Abstract

This article reports a study which examined the effects of an Awakening to Languages (AtL) programme on preschool children’s language abilities. This programme aimed at exposing children to language and cultural diversity as well as promoting positive attitudes towards different languages and cultures amongst children. However, considering that the AtL approach also intends to encourage language learning, it has been said to contribute to the development of a plurilingual competence that is characterised as being richer than a communicative competence, more complex and, at the same time, more flexible. The study was carried out with 16 Portuguese preschool¹ children, divided into two groups (control and experimental). An AtL intervention programme was then applied in the experimental group with which the researcher worked on a variety of multilingual activities and games for three months. A language test and a language report were used before and after the implementation of the programme to determine how the children progressed in their communicative skills, with a focus on syntax. The results indicate that the approach used had a positive impact on the children’s syntactic abilities, namely in oral comprehension, and also facilitated the development of positive attitudes towards language and cultural diversity.

摘要

本文报告了一项研究，该研究检查了“语言觉醒”（AtL）计划对学龄前儿童语言能力的影响。该方案旨在使儿童了解语言和文化的多样性，并促进儿童对不同语言和文化的积极态度。但是，考虑到AtL方法也旨在鼓励语言学习，因此据说它有助于发展多元能力，这种能力的特征是比交流能力更丰富，更复杂，同时也更灵活。该研究是与16个葡萄牙学龄前儿童^{1一起进行的。}儿童，分为两组（对照组和实验组）。然后，在实验小组中应用了AtL干预程序，研究人员与该小组一起进行了为期三个月的各种多语言活动和游戏的研究。在计划实施之前和之后，都使用了语言测试和语言报告来确定儿童的交际能力如何发展，重点是语法。结果表明，所采用的方法对儿童的句法能力（即口头理解）产生了积极影响，也促进了对语言和文化多样性的积极态度的发展。