An English-Samoan bilingual kindergarten in Logan City has proven successful in connecting young children with their heritage language and culture. Griffith University researchers, Dr Kerry Taylor-Leech, Associate Professor Judith Kearney and Dr Monika Krajcovicova from the School of Education and Professional Studies, together with Master of Teaching student TemukisaLealasola and Dr EsetaTualaulelei (University of Southern Queensland). followed a group of children over seven months at the kindergarten (a’ogaamatain Samoan).
“More than 20% of Australians speak alanguage other than English at home. But the shift to English often begins when children enter formal early childhood educationand accelerates when they enter primary school.So,they may lose their heritage language,’’Dr Taylor-Leech says.
“We wanted to find out whether a bi-lingual early childhood environment could help revitalise their heritage language.”
Working in collaboration with Hosanna Logan City Church andGoodstartEarly Learning, the team followed a group of children in the a’ogaamata for seven months to explore whether it was meeting its aims to support heritage language and culture, build a positive Samoan identity and enhance children’s school readiness.
Thea’ogaamatawas establishedin 2018with the aim of encouraging Samoan parents toenroltheir children in early childhood education,
“We found that parents valued the program highly. More than the amount of language their children learned, the parents valued that they were oriented to the Samoan values ofusitai,faaaloalo,alofaandtautua— obedience, respect, love, and service,’’ Dr Taylor-Leech said.
“As well as providing the children with positive affirmation of their Samoan identity, the program also succeeded in enhancing the children’s school readiness by instilling in them a strong sense of confidence and belonging.”
The team found that, while the program was highly successful in terms of cultural affirmation and preparation for mainstream education, it was less successful when it came to heritage language proficiency.
“Because English was the dominant language in the kindergarten, the children’s exposure to Samoan was ultimately limited. There was also no program available that would continue to support Samoan after the children had transitioned to primary school,” Dr Taylor-Leech said.
“We hope to extend our study to include other children from early childcare and follow them into primary school to understand how positive heritage language and identity development supports a successful transition to school.
“We also hope to explore how families can support their children and develop strategies for reviving heritage languages at home.”
The 2016 Census identified more than 300 languages spoken in Australian households. In English-speaking countries, languages other than English that are associated with people’s cultural backgrounds are generally known as heritage languages