DThe head teacher read: “Pazara gidelim bir tavuk alalim.” Then she asked the group: Does anyone understand? Ali Emre answered. He speaks Turkish and can translate: “We want to go to the market to buy a chicken.” “Very good,” Ms. Glic said. Ali Emre looked around proudly. Students from Class 2c of the Pestalozzi School in Frankfurt East sit in small chairs. Each of these 17 children has parents who speak another language, from Turkish to Arabic to Afghan and Albanian. There are eleven different languages. But there is only one language in the daily course, and that is German.
In the social discussions on the subject of integration, everyone agreed that it is important for children of immigrants to learn German. But almost no one talks about their native language. They fade out as if they don’t exist, as if they are just obstacles to the success of children’s education, and there is nothing to be proud of. But you can also look at this topic from a different perspective, which is why there are two bright blue suitcases in the classroom at 2c this morning, “Frankfurter Bucherkoffer”.
Appreciate the background of migration
Each book contains twelve selected children’s books, which in addition to German also contain at least one other language, such as Arabic, English, Persian, French, Russian, Turkish or Serbo-Croatian. A book with children’s verses is even written in 50 languages.
Students can keep the suitcase for the entire school year, and each child will take it home twice a week to read the book or read the accompanying “Reading Owl” text alone or with their parents, if the parents do not have time.
“This is a simple project, and it also values the children’s immigration background,” said Susan Rosenfeld, who explained the concept to the 2c children that morning. Together with Claudia Landmann, she founded the Künstreich Association, and so far, with the support of the city of Frankfurt, she has brought bookcases to 21 schools in Frankfurt. The idea came from Hamburg. Coach@School Association was the first place to promote multilingual reading through bookcases. The plan has also been implemented in North Rhine-Westphalia this year, and other federal states are in preparation.
Use multiple languages to enrich
Appreciation is an important concept in the project. If part of the child’s language ability is repeatedly rejected and underestimated, it also means rejecting and rejecting them for the child. Although bilingualism is generally classified as rich in families that speak English in addition to German, it is often seen as a defect in other languages such as Turkish, Arabic, or Croatian. “But we want to increase the potential of the family,” Landman said. “We don’t want to teach either,” Rosenfeld added. These books can only be understood as suggestions, not school assignments.
“The more children realize the importance of reading and writing in the family, the easier it is for them to learn languages in school,” said Ingrid Gogolin, a professor of multilingual education at the University of Hamburg. In general, the promotion of bilingualism has a positive impact on children’s school performance. In addition to speaking, the use of writing is also very important. “Every child must understand the difference between spoken and written language at some point. Children learn this in school, but parents can be prepared for it,” Gogolin said.
