Page 31 - Diversity in Action

Developing Linguistic and Cultural Awareness at an Early Age

tle language barriers and power imbalances by recognising and valuing all
languages and their varieties (García & Wei, 2014).
In the next section, we will look
closely at the pluralistic approach based
on the DivConmodel (Linguistic and Cul- Exposure
to cultural
tural Diversity in Context), developed diversity
by Bratož and Sila (2022). The model is
Exposure
aimed at promoting linguistic and cul- Children
to linguistic
tural awareness among preschool chil- diversity Context participation
dren (ages 4–6). It integrates six key Journey
metaphor
aspects: the journey metaphor, expo-
sure to linguistic diversity, exposure
From con- FL teaching
to cultural diversity, progression from crete to approaches
symbolic
concrete to symbolic thinking, effec-
tive second language teaching meth-
ods, and children’s active participation. Figure 2 The DivCon model
(Bratož & Sila, 2022)
The model views the development of
plurilingual competence as a journey
where children experience languages and cultures through multi-sensory
activities such as movement, singing, tasting, and artistic expression. By us-
ing the journey metaphor, the model creates a framework that encourages
children to explore and generate ideas, fostering their awareness of diversity.
A key focus is on children’s active participation in these activities, which helps
develop positive attitudes toward different languages and cultures. This im-
mersive, participatory approach promotes linguistic awareness and an ap-
preciation for diversity from an early age.

The DivCon Model
The LinguisticandCulturalDiversityinContext(DivCon)model, depicted in Fig-
ure 2, originated from piloting several activities aimed at fostering plurilin-
gual and pluricultural competence in preschool children (ages 4–6). These
activities were initially implemented in the Languages Matter project under
the title ‘Language Train,’ which was developed as a teacher’s guide (Bratož
& Sila, 2022). As mentioned in the previous section, the model is built upon
a framework that incorporates six key dimensions: the journey metaphor,
exposure to linguistic diversity, exposure to cultural diversity, progression
from concrete to symbolic understanding, effective foreign language teach-
ing methods, and active participation by children.
The model has been piloted on several occasions. Bratož and Sila (2022)

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