*English below

Undanfarið ár hefur Móðurmál – samtök um tvítyngi unnið að verkefninu “Heimsmarkmið Sameinuðu þjóðanna og fjöltyngd börn á Íslandi” þar sem móðurmálshópar útfærðu eitt eða fleiri heimsmarkmið Sameinuðu þjóðanna í kennslunni. Verkefnið er styrkt af Mannréttinda- og lýðræðisskrifstofu Reykjavíkurborgar og var það upprunalega hugmyndin að vera með ráðstefnu þar sem börn kynntu starfið. Vegna Covid19 þurfti að endurhugsa verkefnið og verður kynningunni miðlað á rafrænan hátt með þessu myndbandi í staðinn. Um leið er hægt að kynnast samtökunum almennt í orðum og myndum í viðtali við Mariu Sastre, formann Móðurmáls.

Myndbandið birtist í tilefni Alþjóðadag menningarlegrar fjölbreytni sem er 21. maí.

*Last year, Móðurmál – the Association on Bilingualism worked on a common project called “The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and Plurilingual Children in Iceland” in which mother tongue schools and groups elaborated on one or more SDGs of the United Nations in their teaching. The project was financially supported by the Human Rights and Democracy Office of the City of Reykjavík. The original idea was to organize a conference during which children would present the work. Due to Covid 19 pandemic, it was necessary to rethink the project and the presentation takes place online instead. At the same time, this is an opportunity to get acquainted with the association in general in words and images through the interview with Maria Sastre, the president of Móðurmál.

The video is released on occasion of “World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development” which is on the 21st of May.

*Íslenska fyrir neðan

A language treasure hunt was launched at the occasion of International Mother Language Day on February 21, 2021. The purpose was to map languages spoken by children and youth in preschools and compulsory schools in Iceland and to raise positive awareness and discussions about languages and plurilingualism. The goal of the search was also to create such a school culture in which all children and youth experience pride in their language treasure and realize that their languages are important for their feelings and for who they are.

The participation in mapping the languages was very good and this year organizations, i.e. afterschool centers also took part. The discussion about the importance of mother tongues took place around the country which was the main goal of the search for the language repertoire.

Take a look at the 109 languages on the map and dive into the amazing linguistic treasures all over Iceland! Read everything about the Language Map here.

*Nýtt Íslandskort tungumálanna

Í tilefni Alþjóðadags móðurmálsins 21. febrúar 2021 var blásið til tungumálaleitar til að kortleggja tungumál töluð af börnum og unglingum á leik- og grunnskólaaldri og um leið stuðla að jákvæðri umræðu um tungumál og fjöltyngi. Markmiðið er ekki síst að skapa námsmenningu þar sem börn og unglingar finna fyrir stolti yfir tungumálaauði sínum og að öll börn átti sig á mikilvægi tungumálsins fyrir sjálfsmynd og tilfinningalíf hvers og eins. 

Þátttaka í kortlagningu tungumálanna var afar góð. Þá tóku í ár í fyrsta sinn þátt stofnanir á vettvangi frítímans, frístundaheimili og félagsmiðstöðvar. Þannig fór fram umræða um mikilvægi móðurmálsins með börnum og unglingum  um land allt sem er höfuðmarkmið leitarinnar að tungumálaforðanum.

Skoðið magnaða tungumálaauðinn á kortinu og öll 109 tungumálin sem fundust. Hægt er að lesa allt um verkefnið hér.

(*English below)

Þriðjudaginn 16. febrúar, kl. 18:00-19:15 bjóða samtökin Móðurmál upp á Netvinnustofu, vinnustofan verður á ensku. 

Hér er tengill á vinnustofuna https://meet.google.com/kvz-kuwu-uye

Skráning hér: https://forms.gle/MsxQFpnob8frA4FY9

Stutt erindi og kennsla á forrit sem nýta má í móðurmálskennslu og málörvun.

*Learning through play and technology – workshop

Móðurmál, the Association on Bilingualism will host an Online workshop in English Tuesday the 16th of February at 6pm-7:15pm.

Link to the meeting: https://meet.google.com/kvz-kuwu-uye

Registration here: https://forms.gle/MsxQFpnob8frA4FY9

Gerum það að leik að leita að tungumálaforða barna og unglinga á Íslandi.

Í tilefni Alþjóðadags móðurmálsins 21. febrúar 2021 fer af stað verkefnið og könnunin „Íslandskort – leitin að tungumálaforðanum 2021“.
Hugmyndin er að kortleggja öll tungumál töluð af börnum í leik- og grunnskólum landsins til þess að vekja jákvæða umræðu um tungumál og fjöltyngi í barna- og unglingahópum. Tilgangurinn er einnig að ýta undir veruleika þar sem börn og ungmenni finna að það að tjá sig á fleiri tungumálum en á íslensku getur aukið lífsgæði og tilfinningalíf þeirra og að þau finni fyrir stolti yfir að hafa fleiri en eitt tungumál á valdi sínu.

Eins og við öll vitum eykur jákvæð sjálfsmynd námsgleði og -möguleika.

Menntamiðja, Tungumálatorg, Menntavísindastofnun HÍ, Menningarmót – Fljúgandi teppi, Skóla- og frístundasvið Reykjavíkurborgar, og Móðurmál – samtök um tvítyngi standa fyrir verkefninu og endurvekja þannig Íslandskort – leitin að tungumálaforðanum frá árinu 2014 þar sem 93 tungumálum var safnað.

Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneyti gaf síðastliðið vor út Leiðarvísi um stuðning við móðurmál og virkt fjöltyngi í skóla- og frístundastarfi sem inniheldur fjölbreyttar og skemmtilegar leiðir til að styðja við tungumál, gagnlegar slóðir með fróðleik og frekari verkefnum ásamt því að útskýra í stuttu máli hugtök móðurmál, virkt fjöltyngi, og íslenska sem annað mál.

Með því að taka þátt í verkefninu vinna leikskólar og grunnskólar að atriðum sem snerta Heimsmarkmið Sameinuðu þjóðanna, Barnasáttmálann, menntastefnur sveitarfélaga og drög að stefnu um menntun barna og ungmenna með fjölbreyttan tungumála og menningarbakgrunn.

Afrakstur könnunarinnar verður gagnvirkt Íslandskort þar sem hægt verður að skoða tungumálaforðann á hverjum og einum stað. Niðurstöður könnunarinnar verða m.a. birtar á nýjum vef menntamiðju. Hægt verður að fylgjast með ferlinu á Facebooksíðu samtakanna Móðurmáls og hjá öðrum samstarfsaðilum.

Gleðjumst yfir öllum tungumálaauði landsins!

On November 20 and 21, Mother Tongues in Dublin, Ireland, and Móðurmál – the Association on Bilingualism in Reykjavík, Iceland, co-organized an annual conference for their mother tongue / heritage language teachers. Both organizations connect small and big heritage language schools, offer heritage language teachers professional training and assistance, organize events that promote heritage languages and plurilingualism, and advocate positive views towards diverse languages. Representatives of these two organizations first met in 2017, continued to exchange expertise, and followed with each other´s activities, until this year when they decided to join forces to organize an annual conference together. This conference was the third annual conference of Mother Tongues and the eighths of Móðurmál.

This year has been coloured by Covid and by online teaching which both had negative and positive impact on the work of our organizations. The positive outcome is the increased familiarity with online environments which allowed us to think further and bigger about our events. This year´s “2020 Heritage Language Education Conference” took place entirely online, on Zoom, and it had speakers and participants from Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Italy and Greece. A total of more than 70 participants took part on both days of the conference. The program was as follows: 

The conference was started by the founder and director of Mother Tongues Francesca LaMorgia and by the president of Móðurmál Maria Sastre. The keynote speakers, as well as discussants, are introduced here. On Friday evening, Dr Małgosia Machowska-Kościak introduced her new publication “The Multilingual Adolescent Experience: Young Poles growing up in an English-speaking school – Small stories of integration”. Dr. Siobhan Hannan spoke about a bilingual Italian preschool. On Saturday, representatives of two mother tongue schools from Dublin and one from Reykjavík introduced their schools, and two umbrella organizations from Eindhoven in the Netherlands and from Edmonton in Alberta were presented. In the virtual coffee break, all participants were divided into groups of 3-4 in breakout rooms and had a chance to network. That time was far too short and passed quickly, and then the conference was concluded by a lively moderate discussion of two speakers from Dublin heritage language schools and two from Reykjavík heritage language schools. They discussed questions about best ways to teach online, what qualities does a good heritage language teacher need, how to engage students online, what are suitable applications and online platforms for teaching, or how to celebrate events online. A complementary program was in the form of pre-recorded presentations about heritage language schools, umbrella organizations, and projects, saved on the website of Móðurmál. 

The atmosphere of the conference was wonderful, very friendly, in a spirit of sharing and learning. It was obvious that heritage language teachers in any country have similar questions, challenges and joys, and that they teach because they find it important for children and they enjoy teaching  their language, even if their work conditions may be far from ideal. 

Everybody learned from this event, organizers, guests, and presenters, and there is hope that this fruitful cooperation of heritage language schools and umbrella organizations will continue. What a small organization in one country finds difficult, two, three or four similar organizations can achieve. Together we can go further. 

Welcome to the 2020 edition of the Heritage Language Education Conference is organised jointly by Mother Tongues (Ireland) & Móðurmál (Iceland).

About this Event

The conference is free to Mother Tongues and Móðurmál members. If you are a member, contact your organisation to register.

This year more than ever, community based language schools need to stand together and learn from each other. Our 2020 edition of the Heritage Language Education Conference creates a unique opportunity for teachers, researchers and all professionals involved in heritage language schooling to get familiar with the newest research, share experience and explore ideas to support heritage language education. This year’s main goal is to promote the value of international collaboration among professionals interested in community languages teaching and learning. Together we can go further.

Find the program and more information here or on check out our Facebook event.

Or download the full program here:

Móðurmál – the Association on Bilingualism has contributed to the making of new Guidelines for the Support of Mother Tongues and Active Plurilingualism in School and Afterschool Programs, together with other specialists within the field. These guidelines are based on laws, policies, and research as well as on the experience and ideas provided by professionals and practitioners. The guidelines discuss the importance of supporting the active plurilingualism of children and youth in preschools, compulsory schools, afterschool programs and in upper secondary schools, developing co-operation with parents and strengthening communication with children in their daily work. Most importantly, the guidelines  contain advice, instruction and useful information for parents, schools and afterschool program providers.

See the guidelines here in Icelandic, English and Polish.

Reykjavík has for many years supported Móðurmál – the Association on Bilingualism by providing space for teaching on Saturdays, in Hagaskóli, Fellaskóli, and Hólabrekkuskóli, and in a few preschools. After the assembly ban was imposed due to the pandemic of Covid-19, Móðurmál groups stopped teaching temporarily. However, in April 2020 the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and the Ministry of Social Affairs approached the association and offered support. Móðurmál received support to offer online teaching in various mother tongues, as well as support with homework for compulsory schools and Icelandic as a second language, and to provide social support in the times of isolation. 

Móðurmál – the Association on Bilingualism has been run on a voluntary basis since 1994, and after it was formally established in 2001, it applied for various grants for projects, teaching materials, books and developing mother tongue education in Iceland. Over the years, it has provided teaching to thousands of children in around thirty languages. In the school year 2019-2020, twenty language groups are active. Thirteen groups took the challenge and the opportunity to provide online services to children, Arabic, Bisaya, Czech, Filipino, Icelandic as a second language, Japanese, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Spanish and Ukrainian, for all ages of children and youth. 

 For the first time, Móðurmál groups can provide service to multilingual families across Iceland, as well as develop new teaching methods. Many possibilities could open up through this welcome opportunity, for example finding new mother tongue teachers around Iceland and even beyond, offering services to families who cannot drive to Reykjavík on Saturday mornings, and starting new language groups.

The official news about the ministry support is here. In it, Lilja Dögg Alfreðsdóttir, Minister of Culture and Education, says that Móðurmál – the Association on Bilingualism is in a key position to approach the group of immigrant children and that there is much trust towards the association in the society. Ásmundur Einar Daðason, Minister of Social and Children´s affairs, says that all children should enjoy equal opportunities and while the schools are providing limited service, it is important to secure the necessary support for children who need it. Móðurmál is in close contact with a number of children and parents of foreign origin and can offer an important support at this time. 

From May 4, schools will start operating fully and the school in Breiðholt will also open for Móðurmál groups. However, some groups decided to continue providing online support til June 15, when the school year is over. All children and families are welcome to contact the association at modurmalsamtok@gmail.com for information, registering children for the coming weeks, or for the next school year. We also welcome new teachers in our groups and in particular courageous parents and individuals who want to establish new language groups.