Två- och flerspråkighet på förskolan : En kvalitativ studie om förskollärarnas förhållningssätt, betydelse av deras språkliga bakgrund och deras praktiska insatser kring språkutveckling hos två-och flerspråkiga barn

Bilingualism and multilingualism have always existed in Sweden. Preschool teachers must provide a stimulating pedagogical environment adapted to bilingual children. The purpose of this examination is to study the perspective of the preschool teachers and their knowledge regarding bilingual and multilingual children. Their knowledge will be examined related to their language experiences. I hope to find similarities and dissimilarities in the preschool teachers’ opinions concerning teaching and learning what they actually do when they are teaching. My study is based on qualitative method, based on interviews and repeated observations. My study is based on interviews with four preschool teachers from different preschools. The information given in the interviews has been analyzed using socio-cultural and social constructivist theories and previous research. My conclusion is that the preschool teacher’s attitude towards children’s bilingualism and multilingualism is based on a positive perspective rather than a negative perspective regarding the importance of mother tongue and identity as well as ethics. Preschool teachers with foreign background and with Swedish background had similar thoughts. At the same time, they seem to have a critical perspective concerning bilingual children’s learning process in Swedish. In many cases these preschool teachers consider bilingual and multilingual children’s cultural and social habits a hindrance in learning the Swedish language. But at the same time, as preschool teachers, they are aware of the importance in learning at least a few words in the bilingual children’s language