Abstract

During the 2013-2014 school year, a charter school in Central Florida (which will be given the pseudonym "The Unity School") known for its practice of full inclusion launched an unconventional project. The Unity School, which serves children from preschool through grade five, began offering foreign language to all pre-kindergarten students. The Unity School's practice of offering its French program is uncommon for a couple of reasons. First, few foreign language programs exist for young children in the U.S., with only about 25% of U.S. schools offering any type of foreign language program at the elementary level. Furthermore, students of all ages who have special needs often do not have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits that learning a foreign language can provide. Students with special needs may be discouraged from pursuing foreign language study for various reasons, including the belief that learning a second language is a privilege reserved for typically developing students only. The authors of this article, a university professor and a graduate assistant, played a major role in the development and implementation of The Unity School's French program. The purpose of this article is to describe a pre-kindergarten foreign language program designed to make learning French accessible to all children.

Citation

Regalla, M. & Peker, H. (2016). Multimodal Instruction in Pre-Kindergarten: An Introduction to an Inclusive Early Language Program. Learning Languages, 21(2), 11-14. Retrieved August 7, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/190648/.

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Keywords

• FLES
• French
• Inclusion
• Language Teachers
• Learning Modalities
• Multimedia Instruction
• Outcomes of Education
• Preschool Children
• Preschool Education
• Program Design
• Program Implementation
• Second Language Instruction
• Second Language Programs
• Special Needs Students