Page 45 - PSPS: A Training guide

If a child comes from a minority group that speaks a different language (or Roma
families in some countries that communicate in Romani language at home) even
though the majority language is all around with media and other children and families
in preschool using it all the time, a child and their family members may not be fluent in
it. Within their families and communities, their mother tongue is spoken, so the child
has acquired most of their learning and understanding in the minority language.
If family members are illiterate or have low levels of education, they often believe that
they cannot help their child learn anything. The pressure is then put on a child by the
family to learn the official language.

In communication with others, a child may try to literally translate
words and sentences into the majority language, but then different
barriers surface since both grammar and vocabulary include
constructions that cannot be literally translated from one language
into another. When this happens and others - both grown-ups and
children - seem unable to understand or recognise/accept the
child’s effort, (s)he can develop resistance to both school and
classmates/teachers. This may result in a situation where a child
refuses to go to school, refrains from communication with peers
and teachers and tries to avoid any situation where the official
language is needed for communication.

Children and their family’s mother tongue is a different language from the language
of tuition and the family members can understand and converse in the language of
tuition or in an international language, but the child has no command or
understanding of the language of tuition.

In today’s world, refugees, migrants, and labour immigrants frequently move from one
country to another. When migration is caused by political instability in the country, or
wars, usually the first families to leave are the ones better educated, those in a better
financial situation and those who feel that they can find work wherever they go. They
usually speak at least one international language and/or have immediately begin to
learn the official language of the host country when they arrive. However, a child at the
age of transitioning from preschool to the primary school, usually cannot speak the
host country’s language yet. Frequently both the authorities and families think that if
they submerge children into the environment where everyone speaks the language of
tuition, the children will naturally pick up the language fast.

Research, however, shows that these children attain lower scores even at a later stage
in literacy and science tests. Picking up another language does not happen
automatically. Most of a child’s learning and understanding of concepts and
constructs come from the experience and understanding acquired in their mother
tongue.