Everyday integrated language development in the kindergarten: Multilingualism, dialect and standard language

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The great significance of early childhood education is recognised internationally and language development is in focus here. The regions of Lake Constance face the challenge of improving language development in the everyday life of the kindergarten, day care and other early childhood services. The project seeks to support specialists in kindergartens in the Lake Constance area in implementing language development with dialect and/or standard language in accordance with the local framework conditions, and to deal with both language varieties, with dialect and standard language, which is effective for children whose first language is German as well as for children with a different first language. What is expedient here is language development,which is integrated into the interaction between specialists and children in discussions, everyday activities and in play. A training programme is envisaged. An example of this is the “Spatz” initiative in Baden-Wuerttemberg, the education framework plan for elementary educational institutions in Vorarlberg, and expertise on behalf of the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education in Switzerland. This language development occurs in everyday life in dialect and standard language in the Lake Constance area. This is viewed as a learning opportunity in acquiring language, but it can also be a challenge. Particularly so for children, who acquire the dialect and standard language as a second or third language. The Alemannic dialect is strongly represented in all three countries around Lake Constance and there is a positive identification with the local dialect. Dialect and standard language are separate languages for Switzerland and Vorarlberg (medial diglossia). It is a continuum for Southern Germany on the other hand. The heterogeneity of the children in the kindergarten with regard to acquiring language is very great. For example, in the Vorarlberg kindergartens, around a third of the children do not have German as a first language. A new challenge is the integration of children from refugee families. Many of these children start kindergarten with only very little knowledge of German. The kindergarten teachers deal differently with dialect and standard language in the context of multilingualism, and scarcely use any stringent strategies. Even for children with a different first language, acquiring the dialect and standard language is important for integration and success in education. The challenge of everyday integrated language development is viewed as a central task of early childhood education. Children in the German Lake Constance area, in Vorarlberg and in German-speaking Switzerland experience different language varieties through dialect and standard language. This is viewed as a learning opportunity in acquiring language, but it can also be a challenge, particularly for children who acquire dialect and standard language as a second or third language. Based on the results from the IBH research project “language development in everyday life”, there are reliable hints that specialists require qualifications with regard to dealing with standard language and dialect, particularly with multilingual children. The scientifically evaluated “language development in everyday life” (Löffler & Vogt 2015) is particularly suitable for the joint learning of children with German as a first and second language. This is complemented in a targeted way by the new project, to intensify the handling of multilingualism as well as dialect and standard language. Specialists are further trained via joint two-day further training and two regional consolidation meetings. Using scientific methods, the project evaluates the effect language development has on the development of children, particularly multilingual children.

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