Multilingual Early Language Transmission (MELT) - Mercator ...

The tasks, deliverables and responsibilities of the five MELT partners are described in detail
in the application to the European Commission; below a brief description of the tasks and
responsibilities of each of the partners is given.
The Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, hosted
by the Fryske Akademy (located in Fryslân, the Netherlands), is project leader. The Mercator
European Research Centre will be responsible for (desk-based) research into current good
and best practices in pre-school education for 0-4 year olds in a minority language
environment, based on the work they have already done on trilingual education in the
primary school sector. They will also form part of the quality and monitoring working group
and ensure the participation of ‘Sintrum Fryske Berne Opfang’ (SFBO), the Foundation for
Frisian language day care centres and pre-school provisions, (100 day care centres, with
more than 10,000 children in all) to take part in the piloting of the Guide. They will ensure
that the implementation phase (incubator) and its follow-up is properly carried out. Finally,
the Mercator European Research Centre will oversee the tasks (holding local events, expert
seminars, Skype meetings with the partners etc.) to be executed by the partners.
Folkhälsan (Finland) is responsible for an awareness-raising and guidance pamphlet
(“Multilingualism in everyday life”) for parents who deal with minority language in preschool
settings for children from 0 to 4 years old. Folkhälsan also has the responsibility for
the development of a toolkit for practitioners based on the earlier published book “Language
Strategy for Day Care Centres” written by Gammelgård (2008). 7 Folkhälsan will examine the
results that have been achieved within the pre-schools by the incubator and formulate
conclusions. This results into a Guide (“Multilingualism for children's everyday life. A guide
for practitioners working with very young children”) which aims to stimulate multilingualism
at pre-school level, with a particular focus on minority languages. Finally, Folkhälsan will
participate in the quality and monitoring working group and identify pre-school
organisations in Finland that can take part in the piloting of the toolkit.
The Welsh Language Board (Wales, UK) will provide specialists in the field of pre-school
education to participate in the expert seminar and provide overall expertise and knowledge
in the field. It will also coordinate the participation of Mudiad Ysgolian Meithrin (with more
than 500 day care centres, about 15,000 children), the Welsh-language pre-school
organisation, in the piloting of the toolkit produced as part of this project. It will take the
lead in the quality monitoring working group and the development of the dissemination
plan. The Welsh Language Board already benefits from major expertise in dissemination
through the "Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity" (NPLD). The Welsh Language Board is
currently the coordinating partner for the EU-funded NPLD and partly funds the Secretariat
service to the Network. The staff of the Secretariat will provide assistance to the project by
supporting coordination of events and by providing Network resources. The Welsh Language
Board is also responsible for the public relations (MELT newsletters en MELT website), press
and media activities.
The Regional Council of Brittany and Divskouarn, a non-profit organisation that works on a
local level on the awareness and the structuring of bilingual day-centres (representing 17
day-care centers in Brittany, France), will be responsible for managing the exploitation plan
7 The original Swedish book “Språkstrategier för dagvården” was published in 2006 and written by Lillemor. Gammelgård.
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