Browsing by Subject "lapsen kielen kehitys"

The purpose of my bachelor’s thesis was to describe the thoughts of children who speak both Finnish and Swedish as their first languages. I investigated how bilingual children make a language choice when interacting with peers. I also observed how code-switching from Finnish to Swedish appeared in children’s talk. My intent was to expand the understanding of language development of a bilingual child from an early education teacher’s view. The questions of my study were: 1. What thoughts do children who speak Finnish and Swedish as their first languages have about bilingualism? 2. How do bilingual children make a language choice when interacting with peers? 3. How does code-switching appear in children’s talk? My thesis was a qualitative study and as the study method I used a theme interview. I gathered the material by interviewing four simultaneously bilingual children aged six to eight who speak both Finnish and Swedish as their first languages. I analysed the material with content analysis. The study shows that children think their bilingualism is a natural part of their lives. They had thoughts about languages transferring from one generation to next. When interacting with peers children followed their joint language history and also negotiated what languages to use together. Appearance of code-switching was variable. Code-switching worked as a part of children’s language strategy to make discussion more fluent. The conclusion of the study is that bilingualism generally does not affect child’s language development. Children mainly do not feel that their bilingualism is a negative thing. Code-switching is a conscious language skill and strategy. In an interaction between bilingual children it is natural to speak both languages and negotiate together which languages to use.