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Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices in Creating Multilingual Spaces: The Case of English Teaching in Norwegian Early Childhood Education

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Preschool Bilingual Education

Part of the book series: Multilingual Education ((MULT,volume 25))

Abstract

This chapter turns the attention to teachers’ practices and beliefs about teaching English in early childhood education and care (ECEC) contexts comprising a holistic view on upbringing, learning and care. We explore how teachers manage educational environments for language learning and relate to the linguistic resources available in the group. The data we present come from two studies in Norwegian ECEC; one multiple case study exploring second and foreign language teaching practices and beliefs (Alstad GT: Barnehagen som språklæringsarena: En kasusstudie av tre barnehagelæreres andrespråksdidaktiske praksiser [Language learning environments in early childhood education. A case study of second language teaching practices in Norway]. PhD thesis. Universitetet i Oslo, Humanistisk fakultet, Oslo, 2013; Alstad GT: Andrespråk og flerspråklighet i barnehagen: Forskningsperspektiver på barnehagepraksiser [Second language and multilingualism in early childhood education: Research on teaching practices]. Fagbokforlaget, Bergen, 2016) and one action research study investigating the introduction of English as foreign language (Tkachenko E, Bakken Å, Kaasa GI, Talén D: Lek med engelsk i barnehagen: Glede med språklig mangfold [Playing with English in kindergarten. Enjoying language diversity]. Kommuneforlaget, Oslo, 2013). The data demonstrate different methods of early language teaching in terms of managing the classroom for language learning and language choices and practices. In our discussion, we call for a re-examination of language teaching methods and for a more holistic approach to language teaching practices in early childhood education contexts. In the light of our findings, we discuss how linguistic diversity makes a powerful tool that fosters children’s engagement in the learning processes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The term ‘second language’ is often used to describe the specific language learned after a first language, especially in contexts when the language learner is a resident of an area where the language is in general use. In contrast, a foreign language is a language that is learned in an area and context where that language is not generally used. In this chapter, we use the distinction between ‘foreign (or additional) language’ and ‘second language’, even if the term ‘second language’ is more often used as a general term comprising both contexts (Block 2003, p. 56f).

  2. 2.

    In this article, we define ‘very young language learners’ as children aged 0–6 years.

  3. 3.

    In the Norwegian early childhood education and care contexts, there is no distinction between ‘kindergarten’ and ‘preschool’, however ‘kindergarten’ is used generally and is the term we use in this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Humanities, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Elverum, Norway

    Gunhild Tomter Alstad

  2. Department of Early Childhood Education, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

    Elena Tkachenko

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  1. Gunhild Tomter Alstad
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Correspondence to Gunhild Tomter Alstad .

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  1. Language Program Faculty of Advance Studies, Oranim Academic College of Education, Tivon, Israel

    Mila Schwartz

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Alstad, G.T., Tkachenko, E. (2018). Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices in Creating Multilingual Spaces: The Case of English Teaching in Norwegian Early Childhood Education. In: Schwartz, M. (eds) Preschool Bilingual Education. Multilingual Education, vol 25. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77228-8_9

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