Abstract
The increasingly diverse landscape of global migration necessitates a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities encountered by professionals in educational and social settings, as they are often confronted with individuals who sometimes experience difficulties with the multilingual context that they are living in. Home languages that are not official languages often struggle in finding a place in the school curricula and their coexistence with the language of schooling can mine the social cohesion and the coexistence among different groups (Liddicoat and Curnow 2014).
This paper presents the point of view, experiences and challenges of professionals (including cultural mediators, speech therapists and NGO collaborators) working with migrant children and their families, when it comes to bridge the home and the educational settings with regard to language use and language attitudes. Data were gathered both quantitatively and qualitatively by means of surveys and semi-structured interviews, and focus primarily on South Tyrol but also on professionals in other urban contexts.
Implications for policy and practice are discussed, emphasizing the need for targeted training programs that equip professionals with the skills and knowledge that are necessary to navigate the complexities of dealing with children with diverse and rich linguistic repertoires. The paper also explores the challenges faced by professionals in effectively communicating with multilingual children and their families and the strategies employed to address language barriers.