Early Bilingualism in a Multicultural Community/Rana dvojezičnost u višekulturnoj zajednici

Abstract

Due to the multicultural environment in Istria which also gave grounds to the need to protect and foster the rights of the Italian minority in this region, there are numerous educational institutions that offer a programme in Italian language for preschool and elementary school children. Our research has shown that those programmes are not attended only by children of the Italian minority but also by children of Croatian origin, who are not native speakers of Italian. The purpose of our research was to establish the reasons why parents choose an education in Italian for their children, and to find out if there is a correlation between the choice to continue the education in Italian language and the native language that the children speak.Our research has included preschool teachers and teachers in primary education that work in kindergarten and elementary schools in Italian language in Istria. The research has shown that according to the perceptions of preschool and primary school teachers, as well as taking into consideration the opinions of parents, it is possible to conclude that parents often enrol their children in preschools and elementary schools mostly because they want them to continue their education in the Italian language, because they want their children to learn how to better use the second language (SL), or to help them create their ethnical identity and to promote the conservation of Italian culture, traditions, customs and values. Data collected in this research will be used to analyze the influences of multicultural surroundings with regards to learning Italian as a SL by children, native speakers of Croatian, as well as to promote the development of intercultural interaction and respect for diversity between children.Key words: communicability; Croatian-speaking children; interaction; Italian language; multiculturalism. ... SažetakS obzirom na multikulturno okruženje i u cilju njegovanja prava talijanske nacionalne manjine, u Istarskoj županiji djeluje velik broj odgojno-obrazovnih ustanova na talijanskom jeziku. Međutim, istraživanje je pokazalo da se u vrtiće i škole na talijanskom jeziku upisuju ne samo djeca pripadnici talijanske nacionalne manjine već i djeca kojima talijanski jezik nije materinski. U skladu s temeljnim ciljem našeg istraživanja namjera nam je bila utvrditi koji su razlozi zbog kojih se roditelji odlučuju na školovanje djece na talijanskom jeziku, zatim postoji li povezanost nastavka školovanja na talijanskom jeziku i materinskog jezika djece koja su pohađala talijanski vrtić. Istraživanje je provedeno među odgajateljima i učiteljima primarnog obrazovanja koji rade u vrtićima i školama na talijanskom jeziku u Istarskoj županiji. Istraživanje je pokazalo da prema percepcijama odgajatelja i učitelja, a s obzirom na kontakte s roditeljima, možemo zaključiti da roditelji najčešće upisuju djecu u vrtić i školu na talijanskom jeziku zbog nastavka vertikale obrazovanja na talijanskom jeziku, jer žele da djeca bolje nauče drugi jezik (jezik sredine), radi stvaranja etničkog identiteta te da bi pridonijeli održavanju talijanske kulture, tradicije, običaja i vrijednosti. Podaci dobiveni istraživanjem poslužit će za analizu utjecaja višejezične okoline na učenje talijanskog jezika kao drugog jezika (L2) djece govornika hrvatskog jezika, te za razvijanje međukulturne interakcije i poštivanja različitosti među djecom.Ključne riječi: djeca govornici hrvatskog jezika; multikulturalnost; interakcija; otvorenost; talijanski jezik.