Preschool education

To be authentic and effective, the ‘multilingual turn’ as described by the European Commission in 2006 should begin in the early years as it is there where “key attitudes towards other languages and cultures are formed and foundations for later language learning are laid”. This is the perspective argued for in this chapter and the suggested path is to follow what is labelled ‘Pedagogy of Diversity’, which would entail the introduction to the plurilingual and pluricultural paradigm in a way that is coherent and respectful with the young learners’ needs and abilities. The ‘Pedagogy of Diversity’ approach presented in this chapter suggests that practitioners should create opportunities for young learners to experience linguistic and cultural diversity in their settings and schools. Following this approach, this diversity should not only be made visible but also acknowledged and used in the learning process by looking at language and language learning from a complex and enriching perspective. Several strategies that range from language and culture visibilization in the setting to more specific didactic classroom-based approaches are discussed and exemplified in what follows. Their final aim is to promote appropriate, sensitive exposure to linguistic diversity which, in turn, will lead to awareness of otherness, concept exploration, and form a basis for future learning.