New Solas funded SMILE Project Launches to Support Multilingual Children in Early Years Education

New Solas funded SMILE Project Launches to Support Multilingual Children in Early Years Education. World Cafe attendee, Mary Cantwell (LCETB, Migrant Specific Guidance Counsellor, Dr. Aoife Lily Gallagher (UL, Associate Professor, School of Allied Health), Tahereh Fardin (Doras, AMIF Coordinator), Dr. Hadjer Hammadi (Doras, Intercultural Engagement Specialist), L-R Front: Caroline Franca (Doras, Communications Lead), World Cafe Attendee, World Cafe Attendee

New SMILE (Supporting Multilingual and Intercultural Learning in the Early Years) project to support multilingual parents and Early Years educators in Limerick

On Wednesday, April 15, a new SOLAS-funded initiative, SMILE (Supporting Multilingual and Intercultural Learning in the Early Years), is being launched in Limerick to support multilingual parents and Early Years educators in strengthening children’s language and early language development.

SMILE is a collaborative project between the University of Limerick (UL), Doras, and Limerick & Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB), and Limerick City Partnership (LCP).

Funded by SOLAS under the Adult Literacy for Life (ALL) strategy, the project responds to Ireland’s changing linguistic landscape, which has seen a significant increase in the number of children growing up in homes where English is not the first language.

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Doras’ Intercultural Engagement Specialist, Dr. Hadjer Hammadi, led the research activities while academic leadership and research guidance were provided by the University of Limerick through the Principal Investigator, Dr. Aoife Lily Gallagher.

Doras’ Education Coordinator, Kerry McCarthy, and LCETB’s Migrant Specific Guidance Counsellor, Mary Cantwell, oversaw the day-to-day delivery of the project and contributed expertise in adult literacy and family learning.

The project focuses on developing easy-to-use, culturally responsive, and evidence-informed resources to support multilingual language development in children, both at home and in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) settings.

These resources are designed to help families maintain their home languages while also supporting children’s participation and confidence in early education. Research for the project was carried out using a World Café approach, involving facilitated group discussions, creative activities, and shared idea-building through workshops with multilingual parents and Early-Years educators.

Parents spoke openly about concerns around language loss, identity, and school readiness, with one parent sharing, “I feel that my child faces difficulties in nursery because he doesn’t understand everything that’s being said to him.”

Another noted the importance of maintaining home language, saying, “I only speak my own language, so it doesn’t confuse my child.”

Early-Years educators, recruited with Limerick City Partnership’s support, echoed these concerns, highlighting that families often feel pressure to prioritise English. As one educator explained, “Families sometimes want English only,” while emphasising that “having just a few basic words [of the child’s native language] initially is very helpful for both staff and children”.

The parents’ workshop was delivered in several languages to support different literacy and language abilities and to capture a wide range of experiences. Arts-based methods were used to ensure participation was accessible and inclusive, helping to ground the project’s outputs in lived experience.

Resources developed through the SMILE project include animated and infographic materials, created by artist Soufeina Hamed (Tuffix.net) and graphic designer Ellie Stone, as well as a practical toolkit for Early-Years educators.

Southern Advertising have developed an animated video, produced by Dave O’Hora and Dylan O’Neill. Additional materials include guidance for parents on navigating multilingualism at home and myth-busting resources that address common misconceptions about bilingual and multilingual language development.

The findings and resources from the SMILE project will be officially launched at a public event on the 15th of April in the Clayton Hotel in Limerick from 10:30 am – 1:00 pm, bringing together educators, families, policymakers, and community organisations to share learning and promote inclusive early literacy practices. Those interested in attending may register for the free event on Eventbrite.