Abstract:

Topicality:
According to the amendments to the Education Law (Amendments of Law 2018/65) in Latvia a new bilingual education model has been introduced in grades 1-6 for minority schools ensuring that from 2019/2020 at least 50 percent of the study content is in Latvian as the second language (https://likumi.lv/doc.php?id=50759 ). Legislation strengthens the position of the state language in the Latvian education system and we are aware that children must be prepared practically so that starting school does not cause unnecessary stress. Incomplete knowledge of language can become a serious obstacle at school.

Aim:
The purpose of the present study is to investigate preschool children`s skills in Latvian language 1, 2 and 3 years after the changes in the Education Law in 2018 and the influence of pandemic in 2021.

Data analysis:
Shortly before the amendments to the law came into force in the summer of 2019, a group of researchers from Liepaja University made 150 speech recordings of preschool children and performed their linguistic analysis in different regions of Latvia, and they continued recording and linguistic analysis (225 records) in the summer of 2020. While in 2021, continuing research in the project National Research Programme 6.5.1. Present and Future of Latvian language (sociolinguistics, language acquisition, terminology), the researchers analysed the data of Latvian language skills of pre-school children in 2021.

The indicators of children's language proficiency in 2019 and 2020 do not differ depending on the region or the child's nationality, but differ significantly depending on the language of daily communication in the pre-school institution group (Russian or Latvian). Regardless of nationality and region, pre-school age children, who attended groups with Latvian language use on a daily basis at an educational institution, showed good knowledge and skills of the Latvian language and were prepared to learn at school in Latvian or bilingually. Contrary to this, the Latvian language skills of minority children who attended pre-school education groups with the dominant use of the Russian language on a daily basis were generally insufficient and did not meet the requirements for children to be prepared to learn at school in Latvian or bilingually. A similar trend is observed in the assessments of children's language skills compiled by pre-school institutions and issued to parents in 2021. Problems are caused by the limited vocabulary of minority children, undeveloped dialogue, impaired speech, which was intensified by very minimal grammar knowledge, as well as children's reading skills did not meet the requirements set by the state. The study assured that in the families of minority children who attend groups where the Russian language is dominant, the everyday language of the family is also mostly Russian, so the Latvian language experience gained in a pre-school educational institution is crucial for preparing for further learning in Latvian or bilingually. Educators in pre-school institutions acknowledge that the problems already identified in 2021 have escalated because of distance learning during the pandemic. In minority families, where Russian is spoken on a daily basis, vocabulary was not enriched and language use was not strengthened.

Keywords:

Minorities education, national research programme, Latvian language.