Home language use with children, dialogue with multilingual parents and professional development in ECEC

Abstract

Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) plays an important role in fostering the multilingual development of young children and their families. However, as practitioners often feel insecure or insufficiently skilled to support multilingual families, professional development (PD) is expected to strengthen qualitative interactions between staff and children, and their parents. Many studies have focused on the impact of PD, but few have been conducted in complex multilingual settings. For the present study, we gathered data on 351 early childhood professionals from 85 ECEC services in the Flemish Community of Belgium, a region characterized by a complex multilingual reality, but also by a monolingual discourse in educational policies. By conducting a multilevel regression analysis, we examined whether professional development on topics related to multilingualism is associated with supportive practices toward multilingual families. The findings show that professionals who indicate a higher level of dialogue with multilingual parents on multilingual upbringing also report being given professional support on topics related to multilingualism. Professionals with a multilingual background are more likely to integrate the children's home language into their practices. We found no association between PD and home language use. However, to fully understand how PD can play a role in complex multilingual contexts, more detailed research is needed.