Description
Play has been placed at the centre of the early childhood curriculum for over a century and child-initiated play (or free play), ‘the opportunity to explore materials and situations for oneself’ (Moyles, 1989: 14) is considered essential in children’s development (Wood 2022). Yet, in a forthcoming survey article, charting the field of early foreign language learning in the Language Teaching Journal, reference to play is absent. This confirms that published research on play and foreign language learning is sparse (for exceptions see Robinson et al., 2015; Waddington et al., 2018). In my short introduction to this pre-conference event, I will outline the relevance of play for curiosity, agency and participation in a foreign language. I will then touch on recent research into third spaces (Tatham-Fashanu, 2021) and Conceptual Playworlds (Fleer, 2021) and pose the question ‘How can we successfully bring child-initiated play into children’s foreign language experiences?’.| Period | 30 Aug 2023 |
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| Event title | Children's Curiosity, Agency and Participation: : Challenges for Professional Action and Development |
| Event type | Seminar |
| Location | Cascais, PortugalShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |