Since the phenomenon of bilingual communication is part of my daily life, the topic has puzzled me for quite some time. Consequently, I have tried to get acquainted with both scientific and popular literature dedicated to the problem of multilingual and multicultural communication. Here is an example article on the topic I have read recently.

Biliteracy: Teaching Bilingual Children to Read and Write in More Than One Alphabet by Corey Heller, the founder of Multilingual Living and the Editor-In-Chief/Publisher of Multilingual Living Magazine. Corey, an American, and her German husband live in Seattle where they raise and home-school their three children in German and English.

Speaking from her first-hand experience, the author shares with the reader her thoughts and practical hints related to bilingual child-raising. The article discusses challenges in teaching a bilingual child more than one alphabet. She argues that, unlike monolingual families, bilingual families have the added hurdle of having to manage more than one alphabet. Even if both alphabets include the same letters, often they have very different sounds (or sounds that are the same but refer to different letters). How does a family juggle all of this? It isn’t as difficult as it sounds. It just takes a little bit of creativity.

http://www.multilingualliving.com/2011/07/25/biliteracy-teaching-bilingual-children-read-write-alphabet/

– Mitä kirjasta, nettisivulta tms. opin?

Ambitious and dedicated parents can teach their children to communicate in two (or even more) languages, provided they are determined, consistent and creative.

– Mihin sen omassa opettajuudessani tai pedagogiikassani yhdistän?

Based on an article dedicated to Multilingual language awareness and teacher education, my colleague argues that, (...) it is important to know the background of your students in many ways. Especially for language teaching you need to know the “linguistic landscape” of your student (...).

– Miten kokeilen sitä konkreettisesti omassa opetuksessani?

Working with bilingual (Finnish–Polish) pupils in my class, I ought to remain in close contact with their parents, to know the students’ backgrounds, the way their bilingual communication functions at home, e.g. if is it based on the OPOL rule or some other.

– Mitä muuta kirjallisuutta tähän aihepiiriin mielestäni liittyy?

There is abundant literature available in various paper publications and online, dealing with the issue of multilingual and multicultural communication and pedagogy.

– Kenelle erityisesti lukemaani suosittelsiin ja miksi?

I would recommend the article to all parents who either raise, or consider raising, their children multilingual. In addition to such parents, the target reader group includes also teachers of heritage language classes and other professionals working with pupils and students representing multilingual and multicultural background.