CLaB – Child Language Brokering: Perspectives of Teachers and Learners on a Translingual Everyday Practice

Project Description

Multilingualism is part of everyday life for many children and adolescents with a migration background – including in school. However, it is often seen not as a resource, but as a challenge. In day-to-day school life, students develop various informal strategies to support each other across language barriers. One such strategy is Child Language Brokering (CLB): multilingual students spontaneously and informally translate for peers with limited German skills – for example, when explaining assignments, communicating with teachers, or in everyday conversations. Despite its importance, Child Language Brokering has hardly been researched in German-speaking contexts.

This is where the project CLaB comes in: working closely with children and teachers, it will be investigated when and how Child Language Brokering occurs, how it is perceived by those involved, and what potential it holds for collaborative learning. In three sub-studies, the researchers explore Child Language Brokering from educational, linguistic, and professional perspectives. Our goal is to develop a deeper understanding of this practice and derive ideas for a translingual didactic approach – one that sees multilingualism as a valuable resource. In the long term, the project aims to create practical training concepts that support schools in dealing with linguistic diversity.

Project Objectives

Gaining a better understanding of child language brokering enables its potential for school teaching to be exploited in a targeted manner. Together with the participants, the project team is developing approaches for translingual didactics, e.g. in the form of training concepts that can be used in everyday school life.

Funding

IDeA Center

Cooperations

• Goethe University Frankfurt/Main: Dr. Farina Böttjer and Dr. Melanie David-Erb (joint direction of the project)
• Pädagogische Hochschule Heidelberg/University of Education: Dr. Sabrina Geyer (joint direction of the project)
• Campus Schools Frankfurt

Publications

• David-Erb, M. (2024). Sprache und Raum in non-formalen Bildungssettings: Perspektiven junger Geflüchteter auf ihre mehrsprachigen Lebenswelten. In C. Röhner, J. Schwittek, & A. Potsi (Hrsg.), Transmigration und Place-making (S. 293–310). Leverkusen: Barbara Budrich.
• Geyer, S. & Schastak, M. (submitted). Sprachvergleiche – Eine geeignete Methode im Grammatikunterricht in der Grundschule? Empirische Erkenntnisse zu den Überzeugungen und Praktiken von Lehrkräften. Zeitschrift für Grundschulforschung.
• Schastak, M., David-Erb, M., & Geyer, S (submitted). „…and that makes multilingualism almost difficult.” A mixed methods study on the attitudes and practices of teachers and parents regarding multilingualism in different contexts.

Project Management

• Dr. Farina Böttjer
• Dr. Melanie David-Erb
• Dr. Sabrina Geyer
• Dr. Martin Schastak

Project Details