The purpose of the study is to shed light on and increase understanding of children's language development with a focus on multilingualism in preschool / kindergarten. I also investigate the working methods used by preschool teachers to support language development in multilingual children. The questions I have asked are: How do preschool teachers relate to the language development of multilingual children in preschool? What working methods are used by preschool teachers in work with children's language development in preschool? To find answers for my questions, I use qualitative interviews with five preschool teachers from three different preschools in the same municipality in Stockholm. This study is based on Lev Vygotsky's theory of the sociocultural perspective and the proximal developmental zone. The reason I use the sociocultural perspective on language development is because I am of the belief that language is learned and developed mainly through social interaction between an individual and its environment. Results in the study showed that preschool teachers are aware that support, repetition, and appreciation provide a positive stimulus to multilingual children's language development. However, the interviewed preschool teachers point out that they have no specific knowledge about working with multilingual children. The study has also concluded that preschool teachers believe that multilingualism is an asset for both the individual and for the society. What also emerged in the study is that preschool teachers take the parents and other educators at the preschool as resources. Methods used by preschool teachers are digital books in several languages (pollyglutt), concrete material and pictures, reading aloud, storytelling, rhymes and jingles, Memory games that increase children's language development.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:sh-45492 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Dahiya, Suman |
| Publisher | Södertörns högskola, Lärarutbildningen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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