Flerspråkighet som norm : En studie om pedagogers synsätt på flerspråkighet i förskolan

Sammanfattning: The aim of our study is to examine preschool teachers' attitudes to multilingualism in preschool, especially in relation to the preschool's internal environment. Our study is based on the socio-cultural perspective and consists of six interviews with pedagogues and observations at two preschools in different parts of Stockholm. We are certain of that our study is important for pedagogues, since a high proportion of children in Swedish preschools are multilingual. A high level of awareness and recurrent work to promote children’s multilingualism has tremendous importance for children's language development. The result of our study demonstrates that multilingualism is the norm in the preschools. Based on the interviews, we have seen that pedagogues are aware of the fact that both the children's home language and the Swedish language are equally important for children's language development. For children to develop good language skills in the Swedish language, it is important that the mother language is promoted and is a point of departure in preschool activities. Pedagogues, who constantly communicate with children, contribute to children's language development. Children must be offered ample opportunity for language use and interaction in different contexts. The study demonstrates that pedagogues consciously work with multilingualism, aiming for creating a language stimulating internal environment that encourages kids to play, learn and develop their language skills. Similar to a majority of pedagogues, we are certain that play has an important role for children's language development; because play is something pleasurable that often comes naturally and it is very important for children.