Developing language skills in 3-year-olds in multilingual Luxembourg: a case study

Author(s):

Simone Mortini(presenting / submitting)Claudine Kirsch(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

31. LEd – Network on Language and Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

31 SES 09 B, Bi/Multilingual Children and Language Development in Diverse Contexts

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-24

13:30-15:00

Room:

W4.20

Chair:

Joana da Silveira Duarte

Contribution

Pedagogies that foster multilingualism are promising in our globalised and heterogeneous world as they are inclusive, empowering and supportive of social justice and political participation (Creese & Blackledge, 2010). García & Wei (2014) call for multilingual pedagogies and argue that educators should provide children with opportunities to translanguage, meaning, draw on their entire semiotic repertoire for communication, meaning-making and knowledge construction. At present, the latter are underdeveloped, particularly in early years, and research on them is scarce (Lewis et al. 2012).

Some countries have implemented educational policies focussing on multilingualism (Viernickel et al., 2013) but the emphasis continues to remain on majority languages rather than family ones (Neumann, 2015; Panagiotopoulou & Rosen, 2015). While multilingual programmes are commercially available, too little is known about their efficiency (Lengyel, 2011). Many are based on communicative and pragmatic approaches and target the development of vocabulary, for example, through daily routine activities such as songs, rhymes and storytelling. Studies have shown that rhymes can further language development (Sayakhan & Bradley, 2014). Similarly, storytelling familiarises children with a wider range of vocabulary, complex grammatical structures and decontextualized language use, and promotes the development of narrative and general language skills (Gogolin et al., 2011; List, 2010; Kirsch, 2014; Sénéchal et al., 2002).

Although Luxembourg is a trilingual country, children do not automatically develop multilingualism in early childhood education. Currently, 65% of children do not speak Luxembourgish as one of their home languages (MENJE, 2016). Formal and non-formal educational institutions focus on the teaching of Luxembourgish, sometimes at the expense of the children’s home languages and the country’s other official languages (Kirsch, 2015; Neumann, 2015). By contrast, the flexible use of languages and translanguaging are the lived reality outside the classroom (Gilles & Moulin, 2009). The project ‘Developing Multilingual Pedagogies in Early Childhood’ (MuLiPEC, 2016-2019) by Kirsch, aims at developing both young children’s multilingualism and innovative language pedagogies that capitalize on the children’s linguistic diversity in Luxembourg. One of the means is a professional development course on multilingual pedagogies where teachers and para-professionals research their own practice. In 2016, 50 practitioners attended the course. Of these, seven, who work in four different settings, had been selected to participate in a-year-long study, which analyses the language pedagogies and the ways in which the on-going professional development contributes to changing practices. The seven practitioners implement multilingual activities using pictures, rhymes and stories and discuss these in the group meetings. A focus of the meetings in the first academic term was the practitioners’ language use and effective strategies (De Houwer, 2009; List, 2010). We discussed, for example, their use of strategies such as repeating key words, commenting on one’s own actions while talking, and translanguaging.

The present paper focuses on the interactions in one of the settings, the ‘précoce’ during the first term of the school year. The ‘précoce’ is a non-compulsory nursery year for 3-year-olds, preceding the compulsory two-year-long nursery school. The paper investigates the language practices of the teacher and her para-professional colleague as well as the influence on the interactions of two focus children speaking Portuguese and Cap-Verdean Creole. None of the children in class speaks Luxembourgish, they speak Portuguese, Cap-Verdean Creole or French. One of the teachers understands some Portuguese. We examine the following questions:

- How do the two adults interact with children in routine language learning activities such as storytelling, memory games and songs? What activities take place and what languages are used?

- How do the two focus children interact with peers and the adults?

The findings of the project MuLiPEC should deepen our understanding of language pedagogies in early childhood.

Method

Similarly to other researchers who adopt a sociocultural perspective and wish to understand complex practices such as multilingual pedagogies both within their political and sociocultural context and from an emic perspective, we draw mainly on qualitative methods, in particular ethnographic ones (Heinzel & Panagiotopoulou 2010). The research team currently observes and video-records practices in the 4 chosen settings on a bi-weekly basis. We also carry out interviews with the practitioners regarding the implementation of multilingual activities and their impact on children. Finally, we use a questionnaire focussing on the practitioners’ understanding of multilingualism, perspectives on language learning and language practices. All practitioners of the professional development course completed it. The range of methods and the triangulation of the findings provide us with detailed contextualised accounts of the practices and shed light on the meanings the participants give to their practices (Heinzel & Panagiotopoulou, 2010). The present paper draws its data from nine days of observations and video-recordings of routine language activities in the ‘précoce’ which took place during the first term of data collection. Data collection is still on-going. The aim is to develop a first understanding of the multilingual interactions of all participants. The thematic analysis focuses on the types of language activities (e.g. storytelling, games, greeting rituals), the type of interactions (e.g. verbal and non-verbal), the languages used by the practitioners and the children, and the type of strategies deployed when communicating (e.g. asking questions, labelling, repeating, commenting). The project abides to the ethical principles of the University of Luxembourg and the National Comity of Data Protection. We asked all participants for informed consent prior to the beginning of the project and give them the right to withdraw from the study at any time. We will strictly respect the anonymity and privacy of the participants in publications and conferences presentations.

Expected Outcomes

The findings of this particular paper show that the practitioners organise a range of language learning activities such as looking at books with individual children, telling stories to the whole class, playing memory, doing search games, singing, counting, telling the weather and encouraging talk during breakfast. While doing so, they provide input using simple language, repeating key words, paraphrasing, making good use of gesture and commenting on their own and others’ actions. They are highly responsive to children, rephrase and encourage interaction. Their strategies are reminiscent of those described in the literature (De Houwer, 2009; Gogolin, 2011; List, 2010). While their focus is on the learning of Luxembourgish, they provide ample space for translanguaging (García & Wei, 2014). If necessary, they use features of French or Portuguese - if known. Translanguaging is a legitimate and natural practice in which both the adults and the children engage. When interacting with peers of the same language background, the youngsters communicate almost entirely in the minority language. When interacting with a child of a different language background or an adult, they repeat and imitate words and make ample use of non-verbal communication strategies. They spontaneously sing parts of Luxembourgish songs, count or use formulaic language in Luxembourgish. Slowly, the language skills develop. While none of the children understood any Luxembourgish at the beginning of the school year, after three months, the focal children are able to follow routine interactions and use some formulaic Luxembourgish. The multilingual pedagogies which allow the children to draw on their entire resources and which leave them the time to pick the majority language prove effective in this diverse and heterogeneous context. The findings of the project MuLiPEC should contribute to the development of effective multilingual pedagogical practices.

References

Creese, A. & Blackledge, A. (2010) ‘Towards a Sociolinguistics of Superdiversity’, Journal of Educational Science, 13: 549-572. De Houwer, A. (2009) Bilingual First Language Acquisition. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. García, O. & Li Wei (2014) Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Gilles, P. & Moulin, C. (2009) ‘Die soziale Praxis der Mehrsprachigkeit in Luxemburg’, in H. Willems, G. Rotink, et al. (eds), Handbuch der sozialen und erzieherischen Arbeit in Luxembourg, 1. Luxembourg: Saint-Paul, 183-195. Gogolin, I., Dirim, I., Klinger, T. et al. (2011) Förderung von Kindern und Jugendlichen mit Migrationshintergrund FörMig. FörMig Edition Band 7. Münster: Waxmann. Heinzel, F., Panagiotopoulou, A. (eds) (2010) Qualitative Bildungsforschung im Elementar- und Primarbereich. Bedingungen und Kontexte kindlicher Lern- und Entwicklungsprozesse. Hohengehren: Entwicklungslinien der Grundschulpädagogik, Band 8. Kirsch, C. (2014) ‘Storytelling at home and at the nursery school: A study of bilingual children’s literacy practices’, in N. Morys, C. Kirsch et al. (eds), Lernen und Lehren in multilingualen Kontexten: Zum Umgang mit sprachlich-kultureller Vielfalt im Klassenraum. Frankfurt: Peter Lang Verlag, 219-246 Kirsch, C. (2015) ‘Multilingual oracies. Ein Bericht einer Weiterbildung zur Förderung der Mündlichkeit anhand von Versen und Bilderbüchern’, Beiträge zur Plurilingualen Bildung. Non-formale Bildung und Betreuung in früher Kindheit und im Schulalter, Dudelange: MENJE, 73-100. Lengyel, D. (2011) ‘Frühkindliche Bildung’, in B. Marschke & H. U. Brinkmann (eds) Handbuch Migrationsarbeit. Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 93-102. Lewis, G., Jones, B., & Baker, C (2012) ‘Translanguaging: origins and development from school to street and beyond’, Educational Research and Evaluation, 18(7): 641-654. List, G. (2010) Frühpädagogik als Sprachförderung. Qualifikationsanforderungen für die Aus- und Weiterbildung der Fachkräfte. Reihe: WiFF Expertise, Nr. 2. Verlag Deutsches Jugendinstitut. MENFP (2016) Les chiffres clés de l'Éducation nationale: statistiques et indicateurs. 2014-2015. MENFP Neumann, S. (2015) ‘Lost in Translanguaging? Practices of Language Promotion in Luxembourgish Early Childhood Education’, Global Education review, 2(1): 23-39. Panagiotopoulou, A. & Rosen, L. (2015) ‘Migration und Inklusion’, in D. Asselhofen, S. Kargl, & K. Reich (eds), Eine inklusive Schule für alle. Landsberg: Beltz Verlag, 158-167. Sayakhan, N.I. & Bradley, D.H. (2014) ‘Nursery Rhymes as a Vehicle for Teaching English as a Foreign Language’, International Journal of Literature and Arts, 2(3): 84-87. Sénéchal, M. and LeFevre, Jo-Anne (2002) ‘Parental Involvement in the Development of Children's Reading Skill: A Five-Year Longitudinal Study’, Child Development, 73 (2), 445-460. Viernickel, S., Nentwig-Gesemann, I., Nicolai, K. , et al. (2013) Schlüssel zu guter Bildung, Erziehung und Betreuung. Berlin: Alice Salomon Hochschule.

Author Information

Simone Mortini (presenting / submitting)

University of Luxembourg

Research on Multilingualism (MLing)

Esch-sur-Alzette

Claudine Kirsch (presenting)

University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

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