Preschool Teacher Candidates' Attitudes Towards Early Childhood Foreign Language Acquisition and Their Views on Experience-Based Approaches

The purpose of this study is to determine the attitudes of pre-service preschool teachers towards foreign language education and to evaluate their perspectives on the "Experience-Based Foreign Language Acquisition Program." Conducted with a mixed-methods research design, the quantitative sample involved 264 pre-service teachers using the "Foreign Language Teaching Attitude Scale" (Sevi, 2010), while the qualitative phase consisted of semi-structured interviews with nine participants.Quantitative findings revealed that pre-service teachers consider foreign language education necessary for professional development (60.3%), yet a vast majority find university-level language education inadequate (81.1%). While attitudes showed a significant difference in favor of male participants in the "necessity" dimension, no significant differences were found regarding age or grade level.Qualitative findings indicated that none of the participants received "Vocational English" courses during their undergraduate studies, leading to a sense of professional inadequacy. The participants advocate that foreign language education should start in the preschool period and believe that an "Experience-Based" model—supported by digital media, music, and cartoons—will ensure permanent learning. Consequently, it is recommended that preschool teacher education programs be strengthened with field-specific language courses and that experience-based instructional modules be expanded.