BeeMEHR: multilingualism

Project Description

The project focuses on two objectives. First, it aims to raise awareness among early childhood educators, teachers, school leaders, parents, and children in various educational institutions of a scientifically grounded understanding of multilingualism. This awareness-raising takes the form of accompanying seminars and coaching offers. This phase is also used to provide sustainable digital and analogue educational and practice materials.

Second, the project systematically investigates the scientific relationship between cognitive control, metalinguistic awareness, and reading competence. These findings serve to harness the potential of multilingualism for the acquisition of literacy. A practice platform for strengthening metalinguistic awareness will be developed and implemented in such a way that reading competence can improve for all children, regardless of their social, linguistic, and cultural background.

The overall project addresses the challenge posed by the prevailing stigma that multilingualism constitutes a social and cognitive exception, and seeks to largely close the socially divisive gap between scientific findings and school-based as well as societal prejudices against multilingualism.