The language acquisition of multilingual children is synchronous and complementary (Panagiotopoulou 2019: 32), therefore, translanguaging as an inclusive pedagogical approach aims to recognize all languages (Becker 2023: 204). The reconceptualization of multilingualism has shaken the deeply rooted belief of the educational system that languages should be strictly separated (Creese 2017: 6). This descriptive field study investigates children's translanguaging and interactional moves during foreign language learning activities in Italian kindergartens. The study is based on the research project "Observation of L2 German and L3 English linguistic input quality" (Asgari & Zanin 2022). School administrators, teachers and parents were informed in advance about the aims of the field study and their consent was obtained. The names of the children and any references to the participating kindergartens were anonymized in the transcripts. During two recording sessions in 7 Italian-speaking kindergartens, 74 L2-German and 14 L3-English activities (approx. 10 minutes each) were observed, videotaped, and analyzed with regard to the children's use of their heritage language (RQ1). A total of 20 exemplary activities were then transcribed and analyzed in terms of the children's meaning making process mediating between their L1 Italian and their L2 German/L3 English (RQ2). The qualitative analysis based on the methods of conversation analysis (Sacks 1992; Deppermann 2020) yielded the following results: In relation to RQ1, we found that the children resort to bilingual practices – but only between the official kindergarten L1 Italian and the L2 German/L3 English, and not in their heritage languages. The kindergarten teachers support this translanguaging to varying degrees (Asgari & Zanin 2023), but do not include the children's various other heritage languages. Regarding RQ2, we found a discrepancy between the low complexity of the teachers' output prompts and the high receptive competence of the children during the meaning-making processes. During guided acquisition of L2 German and L3 English, the children repeated isolated words in a thematic context according to the teacher's instructions. Less structured foreign language activities and everyday language situations, on the other hand, showed a much higher level of children's receptive competence in the L2/L3. The current focus on lexis during L2 and L3 activities in Italian kindergartens is to be extended to more holistic approach to language teaching through action-based communication. This would at the same time call for translanguaging strategies (García & Otheguy 2021) of teachers and children to navigate through meaning making processes in foreign languages in ECEC contexts.

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