Modersmålsstöd i förskolan : En studie om förskollärares möjlighet att ge modersmålsstöd för barn med annat modersmål än svenska

Sammanfattning: Abstract The aim of the study was to examine how preschool teachers from two different municipalities are working with native language support. The method used in this study was a questionnaire survey were 58 preschool teachers participated. It has been shown in a study made in the USA by Galeano (2011) that families from other countries lose their native language faster during recent years than they did before, this may be because families let the English language dominate in the home instead of using their native language. When children start school they are offered mother tongue education, but often it’s not of much use since the students already have a basic speech in English (Galeano, 2011). A study conducted in schools in England showed that mother tongue education is deficient when students get questions on their native language but they choose to answer the teachers in English instead. This is one of the reasons how students lose the ability to speak their mother tongue but they still have the ability to understand what is being said (Cable, Drury & Robertson, 2014). This study shows that many of the preschool teachers that were questioned in the study did not have enough experience when it comes to working with native language support. The preschool teachers felt that they didn’t have good enough guidance to how the work with native language support should proceed in the best way. They couldn’t bring up the issues of language support with parents or answer their questions without double checking with the preschool heads or principals. Most of the preschool teachers know the importance of language support as it makes it easier for kids to become part of the preschool group and that they easier learn Swedish as a second language. Many preschool teachers had to take own initiatives to give children support in their native language, this because many preschools do not have access to mother tongue teachers or interpreter.