Meaning making in preschool english learning: systematizing a pedagogical experience based on intentional interaction and semiotic mediation.

Abstract

This working paper analyzes how intentional pedagogical interaction, mediated by semiotic resources, enables meaning construction in English learning among preschool children through the systematization of a pedagogical experience developed in a preschool English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. The paper emerges from the need to question traditional teaching practices centered on the memorization of isolated vocabulary and the use of translation into the mother tongue, which may limit the understanding of language as a system of communication in use. In response to this issue, the research adopts a qualitative approach based on the systematization of experiences, understood as a reflective and interpretative process that allows the reconstruction and critical analysis of pedagogical practice as a source of situated knowledge. The pedagogical experience was developed with preschool children in transition grade at Escuela Normal Superior de Piedecuesta, Santander, Colombia, where English was presented through complete expressions supported by gestures, images, objects, actions, and contextualized interaction. The findings indicate that meaning construction emerged through the articulation of interaction, context, and semiotic mediation. Students demonstrated comprehension through action-based responses, participation in communicative situations, and the interpretation of language in relation to concrete experience without relying on translation into the mother tongue or explicit grammatical explanation. In this sense, interaction functioned as the space in which language became comprehensible and meaningful, while semiotic resources operated as essential mediators that facilitated comprehension. The study concludes that English learning in preschool education can develop meaningfully when language is embedded in intentional interaction and supported by semiotic resources. These findings contribute to pedagogical reflection on early childhood English teaching by highlighting the need to design learning environments that prioritize contextualized language use, interaction, and meaning construction over memorization and translation.