M ultilingual E arly L anguage T ransmission MELT Project

1. MultilingualEarlyLanguageTransmission MELT Project Projectnumber: 504186-LLP-1-2009-1-NL-COMENIUS-CMP /2009-3894 Idske Bangma MSc Klagenfurt, 25-27 September, 2011

2. Presentation overview: • Explanation of the MELT project • Project partners • Goals • Target groups • Products: • Research paper • Brochure forparents • Guide for pre-school practitioners • Local awareness raising events • Closing conference • Futurechallenges

3. MELT project: MultilingualEarlyLanguage Transmission • Project is funded by the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme (Comenius). • Project is a result of the cooperation between NPLD partners. • November 2009 – November 2011 • Closing conference (Brussels, 6 October, 2011)

4. MELT project partners: • Mercator Research Centre onMultilingualism and Language Learning/Fryske Akademy (Fryslân, Netherlands) • Folkhälsen (Swedish community, Finland) • Welsh Language Board (Wales, UK) • ConseilRégional de Bretagne and Divskouarn (Brittany, France)

5. MELT project partners: Pre-school Primary-school

6. MELT goals: • 1) Development of pre-school teaching methodology. • 2) Encouraging practitioners on how to immerse children in the minority language. • 3) Increase of parents’ awareness about multilingualism. • 4) Raise awareness of policymakers across Europe.

7. MELT target groups: • Parents, families and peers • Pre-school practitioners • Policymakers, local and regional authorities

8. MELT Products: • Products: • Research paper • Brochure forparents • Guide for pre-school practitioners • Local awareness raising events • Closing conference

9. MELT product: Research paper • Descriptions of the different pre-school provisions in the fourregions • Definitions of mutlingualism, earlylanguagelearning, and pre-school education • Contributions of the experts: Dr. Annick De Houwer, Dr. Tina Hickey, Dr. GunillaHolm • Best and worst practices of immersion • Conditions for a continuous multilingual development • www.meltproject.eu

10. Best practices of the four regions • Necessary to draft a conscious language policy about multilingualism and immersion into the minority language. • Requires good skills of the pre-school practitioners, coached by mentors. • To offer a richlanguage environment, includingenough input in the minoritylanguage. • Thematic and project manner (Fryslân/Wales) • Collaboration with grandparents (Brittany) • Parent and toddler groups (Wales) • Bachelor’s degree (Finland)

11. Model: Conditionsfor a continuousmultilingualdevelopment(based on the models from De Houwer (2009), Grosjean (2010), and MELT experiences).

12. MELT product: Brochure for parents • “Multilingualism in everyday life” • Bilingual brochures translated in eight languages: • Frisian-Dutch • Welsh-English • Swedish-Finnish • Breton-French

13. MELT product: Guide for pre-school practitioners • “Multilingualism for children’s everyday life. • A guide for practitioners working with young children.”

14. MELT product: Guide for pre-school practitioners The content of the guide: - Introduction - Section 1: Adults as linguistic role models - Section 2: Collaboration with parents on linguistic matters - Section 3: Everyday situations and the physical environment - Section 4: Suggestions for observing and recording children’s language - Section 5: Working with themes, and emphasis on linguistic factors - Section 6: How to stimulate children’s language use - Section 7: Playtimeto stimulate language - Section 8: Reflection - Section 9: Examples of exercises and activities - References - Suggestions for further reading - Websites and useful links

15. MELT product: Guide for pre-school practitioners Using a ‘minority charachter’ Story box- telling; For example, the book: ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ • Goals of thoseactivities: • Identification • Methodology of story telling • Immersion • Interaction • Increasevocubulary

16. MELT products: local events and • closing conference • International conference on early language transmission • Thursday, October 6, Brussels, Belgium • Expert speakers • Discussions • Workshops: • A) Continuity pre-schooling - primary schools • B) Competencies and training • C) Parents • D) Language Policy

17. Futurechallenges: • Continuity from pre-school to primary education. • Training of pre-school practitioners. • Dissemination: Best practices of the four MELT regions applied in different minority regions in Europe.

18. Nvalalepa Thank you Tige tank • Eskerrikasko Köszönöm • Grazia • Mercé plan • Dankscheen • Graciis • Kiitos • Diolch • Dźakujuso • Spassi Ba • Hvala • Multumesc • Mange Takk • Trugarez www.meltproject.eu For further information:

19. MELT product: Research paper MELT defines ‘pre-school’ as: The period from 0 until compulsory primary school, during which children attend pre-primary school provisions outside the home. A public provision where children must feel secure in order to be able to benefit from their experiences and to develop in their best natural way. This holds for all kinds of development, including (multilingual and minority) language acquisition. The pedagogic approaches applied in pre-school education are always offered in a playful and natural way. Language topics are offered in conscious planned activities in a thematic and project-type manner. The pre-school teacher observes the development of the children and reports the offered vocubalary. Based on these data, a well-documented portfolio can be transferred to primary school and a continuous line from pre-school toprimary school withregardtomultilingualdevelopment of the childcanbeenhanced, and the position of the actualminoritylanguagecanbestrengthened.