Multilingual childhood

structure

structure

1. Introduction

2. What is language?
2.1 Definition of language
2.2 Language as an educational process

3. Child language development
3.1 How children learn to speak
3.2 The phases of language acquisition

4. Basic knowledge of multilingualism
4.1 What is multilingualism?
4.2 Double language acquisition
4.3 Child's second language acquisition

5. Language acquisition of a second language in childhood
5.1 The importance of the first language and the associated development of identity
5.2 The first language as a basic framework for the acquisition of the second language
5.3 How children learn a second language
5.4 Possible difficulties in learning a second language

6. Language acquisition of two languages after birth
6.1 The phases of double language acquisition
6.2 Bilingual education
6.3 Which language is preferred when children grow up bilingual?

7. Using multilingualism as an opportunity
7.1 Normality Multilingualism
7.2 Seeing multilingualism as an opportunity for development

8. Dealing with multilingualism in children with a migration background in kindergarten and school
8.1 Multilingual children are often children with a migrant background
8.2 Language support for children with a migration background
8.3 Language development instead of language teaching for children with a migration background
8.4 A practical way of promoting language skills in the sense of language development

9. Intercultural pedagogy in support of multilingualism
9.1 Intercultural pedagogy
9.2 Foundations of intercultural pedagogy
9.3 Prejudice-conscious education
9.4 Conclusion of intercultural education in support of multilingualism

10. Projects from practice
10.1 Project for early language support for children with a migration background
10.2 Project "Open languages: Life at the intersection of cultures"
10.3 Promotion of Turkish-speaking children

1. Introduction

"The limits of my language, means the limits of my world."

(Ministerium für Kultus, Jugend und Sport Baden-Württemberg, quoted by Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) Philosopher, 2006, p. 90)

Language is the most important prerequisite for communication with other people. I communicate with my fellow human beings. You can't not communicate.

With the help of language we can get in touch. We can express our desires, feelings and thoughts and communicate them to others. We can ask questions and give answers and understand connections.

Components of communication are body expression and language, but also speech melody, rhythm, tone of voice, gestures and facial expressions are part of it.

The learning of language begins already with the birth of the child. The first years of life are the basis for language acquisition. During this time, children can effortlessly learn their mother tongue and, if necessary, a second language. Therefore, it is important to accompany the children in this phase of life in their language development. We as educators play a major role in this. It is a central elementary educational task for us.

The dialogue between mother and child begins already in the womb. The child reacts to familiar voices.

Body language, timbre and speech melody of the parents transport feelings and moods that the child understands long before he can speak. This is one of the reasons why it is important for some children to speak in their mother tongue/first language later on. They associate certain feelings with it. It conveys security when they hear or speak this language. (cf. Sozialpädagogisches Institut NRW – Landesinstitut für Kinder, Jugend und Familie, 2002, p.32 and Uta Hellrung 2002, p.1)

I chose the topic of "multilingualism" because it has interested me for a long time and I think that it already plays a major role and will play an even more important role in the near future.

In class, I was able to gather first impressions on this topic.

In my school internships, I have been confronted with multilingualism in a wide variety of institutions. That's why I decided to write my thesis on this topic and to deal intensively with this material.

I also see it as a challenge, as multilingualism is an important issue in our society.

Many children with a migration background live with us who grow up bilingual. For example, they speak their mother tongue at home and german at school and in their free time.

I have already been able to gain experience in my internships with children who speak several languages and it fascinates me how seemingly easy this is for them.

2. What is language?

2.1 Definition of language

"Human language is a highly differentiated motor, but also cognitive performance. ... In order to develop human speech sounds, sound connections, syllables, words and sentences, the motor coordination, in-activity- kicking of numerous muscles of the lips, tongue, larynx and vocal cords is necessary.

Speaking is therefore primarily a process of movement In addition to the verbal communication function, human language has above all an emotional-expressive task. It serves the inner-soul discharge and tension release." (Teaching co-written in FEB by Mrs. Hutter in the subcourse of 09.01.06)

2.2 Language as an educational process

"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Let me do it and I understand" (City of Giengen, Catholic parish of Giengen, Protestant parish in Giengen, quote from Confucius (551-479 BC) 2005, p.6)

A central element of early childhood education processes is the development of language skills. In the first years of life, the child learns the language of his world. His first language is a means of communication and thought. Through language, thinking is structured. Language acquisition is a complex matter. An interplay between development, maturation and learning. The child, who is linguistically encouraged, not only speaks better, but also thinks better at the same time.

The first few years are of great importance for the development of language skills. During this time, the child learns to articulate his needs, feelings and thoughts and at the same time learns that other people also understand this.

The child shoots the language, even a second language, through structures, rules, spoken language, however, the learning environment must be designed in such a way that it can develop its linguistic abilities.

Only in active dialogue with the social environment and child motivation is it possible to learn language.

Language is a part of education, through which language is made possible to participate in education. (cf. City of Giengen, Catholic parish giengen, Protestant parish in Giengen, 2005, p.6)

3. Child language development

3.1 How children learn to speak

Children initially "talk" with their whole body. Communication through facial expressions and gestures is very similar in all cultures. They can clearly convey their needs such as hunger, joy or pain. So they also learn very quickly that their signs or signals are understood long before they can speak.

Children learn the language in an uncontrolled way, they learn it as if by themselves.

Children need an intact brain and intact sensory organs to speak. Especially important are the ears, eyes and mouth. Equally important are the many linguistic suggestions that the child needs in order to learn to speak. It needs a language model. The language development of the child depends on a linguistic role model, on appreciative relationships and on different dialogues.

Children learn the language in action and with all their senses. They explore and test the world, learn to understand it and name it. By listening to the ambient language, the children derive their own laws, apply them, improve them if necessary and refine them. They open up the inner structure and the inner logic of the complicated system language independently, into the phases typical of them.

Already in the first months, in the lall phase, children can distinguish native-speaking sounds from foreign sounds. Sounds, words and language mean, even at this early stage, getting in touch with people and entering into relationships.

It is important to know that "language understanding" always develops from "language-speaking". This rule applies to any new language acquisition.

For every child, however, it should be noted that every child is unique and that each child therefore has its own individual prerequisites, its own pace of learning and its own world.

To illustrate this development, there is a graph in the annex –Language development as children learn language- (cf. Sozialpädagogisches Institut NRW – Landesinstitut für Kinder, Jugend und Familie 2002, pp.32-35, 117 and Elke Schlösser 2001, p.137)

3.2 The phases of language acquisition

First language acquisition develops in children at certain stages. All children have a common sound area. The early childhood sounds are present in all languages and are then built on the respective languages with the specific sounds.

- shout counts in the first weeks to the most important signals that the child gives of himself. This allows them to communicate their needs for food and physical well-being to parents.
- the Lall-, Gurr- and Schnalzlaute are typical for the phase from the second month. The parents usually react to the utterances of their infant with a slightly higher voice. They speak in short sentences and stretch the vowels excessively. This behavior has been re-established in many cultures.
- in 4th – 7th month begins the stage of the so-called Echo sounds: the infant imitates the sounds of the people around him. He experiments with the sounds he makes. He strings syllables together, checks them and compares them. Parents and children are already engaged in a differentiated dialogue. The child thus establishes a connection between hearing, speaking and seeing. A spontaneous vocalization becomes a targeted articulation.

The brain filter out the multitude of sounds and noises that are important for the first speech. The ears form a sound filter, a kind of listening pattern that does not allow unknown sounds to penetrate into the center of attention in the first place.

The child hears himself, checks his own sound production and compares it with the environment. It develops its own auditory feed-back system, which reports back to him whether the articulation has succeeded. the Speech movement pattern becomes automated by developing a motor movement pattern for all sounds in the mouth area.

During this time, the Directional listening.

- in 8th – 12th month begins the child Language to understand. It understands individual words and sentences long before it can pronounce them itself.
- the One-word phase starts between the 13th – 18th month. The child designates what he does, sees, hears and feels. Speaks everything up without necessarily understanding the meaning. In one-word expressions, feelings, needs, desires and connections are expressed. They describe not only the content of a word, but often an overall situation. This can also be observed in the acquisition of second languages.
- From approx.dem 18 months to the age of 2, the child speaks in two-word sentences. The child slowly understands prompts that contain two different actions. Language comprehension continues to develop.
- in 2nd – 3rd year of life dominates the child Multiword sentences and experiences the so-called Question age.

At this age, children can easily learn a second language. The child focuses on the important content words for understanding, even in the second language. Subtleties are only gradually introduced into the vocabulary and grammatical structures. You always have a "Blueprint for the Sentences" in the head.

- in 3rd - 4th year of life dominates the child Multiword sentences with subordinate clause constructions. The vocabulary expands and the pronunciation gets better and better. It now speaks 100- 1000 words. Abstract concepts of space and time begin to conquer.
- in 5 years of age should the Language acquisition completed in the basics be. All sounds and phonetic connections of the first language should be articulated correctly. Of course, there are always minor exceptions.

To illustrate these phases, there is a graph in the annex -Language development language development phases- (cf. Sozialpädagogisches Institut NRW – Landesinstitut für Kinder, Jugend und Familie 2002, pp.32-35, 119)

4. Basic knowledge of multilingualism

4.1 What is multilingualism?

Multilingualism is a big, wide term and can therefore serve well as an umbrella term. This term combines many different skills in at least two languages. The ability to understand and speak two languages, but also to be able to read and write in these languages.

In principle, the language skills can be according to H. Reich of multilingualism on three levels.

- One level would be able to use the tools of a language. To have linguistic structures and means, such as correct articulation, an appropriate vocabulary and knowledge of word forms and sentence structure.
- The second level would be the communicative use of language. Especially the decision when I speak which language. The competence of language mixing often occurs, especially in private areas.
- According to H. Reich, the third level would be that of language-cognitive competences. This includes the ability to grasp the meaning of language. The word and concept level, but also the language structural and grammar levels play an important role. The child should not only have the ability to speak and formulate a sentence correctly, but also to be able to assess the meaning and context of the chosen structure.

Of course, the development of multilingualism depends not only on the three competences, but also on when and with what intensity the individual languages are conquered. This is individual for each child and differs in individual phases and progressions. (see Maria Ringel/Association of Binational Families and Partnerships 2004, p. 29)

4.2 Double language acquisition

If the child is intensively confronted with another language at a very early age, from birth or in the first one to two years of life, this is called double language acquisition. This often occurs in families where the parents have different mother tongues. The rule is "one person- one language". (see Maria Ringel/Association of Binational Families and Partnerships 2004, p. 29)

4.3 Child's second language acquisition

If the child comes into intensive contact with a second language during the language development process at about two to three years of age, this is called childlike second language acquisition.

If both languages continue to develop in parallel, provided that the first language is not displaced, one speaks of an additive multilingualism. Research has shown that this can have a positive effect on the overall language development and also on the cognitive development of the child.

However, if the first language no longer develops in accordance with age due to the intensive confrontation of the second language, one speaks of a substractive multilingualism. In such circumstances, there are fears of disadvantages for the child's entire linguistic and cognitive development. It is assumed that important cross-language structures of rule knowledge and language logic are breaking away.

One of the most influential theories related to child second language acquisition is the "interdependence hypothesis". It essentially states that the two languages that the child acquires develop in interdependence. To what extent, at what time, which dependence occur in detail, however, has not yet been precisely researched. (cf. Maria Ringel/Verband binationaler Familien und Partnerschaften 2004, pp.29-32)

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