The project focuses on identifying policies of "second language teaching and learning" at preschool level in schools in Luxembourg (public, private, European, international), a country marked by 47% of international mobility. Moreover, it inquires how the legal representatives of these children access and perceive information for an informed decision making as to the early education of their children in the context of multilingualisms. It shows the divide between the policies and the reality of multilingual students.
Updated title:Educational policies and choices on second language(s) at preschool level in the European context of Luxembourg
Abstract:
Multilingualism is one of European Union's (EU) founding principles (European Union 2019) with the goal of "enabling every EU citizen to communicate in 2 languages other than their mother tongue" (European Union, 2019).
The current research focuses on (i) identifying policies of "second language teaching and learning" at preschool level for various educational options in Luxembourg. Furthermore, it inquires (ii) the information provided by official educational players to the legal representatives of the children supposedly enabling them to take decisions regarding the preschool education of their plurilingual children.
Results stem from an exploratory qualitative study contrasting (1) official policy, (2) presentation of these policies, (3) perception of educational offer and (4) the actual process of information seeking on official information platforms. Two cases illustrate the findings.
The research points to the fact that preschool policies are presented as coherent at the systemic level, a multi-option offer with regard to second language(s), which, whatever the choice, will lead to the development of a multilingual student profile. These multilingual students are labelled as fit to integrate (presumably any) available primary school context. The exploratory research points to a divide between the multi-option preschool offer (i.e., its policies) and the de facto one-track orientation being the reality as soon as alphetisation and literacy education starts in primary school.
The research is financially partially supported by the Luxembourg Ministry of Family Affairs, Integration and the Greater Region, Integration Department within the PEI project (Parcours d'enquete d'information, 2020-2021).
References:
European Union. (2019). About EU. Online (23.08.2019): https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/eu-languages_en European Union. (2019).
