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Multilingual Early Language Transmission
MELT Projectwww.meltproject.eu
dr. Alex Riemersma
Brussels, 27 October, 2010
MELT project (2009-2011)
• Initiated by NPLD• Grant by European Commission
(Comenius)• Research activities• Development schemes & materials• Expert seminar & evaluation workshop• Local events• Closing conference (Brussels, 2011)
MELT project partnerss
• Mercator / Fryske Akademy & SFBO (Fryslân, Netherlands)
• Folkhälsen (Swedish community Finland)
• Welsh Language Board & MYM (Wales, UK)
• Conseil Régional de Bretagne &
• Divskouarn (Brittany, France)
MELT affiliated project partners
• Project partners co-operate with affiliated partners in carrying out various tasks, including local events:- half day event for parents- one day event for practitioners
• Financing by sub-contracting for special tasks
MELT associate partners
• All NPLD members c.q. partners linked to NPLD through their regional authorities and NGO’s
• Associate partners to attend: - expert seminar (Fryslân, April 2010)- conference (Brussels, October 2011)
MELT Goals
Goals (quoted from the EU application):1) Development of teaching methodology and
language transmission process
2) Raising parents’ awareness about multilingualism
3) Encouraging practitioners to foster language learning
4) Raising policy awareness across Europe
MELT further goals
• Language is not merely a tool of communication, but also a value.
• Mother tongue and father tongue are of equal value for the child.
Pursued results
• EITHER: “full bilingualism, full bi-literacy” (Joshua Fishman) / additive bilingualism = command of two languages at mother-tongue level
• OR: subtractive bilingualism (oral bilingualism, mono-literacy)
MELT Research 1
• Summary of relevant scientific research on early language acquisition: “state of the art” regarding bi- and plurilingual language acquisition at an early age.
• Summary of theories on sequential language acquisition versus bilingualism at the same time, and the critical period of second language awareness and acquisition.
MELT Research 2
• Inventory of teaching methods applied in the various pre-school sectors: total immersion, various bilingual approaches
• Inventory of teacher-training schemes (initial training, in-service training) and qualifications (and certification)
• Inventory of qualification / certification systems of day care provisions, and strategies towards the improvement of the quality
MELT Pedagogical materials 1 (Folkhälsan)
• Toolkit for practitioners full of “best practices” – to start with extending the best practices of Lillemor Gammelgård, Language Strategy.NB: stress on “learning through playing”;
• Topics of special interest:- visibility of the language in the classroom - songs and music, dance- thematic work- exposure to rich language expressions of good quality
MELT Local Events
• Toolkit for practitioners: how to inform young parents (in mixed-language families) and how to guide them regarding their concerns.
• Toolkit for pre-school practitioners and primary school teachers together, aimed towards the “informed choice” on multilingual / immersion education.
MELT Quality Plan & Dissemination (Welsh Language Board)
• “Marketing” of the concept of multilingual early language transmission; c.q. various models of early immersion / bilingual teaching
• Dissemination by means of:- project flyer & NPLD website - seminar & conference & local events- publications in scientific journals and pedagogical journals like “Parents Today”, “Journal of Bilingual Families”
Website and Facebook
MELT Expert seminar(Mercator, 15-16 April 2010)
• Themes: models of teaching
• Preparation of toolkits:- practitioners’ own work- parents’ “informed choice”- enhancing parents’ support for the child’s development linguistically
Expert meeting April 2010
MELT Awareness Raising & Closing Conference (Conseil Régional de Bretagne)
• Conference (Brussels, October 2011)hopefully in co-operation with the EUPlatform Civil Society on Multilingualism
• Presentation of Toolkit in 8 languages• Presentation of research results• Recommendations on methodology,
materials and immersion training
• Eskerrik asko
• Mange Takk
• Diolch
Tankewol
• Trugarez
• Grazia
• Graciis
• Dankscheen • Mercé plan
• Kiitos
• Dz'akuju so
Köszönöm
• Hvala
• Multumesc
• Spassi Ba