What means «migration background» at nursery schools? Comparison of different definition criteria and their relationship to German language competencies

Abstract

As the term «migration background» is heterogeneously defined in literature, this work compares different criteria and sources of information. Results show that defining migration by parents’ native language and country yields a larger number of children identified with migration background, than defining it according to languages spoken within the family. Preschool-teachers’ reports underestimate the proportion of children with migration background in comparison to parents reports. Results concerning the relationship between different indicators and children’s German language competencies show that all considered definitions are able to identify children at risk for language deficits.