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Lived Spaces of Infant-Toddler Education and Care pp 147–159Cite as

Guided Participation and Communication Practices in Multilingual Toddler Groups

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Abstract

The majority of children (84 %) in Sweden enter preschool between the age of 1 and 2 years. A growing number of them communicate in more than one language. These multilingual children are learning two or more languages from an early age in different contexts: one or two languages in the family and Swedish in preschool. Preschool is also the primary environment for communication and learning of Swedish for the 2-year-olds (17 %) who have a first language other than Swedish (Skolverket. Barn, elever och personal—riksnivå 2011 (Rapport nr. 357). Retrieved from http://www.skolverket.se, 2011). The national curriculum for preschool articulates both learning and children’s perspectives as important. This study contributes to an understanding of infants’ and toddlers’ experiences within the lived spaces of the education and care setting by illustrating how the preschool environment can be an arena for language learning. It shows how the organisation and structure of preschool activities, possibilities for participating in activities by using different communicative resources, and play with other children who share the same first language can be understood.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Preschool in Sweden is for all children between 1 and 5 years of age; there is a national curriculum focusing on both democratic aspects and learning; and preschool teachers have university degrees (3.5 years of education). The preschool environment is often described in terms of educare and a child-centred negotiation environment. This is part of the reason why we use the terms (preschool) teacher and learning in the chapter. Learning and care are seen as intertwined and dependent on each other.

  2. 2.

    The National Agency for Education.

  3. 3.

    See also the chapter by Johansson and Berthelsen in this volume.

  4. 4.

    Bold text is Bosnian.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Communication and Learning, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Anne Kultti & Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson

Authors
  1. Anne Kultti
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  2. Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson
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Correspondence to Anne Kultti .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia

    Linda J. Harrison

  2. Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia

    Jennifer Sumsion

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Kultti, A., Samuelsson, I.P. (2014). Guided Participation and Communication Practices in Multilingual Toddler Groups. In: Harrison, L., Sumsion, J. (eds) Lived Spaces of Infant-Toddler Education and Care. International perspectives on early childhood education and development, vol 11. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8838-0_11

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