Conceptualising multilingual infants’ language learning in ECEC through a new ecobehavioural model

As the number of multilingual children attending early childhood settings continues to grow, there has been an increasing focus on how to support their language learning experiences in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. This article proposes an ecobehavioural model for supporting multilingual infants’ language development in ECEC settings, which is inspired by and builds on Vygotsky’s cultural–historical approach, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory and Ford et al.’s ecobehavioural model of early language development. By integrating these theoretical approaches, this conceptual article examines different levels of factors that impact the quality and quantity of educators’ language input and interactions with multilingual infants in ECEC rooms. This paper introduces an ecobehavioural model comprising four levels: Level 1 focuses on the quality and quantity of educators’ interactions with multilingual infants; Level 2 on educators’ knowledge and practices of supporting multilingualism in ECEC; Level 3 on the environments and resources of supporting multilingual infants’ learning in ECEC; and Level 4 concerns the policies that inform professional development and interventions to support multilingual infants in ECEC. The new model helps us understand how to support the quantity and quality of educators’ language input and interactions with multilingual infants under the age of two in ECEC in a dynamic and holistic way. It can also be used to describe the current research gaps and identify directions for future research, practices and policy on supporting multilingual young children in ECEC settings.