Pre-service education of primary school teachers in the context of foreign language bilingual teaching

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. In the past few years bilingual programmes for foreign language learning have spread in Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education boosted by the Educational Authorities. These type of programmes have also emerged at university, where some undergraduate and  post-graduate degrees are bilingual or taught through a foreign language, usually English. Both initiatives share the search for greater integration between language and content and have generated a context which is urging rethinking of the training of Primary school teachers. METHOD. This article examines, with the outcome of recent studies, how universities and teacher training centres are undertaking pre-service teacher training and how they are adapting to the requirements posed by foreign language bilingual education in schools. RESULTS. Universities have addressed pre-service teacher training of foreign languages for Primary Education through specialization courses. In addition, some of them are offering bilingual undergraduate degrees. However, the implementation of bilingual undergraduate degrees is not always based on reflection on the intended outcomes. DISCUSSION. Unlike what happens with other university degrees, the foreign language for teachers in bilingual schools is not only a language of communication, but a language of instruction aimed at learning by students. Moreover, it is a language which learning is channeled through other curriculum contents. In line with these observations, this piece of work leaves the following open question : Has the time come to introduce common pre-service teacher training of and through foreign languages to all teachers in Primary Education?