Page 25 - Diversity in Action

Developing Linguistic and Cultural

Awareness at an Early Age

Silva Bratož Anita Sila
University of Primorska, Slovenia University of Primorska, Slovenia
silva.bratoz@upr.si anita.sila@upr.si

Anja Pirih Mojca Žefran
University of Primorska, Slovenia University of Primorska, Slovenia
anja.pirih@upr.si mojca.zefran@upr.si
© 2025 Silva Bratož, Anja Pirih, Anita Sila, and Mojca Žefran
https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-293-523-8.1
Chapter Objectives
• Discussing the relevance of developing plurilingual competence at an
early age
• Examining teaching methods and activities aimed at raising children’s
language awareness
• Exploring different approaches and initiatives for fostering children’s
appreciation of linguistic and cultural diversity
• Analysing the potential of the DivCon model for raising children’s
linguistic and cultural awareness in early childhood education (ECE)

Introduction
Language is a powerful tool that shapes how we understand the world and
connect with others. In today’s classrooms, where children often come from
a variety of linguistic and cultural backgrounds, embracing this diversity is
essential for creating inclusive and enriching learning environments. This
chapter introduces some key ideas and strategies aimed primarily at foster-
ing linguistic and cultural awareness in young and very young learners. We
first discuss the concept of plurilingualism, which sees languages as intercon-
nected resources rather than isolated systems. Next, the chapter highlights
the importance of language awareness in preschool and primary school set-
tings, focusing on activities and teaching methods that help young learners
understand how language works and appreciate its variety. Fostering lan-
guage awareness is also an important element of the pluralistic approaches
to language teaching, which encourage students to engage with and appre-
ciate multiple languages and cultures. An important aspect of pluralistic ap-
proaches is creating welcoming and supportive learning environments for

Bratož, S., & Irsara, M. (Eds.). (2025). Diversity in action: Training teachers through
multilingual and multicultural experiences. University of Primorska Press.