The aim of this study is to present the views of some English-speaking parents and their children based in Sweden on the relationship between language learning and family language policies. To this end, interviews were conducted with six families living in Sweden who had spoken English at home with their children. The data was analysed using a thematic approach, which involves a close analysis of the collected data. I specified major and common points from the participants that were in line with my research questions. The results showed that the participating parents wanted their children to be able to speak with their English-speaking relatives and therefore felt that it was important to teach and maintain English. They also mention how English is a useful language to know because it is spoken all around the world. Some parents point out that consistency is important for the child’s language development in English, while others explain how there is no need for strict rules because it can lead to a resistance in speaking English. The most common strategies the parents employ are one- parent-one-language strategy, encouraging watching TV and films, reading books, repetition- and minimal grasp strategy and mother tongue tuition. The children emphasise the importance of knowing English when they talk with their relatives. However, the children find it difficult when learning a third language in school because they are used to acquiring a language instead of consciously learning it. The implications from my research may potentially help policy makers, researchers, and bilingual families in the process of teaching and maintaining a language at home.

Šiame darbe nagrinėjami daugiakalbių vaikų kalbos sutrikimų atpažinimo ir pagalbos teikimo metodai. Tyrimo tikslas – išnagrinėti daugiakalbių vaikų kalbos sutrikimus, jų atpažinimo metodus ir parengti logopedinės pagalbos modelį. Atliktas kokybinis tyrimas, iš dalies struktūruoto interviu forma apklausiant daugiakalbių vaikų, turinčių kalbos sutrikimų, tėvus. Interviu metu gauti duomenys išanalizuoti ir jais remiantis sudarytas pasirinkto atvejo logopedinės pagalbos modelis. Pirmajame skyriuje nagrinėjami tipinės daugiakalbių vaikų kalbos raidos ypatumai, aptariamos svarbiausios šios srities sąvokos, daugiakalbystės reiškinio įvairialypiškumas. Darbe analizuojama tipinė daugiakalbių vaikų kalbos raida, gimtosios, antrosios ir užsienio kalbos įsisavinimas, analizuojami dvikalbių/daugiakalbių vaikų kalbos sutrikimai, lyginant juos su vienakalbių vaikų kalbos sutrikimais, atskleidžiama tėvų pagalbos reikšmė ugdant daugiakalbį vaiką. Remiantis psicholingvistiniais tyrimais, teigiama, kad daugiakalbystė yra vienas iš svarbiausių veiksnių, veikiančių vaiko kalbos raidą ir plečiančių jo pasaulio sampratą (Hoff, 2002). Antrajame skyriuje aptariami daugiakalbių ir dvikalbių vaikų kalbos sutrikimų įveikimo modeliai, įvardijami, teikiant lgopedinę pagalbą, kylantys sunkumai, pažymima specialistų ir tėvų bendradarbiavimo būtinybė, logopedų profesinio bendradarbiavimo, ugdymo įstaigų, teikiančių pagalbą dvikalbiams vaikams, turintiems kalbos sutrikimų, reikšmingumas. Daugiakalbystės ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The objective of this master thesis is to examine language disorders in speech-impaired children from multilingual families, and to contribute to the development of intervention methods to improve the language and speech development of these children. The main reason for bilingualism and multilingualism in children and families today is migration and living in new socio-cultural environment. Hypothesis: speech therapist, recognizes multilingual children’s language disorders and focuses using the appropriate methods of assistance, in collaboration with parents and speech therapist’s professionals, not only helping the child to overcome language problems, but also enhancing his communication skills. The work is based on partially structured interviews with eight parents of multilingual children with speech and language disorders using Skype program. Information obtained from these interviews were analyzed and used to develop a language and speech improvement model. The most important empirical conclusions that were drawn are:  The characteristics of speech disorders in bilingual and multilingual children do not differ from speech disorders occurring in monolingual children. However, the speech disorders of bilingual and multilingual children may be more pronounced and more complex than those of monolingual children. Therefore, the treatment of speech disorders of bilingual and multilingual children may be more difficult, more complex, and more time-consuming than the treatment... [to full text]