Supporting Multilingual Children´s Language Development in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

The aim of the thesis topic was to find out methods for both teachers and parents in supporting multilingual children´s language development. The thesis topic was commissioned by a Municipal early childhood and education centre in Helsinki.

There was an arising concern of delayed language development and Finnish language in particular among multilingual children by the age of six. The concern was raised by both early childhood education teachers and parents in a Helsinki day care unit. By commissioning this thesis, the Unit sought to find possible methods to help the teachers and parents and more so the child who is the beneficiary.

The theoretical background focuses on understanding language, multilingualism, environments and operation cultures that impact learners with more than one language. It further explores the Finnish National core curriculum, legislations and municipality curriculum on the issue of language.

I conduct qualitative research; data is collected through semi-structured interviews where I interview four professionals working in or closely with the unit. I later analyze the data through thematic data analysis. Data review is done through a sematic approach.

The study found out that a multidisciplinary team, everyday pedagogy, the learning environment, tools used and guardians´ role were important factors in the language learning of multilingual children.