Multilingual Early Language Transmission MELT Project Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning Fryske Akademy dr. Alex Riemersma Aberystwyth, 8-9 October, 2009

MELT project ( ) Grant by European Commission! Research activities Development schemes & materials Seminar & evaluation workshop Local events Closing conference (Brussels, 2011)

MELT project partners Mercator / Fryske Akademy (Fryslân, Netherlands) Folkhalsen (Finland) Welsh Language Board (Wales, UK) Conseil Régional de Bretagne (Brittany, France)

MELT affiliated project partners Project partner co-operate with affiliated partners in carrying 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 will be invited for: - 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) Raise of parents’ awareness about multilingualism 3) Encouraging practitioners on how to foster language learning 4) Raise 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. Ultimate goals of immersion / multilingual education: EITHER: “full bilingualism, full biliterate” (Joshua Fishman) / additive bilingualism = command of two languages at mother-tongue level; OR: subtractive bilingualism (oral bilingualism, mono- literate).

MELT Research 1 (Mercator) 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 (Mercator) Summary of definitions applied to “pre-school provisions” in the various regions, including age groups (0-7 years) and duration of the stay of the children (full day, sessional stay, frequency) Inventory of teaching methods applied in the various pre-school sectors: total immersion, various bilingual approaches, … Inventory of teachers 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 (Folkhalsen) Toolkit for practitioners full of “best practices” – to start with extending the best practices in the book of Lillemor Gammelgard, Language Strategy. NB: stress on “learning through playing”; Topics of special interest: - visibility of the language in the rooms, - songs and music, dance; - thematic work; - exposure to rich language expressions of good quality.

MELT Pedagogical materials 2 (Folkhalsen) Information for parents in mixed-language families. Toolkit for practitioners how to cope with every new generation of parents and their concerns. Toolkit for practitioners and the teachers & school board of primary school together, aimed at the “informed choice” Training schemes

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

MELT Expert seminar (Mercator, April 2010) Including visit to day care centres and primary schools Themes: models of teaching Preparation of toolkits: - practitoners’ own work - parents’ “informed choice” - enhancing parents’ support for the child’s development linguistically

MELT Awareness Raising & Closing Conference (Conseil Régional de Bretagne) Conference (Brussels, october 2011) hopefully in co-operation with the Platform Civil Society on Multilingualism

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