Vicky Macleroy

Cultural, linguistic and cognitive issues in teaching the language of literature for emergent bilingual pupils

This article investigates the premise that literary texts use language in aesthetic, imaginative and engaging ways that have considerable potential to extend the learning of bilingual pupils. It draws on research findings from a qualitative study that examined the value of developing pedagogic practices for emergent bilingual learners at the interface between language and literature. The educational research is framed from an ethnographic perspective and employs critical discourse analysis of classroom interaction. The research addresses the current gap in studies of bilingual pupils learning in majority language classrooms at secondary level. The findings show the risk of placing bilingual learners in low-ability sets where their exposure to literature may be limited and language skills are frequently taught in isolation. In contrast, bilingual learners who were given the opportunity to use language creatively and had access to a range of texts slowly became attuned to the musicality of the new language and developed deeper word knowledge. The findings indicate that through drawing on bilingual learners contextual knowledge and making space for cross-cultural discourses around texts, these learners can understand both the local and global in acts of reading. The research points to the need for a pluralistic pedagogy in learning literacies.

Creative and critical approaches to language learning and digital technology: findings from a multilingual digital storytelling project

ABSTRACT This article presents findings from the global literacy project, Critical Connections: Multilingual Digital Storytelling (MDST), which provides a means of nurturing and reflecting multiliteracies in practice. It recognises the power of storytelling and the space stories offer both for self-representation and for engaging with otherness. It draws on affordances of the digital medium for multimodal composition and for collaborative and dialogic ways of working and sharing across boundaries of home, school and community. It values and supports multilingual repertoires recognising that every language is a distinct medium with its own expressive resources, its own palette of colours, its own sounds and rhythms, all shaped by and representing history, culture, values and beliefs. The core argument is that greater attention needs to be given to the multilingual dimension within multiliteracies research. We outline the theoretical framework underpinning our research and the rationale for adopting a critical ethnographic approach. We explore the significance of MDST for young people and their learning; the effective pedagogical framework for carrying out MDST; and the implications for policy and teacher development. This research enabled us to demonstrate the importance of an integrated and inclusive approach towards languages within the multiliteracies framework.

Connecting worlds: interculturality, identity and multilingual digital stories in the making

ABSTRACT Based on findings from a 5-year research project called Critical Connections, this article sets out an integrated framework for language learning in the context of multilingual digital storytelling. Following an explanation of the theoretical approach, four vignettes are presented which illustrate the principles in practice. Prioritising learner agency, this model involves moving across borders and foregrounding interfaces between languages, cultures and literacies, and learning (online and offline) across school, home and community contexts. Young people’s identities are reflected in the digital stories shared here, and final conclusions identify the affordances of multilingual digital storytelling in building an interculturally oriented curriculum.