Page 59 - Second language development of newly arrived migrant kindergarteners - Frederike Groothoff

Present study: extended research questions and methodology 59 the educational setting affect the development of the second language of newly arrived migrant kindergarteners in the first stages of their schooling in the Netherlands. Therefore, to reach an answer to the general research question “To what extent do pedagogical practices contribute to the second language development of newly arrived migrant kindergarteners in the first two-and-a-half years after arrival in the Netherlands?” five sub-questions have been formulated. All questions reflect the theoretical perspective of an ecological and sociolinguistic view on language development and justify an interdisciplinary research approach on multiple aspects of language development. First, two language skills of the pupils’ second language, Dutch, the language of instruction at school, were assessed and their development was evaluated: (a) How does the receptive vocabulary (in Dutch) of newly arrived migrant kindergarteners develop during the first two-and-a-half years of schooling in the Netherlands in relation to school type? (b) How does the narrative ability (in Dutch) of newly arrived migrant kindergarteners develop during the first two-and-a-half years of schooling in the Netherlands in relation to school type? The development of receptive vocabulary and narrative ability is related to school type in order to see whether pupils attending a separate DL2-school in the first year have a different kind of second language development compared to pupils who immediately start in a Mainstream school. For these two research questions we assume that the differences in organizational structure as such between DL2-schools and Mainstream schools have consequences for the pedagogical practices. Without further distinction school type is included as a variable in the Chapters 4 and 5. However, we should stress that the school types of the pupils only differed in the first year of education since later on all pupils attended a Mainstream school. In order to evaluate the division of school type between DL2-schools and Mainstream schools the similarities and differences between these different educational facilities for newly arrived migrant kindergarteners is studied. Specifically, the school learning environment was investigated in more detail by looking at the pedagogical practices in the classrooms by means of observations. Two questions will be answered: (c) What are the differences in characteristics of the school learning environment regarding teacher behavior between DL2-schools and Mainstream schools? (d) What are the differences in characteristics of the school learning environment from the point of view of focal pupils’ experiences between DL2-schools and Mainstream schools?