Vally Lytra

Syncretism as a creative act of mind: The narratives of children from four faith communities in London:

In this paper, we illustrate how young children from four faith communities (Tamil Hindu/Saiva, Bangladeshi Muslim, Polish Catholic and Ghanaian Pentecostal) new to London bring together and juxtapose an array of different languages, literacies, learning and discourse styles, communicative resources and experience to create unique personal narratives. We draw on the concepts of syncretism and syncretic literacy to examine and interpret the creative and transformative processes in which children engage, and to show how children combine and ultimately make sense of faith and everyday experiences.

Multicultural Awareness through English: A Potential Contribution of TESOL in Greek Schools.

The cultural diversity now evident in Greek society creates educational challenges and opportunities. Space to address these is provided by the multicultural awareness aspects of the discourse of the Cross‐Thematic Curriculum Framework (CTCF). For English language classes, multicultural direction is provided through the disciplinary discussion of new teaching paradigm possibilities. In particular, these discussions encourage us to explore the repositioning of English teaching in Greek state schooling from a foreign language orientation towards a multicultural one. In this article, having set the context, we present the Multicultural Awareness Through English (MATE) paradigm. We conclude by illustrating the MATE paradigm in action.

Translating Faith: Field Narratives as a Means of Dialogue in Collaborative Ethnographic Research:

This article presents research from a collaborative ethnography in four faith settings in London, UK. In particular, we show how a group of researchers from diverse cultures teach and learn from each other through the use of field narratives. After outlining a sociocultural approach to learning and discussing how faith situates itself within this frame, we show ways in which field narratives provide a bridge between the past, present and future of cultural events and practices and allow a polyphonic gaze by different researchers describing the same setting. We show how researchers learn to reflect upon their own research site, compare it with those of others, and, ultimately, become more aware of their own. This process is iterative and dialogic, which enriches not only the knowledge of the researchers themselves but also provides a mosaic of different interpretations to a wider interested audience.

Divine games and rituals: how Tamil Saiva/Hindu siblings learn faith practices through play

This paper contributes to our understanding of how siblings in diasporic settings teach and learn from each other through their faith play. It draws upon data from a longitudinal ethnographic study (2009–2013) exploring how children become literate through faith activities across four communities in London. The longitudinal study examines childrens emerging faith literacies, focusing on ways in which they are socialised into their faith at the site of worship, in the religious education class and in their homes. This paper focuses on the role of play in one of the four participant families of the Tamil Hindu community in London and traces how siblings begin to practise their faith through play at home. Using the example of two children constructing their Temple from plastic building blocks to act out appropriate religious rituals, we show how, through their play, the children acquire and practise cultural knowledge important for both faith membership and their everyday lives.

Bridging Faith, Languages and Learning in London: A Faith Teacher Reflects upon Pedagogy in Religious Instruction Classes.

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine a faith teachers reflections on faith literacy teaching and learning and how they shaped his pedagogy in the context of Hindu/Saiva religious instruction classes for students of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage. The data are part of a larger multi-site three-year team ethnography of childrens faith literacy learning in places of worship, religious education classes and homes across four ethno-linguistic communities in London (Bangladeshi Muslim, Polish Catholic, Ghanaian Pentecostal and Tamil Hindu/Saiva). In this article, we focus on one of the Hindu/Saiva faith teachers by combining an in-depth semi-structured interview with the teacher in question with participant observations and video-recordings of faith lessons. Drawing on the faith teachers reflections, we identify the changes in the nature and scope of faith literacy learning across time and in the London diasporic setting and demonstrate how the faith teacher responded to them by adopting flexible language practices where English (the majority language) was used alongside Tamil (the community and devotional language) as a learning resource. The faith teachers pedagogic approach emerged as a pragmatic and contextual response to the students’ diverse capabilities in class, with the purpose of making faith literacy learning accessible and relevant to their lives.

Revisiting Discourses of Language, Identity and Community in a Transnational Context through a Commemorative Book Project.

Abstract In this article, I present and discuss a commemorative book project to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Greek School of Lausanne. I examine the continuities and discontinuities of the notions of language, identity and community as these were represented through the voices of former Greek state officials, teachers and pupils. I take a long view, combining archival material with interviews and written accounts spanning the first twenty years of the establishment and development of the school. Finally, I tentatively reflect on how the book project might have impacted on the Greek community of Lausanne and its school in a period of transition.

Book Review: Agnes Weiyun He & Xiao Yun (eds). Chinese as a heritage language: Fostering rooted world citizenry. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2008. 271 pp. ISBN-10: 0824832868; ISBN-13: 978-0824832865

In Chinese as a heritage language: Fostering rooted world citizenry Agnes Weiyun He and Yuan Xiao provide a fascinating account of the rapidly growing field of Chinese as a Heritage Language (henceforth CHL) in the last decade. Although the book focuses mainly on the US context where according to the 2000 census Chinese was reported as the third most commonly spoken language after English and Spanish (McGinnis, 2005: 592), it reflects the increasing recognition of CHL as a valuable national, economic, community and personal resource in today’s globalized world. Bringing together scholars from different disciplines, such as developmental psychology, linguistic and cultural anthropology, discourse analysis, reading research, and second language acquisition, the book discusses ‘the socio-cultural, cognitive-linguistic, and educational-institutional trajectories along which CHL may be learned, acquired, maintained, and developed and the impact of such trajectories on individuals, families, schools, and communities’ (p. 1). Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches, the book is organized along three broad themes, namely the CHL learner, the CHL learner language, and CHL learning.