Teachers and bi/multilingual pupils

Dr. Livija Knaflič

Summary:  This article explores some psychological aspects of the schooling of multilingual children, especially of schooling them in the children’s second language. In addition to its advantages in everyday life, multilingualism might represent a serious obstacle during schooling, if the child does not have proper competence in the language of instruction. This is not a new phenomenon, although it is becoming increasingly common in Slovenian schools, and teachers need new knowledge and skills to support their work with multilingual pupils. Additional education includes knowledge of multilingual language development, teaching methods for classes of children with insufficient language competence in the language of instruction and acquiring skills for multicultural communication and cooperation.