More and more children attend inclusive instead of seperating early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions in Germany (Autor:innengruppe Bildungsberichterstattung, 2020). Participation as well as playing and learning together of children with and without disabilities can be considered as a goal of inclusion. Also, advantages for the development of children with disabilities, such as in language and social-emotional development, are postulated e. g., because of a higher number of social interactions (Blackmore et al., 2016; Piskur et al., 2014). At the same time, language abilities represent a crucial prerequisite for initiating and maintaining interactions (Harper & McCluskey, 2002). Previous research results show that often children with developmental language disorder or other disabilities participate less, form smaller play networks and have greater difficulties to access peer interactions than their peers without disabilities (Chen et al., 2019, 2020; Kuutti et al., 2021; Lütolf & Schaub, 2019). Therefore, it is important to investigate which personal and environmental factors influence their participation in daily activities in ECEC institutions. The PhD project aims to first, summarize and analyze the current state of research in a systematic review. Subsequently, the participation and interaction behavior of children with disabilities in inclusive ECEC institutions will be further investigated in an empirical study.

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In Germany's migration society, diverse linguistic influences affect students’ development and education. Despite the fact that students grow up multilingual increasingly often, this dynamic is not adequately taken into account in teacher training. For example, courses on multilingualism are neither compulsory nor available at all university teacher training programs (Busse 2020). Historically evolved concepts of language, which are shaped by power and domination relations, contribute to the perpetuation of the "monolingual habitus" (Gogolin 1994) and are still visible in sometimes negative beliefs of prospective teachers.

The cumulative dissertation project aims to qualitatively record teachers’ beliefs about multilingualism at school and to explore them intersectionally. The intersectional analysis of the material makes it possible to examine the interaction of different social categories as well as power and domination relations and to ask about inclusionary, exclusionary and reproducing effects (Budde 2018; Riegel 2022). The intersectional, deconstructivist perspective on the relations of difference and dominance associated with multilingualism takes a critical-reflexive approach (Riegel 2016). Looking ahead, the results may be used to formulate implications for an intersectionally sensitive pedagogical practice that includes a critical reflection of beliefs about multilingualism.

Language is of high importance for children's successful participation in school and life (Chilla, 2017). Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) display difficulties in learning, understanding, and using language that are not explained by other conditions of extenuating circumstances (Spreer et al., 2015). With an estimated prevalence of 5-8%, DLD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood (von Suchodoletz, 2014). In addition, there are often accompanying impairments in non-linguistic areas. For example, there are close correlations in the development of language and social-emotional skills (Yew & O'Kearney, 2013). Also, impairments in gross and fine motor skills occur frequently in children with DLD (Sanjeevan et al., 2015). The co-occurrence of developmental problems in these areas can lead to extensive barriers to participation. However, research shows that the areas are rarely considered together. If at all, only two out of three combinations are investigated and there is a lack of data on combined impairments in primary school aged children with DLD. Therefore, the PhD project pursues the goal of collecting possible forms and manifestations of social-emotional and motor skills in children with DLD using standardized test procedures. Furthermore, barriers and support possibilities for the participation of children with DLD are collected through interviews with parents. The project enables a clearer understanding of combined impairments in children with DLD, which is an important foundation for designing interventions and to strengthen possibilities for participation.

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One aim of inclusion is to ensure equal access to education in order to enable children and young people to participate completely and successfully in society (Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für die Belange von Menschen mit Behinderungen, 2018; Platte, 2020). In the context of (inclusive) teaching, which is predominantly organized in spoken language and thus requires hearing and speech comprehension (Bogner et al., 2018; Hennies & Hintermair, 2020), children with hearing impairment who communicate in spoken language encounter numerous barriers to participation (Schwab et al., 2019; Todorov et al., 2021). These result, for instance, from delays in the acquisition of spoken language (Haukedal et al., 2022; Tomblin et al., 2015). It is necessary to record the subjective experiences and needs of these children in order to identify and reduce barriers to participation. It is also important to involve teachers in this process so that they are sensitized to the challenges and needs of their students and provide appropriate support opportunities in the classroom (Todorov et al., 2022).

In order to strengthen the participation of children with hearing impairment, the PhD project will investigate the relationship between language skills, subjective hearing quality in inclusive classrooms and the participation opportunities of children with hearing impairment. On the one hand, standardized language tests and questionnaires on participation and the assessment of subjective hearing quality will be used. On the other hand, interviews will be conducted with children with hearing impairment and their teachers in order to identify barriers and opportunities for support and assistance for participation in inclusive education.

Many children acquire German as a second language in everyday interactions with practitioners and peers in early childhood education and care institutions (Autor:innengruppe Bildungsberichtserstattung, 2022; DeHouwer, 2021). To successfully engage in these interactions, they use a range of gestural and multimodal communication tools in addition to verbal language skills (connections of gestures and language; Beaupoil-Hourdel, 2022; Rohlfing, 2019). To date, however, there is a lack of quantitative studies analyzing the forms of multimodal interaction of second language learners in everyday interactions with practitioners and peers. The dissertation project consists of two methodological papers and three empirical cross-sectional studies on the forms of multimodal interactions of second language learners in early childhood education and care settings. The first empirical study focuses on multimodal initiation strategies used in free play with peers. The second and third empirical study focuses on dyadic, dialogic reading between second language learners and practitioners. Findings highlight the central role of multimodal communication used by second language learners in early education settings.

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