Second Soul: Learning a Second Language at an Early Age

5 Participating countries: Spain, Greece, Poland, North Macedonia, Portugal

Start: 01-09-2020 - End: 31-10-2022

Project Reference: 2020-1-ES01-KA201-082898

EU Grant: 171404 EUR

Programme: Erasmus+

Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practice

Action Type: Strategic Partnerships for school education

“Second Soul” project will contribute to develop a new way of teaching languages to children in Kindergartens and Preschools that will involve the collaboration of the parents even when they do not speak the second language. Consortium of five partners from Spain, Greece, Poland, North Macedonia and Portugal. All of them have kindergartens or preschool sections working with bilingual education (3 publics and 2 privates).

Sometimes it is difficult for the teachers to teach a second language because they have just some few hours a week for working in the second language or because the second language is not attractive for the children because they do not use it with their relatives or friends. Teaching and learning a second language, even when it is easier for children, takes time and perseverance. The children will need hours of immersion in the second language, to have fun while they learn the second language (children always learn better if they have fun) and to learn that second language from the teachers (the professional language) but also from their families (the emotional Language). If the children feel that the second language is important for their families and they receive a reward (a word, a hug, a smile, a clap...) every time they try to learn or they improve in the second language the motivation of the children for learning that second language will increase exponentially. That is why we think that involving the families will be good for the second language acquisition of their children even when they do not speak that second language. It does not need to be difficult for the families, they just need some daily tips for working with their children.

Learning a second, third... language is always good because it has a lot of benefits for the brain of the children and you can develop more and better skills. But sometimes, and each day more in European countries, learning a second language contributes to social inclusion and integration of thousands of immigrants and refugees that come to live to Europe looking for a better future. The most of these families do not speak the language of the country where they are going to live but their small children will have to go to the kindergartens/preschools without knowing the language of the country (and the parents will not be able to help them). If we help the parents to motivate the children for learning the second language at home too they will learn the language quicker and their integration and social inclusion will be easier.

Another important thing that the consortium has discovered is the fact that the children get better results when the families are involved in the teaching or when they support the second language acquisition of the children. That is why it is important to involve the families in the teaching of the second language, even if they do not speak that language. And this is one of the main objectives of the projects, promote the collaboration between teachers and parents for getting better results.

Here is where TIC´s can a be a great help and tablets a great resource for teachers and parents. Researchers / teachers should find appropriate apps for the age of the children (for learning a second language) and share them with the parents for working toguether in the bilingual education of the children. After choosing the recommended Apps teachers will use the tablets in the classroom for testing them and see if they are suitable for the children and for parents. New technologies can be a great resource for that parents who do not speak
the second languguage but they want to help their children learning that second language. It can be a nice way for playing with the children in the second language while they have fun and revise what they learnt in the school or what the will learn in the school (flipped clasrrom). This tablet will be used for researching and implementation/explotation of IO2. So all partners should have it before March 2020 and during the project will be used only for this purpose. The parents at home can use tablets or phones.

There is, however, another aspect besides this multilingual face of Europe. Children with a migration and ethnic background often have problems in both their first and second language. Educators in pre-school, and subsequently in school, often have difficulties providing the necessary educational assistance. They argue that, in order to provide these children with the best possible conditions for learning in school, the curriculum should include supportive material and that the fostering of language acquisition should start at the earliest possible age. Otherwise these children will start their school careers from a disadvantaged position and these unfavourable conditions will accompany them during their entire school life if they do not learn the language at an early age.

So the methodology of the project propose to involve the parents in the bilingual education of the children with Flipped classroom, TICs... It will make more attractive the second language for the children in the classroom and at home with the parents. The idea is to incorporate the second language in the daily routine of the children and make them feel that language as part of them.

With this methodology and resources we expect to increase the skills of the children in a second language at an early age, to promote the social inclusion of immigrants and refugees through the learning of the language/culture of the country and to educate European citizens more open to other languages and cultures. Once the results are proved we expect other European teachers and parents to implement this methodology in other kindergartens and preschools. In the long term this project will help Europe to enhance the learning of languages, so that more young people will speak at least two European languages in addition to their mother tongue.

To have another language is to possess a Second Soul. ‒ Charlemagne

Materials:

* Implementation Plan -

You can follow our work:

* Facebook Page of the project - you can find it 

* eTwinning Space -

Disclaimer: This project has been funded with the support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.