About the project
The preschool years are of great importance for dual-language development. From a sociocultural perspective, young children learn language through their interactions with others, such as their parents. In countries like Norway, language-minority parents play a particularly important role in their children's bilingual development, given that bilingual children are usually exposed to their first language by their parents. Thus, these interactions at home become especially important for parents who wish to raise their children as bilinguals.
Parent-child shared reading is an important strategy for supporting young dual language learners´ language development. Moreover, what makes bilingual parent– child dyads particularly interesting is that, unlike monolinguals, bilinguals can use both of their languages during literacy activities like shared reading.
Focusing on bilingual preschool children in Norway, the overall aim of this project is 1) to examine how parents and children use their first and second languages during shared reading, and 2) to identify some of the antecedents and consequences of language practices during shared reading.
Background
- Expected completion: Spring 2024.
- The project is guided by a sociocultural theoretical framework, using both qualitative and quantitative methods.