Negotiating and appropriating the ‘one person, one language’ policy within the complex reality of a multilingual crèche in Strasbourg

Theaimofthisarticleistoanalysetheearlychildhoodeducationandcare(ECEC)languagepolicyinthecityofStrasbourg,focusingonanethnographiccasestudyofanewlyestablishedbilingualEnglish–Frenchcrècheinthecity.InFrance,establishinganearlychildhoodeducation structure–morespecifically,adaycarecentrecateringtoyoungchildren–involvesclose Takingthisfactintoconsideration,wemaintainthattounderstandthelanguagepolicyinECEC,itisimperativetoexaminetheoverlappingparticipationofdifferentgovernmententitiesandservicesfromthenational,regional,departmental,city,andlocallevels.Ourdatarevealthattheconceptualizationofthelanguagepolicyatanewlycreatedbilingualcrèchestructurewashighlyinfluencedbytop-downlanguagepoliciesandpervadinglanguageideologies.Yet,thecrèchepersonnelneededtointerpret,negotiate,andappropriatethispolicyinordertoconsideritsfeasibilityandtotakeintoaccountthechildren’sinterestsandwelfarewithinthenormalfunctioningofthisearlyyearsstructure.

Multilingualismandmulticulturalismaretworealitiesthatconfrontandchallengedifferent sectorsinthecityofStrasbourg:education,publicandprivatespheres,economiclife,andurban spaces (Hélot et al., 2015). In the education sector, policymakers appear to be struggling to reconcilerepublicanvaluesenshrinedintheconstitutionwithaccommodatingandembracing linguistic diversity.This is clearly evident in the ECEC sector, where the evolving linguistic discoursesregardinglanguagepracticesinthecityareinfluencednotonlybynational,regional, departmental,andcitylevelauthorities,butalsobyassociationsandprivateindividuals.Although themultilingualrealityofStrasbourgispartiallyacknowledgedindocumentsandinthepublic discourse of officials, the city's overt and covert language policies in ECEC at times reveal conflictinganddivergentmessages.
Therecentlypublishedministerialcurriculumdocumentsforpre-schooleducation(MEN, 2015)timidlyattempttobringaboutchangethroughchampioningan'[a]warenessoflinguistic diversity'undertheheading'Éveilàladiversitélinguistique',statingthatchildrenshouldbeable to: discover the existence of languages, some of which may be very different from those with which they are familiar.Through playful activities (games, rhymes …) or media through which they can make meaning (DVDs of well-known stories, for example), they become aware that communicationcantakeplaceinlanguagesotherthanFrench. (MEN,2015:8,ourtranslation) It remains to be seen if and how attitudes and ideologies will evolve in order for education professionalstobeinapositiontoenactthesepolicies.

Examining the language policy of the city in ECEC
MunicipalitiesplayakeyroleinmanagingtheECECsectorandarealsoresponsibleforemploying staffmembers(i.e.ATSEM).In2008,municipalitiesmanaged61percentofcollectivedaycare structures, which accommodate children from 0 to 4.The city administration of Strasbourg hasmadeECEConeofitsprioritiesand,followingdemandformoreplacesinrecentyears,it hastakenstepstowardsimprovingtheECECsystemandbuildingnewstructurestoprovide more places and care options for parents. In 2014, there were 66 collective establishments managedbythecityand25privateestablishmentsmanagedbyassociationswithatotalof3,100 placesavailable.However,thisisstillinsufficienttomeetdemands.Asaresult,thecurrentpolicy inStrasbourgwithregardtoECECprioritizeschildrenfromsocioeconomicallydisadvantaged families, which make the publicly managed crèches more likely to welcome children from migrationbackgrounds.
The chief of the ECEC services of the city clearly stated in an interview that the city doesnotprovideanymandateforlanguageuseinthepubliclymanagedcrèches:'Maréponse estclairementnon,iln'yapasdedirectivessurl'utilisationdeslangues'(Interview5,January 2014).Wearguethathavingnoclear-cutstatementonhowlanguagesaremanagedintheECEC structuresofthecityhasprofoundimplicationsonhowlanguagesingeneralaredealtwith,or not.Inamoreoptimisticstance,thecityseemstohavegiventhelocalECECcentresablanket authority on how to deal with languages in their respective structures.This can encourage creativityand,toacertainextent,moretailor-madetreatmentoflanguageneedsbasedonthe specificitiesofeachdaycarecentre.Butthiscanalsobedeemedineffectiveforstaffmembers who do not have the necessary tools and understanding in dealing with parents who speak languages other than French.As of the time of writing, there are unofficial discussions about modifyingthequalitychartertoincludeastatementonlanguage.However,itisstilluncertain ifthisstatementonlanguagewilladdressconcernsoneffectivelanguageuseduringthecrucial period of children's language development, or if it will specify guidelines on how to manage languageorlanguagestoaccommodatemultilingualisminthecrèche.
Inrecentyears,thecityadministration,throughits'servicefamilleetpetiteenfance'(family and young children service) has sponsored conferences and workshops aimed at educating professionals working with young children about bilingualism. Local and international experts havebeeninvitedtotalkaboutthebenefitsofbilingualism,themythssurroundingbilingualism andconcretemethods,tools,andapproachestouseindealingwithchildrenandparentsfrom diverse language backgrounds.We view these initiatives as genuine efforts to legitimize all languagesspokenbychildrenandparentsintheECECstructures.However,wealsorecognize that,withthemonolingualideologydeeplyingrainedinFrenchsociety,theseeffortsshouldbe supportedbypoliciesandcanonlybesustainedbyprovidingconcreteexamplesofwhatcan be-andshouldbe-doneinECECsettings.
(Interview3,26June2014) Itisimportanttomentioninthecontextofthisarticlethattherepresentativeofthecitymayor, who is responsible for ECEC, met with the crèche parent-representatives to ascertain that the structure, although highlighting the English and French languages, would not be selective, exclusive,orfavourableonlytoEnglish-speakingpeople. Itshouldalsobeclarifiedthatthereareotherbilingual(exclusivelyGerman-French)day care structures in the city. In 2014, an innovative bilingual (French-German) crèche, jointly financedandmanagedbythecityofStrasbourganditsGermansistertown,Kehl,wasopened in Strasbourg approximately 2 kilometres from the German border. However, most of these structures are parent-initiated and following this trend, a British-Canadian parent, married to a French national, conceptualized this English-French bilingual crèche.The entire process of settingupthecrèchetookaroundsevenyearsandincludedconceptualization,projectwriting, coordinationwithgovernmentagencies,back-and-forthpaperprocessing,locationhunting,hiring ofstaff,andthepreparationofthepremisestomakeitsuitableforchildren.
Oneofthemaincomponentsofthisprojectwastheconceptofpromotingearlybilingualism. Yet,itshouldbenotedthatalthoughFrenchandEnglishwereusedinthedailyfunctioningof the crèche, in reality the crèche was multilingual and multicultural with at least 13 declared languagesspokenbytheparentsandprofessionals.Thisseemstobeconsistentwithhowthis structure was originally envisioned, adhering to the principles of'openness to languages and differentcultures'(Interview1,25August2013).

Choosing the linguistic strategy: One person, one language
The official languages and language policy of the parental crèche were the personal choices of the association president.As she explained,'English-French, because that is my household. From this statement, we can deduce that the experiences, expectations, and desires of the bilingualfamiliesinthiscrècheweresimilar,whichpossiblyledthemtocreateastructure,outside theirhomes,whichtheybelievedwouldhelpensureeffectivebilinguallanguageacquisitionfor theirchildren. Otherthanthepervadingideologiesoftheparents,theinfluenceofotherbilingualearly yearsstructuresinthecitycouldalsohavecontributedtothechosenlinguisticstrategyforthis crèche.These other bilingual structures in the city, which were also parent-initiated projects, were generally oriented towards the use of partial immersion with OPOL as their linguistic strategy.The association president was in touch with the personnel of these structures, had workedwiththemonvariousoccasions,andhadalsoservedasassociationofficerinanother Anglo-Frenchpre-schoolforchildrenaged3to6.Theinitialtemporarysiteofthecrèchehad evenbeenpreviouslyusedbyabilingualGerman-Frenchcrèche.Astheassociationpresident said,'soIwasmorefollowingtheexamplesofwhathadalreadybeendoneandasweputinto place'(Interview3,16June2014).

Who were the professionals?
Althoughthemultilingualaspectofthecrèchewasacknowledgedandemphasized,theproject conceptfocusedmainlyonthepromotionanduseofEnglishandFrench.Thiswasmadefeasible by equally distributing and identifying the English and French speakers from among the staff members.We observed eight professionals throughout the nine-month study of whom four wereassignedtospeakEnglishwiththechildren,andtheotherfourwereassignedtoFrench. Table2showsthelanguagerepertoiresandtheassignedlanguagesofthestaff.
(ProfessionalB,Interview4,12January2014) In our super-diverse, highly mobile society, the case of this professional is not uncommon.
Obviously, she was assigned as an English speaker because it was her'native language' -or moreappropriately,herhomelanguage,thelanguageherparentsspokewithher.However,since she had resided in France for most of her life, she was accustomed to switching back and forth between English and French, depending on the language used by her interlocutor. Her naturalinclinationwastorespondinthesamelanguageastheoneinwhichshewasaddressed. Accordingtothedeclaredlanguagepolicyofthecrèche,shehadtoalterthispractice.Evenwhen shewasspokentoinFrench,shehadtorespondonlyinherassignedlanguage. The case of professional C, who was assigned to speak French with the children, was a differentstory.OriginallyfromPoland,shehadbeenlivinginFranceforlessthantenyearsatthe timeoftheinterview.Shecameasastudentandlearnedthelanguageintheprocess.Although her French level was impressive, she spoke with an accent.This, however, did not affect the decisiontohireherasoneofthestaffmembers.Theassociationpresidentexplainedthat: thechoicewasmore…basedlessontheirnative[language]andmoreontheircomfortableness andenergyfortheproject…Again,we'renotworriedaboutlanguage.Thereisnoperfectionthat wearelookingfor…wearenotworriedofaccents…HerFrenchisexcellent.
Even when professionals complement one another within a bilingual interaction, the restriction to maintain their assigned languages requires them to function in a monolingual mode.Inreality,thedecisiontoemployOPOLwasanattempttosimplifythecomplexreality of a multilingual environment. However, during the implementation of this language policy, it becameclearertotheprofessionalsthatitwasimpossibletoabidebythispolicyatalltimes. Withtheyoungchildren'sutmostinterestsconsidered,theprofessionalsresortedtocontinued negotiationandappropriationoftheOPOLpolicy-processesthatwillhopefullypavetheway toamorerealisticandfullervisionofbilingualism,butonewhichcanonlybesupportedbyhigh qualitystafftrainingonhowtoworkinstructureswheremultiplelanguagesareinvolved.