Supporting multilingual learners in Icelandic preschools: Interaction of educators’ beliefs, practices, and institutional conditions
Background: The proportion of multilingual children in Icelandic preschools has increased steadily. Although preschool educators play a central role in supporting the language development of multilingual children, research suggests that many multilingual children do not acquire Icelandic effectively and that educators frequently feel unprepared/uncertain about how best to support their language development.
Aim: The present study addressed this lack of evidence by examining preschool educators’ beliefs, reported language support practices, and perceived institutional and professional support when working with multilingual children in Icelandic preschools.
Method/approach: A quantitative cross-sectional online survey was completed by 425 preschool teachers and classroom support staff across Iceland (6–7% of the population). Participants answered questions about the barriers they had encountered in supporting multilingual children related to educators’ beliefs about multilingualism, the language support practices they report using, and the institutional and professional support available within the preschool system. Ethical review was not required. Research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
Results/findings: Educators generally held positive, resource-oriented beliefs about multilingualism, but also uncertainty regarding multilingual language development, and support for children’s home languages was often positioned primarily as the responsibility of the families. Reported practices were largely oriented towards only supporting Icelandic. Institutional barriers were also identified, including limited access to multilingual materials, shortages of staff with relevant linguistic competence, workload pressures, and restricted access to specialised support services.
Conclusion: Barriers to implementing practices that support multilingual children are not attributable to a single factor but arise from the interaction among educators’ beliefs, everyday teaching practices, and the institutional conditions shaping what is feasible in preschool settings.
Implications for children and families: You will learn about practices that preschools and teachers can use to support the language development of multilingual children.
Implications for practitioners: You will learn about practices that you can use to support the language development of multilingual children.
Keywords: multilingual, preschool, pedagogy
This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: