Tiltai

This article reviews the problem of global citizenship education and foreign language teaching at pre-primary school level. The education of pre-primary school children is inseparable from knowledge of the world, communication in the mother tongue and in a foreign language, and the formation of values and patterns of social behaviour that are relevant to humanity. The pre-primary school age is the right age to encourage children to learn about their immediate environment, and to broaden their knowledge of other countries and natural and social phenomena in them. Global citizenship education should start at this age, enabling children to learn about, talk about and contribute to global issues at a local, national and global level, to engage children in social citizenship activities, and to contribute to a safe and sustainable environment. In the education of pre-primary school children, a foreign language has the function of building a social identity. The development of children’s foreign language skills in an educational institution also creates conditions for the development of children’s global citizenship. The article presents the partial results of an ethnographic study on the development of global citizenship and foreign language learning at pre-primary school level. The information obtained from the study confirms the usefulness of a foreign language for the global citizenship education of pre-primary school children. It shows that learning a foreign language helps not only to learn about world phenomena and to communicate, but also to develop global citizenship competences. Learning and using a foreign language help to share information not only about the immediate and distant environment, but also about countries and cultures of the world, it broadens the world-view of the pupils, forms positive attitudes towards other people, and strengthens the sense of community, encouraging people to work together to create a safe and sustainable environment.