As stated in the Council of Europe's document Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR, 2011), a major goal of compulsory education is for each individual to develop their multilingual skills as best as possible. The only way they can develop them is if they are surrounded by a stimulating learning environment for learning different languages that engages all the students. There is a lack of research into multilingualism in Slovenia, especially at the primary school level. For this reason, we wish to determine the knowledge of languages and culture that primary school students possess; which skills they are developing; what their opinions are on multilingualism; how strongly they express these opinions; and what motivates them to develop multilingual skills. We are also interested in the factors that co-create a supportive learning environment for the development of multilingual skills. The data will be obtained through quantitative research, using a survey questionnaire and a Likert-type attitude scale. The master's thesis examines the multilingual skills of Slovenian primary school students. In the theoretical section, the purpose was to explore the background of the research topic, the characteristics of the multilingual ability, and the areas it covers. In the empirical section, descriptors of knowledge, opinions and skills were used to determine the knowledge, skills and opinions that the students possess; the most common motivating factors for learning a foreign language; and the factors of a supportive learning environment. We were interested in their self-assessment of their own linguistic competence and whether the assessments differ by gender. In the empirical section, the results were obtained by means of a survey questionnaire. Prior to conducting research, we posed nine research questions. The results show that primary school students are in favour of learning foreign languages and are aware of the importance of developing multilingual skills. The most common motivational factors for learning languages are their peers, and opening doors to new social prospects and career paths. The findings show that students who started learning foreign language in preschool age agreed the most with the statements and rated their linguistic skills, knowledge and competence the highest. They are also the most motivated for learning languages and the most in favour of developing multilingual skills. The opinions most often expressed by the respondents speak in favour of developing multicultural and multilingual skills. The students feel confident in speaking foreign languages and in entering a multicultural environment; however, they are less certain of their metalinguistic knowledge. In their opinion, the factors that influence the process of developing multilingual skills are: the school climate; quality literature and ICT tools; quality lessons adapted to their prior knowledge; their peers; their home environment (parents, relatives); foreign language teachers and teachers of second languages.
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