Preschool Bilingual Education Research Articles

How can team teaching succeed? Exploring team building and its critical characteristics in preschool bilingual education

The aim of this study was to explore how team is built and how it works as a type of social interaction in preschool bilingual education. More specifically, we asked how teachers of the societally dominant language (Hebrew) and heritage language (Russian) to 3–4-year-olds make decisions about their teamwork and what makes this work successful in the different domains of classroom environment. This study draws on case study and mini ethnography as a methodological approach and applies triangulation of data collection sources. Interviews with both teachers on three separate occasions during the academic year permitted us to receive qualitatively rich and thick data. Critical reflections allowed the teachers to rethink their personal professional experiences, recognize challenges in their practice, and find solutions. In addition, we conducted 6 video recorded observations of co-teaching meetings throughout the year. Our analysis revealed critical characteristics of teaming such as tuneful communication between the two teachers and the children, promoting openness towards a novel language, inter-cultural negotiations stressing the positive co-existence of two different cultures and languages within a minority/majority context, and a dynamic and docile teaching process. In the process of their teaming development, the teachers acted as collective agents of change.

The Enlightenment of US Bilingual Education Model to Ethnic Minority Preschool Bilingual Education in China

Two-way immersion (TWI) bilingual education, as a model of strong bilingual education with distinctive characteristics and a unique way of implementation, has been widely practiced in many multi-ethnic, multilingual and multicultural countries, such as the US, and has achieved positive results. This article summarizes and analyzes the implementation mode, characteristics and limitations of the TWI program. In the light of the local conditions of ethnic minority areas in the country, this article also puts forward suggestions on the trial implementation of TWI program in pilot kindergartens in ethnic areas: strengthen national policy support and ensure the vigorous development of preschool bilingual education; stabilize and enhance the quality of bilingual teachers; promote the integration of Han nationality and ethnic minorities as well as realize the sharing of high-quality educational resources; encourage Han children to learn minority languages; develop preschool bilingual teaching resources and facilitate the construction of preschool bilingual teaching materials; and foster a good family and community environment for preschool bilingual education. In a word, bilingual education plays a pivotal role in the long-term competition of the country bearing a special function of cultivating bilingual talents. It is undoubtedly a beneficial exploration and bold innovation to attempt to pilot TWI preschool bilingual education in ethnic minority areas of China

Bilingvalno obrazovanje i vaspitanje na školskom i predškolskom nivou u Srbiji i u svetu

This paper, first of all, gives an overview of theoretical-pedagogical and other assumptions on teaching in school and preschool bilingual education. It gives an overview of some of the currently applied didactic-methodological, curricular and other solutions of this kind in countries where the practice of bilingual education has recently come to life, includ- ing Serbia, where it is practiced today in numerous state or private kindergartens and schools, especially in larger towns, i.e. in environments where it is easier to find educators who speak foreign languages. Some important requirements for educators and teachers regarding their language competencies that qualify them for educational work in one of the foreign languages are considered, such as competence in both certain subject and the foreign language in which it will be taught, the skill in terms of cooperation between the subject teacher and foreign lan- guage teacher, etc. Also, empirical indicators on the efficiency of bilingual teaching in foreign and domestic practice are discussed, such as research projects on the effectiveness of bilingual teaching in the world that have been aimed at determining how much it has contributed to the level of development of student competencies, with most of such research being conducted in Canada, Finland and Germany. Some of the benefits of bilingual education include better results of bilingual students when compared to non-bilingual peers in all language skills (speaking, lis- tening, reading and writing in English, French and German), higher motivation levels, a richer lexical fund, more skills of knowledge transfer, language spontaneity, intercultural awareness, cognitive flexibility and creativity, etc. However, it has been concluded that, given that there are not many dilemmas of a scientific-theoretical nature regarding the earlier inclusion of preschool children and students in various forms of institutional bilingual education, it is unsustainable that bilingual education is still an educational novelty in Serbia, and that, judging by the insignificant number of preschool institutions and schools in Serbia committed to bilingual education, this problem is still not given enough attention. Therefore, it would be useful, at least at the optional level, to offer university students foreign language teaching programs that would functionally train them for this type of teaching.

Preschool bilingual education: Agency in interactions between children, teachers, and parents (Multilingual education), MilaSchwartz (Ed.), Springer, 2018, pp. 365, ISBN‐13: 978‐3319772271/ISBN‐10: 3319772279

Preschool bilingual education: Agency in interactions between children, teachers, and parents (Multilingual education), MilaSchwartz (Ed.), Springer, 2018, pp. 365, ISBN‐13: 978‐3319772271/ISBN‐10: 3319772279

The Effective Provision of Preschool Bilingual Education (On the example of Greece)

The present article: ″The Effective Provision of Preschool Bilingual Education (on the example of Greece)″ aims to study and analyse the problem of bilingualism, bilingual education at pre-school age, bilingual memory and the relationship between first and second languages in this context, innovative methods of teaching a second language and psychological factors influencing a child. Some main factors that influence success in second language acquisition: integration, motivation, instrumental motivation, language skills self-esteem and child's nursery self-concept. The interest of the given research contains: the observation on kindergartens pupils in the city of Athens and Attica region. One of the core objectives of the research is to determine amount of bilingual children in the kindergartens every year, the teachers’ and pupils’ role in learning foreign language. The article focuses on the questions regarding the use and development of language of bilingual children in a kindergarten, aims at studying psychology related to bilingual children, using different approaches of modern methods, creating an effective teaching plan intended to meet learning outcomes relying on good results at the end of the year, making parents aware of children's problems, arranging frequent contacts between parents and teachers, exchanging of the ideas as well. We have conducted extensive research and interviews among teachers in kindergartens. According to the interviews we found out that, kindergartens are quite highly developed and among twenty three interviewed teachers we can say that they are sufficiently qualified and adequately prepared in order to give all bilingual children opportunities for a good quality education relating to learning the Greek language easily. Bilingual education can completely promote positive attitudes to a child. Developing learning skills of two languages simultaneously is important in the child's daily experiences

Twenty-first-century preschool bilingual education: facing advantages and challenges in cross-cultural contexts

Early childhood is a critical period in a child’s intensive social, emotional, linguistic and cognitive development, and preschool serves as the first transitional step from home to the wider socia...

The impact of the First Language First model on vocabulary development among preschool bilingual children

The aim of this exploratory study was to examine the role of the First Language First model for preschool bilingual education in the development of vocabulary depth. The languages studied were Russian (L1) and Hebrew (L2) among bilingual children aged 4–5 years in Israel. According to this model, the children’s first language of educational instruction (up to age three) is the language to which they are exposed at home. Their second language—the dominant language of the country that is spoken by the majority of the population—is acquired sequentially, after relative maturity in the first language. Fifty-one Russian/Hebrew-speaking bilinguals (around age four) were selected from bilingual (Russian/Hebrew) preschools, which used the First Language First approach, and monolingual (Hebrew) preschools. The research was designed as a longitudinal study, as the children’s vocabulary was measured at two time-points—near the beginning and the end of the academic year. The children’s vocabulary was measured in both languages by examining its depth dimensions (paradigmatic semantic relations and syntagmatic semantic relations). The results demonstrated that the later immersion in L2 and continuing development of L1 within the First Language First model does not results in retardation in development of bilingual children in L2 in comparison to their bilingual peers from the monolingual (Hebrew) preschools. In addition, this model of early bilingual development enhances the linguistic interdependence of depth of vocabulary knowledge, and, therefore, supports balanced bilingual development.

Narrative development among language-minority children: the role of bilingual versus monolingual preschool education

The development of script schema, as a source of narrative knowledge, is an essential stage in this knowledge construction. This study focused on the role of bilingual versus monolingual preschool education in the development of script schema knowledge in Russian (L1) and Hebrew (L2) among Russian/Hebrew-speaking children in Israel. The preschool bilingual education was based on the ‘first language first approach’ with L2 immersion around age three. The study design was longitudinal and comparative. The children's script schema knowledge was measured at three time points during one academic year. Thirty-two Russian/Hebrew-speaking bilinguals (around age three) were selected from bilingual (Russian/Hebrew) and monolingual (Hebrew) preschools. In addition, 19 Hebrew-speaking monolinguals acted as the control group. The results demonstrated that relatively late immersion in L2 and continuous development of L1 within a bilingual educational context does not impede the acquisition of script schema knowledge in L2. At the same time, in the case of the monolingual preschools, the lack of input in children's L1 within the educational curriculum seems to hinder their script schema development in this language. Finally, the research provides evidence of linguistic interdependence near to onset of script schema acquisition.

Facing bilingual education: kindergarten teachers’ attitudes, strategies and challenges

This article examines how majority-language teachers coping with additive education view their roles in a bilingual framework, how they perceive issues of culture and language in young bilingual children, and how they understand the term ‘bilingual education’ in an L2 non-additive context. The study has been conducted in the context of pre-school bilingual education of second generation Russian-Hebrew speaking immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel. Using an ethnographic approach comprising observation, interviews and life histories, a set of behaviours and beliefs has been revealed, enabling us to compare approaches in two bilingual – Russian-Hebrew – kindergartens. This is discussed at both the micro- (teachers’ reports) and the macro- (Israeli language and educational policies) level.