Los pájaros are feliz and are dreaming about gwiazdy: Facilitating Translingual Creative Writing in the Primary Classroom
Citation:
Catherine Barbour and Karina Lickorish Quinn, Los pájaros are feliz and are dreaming about gwiazdy: Facilitating Translingual Creative Writing in the Primary Classroom, English in Education, 54, 1, 2020, 6 - 26Abstract:
Although one in five state-educated children in England speaks a language other than English
at home, there is little space in the National Curriculum for the expression of this linguistic
heritage. In this article we make the case for facilitating multilingualism in the primary
classroom through translingual creative writing, which involves mixing two or more
languages. We draw on empirical research with a class of lower Key Stage 2 children of diverse
linguistic backgrounds and abilities at a school in south London. The pupils were set the task
of writing a poem that combined English with other languages so that we could observe how
they engaged with the process of translanguaging. We suggest that translingual writing
exercises in the classroom provide a range of benefits, including the creation of a space for the
valorisation of children’s cultural capital; the facilitation of valuable peer-teaching and
collaboration; freedom to explore playfulness with language; and a chance to experiment with
and reflect on creative writing processes.
Sponsor
Grant Number
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/barbourcDescription:
PUBLISHEDSpecial Issue: Multilingualism and English Teaching ed. by Rachael Gilmour
Author: Barbour, Catherine
Type of material:
Journal ArticleCollections
Series/Report no:
English in Education54
1
Availability:
Full text availableSubject (TCD):
Identities in Transformation , Inclusive Society , Multilingual pedagogyDOI:
https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2019.1703553Metadata
Show full item recordLicences: