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en kommunikationsetnografisk studie om andraspråksinlärares deltagande i förskolan
The aim of the thesis was to better understand how second language learners becomes lingual participants in a Swedish preschool. Using the following research questions: In what situations are SLLs lingual participants at the preschool? What does their emerging language look like? Are the participation any different considering children's time in the new L2 context? What kind of support does SLLs receive at the preschool?Two focal children at the same preschool was studied with ethnography of communication as method. The focal children chosen were one girl (Mandarin L1, 4.0 yrs) who arrived to Sweden and started the preschool two months ago at the time of the study, the other a boy (Serbian L1, 3.9 yrs) who started preschool and learning the L2 one year and two months before the study. Situations where the focal children interacted with other children or adults were analyzed. Results showed that the focal children in interaction with each other understands some of the others intentions before being able to speak about them in the L2. Also episodes of shared attention showed to be the arena for intersubjective lingual negotiation and understanding. Imitation seemed to be the primary strategy for language learning at this stage. These results are in line with Tomasellos (1999, 2003) theory of early language emergence. The focal children became participants in lingual activity when they had the role as Lave and Wengers (1991) legitimate peripheral participants. In interaction with more central participants the focal children imitated their language. However, in interaction with other children the language was centered around formulaic expressions associated with play. These child-child interactions was best described through Rogoffs (2003) notion of guided participation. Whereas the focal children interaction with teachers showed imitation of a more nuanced repertoire of words and was more in line with learning as the scaffolding process put forth by Wood, Bruner & Ross (1976).This leads to a discussion of the connection between language and participation, suggesting a dual model where language development is interconnected with participation in community activities and vice versa. Also the relation between formulaic language, creativity and teacher scaffolding as resources for participation are discussed.