The Multilingual Literacy project

The purpose of the Multilingual Literacy project was to find out what type of actions are needed to maintain and strengthen one’s mother tongue and literacy from the perspective of kindergartens, libraries and multicultural families and communities. The aim was to gather information on needs, opportunities, and challenges and to share good practice with multicultural families and professionals working with them.

The project started with an extensive investigation that mapped out the needs and opportunities of kindergartens and libraries to support the home language, but also literacy in Finnish. In addition, multicultural families are interviewed to identify genuine needs and challenges.

Multilingual literacy – wishes, needs, and challenges of families and professionals in multilingual environments

Finland’s demographics have changed considerably in the last 30 years, bringing new opportunities and challenges. In particular, the large number of second-generation immigrants in early childhood education requires new approaches. Daycare centers and libraries play a central role in supporting the literacy of children whose parents speak languages other than Finnish, Swedish, or Saami. There are already significant numbers of such children in early childhood education in some areas.

This report provides information and guidance for the development of public and private services to support the literacy of speakers of all languages.

Additional information:

Project Manager Emmi Jäkkö, emmi.jakko@lukukeskus.fi, +358 50 563 8998