The collection of papers in the third issue of Volume 16 is truly international in range, with papers from France, Slovenia, South Africa, New Zealand and the USA. Many of these papers were presented at the 2007 EECERA Annual Conference in Prague last September. Given the theme of the 2007 conference on Vygotsky and ‘crossing borders’, these papers collectively reveal the current richness of the field of research, including a range of different research paradigms and methodologies and the growing acknowledgment of the role of culture in learning and, particularly, language acquisition. It is fitting that three core themes seem to weave through the papers and demonstrate the stimulus to research and thinking that the annual EECERA conference has become. One emerging theme is that of the weighty contribution of Vygotsky to our understanding of learning processes. This also underpins the second theme in these papers, which traces the role of culture and relationships in language development in young children. The third theme is the diversity of perspectives and voices that, when listened to, help us to understand more fully the complexity of everyday life and interactions in our early childhood settings across the world.
The first paper in this edition is by Messerschmidt, Ramabenyane, Venter and Vorster from the University of the Free State, South Africa and focuses on ‘The facilitative role of adults in the language development of Afrikaans and Sesotho speaking preschool children’. The paper explores the acquisition of two of the 11 official languages in the Republic of South Africa as part of a larger project in which the language acquisition of Afrikaans‐ and Sesotho‐speaking children between the age of 18 months and 3 years is being investigated. It provides provocative evidence of the impact of different styles of interaction between children and adults and the impact of cultural differences on the interactional relationships between adults and children and on cognitive development. The value of this paper lies in the exploration of the dynamic impact of cultural differences on educative relationships in early childhood settings, reflecting the need for culturally sensitive approaches to language acquisition.
The second paper is by Soderman and Oshio from Michegan State University, USA and explores ‘The social and cultural contexts of second language acquisition in young children’. The aim of the study was to examine the social behaviour and competence of children aged 3–6 as they progressed through the stages of second language acquisition in a dual‐immersion program in English and Mandarin. The results suggest that girls had more social adjustment difficulties than boys but as language skills increased, adjustment difficulties decreased significantly among all children.
The third paper in this collection is from Pegorraro Schull and Anderson from North Virginia Community College and University of Maryland, USA and focuses on ‘The effect of home visiting and home safety on children’s school readiness’. This study suggests that a link between home visiting programmes and home safety, the parents knowledge of infant development and overall school readiness had a positive, direct effect on home safety and parental knowledge of infant development.
The fourth paper is from Umek, Fekonja, Kranjc and Bajc from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia and looks at ‘The effect of children’s gender and parental education on toddler language development’. The findings demonstrate that gender has a significant effect on toddlers’ language competence, regardless of their age. Parents assessed girls as more verbally competent than boys in all of the language use areas evaluated regardless of their age. Parental education also had a significant effect on certain areas of toddlers’ language competence, regardless of their gender.
The fifth paper is by Bone from the Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand and looks at ‘Creating relational spaces: everyday spirituality in early childhood settings’. This research addressed the question of how the spiritual experience of young children might be supported in early childhood educational settings and introduces the concept of spiritual withness. The research showed that certain educational communities construct spaces for relationships that support shared understandings of spirituality as part of a holistic approach to education.
The sixth paper is by Bodrova from Mid‐continent Research for Education and Learning, USA and explores, ‘Make‐believe play versus academic skills: a Vygotskian approach to today’s dilemma of early childhood education’. The article grows out of the challenges facing early childhood educators in Russia and in the West, particularly the constant pressure to start teaching academic skills at a progressively younger age at the expense of traditional early childhood activities. The Vygotskian approach suggests that young children can master necessary prerequisites of academic skills through engagement in mature make‐believe play and the article emphasizes the need for the adult scaffolding of play in the current social context and discusses the strategies for such scaffolding.
The seventh and final paper in this collection is by Brougére, Guénif‐Souilamasand Rayna from the University of Paris, France and presents a study of ‘Ecole maternelle (preschool) in France: a cross‐cultural perspective’. This article looks at a cross‐cultural analysis of interviews of (im/migrant and non‐im/migrant) preschool teachers and parents, concerning im/migrant children enrolled in the French école maternelle and US pre‐schools. The study is part of the international Children Crossing Borders (CCB) research project. The two cultures meet over issues of play, learning, care and language. Each puts the underlying national (Republican) order that defines French schooling into perspective, exposes the fundamental differences between the two norms and in the way preschool children are perceived and shows the ambivalence of migrant and non‐migrant parents from diverse socio‐economic environments. The dialogue highlights the normative principles and cultural values voiced by each protagonist in their everyday expression and reveal more complex and ambivalent tendencies towards education.