Máltaka tvítyngdra barna dreifist á tvö tungumál og það hversu hratt og vel þau ná tökum
á málunum er meðal annars háð því ílagi sem þau fá í hvoru tungumáli fyrir sig. Rannsóknir
á orðaforða tvítyngdra barna sem alast upp á Íslandi sýna að íslenskur orðaforði
þeirra er mun minni en orðaforði eintyngdra jafnaldra þeirra, en minna er vitað um stöðu
þeirra í sínu móðurmáli. Viðfangsefni þessarar rannsóknar var að kanna pólskan og íslenskan
orðaforða tvítyngdra barna og skoða hvernig málumhverfi barnanna heima og í
leikskóla styður máltöku beggja málanna. Þátttakendur voru fjórtán börn á aldrinum 4–6
ára sem eiga pólska foreldra en hafa alist upp á Íslandi frá fæðingu eða frumbernsku.
Orðaforði barnanna var metinn með íslensku og pólsku orðaforðaprófi, foreldrar þeirra
svöruðu spurningalista um málumhverfi heima fyrir og tekin voru viðtöl við deildarstjóra í
leikskólum barnanna.
Meginniðurstöður voru þær að pólskur orðaforði flestra barnanna var innan viðmiðunarmarka
fyrir eintyngd pólsk börn. Íslenskur orðaforði þeirra var hins vegar mun slakari en
orðaforði eintyngdra íslenskra barna á sama aldri. Niðurstöður úr spurningakönnuninni
sýndu að fyrir tveggja ára aldur höfðu öll börnin fyrst og fremst heyrt pólsku dagsdaglega
en lítil kynni haft af íslensku. Foreldrar barnanna voru meðvitaðir um mikilvægi þess
að börnin þeirra lærðu pólsku og hlúðu vel að máltöku hennar. Í leikskólunum var hins
vegar lagt mest upp úr því að kenna börnunum íslensku en minni áhersla lögð á að styrkja
pólskukunnáttu þeirra. Málörvun í leikskólunum fór mest fram í gegnum daglegt starf;
leik, samræður, söng og lestur. Deildarstjórar töldu að flest þessara barna þyrftu á frekari
málörvun að halda til að ná góðum tökum á íslensku og mörg þeirra fengu sérkennslu í
einhverju formi. Í viðtölum við deildarstjóra kom hins vegar fram að þeir töldu ekki nóg að
gert og kölluðu eftir auknum tíma til að sinna þessum þætti, sem og fræðslu og stuðningi
við leikskólakennara.
Bilingual language acquisition is a broad field and subject to many influencing factors.
The rate and success of acquisition of two languages varies greatly with regard
to the amount and type of input children receive in each language. Research studies
on vocabulary knowledge of bilingual children in Iceland have shown that the Icelandic vocabulary of children of immigrant background is considerably smaller than that
of their monolingual peers. However, less is known about their vocabulary knowledge
in their mother tongue. The main aim of this study was to test the Polish and Icelandic
vocabulary of bilingual children to assess their development in the two languages. In
addition, the effect of the home and preschool language environment on children’s
vocabulary development was investigated.
The study was conducted in the autumn of 2014. The participants were 14 children,
4–6 years old (born 2009–2010), who were born in Iceland and whose parents’ native
language was Polish. The children were chosen from six preschools located in southwest
Iceland, outside Reykjavík. Six of the participants attended one preschool, the
remaining eight were distributed between five preschools.
Two vocabulary measurements were used in the study: an Icelandic version of the
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-4) which has been translated/adapted and
norm-referenced for four to eight-year-old Icelandic children and a standardized Polish
vocabulary test, the Picture Vocabulary Test – Comprehension (OTSR) designed
for use with children aged 2 to 6 years. A detailed questionnaire in Polish was given to
the children’s parents to investigate the home language environment of the bilingual
children. In addition, interviews were conducted with the heads of the eight preschool
departments (in six preschools) attended by the participating children.
The main results of the vocabulary tests showed that the receptive vocabulary in
Polish of the majority of the children was similar in size to that of Polish monolingual
children of the same age and gender. On the other hand, the size of their receptive
vocabulary in Icelandic was found to be below the average for Icelandic monolingual
children. The results suggest that although the participating children have lived in
Iceland since infancy, their Icelandic vocabulary is weak. The main findings from the
parent questionnaire showed that Polish was the primary language heard daily by all
the children during the first two years of life and continued to be the main language
used by the children for communication with parents, siblings and other adults.
According to the department heads, the main emphasis of the preschool was to assist
the bilingual children in learning Icelandic; learning the mother tongue was seen
to be the responsibility of the parents. Similar language development practices were
used in all the preschools. Language development was intertwined with daily activities
and with pull-out lessons for literacy development. The main areas of emphasis
mentioned by the department heads were reading to children and discussing the stories
with them. The Text Talk method (Orðaspjall) was also used for vocabulary development.
In four of the preschools the participating children received special lessons
with emphasis on Icelandic vocabulary development. Parents of the bilingual children
were generally happy with their cooperation with the preschools. The parents wanted
to have positive relations and good communication with preschool staff, but sometimes
they felt that communication was hampered by language difficulties. Likewise,
the teachers experienced difficulties maintaining open and full communication with
parents. They occasionally used interpreters for parent-teacher meetings, but this
was not always possible.
Finally, teachers used informal methods to assess the bilingual children’s language
abilities and many felt the need for a vocabulary assessment tool which would assist
teachers in addressing the vocabulary development needs of bilingual children at
preschool. The department heads called for more support and training for staff in effective
methods of language teaching in order to better meet the needs of the growing
number of bilingual children in Icelandic preschools.
