Linguistic and cultural mediation in English as a Foreign Language. Primary school teacher's knowledge and attitudes

Abstract

The Spanish Organic Law Amending the Organic Law of Education (LOMLOE) introduces linguistic and cultural mediation as a specific competence in the foreign language area in Primary Education, which implies the need to adapt syllabuses, teaching resources and methodologies as well as the need to receive previous training. To explore the extent to which primary school teachers in Castile-La Mancha are familiar with linguistic and cultural mediation, a questionnaire was designed and distributed among teachers of English as a Foreign Language in Primary Education schools in the province of Toledo. On the one hand, the results show a lack of prior training in a large majority of teachers, which results in a modest implementation of activities of this nature. On the other hand, according to the responses which were analyzed, there is a clear interest in receiving training in mediation.