Language treasure hunt in Icelandic schools and kindergardens
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.
109 languages on the interactive language map of Iceland
In 2021, 95 languages spoken by children and youth in Iceland were registered, two more languages than in 2014. In 2021, however, 14 new languages were discovered that did not appear on the map in 2014. Hence, we can say that the number of languages in Icelandic preschools, compulsory schools, and leisure centers has reached number 109. All the languages can be found on the Language Map of Iceland here.
Participation and guidelight
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. By discussing the importance of mother tongues and languages in general, the values inherent in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, the Educational Policy of Reykjavík, and the Draft of the national strategy on the education of children and youth with diverse language and cultural background, are honored. The discussion about languages will hopefully also continue in the future.
National policy on the support of mother tongues and plurilingualism
Ministry of Education, Science and Culture published the Guidelines “Languages of the Heart” on the support of mother tongues and active plurilingualism in schools and afterschool centers in 2020. The guidelines contain various ways and ideas to support languages in school, leisure, and at home, definitions of concepts, and practical links and information.
Collaboration on the project 2014-2021
Menntamiðja, Tungumálatorg, Menntavísindastofnun HÍ, Menningarmót – Fljúgandi teppi, Skóla- og frístundasvið Reykjavíkurborgar, and Móðurmál – the Association on Bilingualism collaborated on the language search of children and youth in the year 2021. Thus, these institutions and organizations revived Icelandic Language Map – search for the language treasure from 2014 when 93 languages were collected. The project was organized i.e., by UNESCO in Iceland, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute, and the City Library of Reykjavík. See video with a talk by Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the language ambassador of UNESCO.
The Flying Carpet – Intercultural Encounters
Móðurmál – the Association on Bilingualism
Skóla- og frístundasvið Reykjavíkurborgar
Menntamiðja (the website will soon be opened)
Media coverage