To date, we do not know much about early simultaneous language learning in instructional settings. For empirical substantiation, 1,400 minutes of video and audio data were analysed focusing on how teachers deal with multilingual teaching situations. The presentation will discuss some of the results.
To date, we do not know much about early simultaneous language learning in instructional settings. Only very few empirical studies have been conducted so far. These studies mostly look at the outcome of language instruction, while research on interaction in authentic and ecologically valid language classrooms is still a desideratum (cf. Mackey 2012: 38). In the framework of a research project examining early simultaneous language learning, multilingual classroom interactions are explored. In the context of a Danish primary school starting at the same time with teaching the foreign languages English and German in preparatory class, situations in which learners produce German utterances in English lessons and English utterances in German lessons are focused. On the one hand, the teacher’s handling of these utterances are investigated. On the other hand, the learners’ reactions towards the teachers’ handling with these multilingual situations are looked into. For this purpose, 55 German and English lessons in a preschool class and a 1st/2nd class (mixed-age class concept) were video and audio recorded. The overall length of the data add up to 1,400 minutes. Taking this material as a starting point, relevant passages are identified and transcribed in order to set categories of possible actions and strategies concerning multilingual use up. The study’s goal is to research strategies for dealing with multilingualism in class promoting early simultaneous language learning and thereby improving foreign language classroom practices as well as generating an empirically informed theoretical model. Mackey, Alison (2012): Input, Interaction, and Corrective Feedback in L2 Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
