EDUGATE–Multilingualteachinginearlychildhoodeducationandcare
Projectnumber:2016-1-IT02-KA201-024294
O4DidacticMaterial
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Content
1.IntroductiontoModulesofLanguageAcquisition 4
1.1Linguisticenhancementandscreeningactivities 61.2ForeignLanguage(FL)Learning 8
1.3Communication,culturalandidentitydevelopment 10
2.Phonemicawareness 11
2.1Presentation 11
2.2Descriptionoftheactivities 11
A.PhonologicalAwarenessinL1(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofSlovenia) 13
B:Playingwithanimalsoundstoincreaselinguisticawareness(proposedbyteachers/educatorsduringtheLTTAmeetinginPiacenza). 14
3.Narratives 15
3.1Introduction 15
3.2Descriptionoftheactivities 15
A)NarrativesinaFL:theGingerbreadMan(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofCzechRepublic)16
B)Narrativesinabilingualcontext(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofSweden) 16
4.ColoringTask 17
4.1Introduction 17
4.2Descriptionoftheactivities 17
A)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancevocabularyinL1(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy) 18
B)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancecomprehensioninaFL(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy) 19
C)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancevocabularygrowthinaFLEnglish(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofLatvia) 20
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D)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancevocabularyandspatialrelationcomprehensioninaFLEnglish(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPoland) 21
5.Sentencerepetition 23
5.1Introduction 23
5.2Descriptionoftheactivities 24
A)SentencerepetitiontoenhancevocabularyinaFL(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy) 27
B)LanguageabilitiesscreeninginL1(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofUniversityofMilano-Bicocca,Italy) 27
6.PerspectiveShift 30
6.1Introduction 30
6.2Descriptionoftheactivities 30
A)PerspectiveshiftinaFL:KittenandPuppymadeacake(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofCzechRepublic) 30
7.Enhancingvocabularyskills 32
7.1Introduction 32
7.2Descriptionoftheactivities 32
A)EnhancingvocabularyinL1,inaFLorinthemajoritylanguageformultilingualchildren(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy) 34
8.Translanguaging 36
8.1Introduction 36
8.2Descriptionoftheactivities 36
A)Improvingtranslanguagingabilitiesinthemultilingualclassroom(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofSweden) 37
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IntroductiontoModulesofLanguageAcquisitionInthecurrentdocumentwepresentaseriesofdidacticmethodologiesforchildreninspiredtothescientificliteratureaboutmonolingualandmultilingualchildlanguagedevelopmentandimplementedbytheECECteachersandeducatorsthattookparttotheEDUGATEProject.Theactivitieswerecreatedtoofferpracticaldidacticmethodologiesforteachersandeducatorsworkinginbilingualschoolsaswellasinmultilingualclassrooms.Activitiesaredesignedtoconsolidateandenhancelinguisticdevelopmentinthreeareas:L1(firstlanguage)enhancement;ForeignLanguageenhancement;Communicationdevelopment.Thedidacticmethodologieswerecreatedbyanalyzingandadaptingexistingresearchdatatoenablechildrentoattainproficiencyintheirfirstlanguageand/orinaforeignlanguage.Regardingmultilingualchildrenthatusealanguageathomedifferentfromthelanguageofschoolinstruction,theaimofthecurrentactivitiesistoallowthemtomaintainanddeveloptheirmultilingualskills,promotingboththeirL1aswellasthemajoritylanguagespokenatschool.First,someactivitiesaremeanttotraintheirL1,whereasothersaimatconsolidatingthelanguageofinstructioninordertoallowchildrentobetterlearnacademicsubjects,achievetheirgoals,andadequatelyusetheirlinguisticcompetencetoadvanceinfurthereducation.Inordertopreventtheexclusionofchildrenspeakingaminoritylanguage,currentmethodologiesencouragetovalueotherlanguages(alsothelessspokenones)andconveythatlearninglanguagesisfunandthatknowingmorelanguageshasgreatvalue.InthecurrentprojecttheECECteachersandeducatorshadthechancetotestallthedidacticmaterials,adaptingthemtotheirneeds.Therefore,foreachmethodologywepresentoneormoreexamplesofpracticalitemsthatwereadaptedbytheECECteachersandeducatorsandtestedintheirclassrooms.Additionally,itisimportanttorecallthatallthedidacticmethodologiesweareproposing,mightbefurtherdevelopedandmodifiedbytheteachers/educatorsaccordingtotheirworkingcontext.Thedocumentisorganizedasfollows:wewillfirstpresentthethreemainmodulesregardedasthegeneralaimsofthecurrentdidacticmethodologies.Wethenreportsevendidacticmaterialsthatwereinspiredbythescientificliteratureandinparticularinlanguageacquisitionresearchandinlanguage-basedpedagogy(e.g.,translanguaging).ForeachdidacticmaterialweaddoneormoreactivitiesimplementedbytheECECteachersandeducatorsinthelocalcontext.Foreachofthem,weincludetheagegroupforwhichtheactivityissuitableforaswellasthedescriptionoftheprocedure.Ingeneral,theactivitiescanbeeasilyintegratedintotheeducationaldailyroutineofthekindergartenandclassesinschools.Notefurthermorethateachmethodologycanbeappliedtooneormoremodules
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dependingonthecontent/useeachpartnerwillattributetoit.Thatis,eachteachermightconsidermodifyingandadaptingthemethodologynotonlywithrespecttothelanguages/heisusing,butalsoregardingtheage,thetypeofclass,thenumberofchildrens/heisworkingwith.
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1.1L1LinguisticenhancementandscreeningactivitiesTherearetwobasiclanguageskillsnecessarytoacquireanadequateverbalcompetenceduringthepreschoolyears:oralcomprehensionandoralproduction.Basiclanguageskillsincludealsotheabilitytointeractwithpeersandadultsasafundamentallanguageskillthatshouldbedeveloped.Additionally,duringthisperiod,itisalsoimportantanearlyidentificationoflanguageproblemsinordertoplaneducationalactivitiesandclinicalinterventioninordertosupportthosechildrenwhoshowadelay.WewillnowdiscussthelinguisticareasimportantfortheL1enhancement.
Phonology
Intheearlystagesoflanguageacquisition,theabilityto(progressively)masterarepertoireofthesoundsofaspecificlanguageisoneofthemostimportantverbalskillsinthechildverbaldevelopment.Forthisreason,itisveryimportantthattheteacherconsistentlydevelopsexercisestoconsolidateandreinforcetheabilitytodiscriminatebetweenthesoundsofalanguageaswellastheabilitytoproducethem.
Vocabulary
Developingarichandadequatevocabularyrepertoirepermitnotonlytodevelopmoresophisticatedwaysofcommunicationwithpeersandadultsbutwillalsoallowthechildtoenhancecomprehension.Thisisfurtherimportantwhenthechildlearntoread,ashe/shealreadypossessavocabularyoforalformstowhichhe/shecanaddtheorthographicforms.Therefore,thevocabularyproposedbytheteachershouldbestimulatingforstudentsandrelatedtotheirlife.Itisnecessarytokeepinmindadifferencebetween:
Activevocabularythatiswordsregularlyusedbythespeakertocommunicate.Numberofwordsintheactivelexiconisalwaysnumericallylowerthaninthepassivevocabulary,intheadultaswellasinthechild.
Passivevocabularythatiswordsnotregularlyusedbythespeakertocommunicate,butwhosemeaningsareknown,sincetheyhavealreadybeenheard.Passivevocabularyisalwaysnumericallyhigherthanactivevocabulary,intheadultaswellasinthechild.
MorphologyandGrammar
Themorphologicalandmorphosyntacticaspectsofthelanguagearethebasicskillstoproducecomplexwordsandsentences.Itisthereforenecessaryfortheteachertoacquireabasicknowledgeofthegrammaroftheirlanguage,inordertobeabletoforeseepossibledifficultiesoradvantagesthatstudentsmayencounterduringtheirdevelopment.Therefore,trainingsyntacticcompetencessinceaveryearlyageiscrucialinordertoachieveanadequatecommunicativecompetence.Ingeneraltheexercisesaboutsyntaxappeartobemoreeffectiveifprecededbytheuseofthestructure(passive,relativeclause)tobelearned.
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Inotherwords,reflectionshouldcomeaftersuchstructureshavealreadybeeninternalizedascommunicativebehavior.
Pragmatic
Thepragmaticdimension(thesociallycompetentuseoflanguageinthecontext)isessentialinordertoachieveaneffectivecommunication.Itmaysometimesevenconstituteacompensationoflinguisticprocessingdifficulties.Thereforeitisimportantthatteachersvaluetheeffectiveandappropriateuseoflanguageinordertocommunicateevenwhenitcontainssomephonological/lexical/syntacticerrors.
Tosumupinthecurrentmoduleweaimtoincludedidacticmethodologiesthatwillallow:
● TopromoteL1linguisticdevelopmentintermsoflanguagesounds,vocabulary,grammarandsocialinteraction;
● ToassessL1linguisticcompetenceofchildreninordertoidentifyadelayinreachingthetypicalmilestonesoflanguageandcommunicationdevelopment.
InordertoachievetheseaimsweproposesomeplayfulactivitiestopromoteandevaluatebasiclinguisticabilitiesinL1children,aswellasintheL2forimmigrantchildren.RecallindeedthatlearninganL2foranimmigrantchild,speakingaminoritylanguage,meanslearningthemajoritylanguagespokeninthecountrywheres/heislivingandthelanguageofinstruction.
Suchmethodologiesmighthelpchildrentoexercisetheirlinguisticabilitiesbeforeliteracyskillsareintroduced,or,ifthedelayisconsistent,toreferthechildtotheservicescaringforspeechandlanguagedisorders.Inaddition,inamultilingualclassroomssuchactivitiesmightprovideadditionalinformationaboutthelinguisticcompetenceofimmigrantchildrenintheirL2.
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1.2ForeignLanguage(FL)LearningForeignlanguagelearningreferstothelearningofalanguagethatisneitheraminorityoramajoritylanguageinthelearningcontext(e.g.,EnglishlearnedinItaly).Learninganotherlanguagesinceaveryearlyagemighthavemanybeneficialeffectsonthechildcognitivedevelopment.Knowing(orsimplybeingexposedtoanotherlanguage)leadstogreatersensitivitytolanguagesandtoabettermetalinguisticawareness:severalstudieshaveshownthatchildrenlearninganotherlanguagebeyondtheirL1demonstrateagreaterabilitytounderstandlanguagestructureanditsinternalfunctioning.Additionally,theyshowabettercompetenceinthemanipulationofsoundsandwordsincomparisonwithmonolinguals.
Accordingtotheliterature,FLlearningisamulti-stagedprocess(Cummins,1989),andthereforeitisimportanttoobserveatwhichstageachildisinhisdevelopmentalprocesswhenproposingaspecificdidacticactivity.
1. Comprehensionperiod.Thelearnerhasa(reduced)receptivevocabulary,s/heisnotabletoproduceanyspokenlanguage,exceptforsomeshortrepetitionofwhats/hehasjustheard.Comprehensionisbasedoncontextualactivities.ThisperiodcanlastseveralmonthsorevenyearsdependingonthequalityandquantityofexposureofthechildtotheFL.Mostofthedidacticactivitiesthatwewillpropose/implementinthecurrentmodulemightallowthelearnertoovercomethisperiodandstartcommunicatinginthenewlanguage.
2. Firstspontaneous(oral)production.Thelearnerhasalittlereceptiveandexpressivevocabularyandcanproducesentencesofatleasttwowords.Childrenmightbeabletoproduceshortsentences,butnotalwaysintheproperway.Didacticmaterialstobeusedinsuchacaseshouldpromoteoralvocabularyandgrammarconsolidationbothincomprehensionandinproduction.
3. Speechemergence.Childrencanproduceshortsentencesandareabletounderstandsimpleinstructionsorshortstories,answerverysimplequestions,repeatand/orcompletesentences.Atthisstageaninterestingdidacticactivitymightinvolveactiveretellingofstoriesusinganotherpointofview.
4. FLfluency:Thelearnercanuseandfullymastercomplexsentencesbothinoralproductionandcomprehension.ItispossiblethatchildrenshowtheabilitytotransferthestrategieslearnedintheirL1tothenewlanguage.Insuchacaseitispossibletoproposetasksthatinvolvetheuseofnarratives.
Tosumup,accordingtotheabove-mentionedprocess,receptiveskillsarealwaysdevelopedbeforeproductioninthelearningprocessofanewlanguage.Forthisreasontheteachershouldavoidtodemandanexcessiveeffortinoralproductionasitcanbefrustratingforthelearner.Furthermore,intheearlyphasesoflearning,itisnecessarytomakeFLlearningassimilaraspossibletotheacquisitionofL1.
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Ingeneralthisperspectivepointstothekeyroleoflinguisticeducationatschooltolearnaforeignlanguage.Itisimportanttonotethatinastructuredlearningsituationsuchasaclassroom,thereisonlyalimitedamountoftimededicatedtotheforeignlanguage.Anotherproblemmightbethatthequalityoftheinputisreduced.Thatis,incontrasttothenaturalisticL2acquisitioncontext,intheFLcontexttheonlylanguagemodelisrepresentedbytheteacher.Thereforethechildisexposedtoalimitedinput.
Additionally, one should also consider that the teacher might be a non-native speaker of the foreignlanguage.However, itmustbeemphasized that communication in theFLwithother learners,producingimperfections in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary cannot reduce the language competence of achild:languageisnotlearnedthroughimitationonly.Thus,learnersarenotlikelyto'imitate'eachother'serrors,sincetheyareengagedintheirownacquisitionprocess.
Thereforetheaimsofthecurrentmoduleare:
● TounderstandchildlanguagedevelopmentintermsoftheirreceptiveandproductiveskillsinaFL;
● TopromotethereceptiveskillsinaFLbasedonsounds,wordsandsentencesoftheFL;
● ToconsolidateproductiveskillsinaFL.
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1.3Communication,culturalandidentitydevelopmentThethirdmoduleisconcernedwithdidacticmethodologiesaimingatfacilitatingcommunicationamongchildren,beyondtheirethnic/cultural/linguisticorigins.Noteindeedthatcommunicationskillsmighthelpinconstructingachild’ssocialidentityinthecommunity.
Thepresenceofmorethanonelanguageinachildimpliesthecoexistenceofmorecultures.Asaconsequence,themultilingualchildwilldevelopamorecomplexidentity.Inaddition,thepresenceofamultilingualchildintheclassroommighthaveanimpactforthewholeclass:realizingthatthesameobjectmightbenamedinadifferentwaybyhis/herclassmatemighthelpchildrentodevelopagreaterlinguisticandmeta-linguisticawareness.Ideally,itwillfurtherhelpchildrentodeveloptheabilitytoseethingsfromadifferentperspectiveandtounderstanddifferentpointsofview.
Therefore,promotingtheL1ofimmigrantchildrenmaybenotonlybeneficialtothedevelopmentoftheirL2,butwillhelpeverychildintheclassroomtoimprovetheirmeta-linguisticskills(forinstance,learningthatwordsarelabelsandvaryacrosslanguages),andtolearnapositiveattitudetowardanylanguagespokeninthegroup.
Therefore,maintenanceoftheminoritylanguage(ornativelanguage)spokenbyachildintheclassroomisimportantforseveralreasons.Ontheonehand,itisfundamentalforthemultilingualchild’sidentityinordertomaintainrelationswithhis/hercountryoforigin;ontheother,itisalsoimportantformonolingualclassmatestobeabletoseethingsfromadifferentperspective,developingtolerancetowardsdifferentviews,ideasandtraditions.
Aimsofthecurrentmodule:
● Tovaluetheculturalaspectsoflinguisticdiversity,highlightingthecontributionofeverysinglestudent(andhis/herculture)intheclassroom;
● Topromotethedifferentcommunicationstylesthatmaybelongtothevariouslanguages/culturesrepresentedintheclassroominordertoavoidcommunicationproblems;
● Toincreasesensitivityaboutdifferentlanguagesamongstudents.
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Phonemicawareness2.1Presentation
Phonemicrepertoiresofdifferentlanguagescanbediverse,intermsofnumberandtypesofphonemes.Forinstance,Englishhas10vowelsand21-24consonants(numbersmayvaryinthedifferentvarietiesofEnglish).Italianhas7vowelsand23consonants.
Despitethesecross-linguisticdifferencesinthesoundsrepertoires,inallthelanguagessincetheverythefirstmonthsoflife,thechildnaturallyandwithouteffortacquiresthenativelanguage,buildingupaphoneticrepertoire,thatisbasedonthemothertongue(assumingthatthechildisexposedonlytoonelanguage).Thismeansthat,whenwelearnournativelanguage,weunconsciouslycategorizethevarietyofperceivedsoundsintoaseriesofcategoriesthatarespecificforacertainlanguage.
Duringthepreschoolyears,thesensitivitythatchildrenstarttodemonstrateforthesoundstructureoflanguageiscalledPhonologicalawareness.Suchabilityinvolvesthecompetencetodetectandmanipulatesoundsinspokenlanguagewhileseparatingthemfrommeaning(i.e.,ifachildisawareofthefactthatthewordcaterpillarislongerthanthewordtrain,onemightbeconfidentthats/heisabletodistinguishawordfromitsmeaning).Therefore,childrenwhocandetectandmanipulatesoundsinspeecharephonologicallycompetent.
Phonologicalawarenessappearstobeparticularlycrucialwithrespecttoreadingandwritingacquisition.Indeed,childrenwhoareunawarethatspeechismadeupofsmallsounds,havedifficultiesinlearningtoread.Theabilityofachildtoreflectonlanguageitself,specificallythesoundsoflanguage,supportsthechild’slearningofthewrittencode.
Forthisreasontrainingphonemicawarenessduringthepreschoolyearsplaysakeyroleineducation,assuchabilityisrelatedtolatersuccessinreadingandwriting.
2.2Descriptionoftheactivities
Soundsdetection
Useacomputertoplaysomeofthesoundssuchas:Telephone,applause,cat.Makeorplaythesesoundsandletthechildrenlisten.Thenteachthechildtoraisehishandswhentheyhearonlyaspecificsound(forinstancealarm).
Playtherelevantsound;childrenshouldraisetheirhands.Nowintroduceanothersound(forinstancetelephoneringing).Whenchildrenhearthatsound,childrenshouldputtheirhandsdown.
Childraiseshis/herhandwhileaspecificsoundisplayed,whiles/heputshis/herhandsdownifanothersoundisplayed.Thisintroduceshim/hertothepracticeofnoticingaparticularsoundanddiscriminateitfromanothersimilarsound.
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Useacoupleofclearsounds(ormore,dependingontheageofthechildren)untilthechildhasmasteredtheactivity.Insteadofhandsraising,childrenmightbeinvolvedindifferentmovementssuchastouchingtheirnose,shakingtheirfoot,etc.(itshouldbeaplayfulactivity).Importantly,recallthattheaimisthatchildrenshouldbeabletodiscriminatebetweentwo(ormore)similarsounds,asdenotedbytheirbehavioralresponse.
Phonemedetection
Asimilaractivitythatmightbemorelinguistically-trickyconsistsinplayingothertypesofsounds,namelylinguisticsounds,thatdifferwithrespecttoaspecificphoneticdifference(forexample,placeofarticulationorvoicing).Todoso,itisimportanttofindineachlanguageasetof“minimalpairswords”.Whatisaminimalpair?Inphonology,minimalpairsarepairsofwordsthatdifferinonlyonephonologicalelement,aphoneme,andhavedistinctmeanings.Forexample,inEnglishthereareminimalpairsofwordsbasedonthealternationp-b:
pigbig
pathbath
pugbug
Now,youcanapplythesounddetectiongametothisnewsetofstimuli(forinstance:“Raiseyourhandswhenyouhearawordstartingwithp”).
Note:youcanexpandsuchtaskinmanyotherways.Forinstance,youcanaskchildrentoreproduce/imitatethewordbeforetheyraise(ornot)theirhands.Oryoucanteachchildrentoprovideadifferentbehavioralresponse(clappingtheirhandsorstandup)withrespecttodifferentsounds.Recalltheaimmustbethatchildrenelaboratelinguisticsoundsinacompetentwayanddemonstratetotheteachertheyareabletodiscriminatethem.Tofindtherelevantphonemesofagivenlanguageyoucanconsultbooksforteachingthegivenlanguage(forexample,Frenchphonemes).
Thinkofasoundthatisparticularlydifficultinalanguage(forinstance,thatisacquiredlatealongthecourseofdevelopment).Thinkabouthowyourstudentscoulddiscriminateasoundfromotherpotentiallysimilarsoundsinalanguage.
NotethatthesameactivitycanbeappliedtoFLclassestoo.Forinstance,hereitisacomprehensivelistsofminimalpairssoundsthatcanbeusedtoorganizeFLclassesinEnglish:
https://www.speech-language-therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=134:mp2&catid=9:resources&Itemid=108
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A.PhonologicalAwarenessinL1(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofSlovenia)
Ageandgroup:
4-6yearsold(4upto8children)
Description:
Wordslength:Teacherusesasetofdifferentpicturesdepictingaseriesofwordsofdifferentlengthandsayseachwordaloud.Childrenshowinbehavioralways(jumping;clappinghands)ifthewordislongorshort.Examples:childrenshowthelengthofawordwiththeirhands;childrenshowthelengthofawordbyjumping(theyjumpasfarastheythinkthewordislong);
Childrenshowthelengthofawordbychoosingdifferentobjects;theyhavealongandashortobjectinfrontoftheme.g.ribbons,toysnakes,strings,toytrainsetc.andtheychoosetheappropriateone.
4–6yearsoldmightbefurtheraskedtoshowthelengthoftheirnameswithstringandribbons.
RecognizingrhymingwordsinaFL(English):Teacherusesasetofpicturesthatchildrenhavelearntbefore,forexamplewordsforcolours.Childrensitinacircleandteacherputsthepicturesinthemiddleofthecircle.Teachergivesoneortwoexamplesforrhymingwords(e.g.HEAD–RED,HELLO–YELLOW).Thenteachersaysawordandaskschildrentofindarhymingcolour(QUEEN–GREEN,JACK–BLACK,NIGHT–WHITE,TRUE–BLUE).
DetectingthenumberofsyllablesinL1andinaFL(English):Teacherusesasetofdifferentpicturesandpronounceseachwordaloud.Whenteachersayseachwords/healsoshowsanumberofsyllablesbyclappinghands(wecanalsostompthefeet,klickfingers,jumpetc.).Thenteacheruses3pictureswithone,twoorthreedotsandputsthemonthefloor.Childrensaythewords,showthenumberofsyllablesandputthepicturesnexttotherightnumberofdots.
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B:Playingwithanimalsoundstoincreaselinguisticawareness(proposedbyteachers/educatorsduringtheLTTAmeetinginPiacenza).
Ageandgroup:
4-6yearsold(4upto8children)
Description:Insteadofplayingwords,orotherlinguisticstrings,showtochildrenavideoreproducingdifferentlanguagesversionsofanimalsounds.Childrenheardifferentlanguageversionsofanimalsounds.Childrenwillbemadeawareofthedifferentwaysthatlanguagesusetorepresentanimalsounds(forexample,thedog’ssoundinItalianisBAUBAU,inFinnishHAUHAU,inEnglishWOOFandWANGinChinese).Furthermore,childrenmightbeabletoprovideabehavioralresponse(clappinghandsorjumping)whensimilarlanguagesoundsareplayed(e.g.,thedog’ssoundinFinnishandItalianaresimilarbutnotinEnglishorChinese).Immigrantchildrenmightbeaskedtotellthesoundsanimalsmakeintheirownlanguages,andasktheirclassmatestorepeatthem.Thisactivitymightbecomeanopportunityfortheteacher/educatortotalkaboutthedifferentwayslanguagesusetoexpressthesamecontent,andthereforetowidenlinguisticawarenessinchildren.
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3.Narratives3.1Introduction
Narrativesarecommonacrossdifferentcontexts,cultures,andtimes.Narrativescanbeseenasameantoconveyculturallysignificantinformationsincetheveryfirstyearsoflife.Accordingtotheliterature,childrenhavesomenotionofwhatastoryisbytheageof3.Giventheirfrequency,narrativesprovideanexcellentwaytopromotechildren’sspontaneouslanguage,andreflectdistinctivestructuralandlinguisticchangesthroughcultures.Thus,narrativesprovideanadvantageouswayforpromoting,evaluatingmultipleaspectsoflinguisticdevelopmentinmonolingualchildrennotonlyintheirL1,butalsoinaFLorintheirL2.
Linguistically,producingastoryinvolveslexicallyencodinginformationabouttheevents,theirtemporalrelations,aboutthecharacters,theirgoals,theirmentalstates.Additionally,childrenmustmakeinferencestolinkevents,tolinkcharacters.Finally,tellingastoryisasocialactivity,thatplacesthenarrator(anadultorachild)inrelationtoitsaudience(childrenorotherpeers).Beyondthemacro-structuresaspectsofwhichwehavejusttalked,narratingastoryinvolvesmicro-structuresaspectsthathavetodowiththespeciflinguisticstructuresused(simplesentences,subordinantingclauses,sentenceswithpronouns).
Numerousresearchershaveexploitedthemethodologyofnarrativeselicitation/productiontoevaluateorpromotechildlanguage.Inthisdidacticmethodologywepresentawellknowntaskthathasbeenusedintheliteraturetoproduceanarrativeelicitedbyastorymadeupofaseriesofpictures:theFrogStory(Mayer,1969).
3.2DescriptionoftheactivitiesThepicturebook“theFrogStory”containsnowordsandprovidesarichcontextforlanguageproduction.Inadditiontotheseriesofevents,thistaskrequireschildrentomakeinferencesaboutcharacters’relationships,thoughts,feelings,andmotivationsthroughoutthestory.
Educator:“Hereisastoryaboutaboy,afrogandadog.Iwantyoutofirstlookthroughthepictures,andthenIwantyoutellmethestoryasyoulookthroughthemagain.”
First,chooseastoryandcreateaseriesofpicturesforeachcharacter,event,etc.init(youcanalsoaskchildrentohelpyoutodothat).AskchildrentogothroughthepicturesandthentotellthestorytotheirclassmatesintheirL1,L2oreveninFL(dependingonhowwellchildrenappeartomasterthelanguage).Therearetwowaystoproceedforthechildtotellthestory.Whilesheisnarratingshehaseachpictureinfrontofherandpicturesarechangesasthestorycontinues.Alternatively,whenthechildistellingthestoryshedoesnotseethepicturesanylonger.Inthefirstcase,thechildmaytendtodescribeeachpicturesasasingleevent,andnotaspartofthestory.Inthesecondcase,thechildmightrepeatthegistofthestorybutnotremembereverything.Thissecondprocedurecanbeenhancedbyselectingshortstories.
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Selectcarefullythestory.Incooperationwithmultilingualchildren(andparents),theteachermightalsousestoriesoftheircountryoforiginandproposethemtothewholeclassroom.Again,createpicturesbasedonthemaineventsandcharactersofthestoryandaskchildrentoproduceacoherentnarrative.
A)NarrativesinaFL:theGingerbreadMan(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofCzechRepublic)
Ageandgroup:
4-6yearsold(upto12children)
Description:TheactivitytakesplaceinEnglish.Teacherintroducesastorybyshowingthepicturesreportedonthebook.Adrawingofthemaincharactersisthenpresentedtothechildren.Childrenareaskedtodrawagaincharactersofthestory.Thentheteacherreadsthestory.Childrenshowthepicturesofthecharacterstheymadewhentheyarementionedinthestory.Thenchildrenhavetore-tellthestory.
B)Narrativesinabilingualcontext(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofSweden)
Ageandgroup:
2to6yearsold(upto6children;dependingonthecomplexityofthestory)
Description:Theteachershowsthepicturesofastoryanddescribesthemusingthemajoritylanguage(languageofinstruction;i.e.,Swedish).Thestoryistoldfollowingthesequenceofthepictures.Thentheteacherasksthe(bi-,multi-lingual)childrentotellthesamestoryinanotherlanguage(i.e.,Finnish)basedoneachsinglepicture.Namely,eacheventneedstobetranslatedintheotherlanguagesequencebysequence.Childwillcontributewiththevocabularytheyknow.TheteachercansupportthemconnectingthewordstheyknowintheL2(Finnish).
Advise:Theexercisedoesn'thavetohappenstraightaway:childrencanstartbylookingatonepictureanddescribingitfirstinthemajoritylanguagetheninanL2,andthengraduallyconcludethestorytelling.
Reference:
Mayer,M.(1969).Frog,whereareyou?.NewYork:DialPress.
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4.ColoringTask4.1Introduction
AccordingtothemostrecentliteratureonchildcomprehensiontheColoringBookmethod(Zuckermanetal.,2016),orshortlytheColoringTask,appearstobethemostsensitivewayandthemoreappropriatetoolfortheinvestigationoflanguagecomprehensioninpreschoolchildren.Inthistaskchildrenareaskedtocoloranelementinthepicture.However,incontrasttothemosttraditionalcoloringtask,inthismethodology,childrenareforcedtomakealinguisticdecisiontocoloronlyaspecificelementinthepicture,accordingtotheirunderstandingofagivensentence.TheColoringTaskmethodisbasedonasimpleidea:childrenwillshowtheirabilitytounderstandaspecificsentence/word/etc.bycoloringspecificitemsonapicture.
4.2DescriptionoftheactivitiesThetaskconsistsoflisteningtoasentencecontainingforinstanceaspecificverbalexpression,oracomplexsyntacticstructure.Thentheteachersprovidesadditionalinstructionsabouthowtocolorthepicture.Eachpictureisdevisedinsuchawaythatitcontainsseveraluncoloredcharacters.Lookingwhichcharacterthechildcolors(andwhetherwiththecorrectorwrongcolor)willofferanideaabouthis/herunderstandingoftheverbalinputascloseaspossibleacommunicativesituationinreallife.
Example:
“Pleasecolorthedrawinginsuchawaythattheredballerinaisliftingthegreenballerinaup”or“Pleasecolorthedrawinginsuchawaythattheredballerinaisbeinglifted”.
“Pleasecolorthedrawinginsuchawaythatagreenmonkeyissittingonastone,andabluemonkeyisscratchinghimself”.
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“Pleasecolorthedrawinginsuchawaythatthereisaboatpassingby.Itsflagisred.”
A)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancevocabularyinL1(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy)
Ageandgroup:
4to5yearsold(upto7children)
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(creditsAlessandraRepetti)
Description:Theteachershowstheimagereproducedabove.Thentheteacheraskstocolorthedogbrown,foxred,fishesgreenandwaterblue.Childrenwerealreadyawareofthewords(colorsandnames)used.
B)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancecomprehensioninaFL(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy)
Ageandgroup:
4to5yearsold(upto7children)
Description:Theteachershowstheimagereproducedbelow.Thentheteacheraskstocolorthebiggerstatueredandthesmalleronegreen.Ingeneralallactivitiesarebasedontheuseofcomparatives(bigger/smaller,etc.)thathavebeenpreviouslyintroducedtochildren.
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(CreditsAlessandraRepetti;Bonomini,A.2014)
C)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancevocabularygrowthinaFLEnglish(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofLatvia)
Ageandgroup:
4to6yearsold(upto10children)
Description:Theteacherdictatestheseriesofsentencesreproducedbelow.Thenthechildhastodrawandthencolortheelementsproposedbytheteacherintheproperway.For6-year-oldstheteacherproposednotonlytheoralversionoftheinstructions,butexposedchildrentothewrittenversionofthesentences(i.e.,childrensawthewordTREE;GREEN;SUN;YELLOW;CAT;etc.).Thesamewordswerealsopronouncedoutloudbytheteacher.
• Drawatalltree.• Colouritgreen.• Itisasunnyday.Drawthesun.Colourityellow.
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• Drawacatunderthetree.Thecatisbrown.Thecathasgotgreeneyes.
D)UsingcoloringtasktoenhancevocabularyandspatialrelationcomprehensioninaFLEnglish(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPoland)
Ageandgroup:2to6yearsold(upto10children;dependingonthecomplexityofthetask)
Description:Theteacherpronouncesaseriesofsentencesreproducedbelowandthenprovidethechildwiththepicturesdisplayedbelow.Thechildhastodrawandthencolortheelementsintheproperway.Listenandcolor:
• abrownteddybearissitting• aredteddybearisdancing• theteddybearonyourlefthasyelloweyes
Listenandcolortheface:
• earsaregreen• eyesareblue• noseisorange• mouthispink• hairisred
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ListenandColor:● thesecondleafcountingfromtheleftside● thethirdleaffromtherightside
Reference:
Zuckerman,S.,Pinto,M.,Koutamanis,E.,vanSpijk,Y.(2016).ANewMethodforTestingLanguageComprehensionRevealsBetterPerformanceonPassiveandPrincipleBConstructions.BUCLD40:Proceedingsofthe40thannualBostonUniversityConferenceonLanguageDevelopment.
Bonomini,A.(2014).Piacenzaanasoinsuequalchevoltaingiù.Guidaillustrataperbambinienonsolo.Piacenza:OfficineGutenberg.
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5.Sentencerepetition5.1Introduction
Sentencerepetition
Accordingtotheliterature,elicitedsentencerepetitionisthemostreliablepsycholinguisticmarkerfordetectinglanguageimpairment(Conti-Ramsdenetal.2001).Inaddition,itisaveryeasytaskbecauseitsimplyrequirestocreateasetofshortsentences(“thecatiseating”)associatedifpossiblewithrelatedpictures.Intheshortsentences,itisimportanttousewordsthatmaygraduallybecomemorecomplex,thatis,itisimportanttoprovidechildrenwithanadequate,butnottoocomplex,input.Itisimportanttokeepundercontrolthelengthofsentencesintermsofsyllables;forexample,onemaystartwithsentenceswith10syllablesandthenincreaselengthsandcomplexityofsentences.TherearesentencesrepetitiontaskavailablefromfundedEuropeanprojectsuchasCostAction(Gavarrò,2017).Thetaskofthechildistolistentothesentenceandtorepeatit.
Sentencestructureelicitation
Asforsentencestructure,onecantransfermethodsusedforresearchtoeducationalpractices.Anelicitedproductionmethodconsistsinaskingchildrentoproducespecifickindofsentencesoncethistypeofstructurehasbeenjustintroducedtothechild.Again,oneneedstocreateaseriesofdrawingsthatmaketheuseofagiventypeofsentenceappropriateinthecontext.Forexample,ifwewantachildtoproduceaquestion,weneedtoshowher/himapicture,withtwocharacters,oneofwhichishiddenasinGuasti,BranchiniandArosio’sTask(2012).
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Educator:Thefairyispullingsomeonepointingtotheellipsis.Askthepuppetwho(isgettingpulledvs.thefairyispulling)?”.Thenthechildhastoproduceaquestionaddressedtothepuppettofindoutwhichelementisgettingpulledoristhefairypulling.
Anadditionalwaytotrainspeakerstousespecificstructuresthatwewantthemtouse/learn(actives/passives;dativestructures;fullnouns/pronouns;etc.)hasbeenproposedbyMessenger,BraniganandMcLean(2011).
5.2DescriptionoftheactivitiesWeprovideanumberofexamplesaboutsentencerepetitiondrawnfromGardneretal.(2007).Theauthorscreated16sentences.Theseassessedtensemarking(past,future)asin“Thecatwantedsome
milk”
phrasalembedding:‘thecatwiththebellishappy’
dativeconstruction‘Thedoggivesthecatthemilk’
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Exampleofhowtointroducethetaskbyusingapuppet:
Educator:ThisisBik.Heonlyunderstandswhenchildrenspeaktohim,andhewouldliketohearthestorytoo.So,whenIsaysomething,yousayittoBik.ListenreallycarefullyandmakesureyousayeverythingtoBikjustthesameasIsaytoyou.Okay?Let’sPractice.
Thenthechildhastorepeatthesentence.
Notethatthechoiceofthesentencesmustbebasedonthespecificlanguageofeachpartner.Additionallycarefulcontrolvocabularyitemsthatmustbeemployed:allwordsmusthaveanearlyageofacquisition(forinstancecat,dog,milk)andbefamiliartochildrenregardlessoftheirsocioeconomicorculturalstatus.
Regardingtheimplementationofthesentencestructureelicitationtask,teachersmightproposeitasaclassroomactivitynotonlywithmonolingualchildren(topromotetheacquisitionofcomplexstructuresoftheirL1),butalsowithmultilingualchildrentoimprovetheirsyntacticcompetenceonspecificsyntacticstructuresinthemajoritylanguage.
ThechildwillbepromptedtoproduceshortsentencesintheirL1afterhearingadescriptioninvolvingaspecificsyntacticstructureproducedbytheteacher.Todoso,childrenneedtocomprehendwhattheteacherissayingandcontinuouslyinteractwithhim/her,byprovidinganotherdescriptionofanotherpicture.
Theteacher/experimenterhasasetsofpicture/cardsinvolvinghand-drawingsillustratingevents(forexample,motherwashingboy,bearchasingamouse,cowkickingcat).Theteachershowstothechildrenthefirstcarddescribingitwithacertainstructure(forexample,ashortpassive)andasksachildtodescribeoutloudthesecondcard.
ExamplesfromMessengeretal.,2011:
Educator:Thesheepisshockingthegirl(activesentence)
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OR
Educator:Thegirlsarebeingshocked(shortpassive)
Thechildhastodescribethefollowingpicture(thetigerisscratchingthekingorthekingisbeingscratched).
Thechoiceofaspecificsyntacticstructuremaydependonthegoalsoftheteachingactivities,aswellasonthespecificlanguageused.
Thisdidacticmaterialwillallowchildrentoacquireabetterknowledgeofthedifferentsyntacticstructuresofalanguage.Childrenmighteventuallybecomemoreawareaboutastructure,whichismorecomplex
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andlessused.Additionally,thecurrentactivitywillimprovechild’ssyntacticcompetencebyallowinghim/hertousesomestructuresthatarerareanddifficult.
A)SentencerepetitiontoenhancevocabularyinaFL(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy)
Ageandgroup:
2to5yearsold(upto9children)
Description:AtthebeginningofeachlessontheEnglishteacherproposesthe'hellosong'.Childrenrepeat'Hellohello,what'syourname?'andtheyanswerbysinging'Myname's....'andeveryonescreamshis/hername.Allthechildrenparticipateandrecognizethissongduringtheinitialgreeting.
Alternatively,theteachershowstheshapeofanemptyface.Childrenhavetopasteonthefacethevariouselements(eyes,nose,mouth,etc.);wheneverachildisaskedtochoosewhattopaste,theteacherpronouncesthesentence'Bobhas...'andasksthechildtorepeatitbyaddingthatelementtotheface.
B)LanguageabilitiesscreeninginL1(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofUniversityofMilano-Bicocca,Italy)
Ageandgroup:
2to5yearsold(possibly1-2childrenorverysmallgroups)
Description:Theteacherreadsthefollowingsentencesandforeachofthemshowsapicture.Childrenhavetorepeatexactlythesamewordstheteacherhaspronounced.ThedidacticmaterialwerepreparedinItalianandtapsintoaseriesofkeyelementsforthemorpho-syntacticdevelopment,namely(clitic)pronouns,passivesandsubjectrelativeclauses.Alltheseelements,andinparticulartheproductionandrepetitionofcliticpronouns,areregardedinthepsycholinguisticliteratureasclinicalmarkersofacriticallanguagedelay(Bortolinietal.,2006).
Sentencestobepronouncedoutloudbytheteacher:
1)“Ilbambinolatocca”(Literaltranslation:Thechild(IT)touches),whileshowingthefollowingpictures.
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2)“Ilcaneèlavatodalbambino”(Literaltranslation:Thedogisbeingwashedbytheboy).
3)“Ilbambinochebeveillatteèpiccolo”(Literaltranslation:Thechildthatisdrinkingmilkislittle).
Reference:
Bortolini,U.,Arfé,B.,Caselli,C.,Degasperi,L.,Deevy,P.andLeonard,L.B.(2006).ClinicalmarkerforspecificlanguageimpairmentinItalian:Thecontributionofcliticsandnon-wordrepetition.InternationalJournalofLanguageandCommunicationDisorders,41,695–712.
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Gardner,H.,Froud,K.,McClelland,A.,vanderLely,H.K.(2006).DevelopmentoftheGrammarandPhonologyScreening(GAPS)testtoassesskeymarkersofspecificlanguageandliteracydifficultiesinyoungchildren.InternationalJournalofLanguageandCommunicationDisorders,41,513-540.
Gavarró,A.(2017).ASentenceRepetitionTaskforCatalan-speakingtypically-developingchildrenandchildrenwithSpecificLanguageImpairment.FrontiersinPsychology,8:1865.
Guasti,M.T.,Branchini,C.,&Arosio,F.(2012).InterferenceintheproductionofItaliansubjectandobjectwh-questions.AppliedPsycholinguistics,33,185-223.
Messenger,K.,Branigan,H.P.,McLean,J.F.(2011).Evidencefor(shared)abstractstructureunderlyingchildren'sshortandfullpassives.Cognition,121,268-74.
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6.PerspectiveShift6.1Introduction
Whenchildrenlistentoanarrative,theyadopttheperspectiveoftheprincipalprotagonistandcontinuetoadheretothisspecificpointofviewtoretellthestory(Rall&Harris,2000).Thisisacommonaspectthatdemonstrateschild’scapacitytoadopttheperspectiveofthemaincharacterwithinastory.Incontrast,beingabletomentallyshifttotheperspectivetoanotherimaginedcharacterinthestoryisahighlyevolvedcapacitythatmightdevelopduringthepreschoolyears,butthatcouldbepartiallymissingatthisstageofdevelopment.
Itisthoughtthatchildrenaremorelikelytoshifttheirperspectiveandrecallthestoryfromthepointofviewofthecharacterthatseemsgood,or“closer”tothechild,becausethe“good”characterismorelikelytobethemainprotagonist.
Therefore,promotingtheexercisetoretellthestoryfromtheperspectiveofanothercharacter(maybethemostdifferentevenfromaculturalpointofview)mightofferthechildthechancetoundertakeanimaginativeshiftinthementalconstructionofthestory.
6.2DescriptionoftheactivitiesWeprovidebelowanexamplebasedonaseriesofpopularEnglishstoriesforpreschoolers.
InthecurrentmethodologyweproposetostartfromanarrativeinyourL1orL2,orinaFL.
Seeforexample:WhereareyoublueKangaroo?
(https://www.worldbookday.com/videos/where-are-you-blue-kangeroo/)
Tellthestorytothechild(whereareyoublueKangaroo?).Thenaskthechildtoretellthestoryfromthepointofviewofanothercharacterofthestory(e.g.,theblueKangaroo).
Thismethodologymightbeappliedinthemultilingualclassroomtoo.Indeed,bychoosinganappropriatestory,wemightaskchildrentoretellitbyadoptingthepointofviewofthecharacterthatismostdifferentfromthesocialandculturalperspectiveofthechild.
A)PerspectiveshiftinaFL:KittenandPuppymadeacake(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofCzechRepublic)
Ageandgroup:
4to5yearsold(upto8-9children)
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Description:AstheactivitywaspresentedinaFL(English),therewasapre-listeningphasewherechildrenwereexposedtotherelevantvocabularyforthestoryinordertohelpthemunderstandthenewwords.Pre-listeningphase:giventhefactthatthestorywasaboutfood,theteacheruseda“magic”boxwithallthefoodthatwaspresentedtochildren.Childrencouldsmell,touchandhearwhatkindofsoundthefoodmadeinsidetheboxwhentheteacherwasshakingitandtheyhadtoguesswhatwasinside.
Listeningphase:theteachertoldthestoryandshowedupthemaincharacters(Kitten,Puppy,Bear)andrelatedvocabulary.
Post-listeningphase:attheendofthestorychildrenweredividedintogroupsofthree(eachofthemplayingtheroleofKitten,Puppy,Bearrespectively)andweregivenapieceofpaperwithatemplateofabowl(seepicturebelow).Theyhadtodraw4piecesoffoodthateachcharacterputinthecakeaccordingtothestory.Thatis,theywereaskedtorecallthefoodthatwasputinthecakeaccordingtothestoryfromthepointofviewofaspecificcharacter.Thentheyhadtodrawit(seepicturebelow).
Then,alltogetherchildrensharedthepicturesandtoldotherswhatfoodtheydrewintheirbowls.
Reference
Rall,J.,&Harris,P.L.(2000).InCinderella’sslippers?Storycomprehensionfromtheprotagonist’spointofview.DevelopmentalPsychology,36,202–208.
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7.Enhancingvocabularyskills7.1Introduction
Namingproductiontask
Namingcanbereferredtoastheabilitytoapplyalabeltotheelementsintheworld.Childrenmighthavemanylabelstonamethingsaroundthem,butinsomecasestheirabilitytorecallandproducetheselabelmightbeincorrect.
Sometimesnamingmightbeinaccuratebecausethephonologicalinformationthatchildrenhavestoredaboutwordsisunderspecified(incompleteand/orindistinct)makingnameproductiondifficultevenwhenthenameisknown,thatisitisrecognizable.Forthisreasonnamingproductionisacriticalskilltobetrainedduringthepreschoolyears.
Childrenwhohaveareducedvocabularyinalanguageorpoorverbalskillsmighthavefewerwordsrepresentedintheirmentallexicon.Forinstance,theymightbelessabletoproducethenameofapicturedstimulus,oreventorecognizeandrepeatawordtheyhavejustheard.
Additionally,recallthatlongwords,withrespecttoshortones,requiremorephonologicalfeaturestobestoredandthustheirrepresentationswouldbemorelikelytobeincomplete,fuzzyorinaccuratethanthoseforshorterwords.Similarly,lessfrequentwordshavebeenheardlessoften,soifchildrenrequiremoreexperiencetoestablishsolidphonologicalrepresentations,theselexicalentrieswouldbemorelikelytobepoorlyspecifiedanddifficulttoproduce.
7.2DescriptionoftheactivitiesInthecurrentdidacticmethodologyweproposetocreateastimulussetofwordsincluding:
● shortandlongwordsinyourlanguage(whatdoesitmeantobeashortandlongwords?Lookatnumberofsyllablesandnumberofphonemes);
● highandlow-frequencywordsinyourlanguage(whatdoesitmeantobehighandlow-frequencywords?Usuallyhigh-frequencywordsareverycommonandfamiliarwords,thataregenerallyfoundinchild-directedspeech;low-frequencywordsarelessusedwordsthatdonotbelongtotheeverydaylifeofthechild);
Youneedtouseapuppet(andasetofpicturesrepresentingobjectsoranimals,ifyouthinkitisnecessary).
Childrenaretoldthatthepuppethaslearnedabunchofnewwords,buthaslearnedthemfromsomeonewhosaidtheminanincorrectway.Childrenareaskedtoteachthepuppettopronouncethewordintherightway.
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Foreachword,afterthepuppethasproducedthestimulusincorrectlytwice,thechild:
1)imitatesthepuppetexactlythewayitsaidit;
2)saysthewordtherightway.
Theteacherwilltakeintoaccountwhetherthechildcorrectlyimitatesthestringofsoundsproducedbythepuppet;identifiestherightwordtobepronounced;correctsit.
HereitisanexampleofthematerialsdevelopedbyFawlerandSwainson(2004).Parrotrenditionreferstotheincorrectpronunciationofthepuppet(parrotintheirstudy).
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A)EnhancingvocabularyinL1,inaFLorinthemajoritylanguageformultilingualchildren(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofPiacenza,Italy)
Ageandgroup:
2to5yearsold,dependingonthecomplexityoftheverbalmaterial(upto7children)
Description:
Psychologicalvocabulary(emotions):Theteacherproposesaseriesofflashcardsrelatedtoemotions.Theteachershowstheflashcardsandrepeatsthreetimesthewordcorrespondingtotheemotionshown.Thenshetellseachchildanemotionandaskshim/hertotouchthecorrespondingflashcard.
Alternatively,theteachershowsapuppetandrepresentsthroughthepuppetthevariousemotions,saying“Sometimesthepuppetishappy”,“Sometimesthepuppetissad”,etc.Thensheaskseachchildtoattributeanemotiontothepuppet.“Thepuppetis...”,thechildchoosesandtellstheemotion,theteachershows,throughthepuppet,thatemotion.
Colors:Theteachershowssomecoloredballsandtellsthechildrenwhatcolortheyare.Thenshetakesaballandshowsittoeachchildasking,inEnglish,“Whatcoloristhis?”.Whenthechildsaysthecorrectcolorreceivestheballandthenthechildreturnsitagaintotheteacher.
Alternatively,theteachershowsacanvasbagfullofcoloredballs;inturnsheaskseachchildtodrawonewithoutlookingand,whentheyextractit,shesaysthenameofthecolor.Whentheballextractedisred,theteachershouts“BOOM”,whileforalltheotherssherepeatsthenameofthecolorandcaressestheball.
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Anotherproposal:theteacherspillsalargebagofballsintheclassroom,sheasksthechildrentolookforandfindtheballsofacertaincolorandtoputonlythoseinthebag,oneattime.Thefirsttimethecolorischosenbytheteacher,thenchildrenareexpectedtochooseacolor.
Vocabularyaboutfruitsandvegetables:Theteachershowssomeflashcardsdepictingfruitsandvegetables.Sheplacesthemupsidedownonthetable/carpet,thensheaskseachchildtoturnaflashcardandsaywhathe/shefound.Oncealltheflashcardsarediscovered,theteachertakesabagcontainingfruitsandvegetables.Thensheaskseachchildtodrawanobjectfromthebag,saywhathe/shehasfoundandplaceitonthecorrespondingflashcard.
Alternatively,theteachershowsthechildrenapuppetandtellsthemthatheishungry.Thens/heshowsaseriesofplasticfruitandnamesthemonebyonerepeatingthewordthreetimes.Thensheaskseachchildwhatfruittheywanttomakethepuppettoeatandinvitethemtousethequestion“Doyoulike…?.Thepuppetreplies“Ilike…,thankyou”.
Theteachershowsthepuppettheflashcardsorobjectsrelatedtothewordsalreadyknownbythechildren(emotions,colors,fruits,faceparts)andthensheasksthepuppettopronouncetheword.Thepuppetpronouncesthewordincorrectly,soitispossibletocheckifthechild(evenamultilingualchildwhoseL1isnotthemajoritylanguages)isabletorecognizetheerrorandcorrectit.
Reference:
Fowler,A.E.,Swainson,B.(2004).Relationshipsofnamingskillstoreading,memory,andreceptivevocabulary:evidenceforimprecisephonologicalrepresentationsofwordsbypoorreaders.AnnalsofDyslexia,54,247-80.
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8.Translanguaging8.1Introduction
AccordingtoKulltiandcolleagues(Kultti&Pramling,2016,2017)thathavedevelopedthenotionof“translanguaging”intheeducationalpractice,thisconceptreferstotheuseofthetwolanguages(forinstance,themajoritylanguageandEnglish)incommunicationandmeta-communicationduringatranslationactivitywithinearlychildhoodeducation.
Intheirstudies,childrenfirstlistentoasong,then,supportedbytheteachertheyarechallengedtocollaborativelytranslatethelyricsinanotherlanguage.Oncechildrenhavelistenedtotheentiresong,theteachersandchildrenstarttalkingabouthowtotranslatethelyrics,onephraseatatime.Bydoingso,childrenareforcedtoreflectaboutimportantaspectsrelatedtotheinternalstructureofthelanguagesuchasthearbitraryuseofwordsinalyrics,thedifferencebetweenliteralandfigurativelanguageacrosslanguages.
Alternatively,insteadoftranslatingthesong,teacherscouldsimplyletchildrenlistentothesame(popular)songintheirL1(forexampleSwedish)andtheninanotherlanguage(forinstanceEnglishorFinnish).Insuchacase,bynoticingthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweendifferent-languageversionsofpopularsongs,childrenwillbecomeawareofthefactthatthesamesongmightbeverballydifferentacrosslanguages.
8.2DescriptionoftheactivitiesSuchmethodologyoffersmanypossibleimplementations.
First,ifoneusesitasatranslationtask(onesentenceattime)itmightenhancechildren’scompetencenotonlyintheirL1(dependingontheverbalcontentofthesongtheteacherwillchoose),butcruciallyinaFLorintheirL2too.
Second,itmightbeappliedtothemultilingualclassroomcontexttoo.Indeedonemightaskamultilingualpupil(andtheirparents)topresenta(popular)songintheirmothertongue,andthentranslateitinthemajoritylanguage.Childrenwillbecomeawareofexistinglanguages,andagain,canhaveanotherglanceofthefactthatthesamesongmightconveyadifferentmeaningdependingonthewordshavebeenusedcross-linguistically.
Example:
“FrereJacques”songinalltheworld’slanguages:
http://demonsaumonde.free.fr/frere.jacques/
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A)Improvingtranslanguagingabilitiesinthemultilingualclassroom(proposedbyECECteachersandeducatorsofSweden)
Ageandgroup:
1to5yearsold.Initiallystartwithasmallgroup(2-3children).Asmallgroupofchildrenwillmakeitpossibletoincludeandengagealllater.Asforchild’sageincludechildrenwhouseverballanguage(laterontheactivitycanbedoneinagroupwithchildrenlearningtospeak).
Description:
Initiallyusetwolanguages(addonemorelateron,iftheactivityworkedwell).Itisimportanttofindachild’ssongthathastwoversions.Teacherswithasmallgroupofchildrenfirstlistentoasongintwolanguages.Whenlisteningandsingingthesong,watchamusicvideowithillustrationsofthesong(YouTube).Theseillustrationswillhelpthechildrentoparticipateintheactivity.Thesecanalsobeusedtodiscusspossibledifferencesaboutwordsusedinthesongandtheimagesusedintheclip.Watchandlistentothesonginbothlanguages.Collaborativelytranslatepartsofthelyricsthatarecriticalinlearninganewlanguage(forexample,aFLlanguage).Thechildmustbeanactiveparticipant,scaffoldedbytheteacher.Itisimportanttoaskquestionstochildren,whereastheteachermighttrytoavoidthemonologue.
Theteacherhastoattendtosimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweendifferent-languageversionsofthesong/illustrationsintermsofmeta-communication(talkingaboutlanguages).Itisfurtherimportanttoscaffoldchildreninordertobeawareofthefactthatthesamesongisdifferentindifferentlanguages.Additionally,witholderchildren,itisimportanttohelpthemtorealizethetransformativenatureoftranslation(changeinmeaningwhensomethingistranslatedfromonelanguagetoanother).Payattentiontothewaychildrenexplainaword/conceptorproposeawordsoundingsimilar,whenencounteringanewword/concept.
Alternatively,childrenlistentoasonginthemajoritylanguage.Afterthat,thesonghastobetranslatedbytheteachertoEnglish.Theteacherintroducesandengagesthechildreninpracticessuchas:repeatingversesinEnglishandinthemajoritylanguage;reformulating/rephrasinginmorecommonterms(“So”:).Theteacheralsochallengesthechildrenbyaskingdifferentkindsofquestions,suchas:“Whatdoesthatmean?”,“howcanyousaythatinEnglish?”,“Whatcoulditmean?”,“Arethereanyotherwordsthatyoucanusetosaythat…”,“Howwouldyoudescribe…inEnglish?”,and“Howwouldyoudescribeifyouarenotallowedtosaytheword…”.Theteacheralsoprovideschildrenwithcontrastingwords/expressions.Thechildrenareaskedtotranslateintwowayswhenconfrontedwithunusualorinventedwords/names.
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References:
Kultti,A.&Pramling,N.(2016).Behindthewords:Childrenandteachersinbilingualpreschoolnegotiatingliteral/figurativesensewhentranslatingthelyricstoachildren’ssong.ScandinavianJournalofEducationalResearch,62,200-212.
Kultti,A.&Pramling,N.(2017).Translationactivitiesinbilingualearlychildhoodeducation:Children’sperspectivesandteachers’scaffolding.Multilingua:JournalofCross-CulturalandInterlanguageCommunication,36,703-725.