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Drawing on two longitudinal case-studies, this study aimed to identify some salient characteristics of the agentic behaviour of two young emergent multilinguals in two different multilingual contexts: Luxembourg and Israel. Despite the fact that the studies were conducted independently, the two cases were analysed together owing to the similarities in the research methods such as video-recorded observations, and semi-structured interviews with teachers and parents. The data were analysed through thematic and conversational analyses. Findings showed that a boy who learned Luxembourgish in Luxembourg and a girl who learned Hebrew in Israel, were outgoing and active learners who influenced their learning environment. We identified 10 types of agentic behaviour, including engaging in repetition after peers and the teacher, creatively producing language, translanguaging, and self-monitoring. Despite differences of the children’s sociocultural and linguistic backgrounds, and the language policies of their educational settings, we found a striking overlap in their language-based agentic behaviours. We suggest that the identified types can encourage further research in this field. Although our study with talkative children allowed us to observe many types of agentic behaviours, we cannot claim that less outgoing children or children who do not show the same behaviours do not have ways of expressing their agency.

Multilingual education is mandatory in early childhood education in several European countries. Scholars working in first, second, and foreign language learning have shown the effectiveness of interaction-promoting and language-modelling strategies for language development. In addition, teachers in bilingual contexts have been translanguaging to foster language learning. To this day, few research studies have examined these strategies in combination and their deployment in multilingual contexts. The present study takes place in multilingual Luxembourg where 64% of the four-year-olds do not speak Luxembourgish. It focuses on three practitioners who took part in a professional development course on multilingual pedagogies and presents their language-supporting strategies as well as their translanguaging practices. The findings show that the practitioners use a range of strategies in Luxembourgish, French and home languages, in daily conversations, routines and language and literacy activities to address children’s linguistic needs.

This paper is based in Luxembourg where a multilingual programme has been implemented in early childhood education in 2017. The research project examines the language use in daily communication and literacy activities of educators and parents in day care centres, as reported by educators in two online-questionnaires. The findings show that the educators and parents use multiple languages when communicating, singing and reading with children in the centres. In addition to French and Luxembourgish which dominate, they use five other languages. Their reported multilingual practice reflects their beliefs that speaking and reading in several languages promotes language learning. However, while the programme is multilingual, a range of home languages are marginalised. The educators produce a language hierarchy in the centres which the parents reproduce. While collaboration with parents can be effective in bringing home languages into day care centres, educators need to be aware of language hierarchies and ideologies.

Numerous scholars have investigated translanguaging in students with a migration background by examining the deployment of their linguistic repertoire. By contrast, few studies have adopted a social semiotic perspective on translanguaging. Similarly, studies on newcomers in this field are scarce. Newcomers, especially those to the trilingual education system in Luxembourg, face significant language challenges. The present paper explores the ways in which Portuguese-speaking Harry combined the resources of his semiotic repertoire in science and French lessons in Year 4, and discusses different combinations of resources. Findings based on field notes and video-recordings of classroom activities show that the eleven-year-old engaged in learning by activating his prior knowledge and deploying his semiotic repertoire in resourceful ways. He mobilised features of five languages, coordinated linguistic, paralinguistic and extralinguistic resources, and aligned his resources to those of his peers. Furthermore, he reproduced the semiotic combinations of peers as well as the translanguaging practices in class. We show that a newcomer orchestrates his semiotic resources in complex ways to communicate, make meaning and engage in learning processes. Further research into the deployment of the semiotic repertoire at school is needed.

This paper investigates seven early education practitioners’ attitudes toward multilingual activities and translanguaging as well as their actual practices in Luxembourg. They took part in a profes...

The increasing societal and linguistic diversity in schools challenge traditional teaching approaches and call for pedagogies that cater to the growing number of multilingual pupils. Translanguaging pedagogies can offer multilinguals a productive learning environment that helps them leverage their resources for learning. Translanguaging studies in early childhood education are still scant, especially those that involve emergent multilinguals, focus on adult–child and peer interactions, and examine children’s agency. The present paper from multilingual Luxembourg examines the engagement of two three-year-olds in adult-led and child-led activities in two early childhood education settings as well the ways in which they creatively reproduced translingual activities and strategies in peer interactions. The data of the qualitative study stem from 128 excerpts, video-recorded over the course of a year. The findings show that the children’s language use and active engagement depended on the pedagogy and the practitioners’ language-supportive strategies. In peer interactions, they creatively reproduced routine activities, thereby transforming formulaic speech, as well as the practitioners’ strategy use. The findings can guide curriculum developers and practitioners when implementing inclusive translanguaging practices in early childhood education.

Multilingual Approaches for Teaching and Learning outlines the opportunities and challenges o multilingual approaches in mainstream education in Europe. The book, which draws on research findings from several officially monolingual,bilingual, and multilingual countries in Europe, discusses approaches to multilingual education which capitalise on students’ multilingual resources from early childhood to higher education. This book synthesises research on multilingual education, relates theory to practice, and discusses different pedagogical approaches from diverse perspectives. The first section of the book outlines multilingual approaches in early childhood education and primary school, the second looks at multilingual approaches in secondary school and higher education, and the third examines the influence of parents, policy-makers, and professional development on the implementation and sustainability of multilingual approaches. The book demonstrates that educators can leverage students’ multilingualism to promote learning and help students achieve their full potential. This book will be of great interest to academics, researchers, and postgraduate students in the fields of language education, psychology, sociolinguistics, and applied linguistics.

Policies and professional development which focusses on pedagogical skills, beliefs, and agency are essential to ensure the sustainability of multilingual teaching approaches. This chapter begins with an overview of research studies on language policies, teacher agency and beliefs with a focus on multilingual settings. The intertwining of policy and teaching practice is then illustrated by means of the Finnish case, demonstrating how recent ECEC policies advocating diversity and plurilingualism have gradually changed teacher beliefs. The second part of the chapter focuses on professional development (PD) in so far as it is able to support teachers in implementing policies, changing pedagogical practices, and amending beliefs. This section presents different pathways for professional learning and explores the effectiveness of various models of professional development. These observations are taken up in two empirical studies on teachers’ professional development within multilingual preschool classes in Luxembourg and primary schools in the Netherlands. The interview and observation data provided in the two contexts point to the centrality of teacher beliefs and agency in moving towards multilingual practices and sustainable change. Furthermore, it unveils the ways in which teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, and practices change over time, and how effective PD programmes can support teachers in interpreting policies and developing new practices. peerReviewed

An inclusive translanguaging pedagogy aims to promote learning and participation by drawing on the learners’ entire semiotic repertoire. The focus of this chapter are the translanguaging practices of four early years practitioners in Luxembourg. We analyse the deployment of their linguistic repertoire, their reasons for translanguaging, and the ways in which their practices contributed to inclusion and participation. We found that the practices comprised using linguistic resources dynamically, translating, and ‘home languaging,’ and depended on the practitioners’ pedagogical stance. We argue that multilingual practices need to be embedded in a reflexive translanguaging pedagogy in order to enhance inclusion.

This chapter examines recent language education laws in Luxembourg as well as the ways in which early years practitioners appropriated the new policies and put them into practice. The chapter begins with a brief introduction of the linguistic landscape in Luxembourg and a summary of the dynamic development of the country’s early childhood education system. Special emphasis is put on recent changes in language education policies, which call for a more inclusive and multilingual early language education. Monolingual practices now need to open up to flexible language use and offer children opportunities to capitalize on their entire semiotic repertoire for communicating, meaning-making, and learning. The central concerns of this chapter are the ways in which policy changes influence educational practices in formal and non-formal settings and how professional development shapes this process. In order to address these questions, the authors review literature on language education policy, translanguaging and professional development and examine studies on early language education in Luxembourg. Next, they discuss recent initiatives of professional development in formal and non-formal early years settings as well as their outcomes. Finally, they present critical issues such as the practitioners’ reflexivity and responsibility and the sustainability of professional development. Future research directions include family language policies, partnerships between families and early childhood institutions and children’s languaging practices inside and across these institutions.

There is a recognised need for multilingual pedagogies as these capitalise on children’s resources. Language policies calling for monolingual or multilingual policies are, however, not easily trans...

Against the backdrop of the ongoing crisis-led migration from Southern to Northwestern Europe, the present paper reports on a case study of two families who have recently migrated from Greece to Luxembourg. Luxembourg has a trilingual education system and many pupils of migrant background face difficulties on this account. Drawing on the framework of Family Language Policy, this paper explores the language ideologies and management strategies of two families as well as factors influencing their policies. This qualitative study was based on interviews, observations, and videos recorded by one of the families. The findings show that the families have contrasting language ideologies and management strategies that are informed by their differing transnational experiences, competences and worldviews. This study can contribute to a better understanding of the ways in which migrant families use their language resources in their new country.

Whilst contributing to a person’s language, cognitive and personal development and whilst a common practice in the daily lives of bilinguals, translanguaging is rarely observed in educational institutions. The present paper examines the situations and the ways in which preschool children in trilingual Luxembourg translanguage during collaborative storytelling on iTEO, an iPad app which allows for the recording and editing of oral language. Currently 62.4% of children do not speak Luxembourgish on school entry. Language policies focus on the learning of Luxembourgish. This, the small class sizes and the absence of peers with similar language backgrounds may limit the opportunities for translanguaging. The present qualitative, longitudinal study takes a mixed-method approach. The findings show that the 5 focus children in preschool translanguaged frequently, in different ways and for a range of purposes, while drawing on features of several languages. The process of translanguaging depended on the individual child and on contextual factors. We argue that storytelling on iTEO opens up safe translanguaging spaces that contribute to inclusive multilingual pedagogies.

While translanguaging has been well researched in bilingual settings with older pupils and has been found to contribute to cognitive and personal development, there is little research on translanguaging of young multilinguals. In trilingual Luxembourg, at school, children learn Luxembourgish aged 4, German aged 6 and French aged 7, with the majority not speaking Luxembourgish on school entry. The number of languages to be learned may leave teachers little space to capitalise on home languages and encourage translanguaging. Drawing on qualitative methods, this paper contextualises and examines the practice and purposes of translanguaging of nursery and primary school children who speak a language other than Luxembourgish at home, while they collaboratively produce oral texts on the iPad app iTEO. The data stem from a longitudinal study using a multi-method approach. The findings indicate that the children made use of their multilingual repertoire in order to communicate, construct knowledge and mark their multilingual identity. Translanguaging was a frequent and legitimate practice in both classes although the older children drew less on home languages other than Luxembourgish. The children’s ability to translanguage and their opportunities for doing so were influenced by the multilingual learning environment, the curriculum and the language learning tasks.

The present small-scale study investigates language learning in primary schools in Luxembourg and the ways in which this process is mediated by peers and the iPad app iTEO. This study draws its data from the larger longitudinal qualitative research project iTEO (2013–2017) and is based on 13 hours of audio and video-recordings. The participants are 6–7-year-olds learning German and French. Grounded in sociocultural theory, this paper examines, first, the ways in which the emergent multilingual primary school children scaffold each other’s learning of German and French while collaboratively producing oral texts on iTEO and, second, investigates the affordances of this app for learning. The findings show that the children’s language learning was mediated by peers, the task and the app. The children used a range of learning and teaching strategies while completing tasks framed by their teacher. iTEO and the task together mobilised the children’s resources, encouraged autonomy and promoted discussion about language.

Many scholars have been interested in studying patterns of language shift or language maintenance of migrants during their diaspora. One way of sustaining the development of a home language can be the attendance of a complementary school. This paper explores the differing perspectives on teaching and learning Greek in a complementary school in multilingual Luxembourg. The participants include the two teachers of this school, the mothers of three newly migrated families, and their children. The children are multilingual and attend the Greek complementary school once a week. The data, which stem from interviews with all participants, have been analysed thematically. The findings show that the children’s understanding of the purpose of attending the school and their experiences within the school, varied with age and school friendships. The teachers were aware of the children’s different levels of motivation, which they associated with language competence and opportunities for socialisation. Although they valued the children’s multilingualism, they did not build on this their lessons which were underpinned by a monolingual policy. While the parents had high expectations regarding competence in Greek, and enrolled their children to develop this competence, they nevertheless did not seem to perceive Greek as an educational priority. The findings of this paper encourage teachers to reflect on their language policies and teaching approaches and encourage them to capitalise on their students’ heterogeneity.

This chapter shows that the attention paid to pronunciation changed with the teaching methods: important in audiolingual programmes, less so in Communicative language teaching (CLT). The goals shifted from native-like pronunciation to the production of intelligible and comprehensible speech. The chapter presents the content-free app iTEO developed in Luxembourg to encourage nursery and primary school children to collaboratively produce stories in a range of languages. It shows that how storytelling promotes language learning. Storytelling with iTEO addresses the methodological issues raised and offers learners opportunities to focus on form within a Task-Based Approach. The chapter describes how the English teacher in the vignette and her class used iTEO in four French lessons. The teaching approaches reviewed in the literature differ widely but whatever the approach, researchers and practitioners would agree on a number of principles for teaching pronunciation. Pupils learn to monitor and analyse their speech owing to iTEO's replay that materialises the language used.

Mobile-assisted language learning and iPads in particular, offer opportunities for enhanced language learning. Many MALL studies including studying iPads have focused on collaboration but few on language learning as such. For collaboration to lead to learning, particular conditions need to be met, among these those relating to the task. A goal-oriented task such as collaborative storytelling, can language learning. Opportunities where children use exploratory talk similarly have been shown to stimulate learning. The present qualitative longitudinal study examines, first, the process of collaboration and learning of primary school children in Luxembourg who collaboratively produce oral texts on the iPad app iTEO, and second, the role and function of the tool within this process. Developed in trilingual Luxembourg to further language learning, iTEO allows users to record and edit oral texts. The automatic playback materialises the language and allows for reflection. The study’s multi-method approach includes observations, video-recordings, interviews and the collection of audio and visual material. Findings show that the children’s talk includes features of exploratory and instructional talk and that iTEO is used in a variety of functions. The findings contribute to our understanding of the ways in which children develop language skills in autonomous, collaborative and computer-assisted activities.

This paper explores the language ideologies of three middle-class migrant Greek families in Luxembourg, one ‘established’ family and two ‘new’ crisis-led migrant families, all of whose children attend Luxembourgish state schools. While the families differ in terms of migration trajectory, their language ideologies converge. The findings of this ethnographic study show that all parents view multilingualism as an asset and relate it to culture, identity and job opportunities. The parents’ ideologies are shaped both by their desire to improve their social standing and by societal discourses on the values of languages in the job market and in the Higher Education. Luxembourg’s official trilingualism is seen as a symbol of national cohesion and it is viewed as a commodity on the job market. Thus, the development of children’s multilingualism in French, German and English is seen as a ‘commodity’ which, they hope, will enable children to compete in the new globalised, transnational and post-industrial/services market.

It has long been claimed that stories are a powerful tool for language learning. Storytelling is often used as a discrete pedagogical approach in primary modern foreign language (MFL) lessons in England. There has, however, been little investigation into how storytelling might impact on vocabulary learning in the primary classroom. This article focuses on how a London primary teacher used stories in German lessons in a Year 6 class (ages 10–11), and analyses the words and sentences the case-study children remembered over a brief period of time. Data were collected over two terms through observations, interviews and post-tests. The findings illustrate the wide range of teaching strategies that allowed for explicit and incidental learning and encouraged meaningful language use. They also show that children recalled a considerable number of words and sentences.

This article discusses the strategy repertoires and strategy development of six English children who learned foreign languages at primary school. My study differs from mainstream research, in that it focuses on young children and on the development of their strategies, draws on sociocultural theory and uses ethnographic methods. My findings show that the six children developed a range of strategies over the course of a calendar year in spite of receiving no direct strategy instruction. The primary classroom encouraged learner autonomy and stimulated children to reflect on their learning which, in turn, enabled them to refine their strategies.

Researchers have studied family language planning within bilingual family contexts but there is a dearth of studies that examine language planning of multilingual parents who raise their children in one of the world's lesser spoken languages. In this study I explore the ideologies and language planning of Luxembourgish mothers who are raising their children bilingually in Luxembourgish and English in Great Britain, where there is no Luxembourgish community to support them and where a monolingual discourse prevails. All mothers strongly identified with Luxembourgish, aimed at developing active bilingualism and recognised their role in ensuring exposure to Luxembourgish. However, five mothers choose a one-person-two-languages model which limits exposure to Luxembourgish. The article illustrates the extent to which the mothers’ management of their own and of the children's language use is mediated by their ideologies, experiences of multilingualism and their interactions in a large monolingual setting.

While multilingual programmes have been implemented in early childhood education in several countries, professionals have shown to be unsure of how to deal with language diversity and promote home languages. Therefore, there is a need for professional development. The present article discusses the outcomes of a professional course on multilingual education in early childhood delivered to 46 early-years practitioners in Luxembourg. Using a questionnaire administered prior to and after the course as well as interviews, we examined the influence of the training on attitudes to multilingual education and activities to develop Luxembourgish and home languages. The analysis drew on content analysis, paired samples t-test and correlational analysis. The findings show that the course positively influenced the professionals’ knowledge about multilingualism and language learning, their attitudes towards home languages, their interest in organising activities in the children’s home languages and the implementation of these activities. The results shed light on special interest areas such as the quality of input that future professional development courses could focus on.

Purpose This study explores adolescent well-being during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in two high-income countries from Europe and one middle-income country from South America. The aim is to investigate the correlates of different dimensions of subjective well-being in 10- to 16-year-olds from different cultural contexts. Methods An online, self-report questionnaire was completed by 1,613 adolescents in Luxembourg, Germany, and Brazil between May and July 2020. The outcome variables were measures of life satisfaction and emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study included a range of sociodemographic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal covariates. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and latent variable structural equational modeling. Results A two-factor model of subjective well-being, consisting of life satisfaction and emotional well-being latent constructs, fitted well with this sample data for Luxembourg, Germany, and Brazil. Results showed that gender, socioeconomic status, intrapersonal factors, quantity and type of schoolwork, and relationships with adults were important common predictors of individual differences in subjective well-being during COVID-19. Fear of illness emerged as the strongest correlate of emotional well-being across the three countries. Conclusions This study indicates that girls and adolescents from low-income homes may be especially vulnerable to negative secondary impacts of COVID-19 that can affect mental health. It identified several common correlates of subjective well-being in adolescents from different cultural settings, including factors that may be changeable, such as the following: the way adults listen to adolescents, schoolwork during distant learning, and fear of illness. Findings can inform the development of quality interventions for promoting the well-being of adolescents during a global pandemic.

Translanguaging pedagogies promise to capitalise on students’ language backgrounds, improve their academic achievements and address social inequalities. While research studies in monolingual, bilingual and multilingual contexts testify to the benefits of translanguaging for learning, well-being and identity-building few studies focus on early childhood education and the use of more than two languages. Furthermore, little is known about the implementation of translanguaging pedagogies and the challenges faced by professionals. This article is based on a longitudinal research project which offered a professional development course to develop multilingual pedagogies in early childhood education in Luxembourg, where 63.7% of the 4-year-olds do not speak Luxembourgish as their home language. The article presents challenges which three practitioners faced when implementing a translanguaging pedagogy in their preschool classes as well as the ways in which they overcame them. They changed their negative stance to multilingual education, developed a social-constructivist leaning environment and monitored their language use. The findings shed light on the complexities of the implementation process and the support needed for professional learning.