Abstract:
This presentation describes research on four early childhood centres in Auckland, New Zealand. The research focused on experiences and outcomes for children who learn in more than one language in the early years; what parents, teachers, and children valued and how teachers addressed the opportunities and challenges for children who learn in more than one language. Participating early childhood centres were: a Maori-medium centre, a Samoan immersion centre, and a kindergarten and a centre with children from a wide range of heritage language backgrounds. The presentation begins an overview of the Auckland context and processes of the research project as a whole. It then describes valued experiences and outcomes for children from within diverse research contexts. This is followed by highlights of the data, drawing on two theoretical ideas — additive bilingualism and funds of knowledge. It concludes by discussing the implications of this research for diverse contexts outside of New Zealand. Podmore, V., Hedges, H., Keegan, P. J., & Harvey, N. (Eds.). (2016). Teachers voyaging in plurilingual seas: Young children who learn through more than one language. Wellington: NZCER.
