Migrant language education
Teachers and educational authorities in many ECML member states are developing strategies to cater for the language needs of children and adult migrants. Significant efforts are made to provide support for the learning of the language(s) of the host country in order to facilitate access to the social and professional life of the majority population. It is worth exploring examples of good practice and pooling innovative approaches in order to elaborate practical material, instruction files or tools to effectively support migrant learners’ development of competences in the majority language(s).
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It is important for migrants to have the opportunity to develop language competences in their home language(s) – the language(s) spoken at home by children and adult migrants. It is argued that “access to literacy in two languages benefits cognitive development. Thus the home language skills of children and adolescents from migrant backgrounds should be fostered by whatever means are practically available, partly as a matter of human rights and partly in order to increase society’s linguistic and cultural capital” (Council of Europe/Language Policy Division 2010). Also, for their peers in classrooms and for adult majority language speakers of the host country, awareness-raising activities through inclusive, plurilingual and intercultural approaches are important features of good quality education and provide positive impact for the society as a whole.
Projects covering the theme “support for migrant language education” are addressing either the learning of the host country’s language(s) or the learning of the home language(s) but are acknowledging the need of the learner to develop both strands.
closeProjects targeting young migrants