The Multilingual and Intercultural Puppet

Book excerpt: As the world becomes increasingly more interconnected and globalized, increasingly more families are seeking early (0-6 years) foreign and second language education, prompting educators and teachers to seek out age-appropriate tools which offer an innovative approach to early language learning (ELL). The Multilingual and Intercultural Puppet tries to answer two questions: How can we introduce children to foreign languages at an early age in a natural and also naturally playful way? And with which approach? This book presents a documented reflection that is rooted in concrete experiences which the authors have accumulated over the past twenty years of field-work, providing readers with many innovative yet practical and operational examples of how puppets have been used to facilitate ELL. Puppets, easily integrated into chilren’s natural play environment, represent a pedagogical tool par excellence for the teaching-learning of foreign languages. Using puppets, educators can create stimulating and enriching learning contexts, engaging children and moving them towards educational learning objectives, very naturally and through active and interactive play. Moreover, puppets, being puppets, can speak various languages, experience various life-events, and share these with young learners, be they homogeneous, heterogeneous, international, transcultural and/or intercultural groups. Indeed, “the language of puppets” is naturally multilingual and intercultural.