English as a second language: preschool teaching and learning

My dissertation aims to present theorical and practical ways of teaching English as a second language in preschool children. The first chapter is a theorical overview about bilingualism, as it is a phenomenon present in every country of the world, at all levels of society and in all age groups. In fact, throughout human history, learning a second language has been an important part of the educational process: from ancient times to the present, school children have had to struggle to learn a second language. After explaining what bilingualism means and which types of it exist, I continued with a clarification about the effects of early bilingualism, especially in preschool children. Then, in the first part of the second chapter is presented an historical overview of second-language teaching, along with a concrete example: the history of teaching English as a second language during colonial times, 1800s, 1900s, until the Americanization movement. The second part, however, aims to give instructional practices in teaching English: which methods are used, how classrooms must be organized and what interactions help children acquire the language. Finally, the topic of the third chapter is the importance of teaching and learning English, along with the consequences that it has in everyday life of speakers and in the society in which they live.