TEACHERS' PERSPECTIVES ON HOW EXPOSURE TO FOREIGN LANGUAGES AFFECTS YOUNG CHILDREN’S LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

To increase the quality of language education in Northern Cyprus, the number of schools that provide bilingual education (Turkish and English) at early ages and in the preschool period is increasing day by day. In this study, the opinions of preschool teachers were taken to describe the general situation of bilingual education in Northern Cyprus during the preschool period. Based on a qualitative study and an easily accessible case sampling, the research was conducted with 14 preschool teachers working in the Near East Preschool Institution, which provides bilingual education in the Nicosia district. In the research, the data were obtained through a semi-structured opinion form and analyzed by content analysis techniques. According to the research findings, although the preschool teachers stated that bilingual education positively affects language development, they also expressed that there were some negativities. As a result, although it has some limitations, it has been revealed that bilingual education contributes to the language development of preschool children and it is important for children to receive multilingual education from the moment they start preschool institutions, as in European Union countries.