Establishing multiple languages in early childhood : an ethnography of multilingualism in German-English daycare centers in German-speaking Switzerland

Knoll, Alex; Becker, Anna

Publication type:	Conference paper
Type of review:	Not specified
Title:	Establishing multiple languages in early childhood : an ethnography of multilingualism in German-English daycare centers in German-speaking Switzerland
Authors:	Knoll, Alex Becker, Anna
et. al:	No
Conference details:	1st Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society for Early Childhood Research (SSECR), Lausanne, Switzerland, 18 November 2019
Issue Date:	18-Nov-2019
Language:	English
Subject (DDC):	370: Education 404.2: Bilingualism and multilingualism
Abstract:	The presence of multiple languages has a long tradition in Swiss education. Yet, learning a second language only starts at grade 5 (HarmoS). In early education and care, there is usually just one language present, spoken predominantly by teachers while children‘s multiple (migrant) languages pass unnoticed. There are some daycare centers offering a (historically grown) multilingual learning environment, such as German French, mainly along the language border (Brandenberg et al. 2017). Additionally, there are some offers including English as medium of instruction, but hardly any research exists on these so far. Relying on the concept of the ethnography of multilingualism (Blackledge/Creese 2010) and research on dealing with multilingualism in early childhood in Switzerland (Brandenberg et al. 2017, Kassis-Filippakou/Panagiotopoulou 2015) and in other countries (e.g. Neumann/Seele 2014, Kim et al. 2018), we ask 1. how multiple languages are introduced by teachers in everyday classroom interaction, and 2. which importance is being attached to children‘s linguistic resources in other first languages. In an ethnographic field study conducted in spring 2019 in three GermanEnglish daycare centers in German-speaking Switzerland, we observed teachers and pupils in their linguistic interactions. The centers‘ websites, linguistic conceptions as well as interviews with the center leaders are also considered. Preliminary results show that (Swiss-)German seems to be the main language in the daycare centers, while English as an additional language is spoken by one teacher of the group and/or during special pedagogical sequences. Teachers do not refer to the children’s linguistic resources in other languages unless in very short specific routines such as individual counting in a circle sequence. We conclude that while English is ‚let in’ the classroom, other languages are ‚locked out‘, which might be even more so true for these settings than for conceptually monolingual ones.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/27091
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	Licence according to publishing contract
Departement:	Social Work
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Childhood, Youth and Family (IKJF)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen Soziale Arbeit

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Knoll, A., & Becker, A. (2019, November 18). Establishing multiple languages in early childhood : an ethnography of multilingualism in German-English daycare centers in German-speaking Switzerland. 1st Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society for Early Childhood Research (SSECR), Lausanne, Switzerland, 18 November 2019.

Knoll, A. and Becker, A. (2019) ‘Establishing multiple languages in early childhood : an ethnography of multilingualism in German-English daycare centers in German-speaking Switzerland’, in 1st Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society for Early Childhood Research (SSECR), Lausanne, Switzerland, 18 November 2019.

A. Knoll and A. Becker, “Establishing multiple languages in early childhood : an ethnography of multilingualism in German-English daycare centers in German-speaking Switzerland,” in 1st Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society for Early Childhood Research (SSECR), Lausanne, Switzerland, 18 November 2019, Nov. 2019.

KNOLL, Alex und Anna BECKER, 2019. Establishing multiple languages in early childhood : an ethnography of multilingualism in German-English daycare centers in German-speaking Switzerland. In: 1st Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society for Early Childhood Research (SSECR), Lausanne, Switzerland, 18 November 2019. Conference paper. 18 November 2019

Knoll, Alex, and Anna Becker. 2019. “Establishing Multiple Languages in Early Childhood : An Ethnography of Multilingualism in German-English Daycare Centers in German-Speaking Switzerland.” Conference paper. In 1st Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society for Early Childhood Research (SSECR), Lausanne, Switzerland, 18 November 2019.

Knoll, Alex, and Anna Becker. “Establishing Multiple Languages in Early Childhood : An Ethnography of Multilingualism in German-English Daycare Centers in German-Speaking Switzerland.” 1st Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society for Early Childhood Research (SSECR), Lausanne, Switzerland, 18 November 2019, 2019.