Abstract
While multilingual programmes have been implemented in early childhood education in several countries, professionals have shown to be unsure of how to deal with language diversity and promote home languages. Therefore, there is a need for professional development. The present article discusses the outcomes of a professional course on multilingual education in early childhood delivered to 46 early-years practitioners in Luxembourg. Using a questionnaire administered prior to and after the course as well as interviews, we examined the influence of the training on attitudes to multilingual education and activities to develop Luxembourgish and home languages. The analysis drew on content analysis, paired samples t-test and correlational analysis. The findings show that the course positively influenced the professionals’ knowledge about multilingualism and language learning, their attitudes towards home languages, their interest in organising activities in the children’s home languages and the implementation of these activities. The results shed light on special interest areas such as the quality of input that future professional development courses could focus on.
Highlights
In our globalised world where the heterogeneity of school populations is on the rise, there is an urgent need for multilingual pedagogies
Using a questionnaire administered prior to and after the course as well as interviews, we examined the influence of the training on attitudes to multilingual education and activities to develop Luxembourgish and home languages
The findings show that the course positively influenced the professionals‟ knowledge about multilingualism and language learning, their attitudes towards home languages, their interest in organising activities in the children‟s home languages and the implementation of these activities
Summary
In our globalised world where the heterogeneity of school populations is on the rise, there is an urgent need for multilingual pedagogies. Several studies demonstrated that the focus of officially multilingual programmes in ECEC is the development of the majority language and that home languages are rarely used (Kratzmann, Jahreiß, Frank, Ertanir, & Sachse, 2017; Neumann, Kuhn, Tinguely, & Brandenberg, 2017; Panagiotopoulou, 2016). This finding can partly be explained by the language ideologies operating at macro and micro levels, and the practitioners‟ beliefs, attitudes, skills and past practices. While some researchers reported that practitioners are unsure of how to deal with diversity and develop home languages (Gogolin et al, 2011), others emphasised the practitioners‟ weak understanding of bilingualism and language development, and revealed inadequate observation, planning and assessment skills (Stitzinger & Lüdtke, 2014; Thoma & Tracy, 2012)
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