One Centre Many Languages. Language use in Childcare centres in Malta

One Centre Many Languages. Language use in Childcare centres in Malta

Lara Ann Vella’s main research interests deal with the bilingual development of children both at home and in educational settings and the use of languages in the curriculum. She was involved in the research team that wrote the Language Policy for the Early and the Junior Years issued by the Ministry for Education and has coordinated research projects that help to shed light in the bilingual development of young children in the local context. Dr Vella has published works on the way educators promote bilingualism in school settings and is a co-author of the National Literacy Strategy (2021-2023Her PhD thesis dealt with parents’ and their children’s language attitudes and ideologies towards Maltese and English in Malta. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from Lancaster University and currently lectures at the Centre of English Proficiency of the University of Malta.