DEVELOPING MINORITY LANGUAGES AT HOME: AN EVIDENCE-BASED STUDY WITH RECEPTION CHILDREN IN SPAIN

Abstract

This work examines the current situation of monolingual and bi-/multilingual families on how they help their children, Reception students (4-5 years old) at a British school in Madrid, Spain, to acquire, preserve and strengthen minority languages at home. The results reveal contrasts between monolingual and bi-/multilingual families, although most of them systematically apply 'natural' resources (One Language-One Person, for example) or tools (reading or watching TV, for example). Among the final recommendations, a closer collaboration between schools and parents is advised to assist more effectively in the (multi-)language development of the children.