|
|
 |
We are delighted to feature a number of research articles examining particular aspects of primary languages. This piece is about learning to read with dual language books – a pilot project in the School of Education at the University of East London. Raymonde Sneddon writes:
When I was a primary teacher educator at University of East London (UEL) in 2004 I coordinated a small action research project on dual language books. A group of teachers experimented, explored resources and shared strategies. The project has since inspired me to look more deeply into what exactly happens when children explore a text in two languages. And so, with the support of Samina Jaffar from the Redbridge Ethnic Minority Attainment (EMA) team I started recording children using the books to learn to read in the language of their home.
The children
- Magda and Albana, aged 6, were learning Albanian. They were able to adapt to the different phonics and explore the meanings across Albanian and English with their mothers, who learnt more English in the process.
- Myadda, aged 7, was learning Urdu. She was faced with understanding the principles of a very different script, but, with help from her mother and an Urdu primer from her grandmother, she used all her knowledge of how reading works, as well as her iron determination, to crack the code.
- Lek and Durkan, also aged 7, were teaching each other to read in Turkish: as they switched back and forward they were fascinated by the very different ways in which English and Turkish put words together and did their best to explain the “connectives and stuff” to me.
- Sarah, aged 9, was teaching herself to read in French, the language of her family, and making an exceptionally good job of it. Perhaps she had a flying start because the languages were less different from each other and she enjoyed exploring how and why metaphors changed when translated.
The findings so far
All children improved their motivation to read and their skills in English while learning their own language. They started using their family language more in the home. They became proud of their skills and keen to share them with friends. Their parents became more closely involved in their schooling.
But the most important finding of all was how crucial was the role played by the class teachers who provided the books, gave support and encouragement and celebrated their success.
Using dual language books
While in this pilot study the books have been used with children learning to read in the language of their community, there is huge potential for their use in unlocking all the skills children have in our multilingual classrooms. We have children learning English, learning to read languages they can speak (in varying degrees at home) and children learning completely new languages. The books, and the associated resources that are currently being developed by publishers and EMA teams also have huge potential for supporting children in exploring and learning new languages in the primary school.
Get involved!
We are hoping to develop this area of study and are building a research collection of children’s dual language books at UEL. We launched a website in August to encourage teachers and researchers to explore their potential and share good practice. I would love to hear from you if you have examples or ideas or resources to share - contact r.m.sneddon@uel.ac.uk
You may also be interested in the multilingual work of two members of the action research group: Linda’s Mullis’ exploration of home language use in an Early Years setting Find out more
and Kathryn Kabra’s work with Turkish parents and trainee teachers Find out more
|
|
|
|
|
