language that they are learning, and at the same time, it brings better outcomes towards the goal of making a nation bilingual.