Teachers as linguistic role models: Language teaching in multilingual ECEC settings
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58955/jecer.147607Keywords:
early childhood education and care, language teaching, multilingualism, linguistic role model, ECEC teachersAbstract
This article examines ECEC teachers' beliefs about being linguistic role models and how these beliefs relate to their language teaching for multilingual children. Due to the increased language diversity in Finland, the demands on teachers have increased. Teachers are expected to be linguistic role models and create multilingual learning opportunities for all children. This study uses quantitative methods to examine the relationships between teachers as linguistic role models and language teaching for multilingual children. A questionnaire was answered by 42 ECEC teachers in Swedish-medium settings in Finland. Data was analyzed using chi-square tests to depict relationships between variables. Results show that teachers largely agree to be linguistic role models. This correlates with seeing adult-led play as important for language development and using dialogic reading as a teaching strategy. Play with peers was highly valued as a language development activity but not related to being a linguistic role model. Although planning reading activities was considered important, it was not related to being a linguistic role model. The latter may indicate that teachers need more knowledge on how these daily activities can become high-quality language teaching situations, especially when developing children’s academic language skills.
References
Alatalo, T., Norling, M., Magnusson, M., Tjäru, S., Næss Hjetland, H., & Hofslundsengen, H. (2024). Read-aloud and writing practices in Nordic preschools. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 68(3), 588–603. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2023.2175243
Alstad, G., & Sopanen, P. (2020). Language orientations in early childhood education policy in Finland and Norway. Nordic Journal of Studies in Education, 7(1), 30–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2020.1862951
Aronsson, L. (2022). The concept of language in the Swedish preschool curriculum: A theoretical and empirical examination of its productions. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 22(1), 5–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798419896059
Association of Finnish Municipalities. (2021). https://www.kommunforbundet.fi/kommunforbundet/kommuner-och-samkommuner/tvasprakiga-kommuner
Aukrust, V. (2002). What did you do in School Today? Speech Genres and Tellability in Multiparty Family Mealtime Conversations in Two Cultures. In S. Blum-Kulka & C. E. Snow (Eds.), Talking to Adults: The Contribution of Multiparty Discourse to Language Acquisition (pp. 55–83). Lawrence Erlbaum.
Baker, C., & Wright, W. E. (2017). Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (6th ed.). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02258-1_2
Bergroth, M., & Hansell, K. (2020). Language-aware operational culture: Developing in-service training for early childhood education and care. Apples – Journal of Applied Language Studies, 14(1), 85–102. https://doi.org/10.17011/apples/urn.202006043978
Bergroth, M., Harju-Autti, R., & Alisaari, J. (2024). Staff self-assessment of ECEC practices in meeting language diversity in Finland. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, 13(1), 42–67. https://doi.org/10.58955/jecer.130031
Bergroth, M., Llompart, J., Pepiot, N., Sierens, S., Dražnik, T., & van der Worp, K. (2021). Whose action research is it? Promoting linguistically sensitive teacher education in Europe. Educational Action Research, 31(2), 265–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2021.1925570
Björk-Willén, P. (2022). Språkutvecklande förskola. En kunskapsöversikt om språkutvecklande arbete i förskola. Ifous rapportserie 2022:1. Ifous. https://www.ifous.se/app/uploads/2022/01/202201-ifous-fokuserar-sprakutvecklande-arbete-i-forskolan-f.pdf
Blewitt, P., Rump, K. M., Shealy, S. E., & Cook, S. A. (2009). Shared book reading: When and how questions affect young children’s word learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(2), 294– 304. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013844
Blum-Kulka, S., & Snow, C. E. (2004). Introduction: The potential of peer talk. Discourse studies, 6(3), 291–306. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445604044290
Boyd, K. (2013). Teacher read aloud: Exploring an educational tradition through a social practice framework [Doctoral dissertation, University of Manitoba].
Brodin, J., & Renblad, K. (2020). Improvement of preschool children’s speech and language skills. Early Child Development and Care, 190(14), 2205–2213. http://hdl.handle.net/1993/23219
Cekaite, A., & Aronsson, K. (2005). Language play, a collaborative resource in children's L2 learning. Applied linguistics, 26(2), 169–191. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amh042
Cekaite, A., Blum-Kulka, S., Grøver, V., & Teubal, E. (2014). Children’s peer talk and learning: uniting discursive, social, and cultural facets of peer interactions: editor’s introduction. In A. Cekaite, S. Blum-Kulka, V. Grøver, & E. Teubal (Eds.), Children’s Peer Talk: Learning from Each Other (pp. 3–20). Cambridge University Press.
Conner, J., Kelly-Vance, L., Ryalls, B., & Friehe, M. (2014). A play and language intervention for two-year-old children: Implications for improving play skills and language. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 28, 221–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2014.883452
Constitution of Finland (1999/731). Ministry of Justice. https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/kaannokset/1999/en19990731.pdf
Craig-Unkefer, L. A., & Kaiser, A. P. (2002). Improving the social communication skills of at-risk preschool children in a play context. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 22, 3– 13. https://doi.org/10.1177/027112140202200101
Craig-Unkefer, L. A., & Kaiser, A. P. (2003). Increasing peer-directed social-communication skills of children enrolled in Head Start. Journal of Early Intervention, 25, 229–247. https://doi.org/10.1177/105381510302500401
Cummins, J. (1979). Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Review of educational research, 49(2), 222–251. https://doi.org/10.2307/1169960
Cummins, J. (1981). Empirical and Theoretical Underpinnings of Bilingual Education. Journal of Education, 163(1), 16–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/002205748116300104
Damber, U. (2015). Read-alouds in preschool–A matter of discipline?. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 15(2), 256–280. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798414522823
Dominguez, S., & Trawick-Smith, J. (2018). A qualitative study of the play of dual language learners in an English-speaking preschool. Early Childhood Education Journal, 46(6), 577–586. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-018-0889-7
Dowdall, N., Melendez‐Torres, G. J., Murray, L., Gardner, F., Hartford, L., & Cooper, P. J. (2020). Shared picture book reading interventions for child language development: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Child development, 91(2), 383–399. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13225
Evaldsson, A. C., & Sahlström, F. (2014). Metasociolinguistic stance taking and the appropriation of bilingual identities in everyday peer language practices. In A. Cekaite, S. Blum-Kulka, V. Grøver, & E. Teubal (Eds.), Children’s peer talk: Learning from each other (pp. 149–168). Cambridge University Press.
Erdemir, E., & Brutt-Griffler, J. (2022). Vocabulary development through peer interactions in early childhood: A case study of an emergent bilingual child in preschool. International journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 25(3), 834–865. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2020.1722058
Fast, C. (2008). Literacy – i familj, förskola och skola. Studentlitteratur.
Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI). (2022). National core curriculum for early childhood education and care 2022. Finnish National Agency for Education. https://www.oph.fi/sites/default/files/documents/National%20core%20curriculum% 20for%20ECEC%202022.pdf
Gjems, L. (2012). Teaching in ECE: Promoting children’s language learning and cooperation on knowledge construction in everyday conversations in kindergarten. Teaching and Teacher Education, 29, 39–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.08.008
Goodman, L. A., & Kruskal, W. H. (1959). Measures of association for cross classifications. II: Further discussion and references. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 54(285), 123–163. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1959.10501503
Grøver, V., Rydland, V., Gustafsson, J.-E., & Snow, C. E. (2020). Shared book reading in preschool supports bilingual children’s second-language learning: A cluster-randomized trial. Child Development, 91, 2192–2210. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13348
Harju-Luukkainen, H., & Kangas, J. (2021). The role of early childhood teachers in Finnish policy documents: Training teachers for the future? In W. Boyd & S. Garvis (Eds.), International perspectives on early childhood teacher education in the 21st century (pp. 65–80). Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5739-9_5
Henry, A. E., & Pianta, R.C. (2011). Effective teacher-child interactions and children’s literacy: Evidence for scalable, aligned approaches to professional development. In S.B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 308–321). The Guilford Press.
Hindman, A.H., & Wasik, B.A. (2012). Unpacking an Effective Language and Literacy Coaching Intervention in Head Start: Following Teachers' Learning over Two Years of Training. The Elementary School Journal, 113(1), 131–154. https://doi.org/10.1086/666389
Hoff, E., & Naigles, L. (2002). How children use input to acquire a lexicon. Child Development, 73(2), 418–433. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00415.
Johansson, E., & I. Pramling Samuelsson. (2006). Lek och läroplan. Möten mellan barn och lärare i förskola och skola. Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis.
Klafki, W. (2006). Didaktik analysis as the core of the preparation of instruction. In I. Westbury & G. Milburn (Eds.), Rethinking Schooling. Twenty-Five Years of the Journal of Curriculum Studies (pp. 126-144). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203963180
Koskinen, J. (in preparation, 2026). Are Teachers Ready to Teach? Reframing Language Teaching Through Academic Languaging in ECEC [Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Örebro University].
Kultti, A. (2013). Mealtimes in Swedish preschools: pedagogical opportunities for toddlers learning a new language. Early Years, 34(1), 18–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2013.831399
Kultti, A., & Pramling, N. (2020). Traditions of argumentation in teachers’ responses to multilingualism in early childhood education. International journal of early childhood, 52(3), 267–280. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-021-00280-0
Language Act (2003/423). Ministry of Justice. https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/kaannokset/2003/en20030423.pdf
Lara-Alecio, R., Tong, F., Irby, B. J., & Mathes, P. (2009). Teachers’ pedagogical differences during ESL block among bilingual and English-immersion kindergarten classrooms in a randomized trial study. Bilingual Research Journal, 32(1), 77–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235880902965938
Marulis, L. M., & Neuman, S. B. (2010). The effects of vocabulary intervention on young children’s word learning: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 80(3), 300–335. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654310377087
Meier, G. (2018). Multilingual socialisation in education: Introducing the M-SOC approach. Language Education and Multilingualism: The Langscape Journal, 1, 103–125. https://edoc.huberlin.de/bitstream/handle/18452/19775/LEM2018_Meier.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=
Mård-Miettinen, K., Bergroth, M., Savijärvi, M., & Björklund, S. (2018). Svenska som andraspråk – språkbad I Finland. In P. Björk-Willén (Ed.), Svenska som andraspråk i förskolan (pp. 90–106). Natur & Kultur.
Noble, C. L., Sala, G., Peter, M. S., Lingwood, J., Rowland, C. F., Gobet, F. R., & Pine, J. M. (2019). The impact of shared book reading on children’s language skills: A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2019.100290
Nordberg, A. (2019). Support of language and communication in the ‘Tambour situation’ in Swedish preschools. Early Child Development and Care, 91(5), 699–712. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2019.1645134
Nordberg, A., & Jacobsson, K. (2019). Approaches and educational assessments of children’s speech, language and communication development in Swedish preschools. Early Child Development and Care, 191(14), 2188–2203. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2019.1697693
Norling, M. (2015). Förskolan – en arena för social språkmiljö och språkliga processer. [Doctoral dissertation, Mälardalen University]. Mälardalen University Press Dissertations No. 173.
Norling, M. (2020). Videorecording as a method for Swedish preschool teachers to analyze multilingual strategies. World Journal of Educational Research, 6(1), 109–129. https://doi.org/10.22158/wjer.v7n1p109
Norling, M., & Lillvist, A. (2016). Literacy-Related Play Activities and Preschool Staffs' Strategies to Support Children's Concept Development. World Journal of Education, 6(5), 49–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/wje.v6n5p49
Official Statistics of Finland (2024, February 20). Population structure [Data set]. Statistics Finland. https://stat.fi/en/statistics/vaerak
Pellegrini, A.D., & Galda, L. (1993). Ten Years After: A Reexamination of Symbolic Play and Literacy Research. Reading Research Quarterly, 28(2), 162-175. https://doi.org/10.2307/747887
Ping, M. T. (2014). Group interactions in dialogic book reading activities as a language learning context in preschool. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 3(2), 146–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. lcsi.2014.03.001
Puskás, T., & Björk-Willén, P. (2017). Dilemmatic aspects of language policies in a trilingual preschool group. Multilingua, 36(4), 425–449. https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2016- 0025
Sandell Ring, A. (2021). Mångfaldens förskola. Flerspråkighet, omsorg och undervisning. Studentlitteratur.
Santoro, L., Chard, D., Howard, L., & Baker, S. K. (2008). Making the very most of classroom read-alouds to promote comprehension and vocabulary. Reading Teacher, 61(5), 396–408. https://doi.org/10.1598/RT.61.5.4
Sheridan, S., & Gjems, L. (2017). Preschool as an Arena for Developing Teacher Knowledge Concerning Children’s Language Learning. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(3), 347–357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-015-0756-8
Sullivan, B., Hegde, A. V., Ballard, S. M., & Ticknor, A. S. (2015). Interactions and relationships between kindergarten teachers and English language learners. Early Child Development and Care, 185(3), 341–359. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2014.919496
Swanson, E., Vaughn, S., Wanzek, J., Petscher, Y., Heckert, J., Cavanaugh, C., Kraft, G., & Tackett, K. (2011). A Synthesis of Read-Aloud Interventions on Early Reading Outcomes Among Preschool Through Third Graders at Risk for Reading Difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44(3), 258–275. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219410378444
Swedish Research Council. (2017). God forskningssed [Good research ethics]. Vetenskapsrådet.
Tjäru, S., & Heikkilä, M. (2023). Planning and interaction: Teachers’ views on pre-primary read-alouds. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, 12(3), 214–236. https://doi.org/1058955/jecer.136127
Tobin, J. (2013). Children crossing boarders: Immigrant parent and teacher perspectives on preschool for children of immigrants. Russel Sage Foundation.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard UP.
Walsh, R. L., & Hodge, K. A. (2018). Are we asking the right questions? An analysis of research on the effect of teachers’ questioning on children’s language during shared book reading with young children. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 18(2), 264–294. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798416659124
Wasik, B. A. (2010). What teachers can do to promote preschoolers' vocabulary development: Strategies from an effective language and literacy professional development coaching model. The reading teacher, 63(8), 621–633. https://doi.org/10.1598/RT.63.8.1
Wasik, B. A., & Hindman, A. H. (2014). Understanding the active ingredients in an effective preschool vocabulary intervention: An exploratory study of teacher and child talk during book reading. Early Education and Development, 25(7), 1035–1056. https://doi:10.1080/10409289.2014.896064
Weadman, T., Serry, T., & Snow, P. (2022). Oral Language and Emergent Literacy Strategies Used by Australian Early Childhood Teachers During Shared Book Reading. Early Childhood Education Journal, (23)51, 1335–1348. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-022-01381-8
Weisberg, D. S., Hirsh‐Pasek, K., & Golinkoff, R. M. (2013). Guided play: Where curricular goals meet a playful pedagogy. Mind, Brain, and Education, 7(2), 104-112. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12015
Weizman, Z., & Snow, C. E. (2001). Lexical input as related to children’s vocabulary acquisition: effects of sophisticated exposure and support for meaning. Developmental Psychology, 37(2), 265–279. https://doi. org/10.1037/0012-1649.37.2.265.
Åkerblom, A. (2017). Att öppna upp nya rum för språkande [To open up new spaces for languaging]. In C. Björklund & I. Pramling Samuelsson (Eds.), Innehållets didaktik i förskolan (pp. 44–51). Liber AB.
Ødegaard, E. E. (2006). What’s Worth Talking about? Meaning-Making in Toddler-Initiated Conarratives in Preschool. Early Years, 26(1), 79–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/09575140500507892
Ødegaard, E. E. (2007). What’s up on the Teachers’ Agenda? A Study of Didactic Projects and Cultural Values in Mealtime Conversations with Very Young Children. International Journal of Early Childhood, 39(2), 45–64. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03178224
