In addition to the promotion of the German language, which the children require for a successful education and career path, the focus is on promoting the home language. It has been shown that good language skills in the first language (Turkish, Romanian, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, etc.) has a positive impact on the acquisition of German as a second language. [1] Language competence also plays an important role in the child’s personal development with regard to self-esteem and identity.
It is often the case that the promotion of the family language is neglected from the start of school at the latest, i.e. at a time when the skills in that language are not yet fully developed. The German language is used in education, which is why parents place the emphasis on the acquisition of German. Sometimes parents themselves switch from the home language to German when speaking to their children in order to support the children in learning German. While promoting the German language is important, the focus should be on both languages. It has been scientifically proven that language skills are mutually supportive and that acquisition is facilitated when there is a broad repertoire in the home language to fall back on. Both languages must be promoted at a high quality level in order to support the children in the best way possible and to achieve successful multilingualism. Unless the home language is promoted, competence will decrease over the years. Writing in the first language is often not promoted at all. [2]
STARTKLAR offers promotion in the children’s first languages. Our courses are led exclusively by language promoters who speak the respective languages at a first-language level.
[1] Cf. Peltzer-Karpf/Annemarie (2011): A kući sprecham Deutsch. Sprachstanderhebung in multikulturellen Volksschulklassen: bilingualer Spracherwerb in der Migration. Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur.
[2] Cf. Peltzer-Karpf/Annemarie (2011): A kući sprecham Deutsch. Sprachstanderhebung in multikulturellen Volksschulklassen: bilingualer Spracherwerb in der Migration. Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur.