‘All children can be excellent multilingual language learners’

How is multilingualism in childhood dealt with in different European countries? A new format at the university, which combined an online phase with a face-to-face phase, enabled students and lecturers from Germany, Greece, Austria and the Czech Republic to exchange theoretical and practical information on the importance of the topic in early childhood education. 
At the end of March, the HAWK hosted an international attendance and practical week as part of the Erasmus+ programme. Prior to this, the participants had taken part in numerous online sessions in which they were able to exchange ideas and familiarise themselves with specialist presentations in English.  

‘We see that many countries have monolingual traditions,’ explained Prof Dr Tim Rohrmann, Professor of Childhood Education at the HAWK. ‘But we also recognise that the other languages that the children bring with them are important.’

The practical week was organised by the Faculty of Social Work and Health at the HAWK in Hildesheim. The programme was characterised by seminars, excursions and intensive discussions. The aim was to learn from each other across national borders and to develop new approaches for dealing with multilingualism. The visits to daycare centres in Hildesheim, Hanover and Alfeld, which are dedicated to the topic of multilingualism, were particularly impressive and rich in experience for the participants.

Dr Maria Fürstaller, lecturer at FH Campus Wien, said: ‘I also think it was great to exchange ideas and visit the facilities - I noticed some differences to Austria here.’  

A central component of the programme was the theoretical examination of multilingual didactics. Dr Konstantina Rentzou, lecturer at the University of Ioannina in Greece, emphasised: ‘We learned how German kindergartens work, which is very different from the Greek approach.’ This comparison between different pedagogical systems offered the participants valuable insights and new perspectives.

Sandra Nováková, a doctoral student at Charles University in Prague, emphasised the intercultural exchange in the seminar as a personal enrichment: ‘For me personally, this seminar was about intercultural aspects and language issues and how to deal with them.’

In addition to the practical excursions, the practical introduction to the HAWK language workshop was also a highlight of the week. Here, trans- and plurilingual approaches were discussed and trialled.
According to Annika Tiefel from HAWK's International Office, the EU is specifically promoting formats like this as part of the Erasmus+ programme: ‘The EU hopes that these shorter blended learning formats will help students to advance their internationalisation experiences.’ At the same time, the programme is intended to motivate students to undertake longer stays abroad later on.

At the end of the week, everyone involved agreed that the blended intensive programme had not only opened up new perspectives, but also shown how important it is to support children on their path to multilingualism. Prof. Dr Tim Rohrmann summarises: ‘Actually, all children can be excellent multilingual language learners if you let them and if you support them along the way.‘