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Using vignettes to understand the social-emotional experiences of three-year-olds in diverse language contexts
In this article, we report on the educational experiences of young Afrikaans mother tongue South African
children who are exposed to multilingual learning environments during their preschool years. We carried out
phenomenological research using a vignette research design that provided observational, co-experiential data of
the lived experiences of three-year-old boys as they engaged with formal and informal learning. We controlled
vignette data that had been collected through observations, written teacher validation, and face-to-face
interviews against existing literature to provide in-depth insights into the participants’ different experiences of
and within their learning environments. Findings indicate specific areas in which young children may need
additional support in multilingual learning environments, in terms of 1) social-emotional security experienced in
the learning environment, 2) intentional development of empathy for peers, 3) independence and initiative
taking in informal settings, and 4) interactive communication. Although we focused on a South African context,
these findings may inform future interventions to support children in multilingual language environments in
their early years.
Description:
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The data that supports the findings of this study are available from the first author, upon
reasonable request. The data is not publicly available given several ethical restrictions, including the fact that it contains information that could compromise the privacy of the
research participants.