Multilingual Early Language Transmission MELT Project www. meltproject Multilingual Early Language Transmission MELT Project www.meltproject.eu dr. Alex Riemersma Brussels, 27 October, 2010 Titelpagina mei titel fan Presintaasje.

MELT project (2009-2011) Initiated by NPLD Grant by European Commission (Comenius) Research activities Development schemes & materials Expert seminar & evaluation workshop Local events Closing conference (Brussels, 2011)

MELT project partnerss Mercator / Fryske Akademy & SFBO (Fryslân, Netherlands) Folkhälsen (Swedish community Finland) Welsh Language Board & MYM (Wales, UK) Conseil Régional de Bretagne & Divskouarn (Brittany, France)

MELT affiliated project partners Project partners co-operate with affiliated partners in carrying out various tasks, including local events: - half day event for parents - one day event for practitioners Financing by sub-contracting for special tasks

MELT associate partners All NPLD members c.q. partners linked to NPLD through their regional authorities and NGO’s Associate partners to attend: - expert seminar (Fryslân, April 2010) - conference (Brussels, October 2011)

MELT Goals Goals (quoted from the EU application): 1) Development of teaching methodology and language transmission process 2) Raising parents’ awareness about multilingualism 3) Encouraging practitioners to foster language learning 4) Raising policy awareness across Europe

MELT further goals Language is not merely a tool of communication, but also a value. Mother tongue and father tongue are of equal value for the child.

Pursued results EITHER: “full bilingualism, full bi-literacy” (Joshua Fishman) / additive bilingualism = command of two languages at mother-tongue level OR: subtractive bilingualism (oral bilingualism, mono-literacy)

MELT Research 1 Summary of relevant scientific research on early language acquisition: “state of the art” regarding bi- and plurilingual language acquisition at an early age. Summary of theories on sequential language acquisition versus bilingualism at the same time, and the critical period of second language awareness and acquisition.

MELT Research 2 Inventory of teaching methods applied in the various pre-school sectors: total immersion, various bilingual approaches Inventory of teacher-training schemes (initial training, in-service training) and qualifications (and certification) Inventory of qualification / certification systems of day care provisions, and strategies towards the improvement of the quality

MELT Pedagogical materials 1 (Folkhälsan) Toolkit for practitioners full of “best practices” – to start with extending the best practices of Lillemor Gammelgård, Language Strategy. NB: stress on “learning through playing”; Topics of special interest: - visibility of the language in the classroom - songs and music, dance - thematic work - exposure to rich language expressions of good quality

MELT Local Events Toolkit for practitioners: how to inform young parents (in mixed-language families) and how to guide them regarding their concerns. Toolkit for pre-school practitioners and primary school teachers together, aimed towards the “informed choice” on multilingual / immersion education.

MELT Quality Plan & Dissemination (Welsh Language Board) “Marketing” of the concept of multilingual early language transmission; c.q. various models of early immersion / bilingual teaching Dissemination by means of: - project flyer & NPLD website - seminar & conference & local events - publications in scientific journals and pedagogical journals like “Parents Today”, “Journal of Bilingual Families”

Website and Facebook

MELT Expert seminar (Mercator, 15-16 April 2010) Themes: models of teaching Preparation of toolkits: - practitioners’ own work - parents’ “informed choice” - enhancing parents’ support for the child’s development linguistically

Expert meeting April 2010

MELT Awareness Raising & Closing Conference (Conseil Régional de Bretagne) Conference (Brussels, October 2011) hopefully in co-operation with the EU Platform Civil Society on Multilingualism Presentation of Toolkit in 8 languages Presentation of research results Recommendations on methodology, materials and immersion training

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