Conference:
ECER 2009
Format:
Symposium Paper
Session Information
05 SES 04, Immigrant children's development in elementary and primary school: Research evidence on patterns and programs from Germany, Australia, and Canada
Symposium
Time:
2009-09-28
16:00-17:30
Room:
JUR, HS 15
Chair:
Martin Guhn
Discussant:
Jessica Löser
Contribution
Migrant children's language acquisition is a crucial topic of early education in Germany. Language development is influenced by family factors and fostered by early education and care institutions. Depending on the way parents and siblings speak at home, children have different learning opportunities to acquire the German language. Childcare institutions provide language learning opportunities in a number of ways, for example, by running foster programs or by carefully integrating language into games, play, and other learning activities. This longitudinal study investigated which factors foster children's language development. Four cohorts of migrant children (n = 492) in childcare institutions were followed from age 3 to age 5, to examine their language development. Language skills were measured with a standardized observation scale. Context data on families and childcare institutions were collected with questionnaires and qualitative interviews. The findings show that children’s early entrance into childcare, social interactions between immigrant children’s parents and German families, and the quality of interaction between children and childcare educators are positively associated with language development. This suggests the importance of early institutional education for migrant children, the integration of families into communities, and the training and professional development of educators in childcare institutions.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
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