Key Factors for Teaching German to Spanish-Speaking Children: A Qualitative and Structural Analysis

Learning a foreign language early enhances students' linguistic, cognitive, and emotional development. This research aimed to determine the essential factors in teaching German to Spanish-speaking children. Using a qualitative, exploratory design, five pedagogy experts conducted a structural analysis with the MICMAC (Impact Matrix Cross- Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification) tool to examine German teaching processes. Key factors emerged, including reading children’s books in German, using visual materials, and immersing students in the language. Immersion, in particular, was more influential than other factors like interacting with native speakers or repeating vocabulary. The study also highlighted the importance of teaching resources and tools over traditional strategies. Based on these findings, it is recommended that German teachers incorporate children’s book reading and innovative visual aids to create an immersive classroom environment, potentially enhancing the language learning experience for students.