Delaktighet och digitala resurser. Barns multimodala uttryck för delaktighet i förskolan i flerspråkiga områden

The study investigates the opportunities minority language children have to participate in everyday kindergarten life through the use of tablets. The research questions are: 1) What conditions, opportunities and obstacles to participation does the use of tablets create, with their functions and applications, in kindergartens in multilingual areas? 2) How is children’s participation expressed in children’s use of tablets in multilingual areas? 3) What type of literacy practices are expressed when tablets are used in kindergartens in multilingual areas? 4) In what way will digital resources be important for children’s participation in kindergartens in multilingual areas?

The results show that by using modes of communication other than the majority language, the minority language children were able to express participation in both multilingual and multimodal ways. The children used the tablets to create their own documentation and verbal content in addition to the majority language. The researcher believes that such ways of communicating can help children overcome challenges they face as minority language learners.

The data material was collected using video observations of children at three different Swedish kindergartens where the minority language was Finnish. The researcher observed the children’s interactions with each other, the teachers and the tablet. Recordings of the tablet screens were also made during the activities in order to obtain information about the children’s different ways of communicating. In addition, focus group interviews were conducted with kindergarten staff.

Petersen, P. (2020). «Delaktighet och digitala resurser. Barns multimodala uttryck för delaktighet i förskolan i flerspråkiga områden». Akademisk avhandling. Stockholms universitet.