Including adults and peers through translanguaging in literacy activities

Translanguaging in reading activities in Early Childhood Education and
Care (ECEC) can result in child engagement, language learning and the
development of multilingual identities. Few studies have explored the
engagement of very young children and languaging when they
participate in activities with both educators and parents. The present
study therefore investigates the ways in which educators in two
daycare centres and parents jointly supported children when the
parents read in the home language as well as the children’s
engagement and interactions. The observational and interview data
were collected in Luxembourg where a multilingual education policy is
in place in ECEC. The findings show that the parents used the home
language on its own or together with the instructional language which,
in turn, resulted in different emotional and instructional support and
impacted children’s engagement and interactions differently. While the
opportunities to hear and speak a home language other than the
institutional one resulted in most children performing their multilingual
identities, children only engaged with content, interacted with the
parent, educator and peers, and included them when the adults
translanguaged. The findings suggest that children and parents can
benefit from collaborative reading events when the adults draw on
children’s multilingual repertoires