Innovation in Language Learning

Social interactions with peers are crucial for language learning, not only in the context of everyday life, but also in school. Interacting with peers in multilingual classrooms may also contribute to language development. However, the role of friendships for language learning through peer interaction in multilingual classrooms has not yet been investigated. This talk presents a study that examined the relationship between children's friendships and oral language development in multilingual primary school classrooms in Year 3. Using a longitudinal design, we examined the relationship between oral language proficiency in German (L1 or L2) and classroom social networks in eight classrooms. We quantified children's friendship relationships using social network analysis (RSiena) and measured their oral language skills using the USB PLuS, a story generation task suitable for both L1 and L2 speakers. A sample of 165 Austrian primary school children (83 boys and 82 girls aged 7–8 years; 27.88% first language (L1) learners and 72.12% second language (L2) learners) were assessed on their oral language skills at the beginning of the school year (T1) and again 6–7 months later (T2). The results suggest that children who had more reciprocal best friendships at the beginning of the school year experienced greater improvement in their oral language skills. The study also shows that moderate language differences between friends are beneficial for oral language development, regardless of whether students are learning the language as a first or second language. The findings provide evidence that friendships are a strong predictor of children's oral language development. They emphasise the importance of positive social relationships at school, highlighting the essential role of peer interaction with friends in multilingual classrooms.

Keywords: Language learning – multilingual classrooms - peer interaction

REFERENCES:

[1] Bushati, Bora/Kedia, Gayanée/Christensen, Alex/Krammer, Georg/Rotter, Daniela/Corcoran, Katja/Schmölzer-Eibinger, Sabine (2023): „Friends as a Language Learning Resource in Multilingual Primary School Classrooms, in: Social Psychology of Education. Springer. DOI: 10.1007/s11218-023-09770-6. S. 1 – 23.