Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices in Creating Multilingual Spaces: The Case of English Teaching in Norwegian Early Childhood Education

Abstract

This chapter turns the attention to teachers’ practices and beliefs about teaching English in early childhood education and care (ECEC) contexts comprising a holistic view on upbringing, learning and care. We explore how teachers manage educational environments for language learning and relate to the linguistic resources available in the group. The data we present come from two studies in Norwegian ECEC; one multiple case study exploring second and foreign language teaching practices and beliefs (Alstad GT: Barnehagen som språklæringsarena: En kasusstudie av tre barnehagelæreres andrespråksdidaktiske praksiser [Language learning environments in early childhood education. A case study of second language teaching practices in Norway]. PhD thesis. Universitetet i Oslo, Humanistisk fakultet, Oslo, 2013; Alstad GT: Andrespråk og flerspråklighet i barnehagen: Forskningsperspektiver på barnehagepraksiser [Second language and multilingualism in early childhood education: Research on teaching practices]. Fagbokforlaget, Bergen, 2016) and one action research study investigating the introduction of English as foreign language (Tkachenko E, Bakken Å, Kaasa GI, Talén D: Lek med engelsk i barnehagen: Glede med språklig mangfold [Playing with English in kindergarten. Enjoying language diversity]. Kommuneforlaget, Oslo, 2013). The data demonstrate different methods of early language teaching in terms of managing the classroom for language learning and language choices and practices. In our discussion, we call for a re-examination of language teaching methods and for a more holistic approach to language teaching practices in early childhood education contexts. In the light of our findings, we discuss how linguistic diversity makes a powerful tool that fosters children’s engagement in the learning processes.