Multilingualism: a reality for classes in European countries
It is recommended that immigrant parents speak their language at home. In some poorer parts of London, employees at crèches and some NGO organisations regularly provide books for immigrant families to read to their children in their own language or in English. This is being done so that pre-schooling gets off to a good start and to give parents certain pointers as to how the school system works. Strategies are being sought everywhere to help teachers work in multilingual classes. There has been progress but there is still some way to go…
Language awareness
It can happen that children use two languages at home or that a school is bilingual, such as in the French and Italian-speaking regions of the Grisons. Portuguese children who attend the Pontresina bilingual classes learn Romanche, a Latin language like their own; Dutch children have no problem whatsoever picking up German and Swiss German. The multilingualism of classes poses a real challenge and an obstacle for those teachers who are not equipped with appropriate pedagogical tools. Under these circumstances, language awareness activities prove very effective. These pedagogies facilitate learning and also value the minority language skills present in the class. Moving from one language to another, looking at what is similar and different, breaking down words and their sounds and looking for roots are stimulating activities for children and teacher alike.
The Euridyce European network survey
The Euridyce survey demonstrates that there are numerous measures to facilitate the integration of newly arrived immigrant children: reception classes to learn the teaching language; school support; cultural mediators in classrooms; courses in the mother tongue language and culture, as well as training of teachers in management of multilingual classes. The consistent aim of these strategies is to promote equal opportunities. In a number of countries, such as in Finland since 2004, equality of education is embodied into the law.
Community translators and interpreters
When communicating with newly arrived immigrant families causes a problem, the European ministries of education recommend using translators, interpreters or community mediators. In most countries, these costs are covered by the local authorities. In Luxembourg and in Scandinavian countries, interpretation is a statutory right for recently arrived families. Nevertheless schools often improvise; they call on members of NGO’s and teachers who are from the same culture and speak the language, or on immigrant parents who have been in the country for a long time.
Language and home culture courses
The aim of language and culture courses is to ensure that the native language is properly mastered and to strengthen links with the culture of origin. These courses are often financed by consulates and diplomatic missions. Lessons take place in schools during holidays or after classes, except in Spain and Luxembourg where they take place during normal school hours. This amounts to a sort of parallel schooling. In France and Luxembourg, the marks obtained in the maternal language are shown in school reports. This is a way of recognising their educational role.
Some governments have adopted a principled position that any recently arrived immigrant child has the right to be taught in his or her native language and the courses are covered by the national education system. However, these are only organised if numbers are sufficient. Some countries, such as Britain, France and Slovenia, recommend that institutions include certain migrant languages as options within the school curriculum. The Netherlands is a special case. In 2004, after stormy debates, the government abandoned language and culture courses for newly arrived immigrant children and replaced them with more intensive support to learning the teaching language.
On the vitality of languages
European studies show that newly arrived immigrant children from the same social class, whose parents do not speak the host language obtain less good results than indigenous children. In France, the dominant language of Turkish-origin children at the end of nursery school, which is at six years of age, is French. However, these children only catch up for their delayed start in the teaching language at the end of primary school, at the age of 11. Pupils who attend courses in language and culture between the ages of 7-15, and who speak Turkish at home, acquire a level which is close to native monolingual speakers from Turkey at around the age of 14. Nevertheless, these results mask a harsh reality that 27 per cent of Turkish-origin children leave the French school system without any qualifications, compared to 13 per cent for immigrant children as a whole, and eight per cent for the rest of the population.
What about Switzerland?
Multilingualism is not an advantage, even in a multilingual country. Indeed, one non-indigenous child out of ten attends special classes – it is one out of 40 for a Swiss child – and half of non-indigenous pupils follow basic needs provision as compared to a quarter of Swiss children. Like everywhere, education plays an important role in social mobility, but evidence suggests it takes at least one generation to make the same impact.
By Simone Forster, Syndicat des Enseignants Romands(SER),Switzerland
