Multilingual Families Lab

C'est avec plaisir qu'on partage notre Guide du Programme StimuLER: Un programme communautaire de soutien au développement langagier des enfants réfugiés ou nouveau arrivants. http://bilingualacquisition.ca//le-guide-du-programme-sti/

#MotherTongueDay celebrates cultural and linguistic diversity to build toward sustainable societies. Your mother tongue is a powerful connection to your family, culture, and community. Be fiercely proud of your mother tongue and keep it vibrant! http://bilingualacquisition.ca//multilingual-families-lab/

C’était un plaisir de présenter au Campus St-Jean dans le contexte du panel sur Les effets négatifs de la COVID-19. Le Lab des Familles Multilingues a mené une enquête sur la communication des enfants durant la COVID-19. Certains parents parents observent une croissance dans le langage de leurs enfants en lien avec l’attention 1 sur 1. Certains parents expriment que passer plus de temps en famille est agréable autant pour eux que pour les enfants.... http://bilingualacquisition.ca//la-communication-des-enfa/

We are almost there! Help us get to 300 respondent! Are you a Canadian SLP or Audiologist? We want to learn more about your experience with telehealth! Share your experience in this 10-15 minute survey. http://bit.ly/SLPandA_Telehealth

Don't forget about play! Play is important for children's development. Kids can bring the pandemic into play: curbside delivery (instead of playing restaurant), superhero-scientists out to beat the virus. We can use technology to bring friends together. http://bilingualacquisition.ca//08/17/dont-forget-about-p/

Helping children communicate their emotions is a particular challenge for parents during COVID-19, especially when we are lock down. We pulled together resources online and found that we can help children practice naming, responding, and expressing their feelings. That we can help our kids by staying calm and showing empathy. Experts also point to the importance of regular schedules and routines - even when everything else is upside down. [ 88 more words ] http://bilingualacquisition.ca/2020/08/10/stay-well/

Use everyday activities to build your child's language abilities. With younger children, narrate what your child is doing and what they are seeing, read books, and play word or rhyming games. Ask questions about what they are up to and what will happen next. Play "eye-spy" and "what if?" With older children, learn "pig latin", develop a family rhyming slang, play board games together, start a family book club (or get grandparents, aunties, and other families involved). [ 91 more words ] http://bilingualacquisition.ca//keep-kids-talking-during-/

MFL Survey Results (Salinas Marchant, Meloni, MacLeod, 2020) Early in May 2020, we launched a survey to understand how COVID-19 was impacting children's communication. We'll summarize the results and tips below. You can also find the results on ERA at UofA. A total of 201 parents responded who spoke English, French or Spanish at home. Parents noted that the largest change in communication for children was communication with their friends. [ 135 more words ] http://bilingualacquisition.ca//childrens-communication-d/

For their capstone project, SLP students McCleary, White & Piquette completed an scan of needs for dual-language stimulation in Edmonton and pilot our program. Parent perspectives indicate that a mixed-delivery approach would cater to unique community http://bilingualacquisition.ca//dual-language-stimulation/

Are you a Canadian SLP or Audiologist? We want to learn more about your experience with telehealth! Share your experience in this 10-15 minute survey. #SLPeeps #UAlbertaCSD http://bit.ly/SLPandA_Telehealth

Nous avons développer un outil de transfert des connaissances pour parents et profs. Dispo en français, anglais, arabe et espagnol! Pronunciation of French by bilingual children - info for parents & teachers. In English, French, Spanish & Arabic http://bilingualacquisition.ca//pronunciation-of-french-b/

New paper from our lab :) Thanks to Sabah and Diane for the great collaboration. This work grew from our community-based program to support the home and school languages of children who are refugees. These 3 case studies provide an important perspective on the oral language abilities of three young children who were born in Syria and moved to Canada with their families as refugees. We spoke to parents about their children’s first language development, gathered perspectives fr...om their teachers about their learning of French, the language of schooling, and observed their language abilities in action in both Arabic and French. We found that the home language was vulnerable to delays and weaknesses and that learning the language of school was a drawn-out process. We also found that parents were highly invested in their children’s success but communication with the school was not always easy. To foster resilience, we need to find ways to build bridges with parents to support children’s language in both the language of home and school. Check it out here... https://www.cambridge.org//1135118A13E9CB051D8625C81E0BF8F7

In recent years, I have been making more explicit links between my research, social justice, and action based research. With a background in linguistics and anthropology, I moved to the field of communication sciences and disorders in my master’s, PhD, and then as a professor. My work has been motivated by both the search for a better understanding of how language is learned by bilingual children, and the importance of supporting vulnerable members of our communities. [ 424 more words ] http://bilingualacquisition.ca//a-vision-of-excellence-th/