SEM

Language skills are not only a medium, but also a prerequisite for participation in early educational processes in the elementary sector and in primary school. In the Federal State of Hesse, there are pre-classes ("Vorklassen"), which are attended by children who are of school age but cannot yet meet the requirements of the transition from kindergarten to regular school - for example, due to language difficulties. Studies show that language deficits also have a negative impact on lower performance in subjects such as mathematics and problems in social interaction and the regulation of emotions. The SEM project aims to develop, test, and evaluate a concept for language support in pre-kindergarten classes. Three building blocks linked via language support are included:

1. promotion of subject- and educational language competencies in the development of mathematical precursor skills in order to support participation in regular mathematics instruction by building mathematical and (subject-) language competencies,
2. language-integrated training for emotion regulation in pre-class instruction in order to enable participation in the social fabric, and
3. professional support for teachers with regard to the design of learning processes in educational language.

It is planned to conduct an intervention study. The research results as well as the materials developed for the intervention will be made available to the public.

Objectives

Development and research of language support materials as well as accompanying teacher trainings on mathematical precursor skills and emotion regulation at the transition from the elementary to the primary level.

Funded by

Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Duration

April 2023 - March 2026

Project management

• Dr. Irene Corvacho del Toro, German Studies, University of Siegen
• Apl. Prof. Dr. Miriam Hansen, Educational Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt
• Prof. Dr. Susanne Schnell, Mathematics Education, Goethe University Frankfurt

Project team

Goethe University, Mathematics Education:

• Dr. des. Lara K. Billion, project coordination
• Anne K. Nagel

Goethe University, Educational Psychology:

• Arianne Andreas
• Mirjam Menz

University of Siegen:

• Christin Tekaath, German Studies

Institutions

Goethe University Frankfurt

University of Siegen

Partner

Hessian Ministry of Education (HKM)