The purpose of this study is to investigate how preschool teachers in preschools inspired by the pedagogical philosophy of Reggio Emilia use aestheticforms of expression to support the Swedish language development of children that have Swedish as a second language. We want to know how these teachers incorporate aesthetics in the work with second language learners and how they use creative expressions as tools in this process.

The study is based on a qualitative method focusing on interviews with five preschool teachers. The interviews were held in four different preschools in the county of Stockholm, all inspired by the pedagogical philosophy of Reggio Emilia and all located in multicultural areas. The results are analysed with the help of three theoretical perspectives: Dewey’s theories concerning experience, pedagogy and art, the socio-cultural perspective and social semiotics.

The results of the study show that aesthetics are a vital part of the ReggioEmilia-preschools we have visited, though they aren’t always incorporated in the work with the second language learners. Second language development was stimulated through aestheticforms of expression in both planned and spontaneous activities, with the help of the preschool teachers. Aestheticexperiences were used as tools through their potential to include everyone and introduce multiple paths towards language development. Preschool teachers also experienced that their presence and listening skills were important in this process. As they, for example, named things and happenings around the children they scaffolded the children’s second language development.