Tag Archives: bilingualism

Key findings: Languages in pre-primary education

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Pre-primary pupilLanguage Rich Europe research provides a rich source of cross-national insights into multilingualism across the education sectors. Today we focus on pre-primary education.

  • Many European Union and Council of Europe documents underline the importance of early language learning. At pre-primary level, 14 of the 24 countries/regions surveyed provide additional support in the national language for all children funded by the state. The Netherlands and Ukraine devote the most time to this.
  • Foreign language provision at this level is offered by seven countries/regions: Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Basque Country, Bulgaria, Catalonia, Estonia, Spain and Ukraine, although it may be partly or fully funded by parents/guardians. English, French and German are the most common languages offered.
  • Regional/minority languages are offered by 17 countries/regions, and are mainly funded by the state/region. In some countries there are minimum group size requirements to form a group. The widest variety of languages is offered in Austria, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Ukraine.
  • Provision in immigrant languages in pre-primary education is not yet very common. However, in spite of the difficulties involved in identifying appropriate teachers and learning materials, three countries (Denmark, Spain and Switzerland) do offer support to very young children for the maintenance and development of their languages and cultures of origin. In Denmark national, regional and local funds cover all costs for these programmes, while in Spain and Switzerland source-country related funds partly cover the costs through bilateral agreements.
  • The only country offering early language learning across all language types is Spain.

If you haven’t already, have a read of Baby Erasmus, a great initiative in Spain and share any other good practice examples from your country by responding to this post!

You can read the LRE profile for your country on the country profile page of our website and find out more about our key findings in the first part of this series – Key findings: Official documents and databases.

Are bilinguals smarter than the rest?

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Lately there has been an increasing amount of articles written on the subject of bilingualism. Some argue that people brought up bilingual are smarter than the rest of us. Others tell tales of hardship caused by loss of identity, loss of belonging, loss of friends. According to a recent article written by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee for The New York Times, there is enough evidence to show that

Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.

It’s all down to interference:

- – in a bilingual’s brain both language systems are active even when he is using only one language, thus creating situations in which one system obstructs the other.

This was previously considered a hindrance but in fact, it makes the mind work harder and thus strengthens its cognitive muscles. The bilingual brain actually improves the brain’s “executive function” which directs things like problem solving and planning. One of the processes this influences is remembering things.

According to the article, the main difference between bilinguals and monolinguals is that they have a “heightened ability to monitor their environment”:

Bilinguals have to switch languages quite often — you may talk to your father in one language and to your mother in another language,” says Albert Costa, a researcher at the University of Pompeu Fabra in Spain. “It requires keeping track of changes around you in the same way that we monitor our surroundings when driving.

This monitoring is certainly visible in our 2-year-old daughter’s everyday life. She constantly switches between her two languages, Finnish and Dutch, while talking to people. This is an extract of a conversation which took place recently:

Me: “Sanopa papalle, että kahvi on valmista. Nyt voi tulla syömään aamupalaa.”

She: “Papa, koffie klaar! Eten.”

Also, she switches between languages even within a sentence if, for example, she happens to hear her father come in:

She: “Kohta pyörällä… buiten fietsen.”

I often wonder how much she understands of the situation she’s in, that is, that she speaks two languages whereas many other people around her don’t. It does seem that she recognises the fact and says things like “papa zegt ‘baby’, äiti sanoo ‘vauva’”. She has also learned to know which relatives and friends speak which language.

When it comes to bilinguals having a good memory, I must say that our daughter seems to have an incredibly good one. When she sees a book she hasn’t seen in months, she instantly remembers what it’s about. Or, when she sees a car that resembles her Finnish grandparents’ car she’s seen only a few times in her lifetime, she always shouts “mummi pappa auto!” Also, she seems to remember everyone’s names – even if she’s only seen them in a photo – and she can connect things like berries with her Finnish grandparents.

I could be inclined to say that our daughter is a good example in proving the claims in Bhattacharjee’s article right. On the other hand, I haven’t done many comparisons, so it might as well be that this is completely normal behaviour of a two-year-old, or that this is just how she is and has nothing to do with her being bilingual. Somehow I do think though, that this constant increased brain activity makes bilinguals more active, more alert. Whether this is always a good thing, I don’t know. Our daughter seems to have her head full of things constantly and cannot sleep easily or talks in her sleep – in multiple languages. So maybe this constant language switching and monitoring your environment has such a profound effect that it can even cause restlessness. Then again, maybe it’s just how she is. Whatever the case, I think I wouldn’t go out of my way to make my child bi- or plurilingual, but if it’s possible and comes naturally (like in the case of parents with a different mother tongue), I think it’s certainly worth it.

Meertaligheid is hot!

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In this blog post, we have a guest contribution from Drs. M. Blumenthal, senior researcher at Royal Dutch Kentalis. Kentalis is a national organization in the Netherlands providing diagnostic, care and educational services to people for whom the ability to hear or communicate is not a matter of course. Please read on (in Dutch) to find out what Drs. M. Blumenthal has to say about children and multilingualism. This article was previously (7 November 2011) published on the Kentalis website.

Op de één of andere manier lijkt het alsof er dit jaar een enorme toename is in de aandacht voor de positieve aspecten van meertaligheid voor de ontwikkeling van kinderen. Nu de wetenschap steeds dichter in het kinder- en babybrein doordringt, vindt men steeds meer dat het brein het goed doet met meerdere talen. Bialystock vond, in verschillende onderzoeken door de jaren heen, bijvoorbeeld onder meer dat meertalige kinderen beter zij in het negeren van niet-relevante informatie, dat zij beter zijn in multitasking, en dat de symptomen van Alzheimer zich bij meertaligen 5 tot 6 jaar later manifesteren dan bij ééntaligen. Het Frans of Engels dat we op school hebben geleerd beschermt ons volgens haar helaas niet tegen vroege Alzheimer….

Maar er is meer.

Recent bleek in een onderzoek door onderzoekers van de Universiteit van Washington, dat ééntalige kinderen met 6 maanden onderscheid konden maken tussen de verschillende klanken in de eigen taal, maar ook in de klanken in andere talen. Tussen de 10 en 12 maanden zijn zij die vaardigheid echter al weer kwijt voor andere talen dan de ene die er in hun omgeving is. Hun brein heeft zich dus al vroeg gespecialiseerd.

Meertalige kinderen daarentegen, kunnen in de periode tussen 6 en 9 maanden nog geen onderscheid maken tussen klanken, in welke taal dan ook, maar als ze 10 tot 12 maanden zijn, kunnen ze in dit, in de beide talen die ze leren, wél. Ervaring vormt dus het babybrein, waarbij het tweetalige babybrein er weliswaar wat langer over doet, maar uiteindelijk meer heeft gewonnen: discriminatie van klanken in twee talen in plaats van één.

De hoofdonderzoeker Patricia Kuhl licht dit onderzoek toe in een verbijsterend filmpje (ondertiteld in 40 talen, waaronder Nederlands! Hoezo meertalig?) .Er is een mens nodig dat tegen de baby praat, zo blijkt, om baby’s de statistiek te laten uitvoeren die nodig is om uit te vinden welke klanken relevant zijn, en welke niet. Van alleen video of audio leren ze dat niet. Hoe zou dat zijn bij oudere kinderen? Zelf verbeeld ik me dat ik wel degelijk Engels leer door veel naar Engalstalige TV-programma’s te kijken…Maar met statistiek hou ik me dan waarschijnlijk niet bezig…

Meer informatie op de website van Kentalis.

Kaksikielisyys on iso ilo

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Tyttäremme sai syntyessään suuren lahjan: kaksikielisyyden. Koska hänen äitinsä on suomenkielinen ja isänsä hollanninkielinen, hän sai lahjaksi suomen ja hollannin. Meille oli jo alusta asti selvää, että minä puhun hänelle suomea, mieheni hollantia. Olenkin ollut yllättynyt siitä, kuinka moni tuntuu kysyvän tästä ja jopa ihmettelevän asiaa, etenkin täällä Belgiassa: “Siis puhutko sinä hänelle suomea, vaikka asut Belgiassa? Oho.” Suoraan sanottuna minulle ei tulisi mieleenikään puhua lapselleni esimerkiksi englantia tai hollantia. Miksi tekisin niin? Mielestäni kaikkien lasten olisi hyvä puhua molempien vanhempiensa äidinkieltä ja toisekseen, mielestäni vanhempien on parasta puhua lapselleen omaa äidinkieltään, jotta nämä oppivat kieltä mahdollisimman virheettömästi ja oikein. Olen ymmärtänyt, että sillä ei ole niinkään suurta merkitystä, mitä kieltä vanhemmat puhuvat keskenään. Me olemme kuitenkin lapsemme syntymän jälkeen yrittäneet minimoida englannin ja italian ja keskittyä hollantiin ja suomeen myös keskinäisessä kanssakäymisessämme. Uskon, että tämä tekee hyvää sekä tyttäremme että meidän kielitaidollemme. Toki se voi tehdä hallaa italian ja englannin kielen taidoillemme, mutta koska meistä kumpikaan ei puhu näitä äidinkielenään, on tärkeämpi, että lapsemme ainakin alussa keskittyy kahteen kieleen ja oppii ne hyvin. Mehän voimme opiskella muita kieliä myöhemmin tai siinä sivussa; kuten kaikki tietävät, pienten lasten vanhemmilla on rutosti vapaa-aikaa.

Lapsemme puhuu tällä hetkellä molempia kieliä vähän sekaisin, mutta mielenkiintoista on, että vaikka asumme Belgiassa, hän puhuu ja ymmärtää suomea huomattavasti paremmin kuin hollantia/flaamia. Tarkemmin ajatellen tähän on kuitenkin aika monta järkisyytä. Ensinnäkin minä olen ollut tyttäremme ensisijainen hoitaja siinä mielessä, että hoidin häntä kotona, kunnes palasin töihin osa-aikaisesti ja hän aloitti päiväkodin. Kotona puhun hänelle aina suomea, luen suomenkielisiä kirjoja, kuuntelemme etupäässä suomenkielistä (lasten-)musiikkia, soitan pianoa ja laulan pääasiassa suomenkielisiä lauluja ja ylipäänsäkin vietän hänen kanssaan paljon aikaa.

Myös sosiaaliset suhteet vaikuttavat tunnetusti kielten oppimiseen. Asuinmaa tai kontaktien määrä ei kuitenkaan automaattisesti määrää vahvempaa kieltä. Tyttäremme käy osa-aikaisesti hollanninkielisessä päiväkodissa, missä hän oppii hollantia. Hänen isänsä lisäksi hän tapaa täällä muita sukulaisia ja ystäviä, jotka puhuvat hollantia. Minä tapaan myös säännöllisesti suomenkielisiä ystäviäni sekä Belgiassa että Suomessa. Useimmilla heistä on myös lapsia, joten lapsemme pääsevät leikkimään yhdessä. Lasten ollessa pienempiä järjestimme toisinaan myös jonkinasteisia musiikkileikkikouluja, joissa soitimme tai ainakin lauloimme yhdessä – suomeksi. Lisäksi Skypen kautta voimme olla yhteydessä suomalaisiin sukulaisiin ja ystäviin. Epäilen, että viimeistään koulun alkaessa kielten paikat vaihtuvat ja hollannista tulee tyttäremme vahvempi kieli, mutta sitä suuremmalla syyllä hänen onkin hyvä oppia mahdollisimman paljon suomea nyt. Hän ei myöskään tällä hetkellä vielä seuraa mediaa, ja uskon, että vanhempana silläkin on varmasti vaikutuksensa. Toki lehtiä, tv:tä ja radiotakin voi seurata usealla kielellä.

Minä odotan mielenkiinnolla, koska tyttäremme suomen kielen taito yltää hänen isänsä suomen kielen taidon tasolle. Lapsemme varmasti innostaa meitäkin opettelemaan toinen toisemme äidinkieltä paremmin. Olen kuullut, että kriisejäkin saattaa olla luvassa: lapsi saattaa esimerkiksi kieltäytyä puhumasta toista kieltä, vaikka osaisikin sitä. Tätä on kuitenkin turha miettiä nyt, kun voimme vielä toistaiseksi nauttia lapsemme uusista ja hauskoista oivalluksista molemmilla kielillä.

To be continued…   

Meertaligheid in het onderwijs en op de Nederlandse arbeidsmarkt: verstaan we elkaar?

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Volgend bericht werd geschreven door Aleksandra Parcinska, Project Manager Language Rich Europe in British Council Netherlands. Ze schrijft over taaltoetsen en meertaligheid in Nederland, waarover  een congres werd gehouden op 10 november in Den Haag.

In het kader van het Language Rich Europe project hebben British Council Netherlands, EUNIC Nederland en Huis van Europa (Vertegenwoordiging van de Europese Commissie in Nederland) een bijeenkomst georganiseerd over taaltoetsen en meertaligheid in Nederland. Op 10 november 2011 ontmoetten verschillende partijen die betrokken zijn bij taalonderwijs en taalgebruik op de Nederlandse arbeidsmarkt elkaar in het Huis van Europa in Den Haag om na te denken en van gedachte te wisselen over het onderwerp: verstaan we elkaar? 

Nederlanders leren van jongs af aan één of meerdere vreemde talen op school en het uitgangspunt voor de discussie waren vragen rondom het taalonderwijs op Nederlandse scholen:

  • Ligt het niveau hoog genoeg voor de internationale arbeidsmarkt?

  • Volstaat Engels of moet er meer aandacht zijn voor “echt” vreemde talen, zoals Russisch en Chinees?

  • Vinden internationale ondernemingen en instellingen voldoende opgeleide kandidaten?

  • Wat is de waarde van taaltoetsen?

Tijdens de discussiemiddag, geleid door Luc West (Huis van Europa), kwamen verschillende partijen aan het woord: onderwijsspecialisten, recruteringsbureaus en werkgevers die actief zijn in een meertalige omgeving. Zij spraken over de huidige situatie en de uitdagingen voor de toekomst, over problemen en oplossingen, over suggesties voor verbeteringen en over de mogelijkheid tot samenwerking.

Saskia Benedictus-van den Berg introduceerde de context van het Language Rich Europe project – de achtergrond, de methodologie en ambities. Daarna gaf elke spreker een toelichting over het aspect meertaligheid in zijn sector:

  • Onno van Wilgenburg, senior medewerker projecten bij het Europees Platform, over tweetalig onderwijs in Nederland (zie: www.europeesplatform.nl/tto).

  • Daniela Fasoglio, senior leerplanontwikkelaar bij SLO, over een proefproject voor Chinese lessen op Nederlandse scholen (zie: www.chineesopschool.slo.nl).

  • Roel Keuker, consultant bij Antal International, over het werven van meertalige kandidaten voor het bedrijfsleven.

  • Niels Koekoek, medewerker PR bij de Duits-Nederlandse Kamer van Koophandel, over het belang van meertaligheid, en in het bijzonder Duits, voor Nederlandse ondernemingen.

 Uit de presentaties kwam onder andere naar voren dat:

  • …1 op de 5 middelbare scholen tweetalig onderwijs aanbiedt.

  • …er sinds augustus van dit jaar een eerstegraads lerarenopleiding Chinees aangeboden wordt in Leiden.

  • …bedrijven een voorkeur hebben voor “native speakers” bij het vervullen van vacatures waaraan bepaalde taaleisen worden gesteld.

  • … ondanks dat Duitsland één van de belangrijkste handelspartners van Nederland is, Duits in het onderwijs een ondergeschoven kindje is.

Daarna was er een levendige dialoog, met elkaar en met het geëngageerde publiek. In de dialoog werd onderstreept dat het belangrijk is het contact tussen scholen en bedrijfsleven te versterken; dat moet van beide kanten komen. Bovendien werd aangegeven dat de doeltaal niet altijd of onvoldoende als voertaal wordt gebruikt in het taalonderwijs.

 De discussiemiddag werd voorafgegaan door workshops voor beoordelaars van taaltoetsen van diverse taalinstituten in Nederland: het Goethe Instituut, Institut Francais, Instituto Cervantes, British Council en het Belgische deel van de Nederlandse Taalunie. De workshops werden geleid door het CITO, het Centraal Instituut voor Toetsontwikkeling, een Nederlandse organisatie die examens en toetsen ontwikkeld. Het doel van deze informele workshops was om de taaltoetsen van het CITO met toetsen van andere instituten te vergelijken.

 Dit was de allereerste keer dat een dergelijke kennisuitwisseling in Nederland werd georganiseerd. Door de spontane reacties van de deelnemers kunnen we zeggen dat het een nuttige en gewaardeerde oefening was – er is interesse om deze bijeenkomst vaker te organiseren. In deze omgeving bleek het Language Rich Europe project een ideaal en neutraal platform te zijn om verschillende partijen bij elkaar te brengen.

 Van de sprekers:

“De discussiemiddag “Verstaan we elkaar?” gaf een interessante kijk op het belang van talenonderwijs in Europa. Daarbij bleek duidelijk dat het beheersen van het Engels alléén niet voldoende is in het Europa van vandaag de dag en dat het leren van een tweede of derde vreemde taal daarom verder gestimuleerd moet worden.”

 Niels Koekoek, Nederlands-Duitse Handelskamer

Spotlight on Spain – Languages in the Spanish Education System

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In the final installment of our two-part series Spotlight on Spain, Marta Genis of the Universidad Nebrija discusses the status of languages within the education system and the importance of this to Spain as a whole.

The models for languages in education in Spain vary not only between areas, but also within them. For example, in Valencia (a bilingual community) there are different language models for non-university education. In the Castilian-speaking area Valencian is taught as a subject and the usual teaching language is Castilian. In the Valencian-speaking area there are several programs which include beginning with Valencian taught as a subject and gradually incorporating other subjects in that language; and teaching wholly in Valencian.

In Navarra, the language models range from teaching wholly in Spanish or teaching in Spanish but incorporating the study of the Basque language as a subject to teaching wholly in Basque. While in Cataluña, children are schooled totally in Catalan and learn to read and write in this language and Spanish is gradually introduced into the curriculum.

The ability to communicate in a foreign language is necessary in today’s society. It is also a pressing need within the framework of European unity, as movement of professionals and workers between the countries of the European Community increases along with foreign travel, cultural exchange and communication of news and knowledge.  There is, therefore, a great social demand for providing students with a communicative competence in a foreign language in compulsory education. Spain, a multilingual country, with four official languages, lots of dialects and many immigration languages present in everyday life, should be sensitive to learning foreign languages.

In Spain English is the language chosen in most of the communities, although some communities have programmes for French, German, Italian and Portuguese. The teaching of a foreign language begins at 8 years old, but there are many autonomous regions in which it is introduced at 3 years old. Currently Spain applies two models in what has been called bilingual education. The main characteristic of the first one, called Secciones bilingües, is the coexistence, in the same course, of bilingual groups of students and others that are not bilingual. The second model consists of infant and primary schools in which English (or another foreign language) is taught to all students. As regards to teachers, their expertise is different depending on the levels.  Primary teachers are generally non-native language specialists, while in secondary education teachers are mainly non-native subject teachers.

The preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity should be a main priority of Spanish language policy as it can affect greatly the rich variety of languages we enjoy. Cultivating language skills is absolutely necessary in this plurilingual world of ours for various reasons; firstly, they are the most outstanding vehicles for culture; secondly, they help value and respect other cultures, accepting differences more easily; and thirdly, they enable people to benefit from opportunities in employment and mobility. In addition, using different languages is necessary in order to participate in the social and political life of our plurilingual European countries. Thus, it is vital to adapt the education system to these new human needs since language is the most important mark of identity

Additional Reading:

Blanco, J. & Nicholson, D. (2010) Cambridge ESOL and Spanish school networks. In Research Notes, issue 40, May. Cambridge ESOL. Available online

Frigols Martín, M J (2006) CLIL implementation in Spain: An approach to different models. Available online.

Hnízdo, B. (2005-2011) The types of European plurilingualism:  Gateways to Creation of Transnational Identities? In Development of the Czech Society in the EU: challenges and risks. MSM. Available online.

Can Google speak Welsh?

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Languages have been making the news in Wales in the past couple of weeks. Most recently, the National Assembly of Wales has announced it is considering proposals that would see Welsh and English become its official languages. Meanwhile, another article from the BBC quotes Assembly Member Aled Roberts (Liberal Democrat) as saying that new plans for housing developments in North East Wales could have a negative effect on the Welsh language.  

This follows on from controversy last week when it was reported that the National Assembly of Wales had recommended that records of debates should be translated into Welsh using Google Translate.

I have to admit, I quite like Google Translate. I used it last week when I was researching the blog entry Does Age Matter?. I don’t speak Dutch so I copied and pasted the article from De Standaard into the site and from the resulting translation I could get a reasonably good idea of what was being talked about.

But it is by no means perfect. Here is an example of what Google Translate came up with:

Original: ‘Volgens m’n eigen studies verandert er wélietsin de hersenen: kinderen die vóór hun puberteit naar een ander taalgebied verhuizen, raken soms de correcte uitspraak en de grammatica van hun moedertaal volledig kwijt’

Translation: ‘According to my own studies, will change somethingin the brains, children before puberty to move another language, sometimes hitting the correct pronunciation and grammar of their native language completely lost.’

Dutch-English speakers will have to verify the accuracy of the translation but I presume that the original was slightly more coherent than the Google Translate version. This is not surprising - it is a computer programme and, at the moment anyway, technology is just not sophisticated enough to pick up all the nuances and subtleties of language. In this case, however, I didn’t need a professional translation – I just wanted to quickly gain an overview of an article that looked interesting and for this, Google Translate sufficed.

This is very different to using the site to create official documents, even if, as proposed by the Assembly, a proof-reader will be employed to check it. The debates that are being recorded are important; they can lead to policies that will affect the people of Wales. Having a general idea of what is being said is not good enough in this context; the detail is vital. And for this, a professional translator would surely be required?

Having said that, I can sympathise with the Welsh Assembly’s predicament. According to articles on both the NPLD and BBC websites, officials researching different options have stated that ‘any new arrangement would need to be sustainable in the long term and provided at a reasonable cost.’ In the current economic climate, with pressures to reduce public spending, I can see why Google Translate would be an attractive solution. It is currently free to use and having someone proof read it would cost less than paying someone to do a full translation.

But Wales has made the news in the past because of translations  – have a look at this road sign for example. Should this make the Welsh Assembly more cautious? Should they show more support towards professional translators? Or is Google Translate a good compromise? 

I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on this in the Comments section below.

Languages are good for the brain!

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Last time I posted about research into the effects of age on language learning. More research has since been brought to my attention – all related in some way to the effect languages can have on cognitive processes.

One article published by the Guardian (Being Bilingual may delay Alzheimer’s and boost brain power) explains how two separate research studies by psychologists Ellen Bialystok, York University, Toronto and Judith Kroll, Penn State University, reveal that being bilingual can improve your brain’s performance, with benefits including multitasking and even delaying the symptoms of Alzheimers:

“Being bilingual has certain cognitive benefits and boosts the performance of the brain, especially one of the most important areas known as the executive control system,” said Bialystok[…].

“We know that this system deteriorates with age but we have found that at every stage of life it functions better in bilinguals. They perform at a higher level. It won’t stop them getting Alzheimer’s disease, but they can cope with the disease for longer.”

Meanwhile the Stanford magazine’s article You Say Up, I Say Yesterday features research by cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky which demonstrates that the languages we speak may affect the way we think:

“Boroditsky’s research suggests, for example, that the mechanics of using a language such as English, which tends to assign an agent to an action regardless of the agent’s intent, also tends to more vividly imprint that agentin the speaker’s memory. Other linguistic differences help young children in aboriginal cultures achieve powers of navigation that would confound a Harvard professor. She is amassing a body of intriguing and creative evidence that language influences how its speakers focus their attention, remember events and people, and think about the world around them. And these influences may provide insight to a given culture’s conception of time, space, color or even justice.”