How to embrace linguistic diversity in early childhood settings
The promotion of heritage languages in the early years can positively impact children’s development.
Why should we embrace linguistic diversity in early childhood settings?
Research shows that supporting and including children’s home language enhances their cognitive and linguistic development.
Will my child want to keep up my language?
How can you as a parent make sure that your child understands how important language and culture is to your family?
It’s time to learn to pronounce all names in your classroom
It is important for teachers to remember that each name, irrespective of origin, pronunciation or meaning, is a significant marker of the child's identity.
Getting to know each other in our multilingual class
The learning goals for this lesson are to explore the languages spoken in Ireland, to discuss the similarities and differences between languages and to perform the multi-lingual version of the song ‘How Far I’ll Go’ from the movie Moana.
A popular song in many languages
The learning goals for this lesson are to explore the languages spoken in Ireland, to discuss the similarities and differences between languages and to perform the multi-lingual version of the song ‘How Far I’ll Go’ from the movie Moana.
A bilingual lesson about body parts
This lesson aims to solidify the children’s knowledge of the body parts in both English and Polish. It is a fun interactive way that the children can learn new vocabulary in the language of one of their friends.
Creating with sounds and onomatopoeia
The lesson focuses on using onomatopoeia and drawing on the poem ‘The Sound Collector’ by Roger McGough as inspiration to write a bilingual poem in pairs. The poem describes the sounds, using onomatopoeia, in the home as they’re collected up by the sound collector.
Making space for multilingualism in education: getting started
Including pupil’s home languages in the daily routine and visual landscape of your school is rewarding and it has a significant impact on children’s self expression, on the development of their identity and for making strong links between home and school.
The many benefits of bilingualism
With an ever-growing bilingual population, it is important to be aware of the benefits that bilingualism can bring. This can be helpful for parents, teachers and anyone responsible for advising and supporting those who raise and educate children who speak more than one language.