Maria-Sosanna Vasileiou

“When I joined high school, I decided to follow a career in education and more specifically the teaching of English as a foreign language. Throughout my school years and my BA studies in Greece I had always expressed my interest and love in working with children. That is why I chose Bangor University since I found the MA programme that would help me achieve my dream and become a successful English language teacher.

I graduated in 2021 from Bangor University with an MA in Applied Linguistics for TEFL with distinction.  At Bangor I was so lucky and blessed to be part of a vibrant academic community, whose exemplary knowledge made me further appreciate and love the field of bilingualism and early language education. It was a golden opportunity working with such inspirational Educators. The MA in Applied Linguistics for TEFL equipped with so many skills that helped me to develop my career in English Language Teaching. 

I was recruited by the Directorate for Primary Education of East Attica, in Greece as an English language teacher to teach at kindergartens of East Attica. Teaching English to very young learners (4-5 year old children) is very challenging but at the same time worthy, fun and interesting to explore and develop myself. I appreciate every moment in this exciting teaching experience.

At this point, I would like to give you a short background story of the introduction of the English language at kindergarten level. First of all, the teaching of English at pre-primary level is a relatively new teaching challenge. It had been firstly introduced as a pilot programme at school year 2020-2021, which aimed at fostering children's intercultural awareness and the methodological and thematic enrichment of the preschool curriculum in relation to the linguistic and comprehensive development of preschool children. Since ELT had been implemented in Greek kindergartens in 2020, early ELT was under-researched in Greece. This field had just started to attract research and I personally decided to investigate this topic in my MA dissertation "Exploring L2 Receptive Vocabulary Learning and Working Memory in Greek Kindergarten EFL Learners" (Vasileiou, 2021). 

I cannot find words to express my happiness and gratitude since I am now a part of this programme, helping young children to learn a foreign language (through fun and playful activities) and subsequently learn to be active members of multicultural societies.

Though my studies coincided with the difficult times of the restrictions of Covid 19 pandemic, I will always remember, cherish and appreciate  the good moments that I spent at Bangor University, the amazing people I met there, the natural beauty of North Wales and the openness and kindness of the university staff  and local community.

I thank Bangor University for all the things and knowledge it offered me.”