In this interdisciplinary master's thesis, we compare three curricula: two for Spanish as a second foreign language and one for another second foreign language, all of which are implemented in two primary education programs, one in the Lila Program – Primary School based on the principles of Education for Life, that operates under a publicly valid program and one in a public primary school in Slovenia. Our goal is to determine whether the curricula provide opportunities for teaching Spanish at a comparable level of quality. Initially, we compared the basic parameters of the curricula, such as the grade level at which the subject is introduced, the number of years the subject is included in the curriculum, the number of hours allocated to the subject, and so on. We found that the curricula have similar structures and definitions of the subject, and they are based on a learning-strategy curriculum design. They include similar learning objectives and knowledge standards, as well as partially similar didactic recommendations. However, we noted that the curriculum for teaching Spanish as a second foreign language, which is included in the Lila Program – Primary School based on the principles of Education for Life, differs to a greater extent from both curricula in the public primary school, particularly in terms of operational learning objectives, content and thematic areas, knowledge standards, didactic recommendations, and interdisciplinary connections. The differences also relate to the assessment of knowledge and the required qualifications of the teacher. All of the analysed curricula are well-designed, but not entirely comparable, primarily due to differences in the grade level at which the teaching of the second foreign language begins, the number of years that the subject is included in the curriculum, and the number of hours of instruction per year. The introduction of the second foreign language into primary schools is in line with the European Union's goal of enabling every citizen to communicate in their native language and at least two foreign languages, thus ensuring multilingualism and the goal of plurilingualism. This goal is particularly evident in the Lila Program – Primary School based on the principles of Education for Life, where Spanish is a mandatory subject from the first to the ninth grade, as well as in both public primary school’s curriculums, if a second language is being taught. However, for the curricula where second language is elective, this only applies if English or German are not the only languages being taught.
|