TY - JOUR
T1 - Omani young children’s language proficiencies
T2 - The outcomes of a Bilingual education program
AU - Tekin, Ali Kemal
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, Mediterranean Center of Social and Educational Research. All rights reserved.
PY - 2014/11/1
Y1 - 2014/11/1
N2 - Due to a globalizing world context and contemporary trends in society, today’s parents are more interested in having their children acquire English language skills as early as possible. In Oman, the movement to offer early childhood education in two languages—English and Arabic—has been accelerating. Through the efforts of Sultan Qaboos University, a model Child Care Center (CCC) was established on campus to pioneer bilingual education in the early years of life. This type of educational program also has the potential to impact young children’s development and acquisition of their primary language. In addition, bilingual children’s language usage outside the school in daily communications is another significant topic for study. However, there has been little solid research on this topic. Hence, this research study aimed to assess and evaluate English and primary language proficiency levels of young children enrolled at CCC and their language usage in communications outside the school environment. Implications are discussed and recommendations are made for teachers, parents, policy makers, researchers, and other stakeholders.
AB - Due to a globalizing world context and contemporary trends in society, today’s parents are more interested in having their children acquire English language skills as early as possible. In Oman, the movement to offer early childhood education in two languages—English and Arabic—has been accelerating. Through the efforts of Sultan Qaboos University, a model Child Care Center (CCC) was established on campus to pioneer bilingual education in the early years of life. This type of educational program also has the potential to impact young children’s development and acquisition of their primary language. In addition, bilingual children’s language usage outside the school in daily communications is another significant topic for study. However, there has been little solid research on this topic. Hence, this research study aimed to assess and evaluate English and primary language proficiency levels of young children enrolled at CCC and their language usage in communications outside the school environment. Implications are discussed and recommendations are made for teachers, parents, policy makers, researchers, and other stakeholders.
KW - Bilingual education
KW - Bilingualism
KW - EFL
KW - Early childhood education
KW - Oman
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84910076983&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84910076983&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p784
DO - 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p784
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84910076983
SN - 2039-9340
VL - 5
SP - 784
EP - 791
JO - Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences
JF - Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences
IS - 23
ER -