Publications

Publication details [#60979]

McPake, Joanna, Wilson McLeod, Christine Stephen and Irene Pollock. 2016. Early years immersion. Learning from children’s playroom experiences. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 4 (1) : 59–85.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Language as a subject
Place, Publisher
John Benjamins
Journal DOI
10.1075/jicb

Annotation

This paper considers the pedagogic challenges encountered in preschool settings which strive to provide high quality learning experiences across the curriculum for three- to five-year olds while also immersing them in a second language. In an effort to develop an empirically and theoretically informed foundation for the development of pedagogic practices in Gaelic-medium preschools in Scotland, this paper draws on literature from early years education and from early total immersion, particularly in relation to language revitalisation initiatives, and reports the findings from this study of the everyday experiences of young learners in three Gaelic-medium playrooms. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges for early years practitioners charged with meeting the goals of both the early years curriculum and early language immersion. It proposes theoretical foundations from which a specific pedagogy and professional practice model for preschool immersion education can be developed, to ensure that these goals are integrated rather than in tension.