edugate – multilingual teaching in early childhood education...

EDUGATE–Multilingualteachinginearlychildhoodeducationandcare

Projectnumber:2016-1-IT02-KA201-024294

O4DidacticMaterial

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Content

1.IntroductiontoModulesofLanguageAcquisition 4

1.1Linguisticenhancementandscreeningactivities 61.2ForeignLanguage(FL)Learning 8

1.3Communication,culturalandidentitydevelopment 10

2.Phonemicawareness 11

2.1Presentation 11

2.2Descriptionoftheactivities 11

A.PhonologicalAwarenessinL1(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofSlovenia) 13

B:Playingwithanimalsoundstoincreaselinguisticawareness(proposedbyteachers/educatorsduringtheLTTAmeetinginPiacenza). 14

3.Narratives 15

3.1Introduction 15


A)NarrativesinaFL:theGingerbreadMan(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofCzechRepublic)16

B)Narrativesinabilingualcontext(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofSweden) 16

4.ColoringTask 17

4.1Introduction 17


A)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancevocabularyinL1(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy) 18

B)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancecomprehensioninaFL(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy) 19

C)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancevocabularygrowthinaFLEnglish(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofLatvia) 20

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D)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancevocabularyandspatialrelationcomprehensioninaFLEnglish(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPoland) 21

5.Sentencerepetition 23

5.1Introduction 23


A)SentencerepetitiontoenhancevocabularyinaFL(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy) 27

B)LanguageabilitiesscreeninginL1(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofUniversityofMilano-Bicocca,Italy) 27

6.PerspectiveShift 30

6.1Introduction 30


A)PerspectiveshiftinaFL:KittenandPuppymadeacake(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofCzechRepublic) 30

7.Enhancingvocabularyskills 32

7.1Introduction 32


A)EnhancingvocabularyinL1,inaFLorinthemajoritylanguageformultilingualchildren(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy) 34

8.Translanguaging 36

8.1Introduction 36


A)Improvingtranslanguagingabilitiesinthemultilingualclassroom(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofSweden) 37

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IntroductiontoModulesofLanguageAcquisitionInthecurrentdocumentwepresentaseriesofdidacticmethodologiesforchildreninspiredtothescientificliteratureaboutmonolingualandmultilingualchildlanguagedevelopmentandimplementedbytheECECteachersandeducatorsthattookparttotheEDUGATEProject.Theactivitieswerecreatedtoofferpracticaldidacticmethodologiesforteachersandeducatorsworkinginbilingualschoolsaswellasinmultilingualclassrooms.Activitiesaredesignedtoconsolidateandenhancelinguisticdevelopmentinthreeareas:L1(firstlanguage)enhancement;ForeignLanguageenhancement;Communicationdevelopment.Thedidacticmethodologieswerecreatedbyanalyzingandadaptingexistingresearchdatatoenablechildrentoattainproficiencyintheirfirstlanguageand/orinaforeignlanguage.Regardingmultilingualchildrenthatusealanguageathomedifferentfromthelanguageofschoolinstruction,theaimofthecurrentactivitiesistoallowthemtomaintainanddeveloptheirmultilingualskills,promotingboththeirL1aswellasthemajoritylanguagespokenatschool.First,someactivitiesaremeanttotraintheirL1,whereasothersaimatconsolidatingthelanguageofinstructioninordertoallowchildrentobetterlearnacademicsubjects,achievetheirgoals,andadequatelyusetheirlinguisticcompetencetoadvanceinfurthereducation.Inordertopreventtheexclusionofchildrenspeakingaminoritylanguage,currentmethodologiesencouragetovalueotherlanguages(alsothelessspokenones)andconveythatlearninglanguagesisfunandthatknowingmorelanguageshasgreatvalue.InthecurrentprojecttheECECteachersandeducatorshadthechancetotestallthedidacticmaterials,adaptingthemtotheirneeds.Therefore,foreachmethodologywepresentoneormoreexamplesofpracticalitemsthatwereadaptedbytheECECteachersandeducatorsandtestedintheirclassrooms.Additionally,itisimportanttorecallthatallthedidacticmethodologiesweareproposing,mightbefurtherdevelopedandmodifiedbytheteachers/educatorsaccordingtotheirworkingcontext.Thedocumentisorganizedasfollows:wewillfirstpresentthethreemainmodulesregardedasthegeneralaimsofthecurrentdidacticmethodologies.Wethenreportsevendidacticmaterialsthatwereinspiredbythescientificliteratureandinparticularinlanguageacquisitionresearchandinlanguage-basedpedagogy(e.g.,translanguaging).ForeachdidacticmaterialweaddoneormoreactivitiesimplementedbytheECECteachersandeducatorsinthelocalcontext.Foreachofthem,weincludetheagegroupforwhichtheactivityissuitableforaswellasthedescriptionoftheprocedure.Ingeneral,theactivitiescanbeeasilyintegratedintotheeducationaldailyroutineofthekindergartenandclassesinschools.Notefurthermorethateachmethodologycanbeappliedtooneormoremodules

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dependingonthecontent/useeachpartnerwillattributetoit.Thatis,eachteachermightconsidermodifyingandadaptingthemethodologynotonlywithrespecttothelanguages/heisusing,butalsoregardingtheage,thetypeofclass,thenumberofchildrens/heisworkingwith.

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1.1L1LinguisticenhancementandscreeningactivitiesTherearetwobasiclanguageskillsnecessarytoacquireanadequateverbalcompetenceduringthepreschoolyears:oralcomprehensionandoralproduction.Basiclanguageskillsincludealsotheabilitytointeractwithpeersandadultsasafundamentallanguageskillthatshouldbedeveloped.Additionally,duringthisperiod,itisalsoimportantanearlyidentificationoflanguageproblemsinordertoplaneducationalactivitiesandclinicalinterventioninordertosupportthosechildrenwhoshowadelay.WewillnowdiscussthelinguisticareasimportantfortheL1enhancement.

Phonology

Intheearlystagesoflanguageacquisition,theabilityto(progressively)masterarepertoireofthesoundsofaspecificlanguageisoneofthemostimportantverbalskillsinthechildverbaldevelopment.Forthisreason,itisveryimportantthattheteacherconsistentlydevelopsexercisestoconsolidateandreinforcetheabilitytodiscriminatebetweenthesoundsofalanguageaswellastheabilitytoproducethem.

Vocabulary

Developingarichandadequatevocabularyrepertoirepermitnotonlytodevelopmoresophisticatedwaysofcommunicationwithpeersandadultsbutwillalsoallowthechildtoenhancecomprehension.Thisisfurtherimportantwhenthechildlearntoread,ashe/shealreadypossessavocabularyoforalformstowhichhe/shecanaddtheorthographicforms.Therefore,thevocabularyproposedbytheteachershouldbestimulatingforstudentsandrelatedtotheirlife.Itisnecessarytokeepinmindadifferencebetween:

Activevocabularythatiswordsregularlyusedbythespeakertocommunicate.Numberofwordsintheactivelexiconisalwaysnumericallylowerthaninthepassivevocabulary,intheadultaswellasinthechild.

Passivevocabularythatiswordsnotregularlyusedbythespeakertocommunicate,butwhosemeaningsareknown,sincetheyhavealreadybeenheard.Passivevocabularyisalwaysnumericallyhigherthanactivevocabulary,intheadultaswellasinthechild.

MorphologyandGrammar

Themorphologicalandmorphosyntacticaspectsofthelanguagearethebasicskillstoproducecomplexwordsandsentences.Itisthereforenecessaryfortheteachertoacquireabasicknowledgeofthegrammaroftheirlanguage,inordertobeabletoforeseepossibledifficultiesoradvantagesthatstudentsmayencounterduringtheirdevelopment.Therefore,trainingsyntacticcompetencessinceaveryearlyageiscrucialinordertoachieveanadequatecommunicativecompetence.Ingeneraltheexercisesaboutsyntaxappeartobemoreeffectiveifprecededbytheuseofthestructure(passive,relativeclause)tobelearned.

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Inotherwords,reflectionshouldcomeaftersuchstructureshavealreadybeeninternalizedascommunicativebehavior.

Pragmatic

Thepragmaticdimension(thesociallycompetentuseoflanguageinthecontext)isessentialinordertoachieveaneffectivecommunication.Itmaysometimesevenconstituteacompensationoflinguisticprocessingdifficulties.Thereforeitisimportantthatteachersvaluetheeffectiveandappropriateuseoflanguageinordertocommunicateevenwhenitcontainssomephonological/lexical/syntacticerrors.

Tosumupinthecurrentmoduleweaimtoincludedidacticmethodologiesthatwillallow:

● TopromoteL1linguisticdevelopmentintermsoflanguagesounds,vocabulary,grammarandsocialinteraction;

● ToassessL1linguisticcompetenceofchildreninordertoidentifyadelayinreachingthetypicalmilestonesoflanguageandcommunicationdevelopment.

InordertoachievetheseaimsweproposesomeplayfulactivitiestopromoteandevaluatebasiclinguisticabilitiesinL1children,aswellasintheL2forimmigrantchildren.RecallindeedthatlearninganL2foranimmigrantchild,speakingaminoritylanguage,meanslearningthemajoritylanguagespokeninthecountrywheres/heislivingandthelanguageofinstruction.

Suchmethodologiesmighthelpchildrentoexercisetheirlinguisticabilitiesbeforeliteracyskillsareintroduced,or,ifthedelayisconsistent,toreferthechildtotheservicescaringforspeechandlanguagedisorders.Inaddition,inamultilingualclassroomssuchactivitiesmightprovideadditionalinformationaboutthelinguisticcompetenceofimmigrantchildrenintheirL2.

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1.2ForeignLanguage(FL)LearningForeignlanguagelearningreferstothelearningofalanguagethatisneitheraminorityoramajoritylanguageinthelearningcontext(e.g.,EnglishlearnedinItaly).Learninganotherlanguagesinceaveryearlyagemighthavemanybeneficialeffectsonthechildcognitivedevelopment.Knowing(orsimplybeingexposedtoanotherlanguage)leadstogreatersensitivitytolanguagesandtoabettermetalinguisticawareness:severalstudieshaveshownthatchildrenlearninganotherlanguagebeyondtheirL1demonstrateagreaterabilitytounderstandlanguagestructureanditsinternalfunctioning.Additionally,theyshowabettercompetenceinthemanipulationofsoundsandwordsincomparisonwithmonolinguals.

Accordingtotheliterature,FLlearningisamulti-stagedprocess(Cummins,1989),andthereforeitisimportanttoobserveatwhichstageachildisinhisdevelopmentalprocesswhenproposingaspecificdidacticactivity.

1. Comprehensionperiod.Thelearnerhasa(reduced)receptivevocabulary,s/heisnotabletoproduceanyspokenlanguage,exceptforsomeshortrepetitionofwhats/hehasjustheard.Comprehensionisbasedoncontextualactivities.ThisperiodcanlastseveralmonthsorevenyearsdependingonthequalityandquantityofexposureofthechildtotheFL.Mostofthedidacticactivitiesthatwewillpropose/implementinthecurrentmodulemightallowthelearnertoovercomethisperiodandstartcommunicatinginthenewlanguage.

2. Firstspontaneous(oral)production.Thelearnerhasalittlereceptiveandexpressivevocabularyandcanproducesentencesofatleasttwowords.Childrenmightbeabletoproduceshortsentences,butnotalwaysintheproperway.Didacticmaterialstobeusedinsuchacaseshouldpromoteoralvocabularyandgrammarconsolidationbothincomprehensionandinproduction.

3. Speechemergence.Childrencanproduceshortsentencesandareabletounderstandsimpleinstructionsorshortstories,answerverysimplequestions,repeatand/orcompletesentences.Atthisstageaninterestingdidacticactivitymightinvolveactiveretellingofstoriesusinganotherpointofview.

4. FLfluency:Thelearnercanuseandfullymastercomplexsentencesbothinoralproductionandcomprehension.ItispossiblethatchildrenshowtheabilitytotransferthestrategieslearnedintheirL1tothenewlanguage.Insuchacaseitispossibletoproposetasksthatinvolvetheuseofnarratives.

Tosumup,accordingtotheabove-mentionedprocess,receptiveskillsarealwaysdevelopedbeforeproductioninthelearningprocessofanewlanguage.Forthisreasontheteachershouldavoidtodemandanexcessiveeffortinoralproductionasitcanbefrustratingforthelearner.Furthermore,intheearlyphasesoflearning,itisnecessarytomakeFLlearningassimilaraspossibletotheacquisitionofL1.

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Ingeneralthisperspectivepointstothekeyroleoflinguisticeducationatschooltolearnaforeignlanguage.Itisimportanttonotethatinastructuredlearningsituationsuchasaclassroom,thereisonlyalimitedamountoftimededicatedtotheforeignlanguage.Anotherproblemmightbethatthequalityoftheinputisreduced.Thatis,incontrasttothenaturalisticL2acquisitioncontext,intheFLcontexttheonlylanguagemodelisrepresentedbytheteacher.Thereforethechildisexposedtoalimitedinput.

Additionally, one should also consider that the teacher might be a non-native speaker of the foreignlanguage.However, itmustbeemphasized that communication in theFLwithother learners,producingimperfections in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary cannot reduce the language competence of achild:languageisnotlearnedthroughimitationonly.Thus,learnersarenotlikelyto'imitate'eachother'serrors,sincetheyareengagedintheirownacquisitionprocess.

Thereforetheaimsofthecurrentmoduleare:

● TounderstandchildlanguagedevelopmentintermsoftheirreceptiveandproductiveskillsinaFL;

● TopromotethereceptiveskillsinaFLbasedonsounds,wordsandsentencesoftheFL;

● ToconsolidateproductiveskillsinaFL.

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1.3Communication,culturalandidentitydevelopmentThethirdmoduleisconcernedwithdidacticmethodologiesaimingatfacilitatingcommunicationamongchildren,beyondtheirethnic/cultural/linguisticorigins.Noteindeedthatcommunicationskillsmighthelpinconstructingachild’ssocialidentityinthecommunity.

Thepresenceofmorethanonelanguageinachildimpliesthecoexistenceofmorecultures.Asaconsequence,themultilingualchildwilldevelopamorecomplexidentity.Inaddition,thepresenceofamultilingualchildintheclassroommighthaveanimpactforthewholeclass:realizingthatthesameobjectmightbenamedinadifferentwaybyhis/herclassmatemighthelpchildrentodevelopagreaterlinguisticandmeta-linguisticawareness.Ideally,itwillfurtherhelpchildrentodeveloptheabilitytoseethingsfromadifferentperspectiveandtounderstanddifferentpointsofview.

Therefore,promotingtheL1ofimmigrantchildrenmaybenotonlybeneficialtothedevelopmentoftheirL2,butwillhelpeverychildintheclassroomtoimprovetheirmeta-linguisticskills(forinstance,learningthatwordsarelabelsandvaryacrosslanguages),andtolearnapositiveattitudetowardanylanguagespokeninthegroup.

Therefore,maintenanceoftheminoritylanguage(ornativelanguage)spokenbyachildintheclassroomisimportantforseveralreasons.Ontheonehand,itisfundamentalforthemultilingualchild’sidentityinordertomaintainrelationswithhis/hercountryoforigin;ontheother,itisalsoimportantformonolingualclassmatestobeabletoseethingsfromadifferentperspective,developingtolerancetowardsdifferentviews,ideasandtraditions.

Aimsofthecurrentmodule:

● Tovaluetheculturalaspectsoflinguisticdiversity,highlightingthecontributionofeverysinglestudent(andhis/herculture)intheclassroom;

● Topromotethedifferentcommunicationstylesthatmaybelongtothevariouslanguages/culturesrepresentedintheclassroominordertoavoidcommunicationproblems;

● Toincreasesensitivityaboutdifferentlanguagesamongstudents.

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Phonemicawareness2.1Presentation

Phonemicrepertoiresofdifferentlanguagescanbediverse,intermsofnumberandtypesofphonemes.Forinstance,Englishhas10vowelsand21-24consonants(numbersmayvaryinthedifferentvarietiesofEnglish).Italianhas7vowelsand23consonants.

Despitethesecross-linguisticdifferencesinthesoundsrepertoires,inallthelanguagessincetheverythefirstmonthsoflife,thechildnaturallyandwithouteffortacquiresthenativelanguage,buildingupaphoneticrepertoire,thatisbasedonthemothertongue(assumingthatthechildisexposedonlytoonelanguage).Thismeansthat,whenwelearnournativelanguage,weunconsciouslycategorizethevarietyofperceivedsoundsintoaseriesofcategoriesthatarespecificforacertainlanguage.

Duringthepreschoolyears,thesensitivitythatchildrenstarttodemonstrateforthesoundstructureoflanguageiscalledPhonologicalawareness.Suchabilityinvolvesthecompetencetodetectandmanipulatesoundsinspokenlanguagewhileseparatingthemfrommeaning(i.e.,ifachildisawareofthefactthatthewordcaterpillarislongerthanthewordtrain,onemightbeconfidentthats/heisabletodistinguishawordfromitsmeaning).Therefore,childrenwhocandetectandmanipulatesoundsinspeecharephonologicallycompetent.

Phonologicalawarenessappearstobeparticularlycrucialwithrespecttoreadingandwritingacquisition.Indeed,childrenwhoareunawarethatspeechismadeupofsmallsounds,havedifficultiesinlearningtoread.Theabilityofachildtoreflectonlanguageitself,specificallythesoundsoflanguage,supportsthechild’slearningofthewrittencode.

Forthisreasontrainingphonemicawarenessduringthepreschoolyearsplaysakeyroleineducation,assuchabilityisrelatedtolatersuccessinreadingandwriting.

2.2Descriptionoftheactivities

Soundsdetection

Useacomputertoplaysomeofthesoundssuchas:Telephone,applause,cat.Makeorplaythesesoundsandletthechildrenlisten.Thenteachthechildtoraisehishandswhentheyhearonlyaspecificsound(forinstancealarm).

Playtherelevantsound;childrenshouldraisetheirhands.Nowintroduceanothersound(forinstancetelephoneringing).Whenchildrenhearthatsound,childrenshouldputtheirhandsdown.

Childraiseshis/herhandwhileaspecificsoundisplayed,whiles/heputshis/herhandsdownifanothersoundisplayed.Thisintroduceshim/hertothepracticeofnoticingaparticularsoundanddiscriminateitfromanothersimilarsound.

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Useacoupleofclearsounds(ormore,dependingontheageofthechildren)untilthechildhasmasteredtheactivity.Insteadofhandsraising,childrenmightbeinvolvedindifferentmovementssuchastouchingtheirnose,shakingtheirfoot,etc.(itshouldbeaplayfulactivity).Importantly,recallthattheaimisthatchildrenshouldbeabletodiscriminatebetweentwo(ormore)similarsounds,asdenotedbytheirbehavioralresponse.

Phonemedetection

Asimilaractivitythatmightbemorelinguistically-trickyconsistsinplayingothertypesofsounds,namelylinguisticsounds,thatdifferwithrespecttoaspecificphoneticdifference(forexample,placeofarticulationorvoicing).Todoso,itisimportanttofindineachlanguageasetof“minimalpairswords”.Whatisaminimalpair?Inphonology,minimalpairsarepairsofwordsthatdifferinonlyonephonologicalelement,aphoneme,andhavedistinctmeanings.Forexample,inEnglishthereareminimalpairsofwordsbasedonthealternationp-b:

pigbig

pathbath

pugbug

Now,youcanapplythesounddetectiongametothisnewsetofstimuli(forinstance:“Raiseyourhandswhenyouhearawordstartingwithp”).

Note:youcanexpandsuchtaskinmanyotherways.Forinstance,youcanaskchildrentoreproduce/imitatethewordbeforetheyraise(ornot)theirhands.Oryoucanteachchildrentoprovideadifferentbehavioralresponse(clappingtheirhandsorstandup)withrespecttodifferentsounds.Recalltheaimmustbethatchildrenelaboratelinguisticsoundsinacompetentwayanddemonstratetotheteachertheyareabletodiscriminatethem.Tofindtherelevantphonemesofagivenlanguageyoucanconsultbooksforteachingthegivenlanguage(forexample,Frenchphonemes).

Thinkofasoundthatisparticularlydifficultinalanguage(forinstance,thatisacquiredlatealongthecourseofdevelopment).Thinkabouthowyourstudentscoulddiscriminateasoundfromotherpotentiallysimilarsoundsinalanguage.

NotethatthesameactivitycanbeappliedtoFLclassestoo.Forinstance,hereitisacomprehensivelistsofminimalpairssoundsthatcanbeusedtoorganizeFLclassesinEnglish:

https://www.speech-language-therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=134:mp2&catid=9:resources&Itemid=108

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A.PhonologicalAwarenessinL1(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofSlovenia)

Ageandgroup:

4-6yearsold(4upto8children)

Description:

Wordslength:Teacherusesasetofdifferentpicturesdepictingaseriesofwordsofdifferentlengthandsayseachwordaloud.Childrenshowinbehavioralways(jumping;clappinghands)ifthewordislongorshort.Examples:childrenshowthelengthofawordwiththeirhands;childrenshowthelengthofawordbyjumping(theyjumpasfarastheythinkthewordislong);

Childrenshowthelengthofawordbychoosingdifferentobjects;theyhavealongandashortobjectinfrontoftheme.g.ribbons,toysnakes,strings,toytrainsetc.andtheychoosetheappropriateone.

4–6yearsoldmightbefurtheraskedtoshowthelengthoftheirnameswithstringandribbons.

RecognizingrhymingwordsinaFL(English):Teacherusesasetofpicturesthatchildrenhavelearntbefore,forexamplewordsforcolours.Childrensitinacircleandteacherputsthepicturesinthemiddleofthecircle.Teachergivesoneortwoexamplesforrhymingwords(e.g.HEAD–RED,HELLO–YELLOW).Thenteachersaysawordandaskschildrentofindarhymingcolour(QUEEN–GREEN,JACK–BLACK,NIGHT–WHITE,TRUE–BLUE).

DetectingthenumberofsyllablesinL1andinaFL(English):Teacherusesasetofdifferentpicturesandpronounceseachwordaloud.Whenteachersayseachwords/healsoshowsanumberofsyllablesbyclappinghands(wecanalsostompthefeet,klickfingers,jumpetc.).Thenteacheruses3pictureswithone,twoorthreedotsandputsthemonthefloor.Childrensaythewords,showthenumberofsyllablesandputthepicturesnexttotherightnumberofdots.

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B:Playingwithanimalsoundstoincreaselinguisticawareness(proposedbyteachers/educatorsduringtheLTTAmeetinginPiacenza).

Ageandgroup:

4-6yearsold(4upto8children)

Description:Insteadofplayingwords,orotherlinguisticstrings,showtochildrenavideoreproducingdifferentlanguagesversionsofanimalsounds.Childrenheardifferentlanguageversionsofanimalsounds.Childrenwillbemadeawareofthedifferentwaysthatlanguagesusetorepresentanimalsounds(forexample,thedog’ssoundinItalianisBAUBAU,inFinnishHAUHAU,inEnglishWOOFandWANGinChinese).Furthermore,childrenmightbeabletoprovideabehavioralresponse(clappinghandsorjumping)whensimilarlanguagesoundsareplayed(e.g.,thedog’ssoundinFinnishandItalianaresimilarbutnotinEnglishorChinese).Immigrantchildrenmightbeaskedtotellthesoundsanimalsmakeintheirownlanguages,andasktheirclassmatestorepeatthem.Thisactivitymightbecomeanopportunityfortheteacher/educatortotalkaboutthedifferentwayslanguagesusetoexpressthesamecontent,andthereforetowidenlinguisticawarenessinchildren.

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3.Narratives3.1Introduction

Narrativesarecommonacrossdifferentcontexts,cultures,andtimes.Narrativescanbeseenasameantoconveyculturallysignificantinformationsincetheveryfirstyearsoflife.Accordingtotheliterature,childrenhavesomenotionofwhatastoryisbytheageof3.Giventheirfrequency,narrativesprovideanexcellentwaytopromotechildren’sspontaneouslanguage,andreflectdistinctivestructuralandlinguisticchangesthroughcultures.Thus,narrativesprovideanadvantageouswayforpromoting,evaluatingmultipleaspectsoflinguisticdevelopmentinmonolingualchildrennotonlyintheirL1,butalsoinaFLorintheirL2.

Linguistically,producingastoryinvolveslexicallyencodinginformationabouttheevents,theirtemporalrelations,aboutthecharacters,theirgoals,theirmentalstates.Additionally,childrenmustmakeinferencestolinkevents,tolinkcharacters.Finally,tellingastoryisasocialactivity,thatplacesthenarrator(anadultorachild)inrelationtoitsaudience(childrenorotherpeers).Beyondthemacro-structuresaspectsofwhichwehavejusttalked,narratingastoryinvolvesmicro-structuresaspectsthathavetodowiththespeciflinguisticstructuresused(simplesentences,subordinantingclauses,sentenceswithpronouns).

Numerousresearchershaveexploitedthemethodologyofnarrativeselicitation/productiontoevaluateorpromotechildlanguage.Inthisdidacticmethodologywepresentawellknowntaskthathasbeenusedintheliteraturetoproduceanarrativeelicitedbyastorymadeupofaseriesofpictures:theFrogStory(Mayer,1969).

3.2DescriptionoftheactivitiesThepicturebook“theFrogStory”containsnowordsandprovidesarichcontextforlanguageproduction.Inadditiontotheseriesofevents,thistaskrequireschildrentomakeinferencesaboutcharacters’relationships,thoughts,feelings,andmotivationsthroughoutthestory.

Educator:“Hereisastoryaboutaboy,afrogandadog.Iwantyoutofirstlookthroughthepictures,andthenIwantyoutellmethestoryasyoulookthroughthemagain.”

First,chooseastoryandcreateaseriesofpicturesforeachcharacter,event,etc.init(youcanalsoaskchildrentohelpyoutodothat).AskchildrentogothroughthepicturesandthentotellthestorytotheirclassmatesintheirL1,L2oreveninFL(dependingonhowwellchildrenappeartomasterthelanguage).Therearetwowaystoproceedforthechildtotellthestory.Whilesheisnarratingshehaseachpictureinfrontofherandpicturesarechangesasthestorycontinues.Alternatively,whenthechildistellingthestoryshedoesnotseethepicturesanylonger.Inthefirstcase,thechildmaytendtodescribeeachpicturesasasingleevent,andnotaspartofthestory.Inthesecondcase,thechildmightrepeatthegistofthestorybutnotremembereverything.Thissecondprocedurecanbeenhancedbyselectingshortstories.

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Selectcarefullythestory.Incooperationwithmultilingualchildren(andparents),theteachermightalsousestoriesoftheircountryoforiginandproposethemtothewholeclassroom.Again,createpicturesbasedonthemaineventsandcharactersofthestoryandaskchildrentoproduceacoherentnarrative.

A)NarrativesinaFL:theGingerbreadMan(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofCzechRepublic)

Ageandgroup:

4-6yearsold(upto12children)

Description:TheactivitytakesplaceinEnglish.Teacherintroducesastorybyshowingthepicturesreportedonthebook.Adrawingofthemaincharactersisthenpresentedtothechildren.Childrenareaskedtodrawagaincharactersofthestory.Thentheteacherreadsthestory.Childrenshowthepicturesofthecharacterstheymadewhentheyarementionedinthestory.Thenchildrenhavetore-tellthestory.

B)Narrativesinabilingualcontext(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofSweden)

Ageandgroup:

2to6yearsold(upto6children;dependingonthecomplexityofthestory)

Description:Theteachershowsthepicturesofastoryanddescribesthemusingthemajoritylanguage(languageofinstruction;i.e.,Swedish).Thestoryistoldfollowingthesequenceofthepictures.Thentheteacherasksthe(bi-,multi-lingual)childrentotellthesamestoryinanotherlanguage(i.e.,Finnish)basedoneachsinglepicture.Namely,eacheventneedstobetranslatedintheotherlanguagesequencebysequence.Childwillcontributewiththevocabularytheyknow.TheteachercansupportthemconnectingthewordstheyknowintheL2(Finnish).

Advise:Theexercisedoesn'thavetohappenstraightaway:childrencanstartbylookingatonepictureanddescribingitfirstinthemajoritylanguagetheninanL2,andthengraduallyconcludethestorytelling.

Reference:

Mayer,M.(1969).Frog,whereareyou?.NewYork:DialPress.

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4.ColoringTask4.1Introduction

AccordingtothemostrecentliteratureonchildcomprehensiontheColoringBookmethod(Zuckermanetal.,2016),orshortlytheColoringTask,appearstobethemostsensitivewayandthemoreappropriatetoolfortheinvestigationoflanguagecomprehensioninpreschoolchildren.Inthistaskchildrenareaskedtocoloranelementinthepicture.However,incontrasttothemosttraditionalcoloringtask,inthismethodology,childrenareforcedtomakealinguisticdecisiontocoloronlyaspecificelementinthepicture,accordingtotheirunderstandingofagivensentence.TheColoringTaskmethodisbasedonasimpleidea:childrenwillshowtheirabilitytounderstandaspecificsentence/word/etc.bycoloringspecificitemsonapicture.

4.2DescriptionoftheactivitiesThetaskconsistsoflisteningtoasentencecontainingforinstanceaspecificverbalexpression,oracomplexsyntacticstructure.Thentheteachersprovidesadditionalinstructionsabouthowtocolorthepicture.Eachpictureisdevisedinsuchawaythatitcontainsseveraluncoloredcharacters.Lookingwhichcharacterthechildcolors(andwhetherwiththecorrectorwrongcolor)willofferanideaabouthis/herunderstandingoftheverbalinputascloseaspossibleacommunicativesituationinreallife.

Example:

“Pleasecolorthedrawinginsuchawaythattheredballerinaisliftingthegreenballerinaup”or“Pleasecolorthedrawinginsuchawaythattheredballerinaisbeinglifted”.

“Pleasecolorthedrawinginsuchawaythatagreenmonkeyissittingonastone,andabluemonkeyisscratchinghimself”.

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“Pleasecolorthedrawinginsuchawaythatthereisaboatpassingby.Itsflagisred.”

A)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancevocabularyinL1(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy)

Ageandgroup:

4to5yearsold(upto7children)

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(creditsAlessandraRepetti)

Description:Theteachershowstheimagereproducedabove.Thentheteacheraskstocolorthedogbrown,foxred,fishesgreenandwaterblue.Childrenwerealreadyawareofthewords(colorsandnames)used.

B)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancecomprehensioninaFL(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy)

Ageandgroup:


Description:Theteachershowstheimagereproducedbelow.Thentheteacheraskstocolorthebiggerstatueredandthesmalleronegreen.Ingeneralallactivitiesarebasedontheuseofcomparatives(bigger/smaller,etc.)thathavebeenpreviouslyintroducedtochildren.

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(CreditsAlessandraRepetti;Bonomini,A.2014)

C)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancevocabularygrowthinaFLEnglish(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofLatvia)

Ageandgroup:


Description:Theteacherdictatestheseriesofsentencesreproducedbelow.Thenthechildhastodrawandthencolortheelementsproposedbytheteacherintheproperway.For6-year-oldstheteacherproposednotonlytheoralversionoftheinstructions,butexposedchildrentothewrittenversionofthesentences(i.e.,childrensawthewordTREE;GREEN;SUN;YELLOW;CAT;etc.).Thesamewordswerealsopronouncedoutloudbytheteacher.

• Drawatalltree.• Colouritgreen.• Itisasunnyday.Drawthesun.Colourityellow.

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• Drawacatunderthetree.Thecatisbrown.Thecathasgotgreeneyes.

D)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancevocabularyandspatialrelationcomprehensioninaFLEnglish(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPoland)

Ageandgroup:2to6yearsold(upto10children;dependingonthecomplexityofthetask)

Description:Theteacherpronouncesaseriesofsentencesreproducedbelowandthenprovidethechildwiththepicturesdisplayedbelow.Thechildhastodrawandthencolortheelementsintheproperway.Listenandcolor:

• abrownteddybearissitting• aredteddybearisdancing• theteddybearonyourlefthasyelloweyes

Listenandcolortheface:

• earsaregreen• eyesareblue• noseisorange• mouthispink• hairisred

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ListenandColor:● thesecondleafcountingfromtheleftside● thethirdleaffromtherightside

Reference:

Zuckerman,S.,Pinto,M.,Koutamanis,E.,vanSpijk,Y.(2016).ANewMethodforTestingLanguageComprehensionRevealsBetterPerformanceonPassiveandPrincipleBConstructions.BUCLD40:Proceedingsofthe40thannualBostonUniversityConferenceonLanguageDevelopment.

Bonomini,A.(2014).Piacenzaanasoinsuequalchevoltaingiù.Guidaillustrataperbambinienonsolo.Piacenza:OfficineGutenberg.

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5.Sentencerepetition5.1Introduction

Sentencerepetition

Accordingtotheliterature,elicitedsentencerepetitionisthemostreliablepsycholinguisticmarkerfordetectinglanguageimpairment(Conti-Ramsdenetal.2001).Inaddition,itisaveryeasytaskbecauseitsimplyrequirestocreateasetofshortsentences(“thecatiseating”)associatedifpossiblewithrelatedpictures.Intheshortsentences,itisimportanttousewordsthatmaygraduallybecomemorecomplex,thatis,itisimportanttoprovidechildrenwithanadequate,butnottoocomplex,input.Itisimportanttokeepundercontrolthelengthofsentencesintermsofsyllables;forexample,onemaystartwithsentenceswith10syllablesandthenincreaselengthsandcomplexityofsentences.TherearesentencesrepetitiontaskavailablefromfundedEuropeanprojectsuchasCostAction(Gavarrò,2017).Thetaskofthechildistolistentothesentenceandtorepeatit.

Sentencestructureelicitation

Asforsentencestructure,onecantransfermethodsusedforresearchtoeducationalpractices.Anelicitedproductionmethodconsistsinaskingchildrentoproducespecifickindofsentencesoncethistypeofstructurehasbeenjustintroducedtothechild.Again,oneneedstocreateaseriesofdrawingsthatmaketheuseofagiventypeofsentenceappropriateinthecontext.Forexample,ifwewantachildtoproduceaquestion,weneedtoshowher/himapicture,withtwocharacters,oneofwhichishiddenasinGuasti,BranchiniandArosio’sTask(2012).

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Educator:Thefairyispullingsomeonepointingtotheellipsis.Askthepuppetwho(isgettingpulledvs.thefairyispulling)?”.Thenthechildhastoproduceaquestionaddressedtothepuppettofindoutwhichelementisgettingpulledoristhefairypulling.

Anadditionalwaytotrainspeakerstousespecificstructuresthatwewantthemtouse/learn(actives/passives;dativestructures;fullnouns/pronouns;etc.)hasbeenproposedbyMessenger,BraniganandMcLean(2011).

5.2DescriptionoftheactivitiesWeprovideanumberofexamplesaboutsentencerepetitiondrawnfromGardneretal.(2007).Theauthorscreated16sentences.Theseassessedtensemarking(past,future)asin“Thecatwantedsome

milk”

phrasalembedding:‘thecatwiththebellishappy’

dativeconstruction‘Thedoggivesthecatthemilk’

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Exampleofhowtointroducethetaskbyusingapuppet:

Educator:ThisisBik.Heonlyunderstandswhenchildrenspeaktohim,andhewouldliketohearthestorytoo.So,whenIsaysomething,yousayittoBik.ListenreallycarefullyandmakesureyousayeverythingtoBikjustthesameasIsaytoyou.Okay?Let’sPractice.

Thenthechildhastorepeatthesentence.

Notethatthechoiceofthesentencesmustbebasedonthespecificlanguageofeachpartner.Additionallycarefulcontrolvocabularyitemsthatmustbeemployed:allwordsmusthaveanearlyageofacquisition(forinstancecat,dog,milk)andbefamiliartochildrenregardlessoftheirsocioeconomicorculturalstatus.

Regardingtheimplementationofthesentencestructureelicitationtask,teachersmightproposeitasaclassroomactivitynotonlywithmonolingualchildren(topromotetheacquisitionofcomplexstructuresoftheirL1),butalsowithmultilingualchildrentoimprovetheirsyntacticcompetenceonspecificsyntacticstructuresinthemajoritylanguage.

ThechildwillbepromptedtoproduceshortsentencesintheirL1afterhearingadescriptioninvolvingaspecificsyntacticstructureproducedbytheteacher.Todoso,childrenneedtocomprehendwhattheteacherissayingandcontinuouslyinteractwithhim/her,byprovidinganotherdescriptionofanotherpicture.

Theteacher/experimenterhasasetsofpicture/cardsinvolvinghand-drawingsillustratingevents(forexample,motherwashingboy,bearchasingamouse,cowkickingcat).Theteachershowstothechildrenthefirstcarddescribingitwithacertainstructure(forexample,ashortpassive)andasksachildtodescribeoutloudthesecondcard.

ExamplesfromMessengeretal.,2011:

Educator:Thesheepisshockingthegirl(activesentence)

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OR

Educator:Thegirlsarebeingshocked(shortpassive)

Thechildhastodescribethefollowingpicture(thetigerisscratchingthekingorthekingisbeingscratched).

Thechoiceofaspecificsyntacticstructuremaydependonthegoalsoftheteachingactivities,aswellasonthespecificlanguageused.

Thisdidacticmaterialwillallowchildrentoacquireabetterknowledgeofthedifferentsyntacticstructuresofalanguage.Childrenmighteventuallybecomemoreawareaboutastructure,whichismorecomplex

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andlessused.Additionally,thecurrentactivitywillimprovechild’ssyntacticcompetencebyallowinghim/hertousesomestructuresthatarerareanddifficult.

A)SentencerepetitiontoenhancevocabularyinaFL(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy)

Ageandgroup:


Description:AtthebeginningofeachlessontheEnglishteacherproposesthe'hellosong'.Childrenrepeat'Hellohello,what'syourname?'andtheyanswerbysinging'Myname's....'andeveryonescreamshis/hername.Allthechildrenparticipateandrecognizethissongduringtheinitialgreeting.

Alternatively,theteachershowstheshapeofanemptyface.Childrenhavetopasteonthefacethevariouselements(eyes,nose,mouth,etc.);wheneverachildisaskedtochoosewhattopaste,theteacherpronouncesthesentence'Bobhas...'andasksthechildtorepeatitbyaddingthatelementtotheface.

B)LanguageabilitiesscreeninginL1(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofUniversityofMilano-Bicocca,Italy)

Ageandgroup:

2to5yearsold(possibly1-2childrenorverysmallgroups)

Description:Theteacherreadsthefollowingsentencesandforeachofthemshowsapicture.Childrenhavetorepeatexactlythesamewordstheteacherhaspronounced.ThedidacticmaterialwerepreparedinItalianandtapsintoaseriesofkeyelementsforthemorpho-syntacticdevelopment,namely(clitic)pronouns,passivesandsubjectrelativeclauses.Alltheseelements,andinparticulartheproductionandrepetitionofcliticpronouns,areregardedinthepsycholinguisticliteratureasclinicalmarkersofacriticallanguagedelay(Bortolinietal.,2006).

Sentencestobepronouncedoutloudbytheteacher:

1)“Ilbambinolatocca”(Literaltranslation:Thechild(IT)touches),whileshowingthefollowingpictures.

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2)“Ilcaneèlavatodalbambino”(Literaltranslation:Thedogisbeingwashedbytheboy).

3)“Ilbambinochebeveillatteèpiccolo”(Literaltranslation:Thechildthatisdrinkingmilkislittle).

Reference:

Bortolini,U.,Arfé,B.,Caselli,C.,Degasperi,L.,Deevy,P.andLeonard,L.B.(2006).ClinicalmarkerforspecificlanguageimpairmentinItalian:Thecontributionofcliticsandnon-wordrepetition.InternationalJournalofLanguageandCommunicationDisorders,41,695–712.

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Gardner,H.,Froud,K.,McClelland,A.,vanderLely,H.K.(2006).DevelopmentoftheGrammarandPhonologyScreening(GAPS)testtoassesskeymarkersofspecificlanguageandliteracydifficultiesinyoungchildren.InternationalJournalofLanguageandCommunicationDisorders,41,513-540.

Gavarró,A.(2017).ASentenceRepetitionTaskforCatalan-speakingtypically-developingchildrenandchildrenwithSpecificLanguageImpairment.FrontiersinPsychology,8:1865.

Guasti,M.T.,Branchini,C.,&Arosio,F.(2012).InterferenceintheproductionofItaliansubjectandobjectwh-questions.AppliedPsycholinguistics,33,185-223.

Messenger,K.,Branigan,H.P.,McLean,J.F.(2011).Evidencefor(shared)abstractstructureunderlyingchildren'sshortandfullpassives.Cognition,121,268-74.

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6.PerspectiveShift6.1Introduction

Whenchildrenlistentoanarrative,theyadopttheperspectiveoftheprincipalprotagonistandcontinuetoadheretothisspecificpointofviewtoretellthestory(Rall&Harris,2000).Thisisacommonaspectthatdemonstrateschild’scapacitytoadopttheperspectiveofthemaincharacterwithinastory.Incontrast,beingabletomentallyshifttotheperspectivetoanotherimaginedcharacterinthestoryisahighlyevolvedcapacitythatmightdevelopduringthepreschoolyears,butthatcouldbepartiallymissingatthisstageofdevelopment.

Itisthoughtthatchildrenaremorelikelytoshifttheirperspectiveandrecallthestoryfromthepointofviewofthecharacterthatseemsgood,or“closer”tothechild,becausethe“good”characterismorelikelytobethemainprotagonist.

Therefore,promotingtheexercisetoretellthestoryfromtheperspectiveofanothercharacter(maybethemostdifferentevenfromaculturalpointofview)mightofferthechildthechancetoundertakeanimaginativeshiftinthementalconstructionofthestory.

6.2DescriptionoftheactivitiesWeprovidebelowanexamplebasedonaseriesofpopularEnglishstoriesforpreschoolers.

InthecurrentmethodologyweproposetostartfromanarrativeinyourL1orL2,orinaFL.

Seeforexample:WhereareyoublueKangaroo?

(https://www.worldbookday.com/videos/where-are-you-blue-kangeroo/)

Tellthestorytothechild(whereareyoublueKangaroo?).Thenaskthechildtoretellthestoryfromthepointofviewofanothercharacterofthestory(e.g.,theblueKangaroo).

Thismethodologymightbeappliedinthemultilingualclassroomtoo.Indeed,bychoosinganappropriatestory,wemightaskchildrentoretellitbyadoptingthepointofviewofthecharacterthatismostdifferentfromthesocialandculturalperspectiveofthechild.

A)PerspectiveshiftinaFL:KittenandPuppymadeacake(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofCzechRepublic)

Ageandgroup:

4to5yearsold(upto8-9children)

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Description:AstheactivitywaspresentedinaFL(English),therewasapre-listeningphasewherechildrenwereexposedtotherelevantvocabularyforthestoryinordertohelpthemunderstandthenewwords.Pre-listeningphase:giventhefactthatthestorywasaboutfood,theteacheruseda“magic”boxwithallthefoodthatwaspresentedtochildren.Childrencouldsmell,touchandhearwhatkindofsoundthefoodmadeinsidetheboxwhentheteacherwasshakingitandtheyhadtoguesswhatwasinside.

Listeningphase:theteachertoldthestoryandshowedupthemaincharacters(Kitten,Puppy,Bear)andrelatedvocabulary.

Post-listeningphase:attheendofthestorychildrenweredividedintogroupsofthree(eachofthemplayingtheroleofKitten,Puppy,Bearrespectively)andweregivenapieceofpaperwithatemplateofabowl(seepicturebelow).Theyhadtodraw4piecesoffoodthateachcharacterputinthecakeaccordingtothestory.Thatis,theywereaskedtorecallthefoodthatwasputinthecakeaccordingtothestoryfromthepointofviewofaspecificcharacter.Thentheyhadtodrawit(seepicturebelow).

Then,alltogetherchildrensharedthepicturesandtoldotherswhatfoodtheydrewintheirbowls.

Reference

Rall,J.,&Harris,P.L.(2000).InCinderella’sslippers?Storycomprehensionfromtheprotagonist’spointofview.DevelopmentalPsychology,36,202–208.

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7.Enhancingvocabularyskills7.1Introduction

Namingproductiontask

Namingcanbereferredtoastheabilitytoapplyalabeltotheelementsintheworld.Childrenmighthavemanylabelstonamethingsaroundthem,butinsomecasestheirabilitytorecallandproducetheselabelmightbeincorrect.

Sometimesnamingmightbeinaccuratebecausethephonologicalinformationthatchildrenhavestoredaboutwordsisunderspecified(incompleteand/orindistinct)makingnameproductiondifficultevenwhenthenameisknown,thatisitisrecognizable.Forthisreasonnamingproductionisacriticalskilltobetrainedduringthepreschoolyears.

Childrenwhohaveareducedvocabularyinalanguageorpoorverbalskillsmighthavefewerwordsrepresentedintheirmentallexicon.Forinstance,theymightbelessabletoproducethenameofapicturedstimulus,oreventorecognizeandrepeatawordtheyhavejustheard.

Additionally,recallthatlongwords,withrespecttoshortones,requiremorephonologicalfeaturestobestoredandthustheirrepresentationswouldbemorelikelytobeincomplete,fuzzyorinaccuratethanthoseforshorterwords.Similarly,lessfrequentwordshavebeenheardlessoften,soifchildrenrequiremoreexperiencetoestablishsolidphonologicalrepresentations,theselexicalentrieswouldbemorelikelytobepoorlyspecifiedanddifficulttoproduce.

7.2DescriptionoftheactivitiesInthecurrentdidacticmethodologyweproposetocreateastimulussetofwordsincluding:

● shortandlongwordsinyourlanguage(whatdoesitmeantobeashortandlongwords?Lookatnumberofsyllablesandnumberofphonemes);

● highandlow-frequencywordsinyourlanguage(whatdoesitmeantobehighandlow-frequencywords?Usuallyhigh-frequencywordsareverycommonandfamiliarwords,thataregenerallyfoundinchild-directedspeech;low-frequencywordsarelessusedwordsthatdonotbelongtotheeverydaylifeofthechild);

Youneedtouseapuppet(andasetofpicturesrepresentingobjectsoranimals,ifyouthinkitisnecessary).

Childrenaretoldthatthepuppethaslearnedabunchofnewwords,buthaslearnedthemfromsomeonewhosaidtheminanincorrectway.Childrenareaskedtoteachthepuppettopronouncethewordintherightway.

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Foreachword,afterthepuppethasproducedthestimulusincorrectlytwice,thechild:

1)imitatesthepuppetexactlythewayitsaidit;

2)saysthewordtherightway.

Theteacherwilltakeintoaccountwhetherthechildcorrectlyimitatesthestringofsoundsproducedbythepuppet;identifiestherightwordtobepronounced;correctsit.

HereitisanexampleofthematerialsdevelopedbyFawlerandSwainson(2004).Parrotrenditionreferstotheincorrectpronunciationofthepuppet(parrotintheirstudy).

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A)EnhancingvocabularyinL1,inaFLorinthemajoritylanguageformultilingualchildren(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy)

Ageandgroup:

2to5yearsold,dependingonthecomplexityoftheverbalmaterial(upto7children)

Description:

Psychologicalvocabulary(emotions):Theteacherproposesaseriesofflashcardsrelatedtoemotions.Theteachershowstheflashcardsandrepeatsthreetimesthewordcorrespondingtotheemotionshown.Thenshetellseachchildanemotionandaskshim/hertotouchthecorrespondingflashcard.

Alternatively,theteachershowsapuppetandrepresentsthroughthepuppetthevariousemotions,saying“Sometimesthepuppetishappy”,“Sometimesthepuppetissad”,etc.Thensheaskseachchildtoattributeanemotiontothepuppet.“Thepuppetis...”,thechildchoosesandtellstheemotion,theteachershows,throughthepuppet,thatemotion.

Colors:Theteachershowssomecoloredballsandtellsthechildrenwhatcolortheyare.Thenshetakesaballandshowsittoeachchildasking,inEnglish,“Whatcoloristhis?”.Whenthechildsaysthecorrectcolorreceivestheballandthenthechildreturnsitagaintotheteacher.

Alternatively,theteachershowsacanvasbagfullofcoloredballs;inturnsheaskseachchildtodrawonewithoutlookingand,whentheyextractit,shesaysthenameofthecolor.Whentheballextractedisred,theteachershouts“BOOM”,whileforalltheotherssherepeatsthenameofthecolorandcaressestheball.

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Anotherproposal:theteacherspillsalargebagofballsintheclassroom,sheasksthechildrentolookforandfindtheballsofacertaincolorandtoputonlythoseinthebag,oneattime.Thefirsttimethecolorischosenbytheteacher,thenchildrenareexpectedtochooseacolor.

Vocabularyaboutfruitsandvegetables:Theteachershowssomeflashcardsdepictingfruitsandvegetables.Sheplacesthemupsidedownonthetable/carpet,thensheaskseachchildtoturnaflashcardandsaywhathe/shefound.Oncealltheflashcardsarediscovered,theteachertakesabagcontainingfruitsandvegetables.Thensheaskseachchildtodrawanobjectfromthebag,saywhathe/shehasfoundandplaceitonthecorrespondingflashcard.

Alternatively,theteachershowsthechildrenapuppetandtellsthemthatheishungry.Thens/heshowsaseriesofplasticfruitandnamesthemonebyonerepeatingthewordthreetimes.Thensheaskseachchildwhatfruittheywanttomakethepuppettoeatandinvitethemtousethequestion“Doyoulike…?.Thepuppetreplies“Ilike…,thankyou”.

Theteachershowsthepuppettheflashcardsorobjectsrelatedtothewordsalreadyknownbythechildren(emotions,colors,fruits,faceparts)andthensheasksthepuppettopronouncetheword.Thepuppetpronouncesthewordincorrectly,soitispossibletocheckifthechild(evenamultilingualchildwhoseL1isnotthemajoritylanguages)isabletorecognizetheerrorandcorrectit.

Reference:

Fowler,A.E.,Swainson,B.(2004).Relationshipsofnamingskillstoreading,memory,andreceptivevocabulary:evidenceforimprecisephonologicalrepresentationsofwordsbypoorreaders.AnnalsofDyslexia,54,247-80.

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8.Translanguaging8.1Introduction

AccordingtoKulltiandcolleagues(Kultti&Pramling,2016,2017)thathavedevelopedthenotionof“translanguaging”intheeducationalpractice,thisconceptreferstotheuseofthetwolanguages(forinstance,themajoritylanguageandEnglish)incommunicationandmeta-communicationduringatranslationactivitywithinearlychildhoodeducation.

Intheirstudies,childrenfirstlistentoasong,then,supportedbytheteachertheyarechallengedtocollaborativelytranslatethelyricsinanotherlanguage.Oncechildrenhavelistenedtotheentiresong,theteachersandchildrenstarttalkingabouthowtotranslatethelyrics,onephraseatatime.Bydoingso,childrenareforcedtoreflectaboutimportantaspectsrelatedtotheinternalstructureofthelanguagesuchasthearbitraryuseofwordsinalyrics,thedifferencebetweenliteralandfigurativelanguageacrosslanguages.

Alternatively,insteadoftranslatingthesong,teacherscouldsimplyletchildrenlistentothesame(popular)songintheirL1(forexampleSwedish)andtheninanotherlanguage(forinstanceEnglishorFinnish).Insuchacase,bynoticingthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweendifferent-languageversionsofpopularsongs,childrenwillbecomeawareofthefactthatthesamesongmightbeverballydifferentacrosslanguages.

8.2DescriptionoftheactivitiesSuchmethodologyoffersmanypossibleimplementations.

First,ifoneusesitasatranslationtask(onesentenceattime)itmightenhancechildren’scompetencenotonlyintheirL1(dependingontheverbalcontentofthesongtheteacherwillchoose),butcruciallyinaFLorintheirL2too.

Second,itmightbeappliedtothemultilingualclassroomcontexttoo.Indeedonemightaskamultilingualpupil(andtheirparents)topresenta(popular)songintheirmothertongue,andthentranslateitinthemajoritylanguage.Childrenwillbecomeawareofexistinglanguages,andagain,canhaveanotherglanceofthefactthatthesamesongmightconveyadifferentmeaningdependingonthewordshavebeenusedcross-linguistically.

Example:

“FrereJacques”songinalltheworld’slanguages:

http://demonsaumonde.free.fr/frere.jacques/

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A)Improvingtranslanguagingabilitiesinthemultilingualclassroom(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofSweden)

Ageandgroup:

1to5yearsold.Initiallystartwithasmallgroup(2-3children).Asmallgroupofchildrenwillmakeitpossibletoincludeandengagealllater.Asforchild’sageincludechildrenwhouseverballanguage(laterontheactivitycanbedoneinagroupwithchildrenlearningtospeak).

Description:

Initiallyusetwolanguages(addonemorelateron,iftheactivityworkedwell).Itisimportanttofindachild’ssongthathastwoversions.Teacherswithasmallgroupofchildrenfirstlistentoasongintwolanguages.Whenlisteningandsingingthesong,watchamusicvideowithillustrationsofthesong(YouTube).Theseillustrationswillhelpthechildrentoparticipateintheactivity.Thesecanalsobeusedtodiscusspossibledifferencesaboutwordsusedinthesongandtheimagesusedintheclip.Watchandlistentothesonginbothlanguages.Collaborativelytranslatepartsofthelyricsthatarecriticalinlearninganewlanguage(forexample,aFLlanguage).Thechildmustbeanactiveparticipant,scaffoldedbytheteacher.Itisimportanttoaskquestionstochildren,whereastheteachermighttrytoavoidthemonologue.

Theteacherhastoattendtosimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweendifferent-languageversionsofthesong/illustrationsintermsofmeta-communication(talkingaboutlanguages).Itisfurtherimportanttoscaffoldchildreninordertobeawareofthefactthatthesamesongisdifferentindifferentlanguages.Additionally,witholderchildren,itisimportanttohelpthemtorealizethetransformativenatureoftranslation(changeinmeaningwhensomethingistranslatedfromonelanguagetoanother).Payattentiontothewaychildrenexplainaword/conceptorproposeawordsoundingsimilar,whenencounteringanewword/concept.

Alternatively,childrenlistentoasonginthemajoritylanguage.Afterthat,thesonghastobetranslatedbytheteachertoEnglish.Theteacherintroducesandengagesthechildreninpracticessuchas:repeatingversesinEnglishandinthemajoritylanguage;reformulating/rephrasinginmorecommonterms(“So”:).Theteacheralsochallengesthechildrenbyaskingdifferentkindsofquestions,suchas:“Whatdoesthatmean?”,“howcanyousaythatinEnglish?”,“Whatcoulditmean?”,“Arethereanyotherwordsthatyoucanusetosaythat…”,“Howwouldyoudescribe…inEnglish?”,and“Howwouldyoudescribeifyouarenotallowedtosaytheword…”.Theteacheralsoprovideschildrenwithcontrastingwords/expressions.Thechildrenareaskedtotranslateintwowayswhenconfrontedwithunusualorinventedwords/names.

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References:

Kultti,A.&Pramling,N.(2016).Behindthewords:Childrenandteachersinbilingualpreschoolnegotiatingliteral/figurativesensewhentranslatingthelyricstoachildren’ssong.ScandinavianJournalofEducationalResearch,62,200-212.

Kultti,A.&Pramling,N.(2017).Translationactivitiesinbilingualearlychildhoodeducation:Children’sperspectivesandteachers’scaffolding.Multilingua:JournalofCross-CulturalandInterlanguageCommunication,36,703-725.

edugate – multilingual teaching in early childhood education...

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