ERIC Number: EJ1169918
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0790-8318
EISSN: N/A
Young Children Capitalising on Their Entire Language Repertoire for Language Learning at School
Kirsch, Claudine
Language, Culture and Curriculum, v31 n1 p39-55 2018
While translanguaging has been well researched in bilingual settings with older pupils and has been found to contribute to cognitive and personal development, there is little research on translanguaging of young multilinguals. In trilingual Luxembourg, at school, children learn Luxembourgish aged 4, German aged 6 and French aged 7, with the majority not speaking Luxembourgish on school entry. The number of languages to be learned may leave teachers little space to capitalise on home languages and encourage translanguaging. Drawing on qualitative methods, this paper contextualises and examines the practice and purposes of translanguaging of nursery and primary school children who speak a language other than Luxembourgish at home, while they collaboratively produce oral texts on the iPad app iTEO. The data stem from a longitudinal study using a multi-method approach. The findings indicate that the children made use of their multilingual repertoire in order to communicate, construct knowledge and mark their multilingual identity. Translanguaging was a frequent and legitimate practice in both classes although the older children drew less on home languages other than Luxembourgish. The children's ability to translanguage and their opportunities for doing so were influenced by the multilingual learning environment, the curriculum and the language learning tasks.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Elementary School Students, Primary Education, Bilingual Students, Multilingualism, German, French, Indo European Languages, Native Language, Preschool Children, Computer Mediated Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Handheld Devices, Longitudinal Studies, Code Switching (Language), Qualitative Research, Observation, Semi Structured Interviews, Video Technology
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Luxembourg
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A