Seminar with Jannika Böse on multilingual children’s language development.

Programme

13:15–14:15 | Seminar 1

Identifying Developmental Language Disorder in Multilingual Children: A Longitudinal Study of Individual Language Acquisition Trajectories

Identifying developmental language disorder (DLD) in multilingual children remains a major challenge, particularly when children start acquiring the societal language at a later age. This talk presents findings from a longitudinal study following multilingual children during the early stages of acquiring German as a second language. Focusing on individual developmental trajectories, the presentation explores how language skills develop over time and which measures may help to distinguish typical second‑language development from DLD. The results highlight the considerable variability in multilingual language acquisition and discuss implications for research and diagnostic practice.

14:15–14:35 | Coffee break

14:35–15:35 | Seminar 2

From Research to Practice: Supporting Multilingual Children through Caregiver Education and Dialogic Reading

Increasing linguistic diversity in early childhood education raises the question of how multilingual children can best be supported before entering school. This talk focuses on practical strategies for fostering language development in early educational settings in Germany. Drawing on results from an intervention study, it introduces a training program for caregivers that combines evidence‑based language support strategies with dialogic reading. In addition, the talk reflects practical experiences from a university spin‑off dedicated to professional training in language support. The presentation discusses how caregiver education can strengthen everyday language interactions and contribute to supporting multilingual children’s language development in practice.

Please register no later than 28 May by contacting pascale.wehbe@lingfil.uu.se if you plan to attend.

You are most welcome!