Transition to school: using multilingual storybooks in linguistically diverse settings.

Dooley, Karen ; Yin, Yue Melody ; Liu, Liwei Livia 等

Introduction

Community languages have a place in early years education for all children and young students in Australia. Curricula for children from birth to five years (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009) and for students in their first year of school (ACARA, 2015) treat the languages of the local community not only as content, but also as a resource for learning. Books written in two or more languages (hereafter: 'multilingual books') are rich in potential for this curricular content.

Multilingual picturebooks have different formats (for example, Ernst-Slavit & Mulhern, 2003). We make use of two of these:

* multiple language books--the story is written in two or more languages that run in parallel through the book:

** The Chinese-English dual language picturebook [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]/Spot goes to school ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]/Carle, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]/trans. Peng, 2006); and

** The English-Amharic-Chinese-Arabic-French multilanguage book, Wilbur (Cummings, 2010).

* translation clusters--the story is written in one language in the original edition and in others in translated editions:

** Hattie and the Fox (Fox, 1986); and

** [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Fox, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], trans. Fry, 1995).

Transition to school is an extended process which begins long before and continues long after children enter school (Cameron, Pinto, Hunt, & Leger, 2015). During this process educators seek to promote continuity of curriculum and pedagogy between prior-to-school and school settings while deepening connections with children's homes. Australian curriculum documents hold out the promise of continuity, for example, between the curriculum area of 'communicating' in kindergarten and 'English' in the foundational year of school (Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority (QCAA), 2015). Here we look at the potential of paired and shared reading of multilingual picturebooks for realising that curricular promise while achieving pedagogic continuity between school and prior-to-school settings.

By way of example, we show how shared and paired reading can be used to enable learning about linguistic diversity--a topic found in prior-to-school curricula (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009) as well as in the foundational year of the school curriculum (ACARA, 2015). Then we show how the two pedagogic routines can be used to engage learners' multilingual capabilities when teaching aspects of 'effective communication' (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009) and the language strand of English (ACARA, 2015). Our suggestions provide a start point for educators interested in intentional teaching or richly contextualised instruction in literacy.

Learning about linguistic diversity

Linguistic diversity features in the content of early years curricula. In prior-to-school settings, it is addressed by the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) Outcome 2: 'Children are connected with ... their world' (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009, p. 27). Exploration of cultural diversity is taken as evidence of this outcome; to this end, children might be exposed to languages, explore their linguistic heritage and learn to appreciate linguistic diversity. Similarly, in Australian Curriculum: English, students are expected to learn of the diversity of languages spoken within their families, class and community, and to develop appreciation of these (ACARA, 2015, ACELA1426).

Paired readings of multilingual picturebooks are useful for learning about linguistic diversity. During paired reading a guest from the community teams up with the teacher to read a multilingual book aloud. The book should include the home languages of at least some of the children or students in the class. The teacher and the guest readers work through the book page-by-page, taking it in turns to read each stretch of the story in 'their' language. Discussion focuses on both story meaning and language form (Naqvi, McKeough, Thorne, & Pfitscher, 2013a; Naqvi, Thorne, Pfitscher, Nordstokke, & McKeough, 2013b).

The format of dual language books such as, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]/ Spot goes to school, facilitates paired reading. The parallel text makes it easy for readers to sit or stand side-by-side and to read from the one book using a smartboard in the case of an e-book or a visualiser or easel in the case of a print book. Prior to reading, the teacher might engage students in discussion of languages.

* When beginning a paired reading program:

** This is Melissa's grandmother, Mrs Li, and she is going to help me read this book to you. Before we start, listen to us read this page: [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] !Spot starts school today!' (Carle, trans. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], 2006, n.p.). What do you notice about the way we read? Yes! We took it in turns to read and we read in different languages. That's how we're going to read the whole book today.

** Point to the language Mrs Li read. What is the name of that language? What did she say? (repeat for other reader and language)

** What languages do you speak? What about your family?

* Before or after the paired reading of a particular book:

* What languages do you think this book is written in? What makes you think that?

* Can anyone see some other English writing in our classroom? What about Chinese? What type of writing do you have at home?

Several different activities can be used to follow up paired reading. Consider, Wilbur (Cummings, 20l0). This book tells the story of a dog who wanders about all day, has a big night's sleep and then wakes up ready for more adventures. The book appears in four different multilingual editions each of which juxtaposes English with four other languages. After a paired reading of the book, students' attention might be drawn to the way that different languages represent the world: the rather prosaic 'splash' of English becomes a 'water flower' in Chinese ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) with implications for what the reader sees when they look at the accompanying illustration.

As the multilingual editions of Wilbur use migrant languages that are becoming more common in Australia, the book lends itself to a print walk (Chern & Dooley, 2014). During a Wilbur print walk, the children or students could stroll around the local area, capturing images of environmental print with digital cameras or mobile devices. Back in the classroom they could match the images to the print in the book and talk about the languages:

* Which languages did we find?

* Where were they? (for example, Chinese at the bus stop, Amharic at the church)

* What happens in that place? Why did they put Amharic on that sign? Why Chinese? Who goes to that church? Who uses that bus stop?

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Additionally, children might bring in print from home in the form of calendars, food packages, books and other literate artefacts. This print can be matched with the book and used in multilingual classroom displays of environmental print.

Engaging multilingual capabilities to teach communication or English

Multilingual books are also a resource for teaching literacy. In prior-to-school settings, they can be used with EYLF Outcome 5: 'effective communication'. Some of the evidence of this outcome is found in children's understanding of the sounds and symbols of language; to this end, educators might engage children in discussion of home and school languages (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009, p. 41). There may be overlap with EYLF Outcome 1: 'sense of identity' because this outcome can be evident in children's use of home languages and promoted through incorporation of those languages into the classroom (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009, p. 23). In school settings, multilingual books might be used with the phonics and word knowledge sub-strand of the language strand that includes several content indicators relating to phonological, graphological and sound-symbol knowledge and skills (ACARA, 2015).

Shared or paired reading can be used to tap the curricular resource potential of multilanguage books when teaching communication and literacy outcomes. Canadian research points to the benefits of paired reading of dual language books in linguistically diverse classes: empowerment and identity-building for speakers of the dual languages; and awareness of sounds for all learners, irrespective of their home language (Naqvi et al., 2013a, 20l3b). Shared reading can be used to similar ends. Like paired reading, it involves adults reading to children or students; the difference is that the aim is to enable participation in subsequent readings. Intentional teaching or explicit instruction tapping the unique potential of multilingual books can be incorporated into the shared reading routine as follow-up activities.

The potential of multilanguage books in paired and shared reading routines lies in opportunities for comparing and contrasting languages. Consider, Hattie and the Fox, (Fox, 1986) and its translation,

[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Fox, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], if, trans. Fry, 1995). This book tells the story of a hen who became more and more alarmed as a fox snuck up on the farmyard. The other animals were somewhat nonchalant until the fox flew out of the bushes only to be scared off by the lowing of the cow: [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]/moo! The farmyard then fell silent. The English version of the book is rich in possibilities for developing awareness of sounds:

* Shared reading--encourage children or students to join in the rhythmic refrains during repeated readings:

'Good grief!' said the goose.

'Well, well!' said the pig ... (Fox, 1986, n.p.)

* Recite the refrains while clapping or tapping the beat.

* Draw attention to alliteration: 'What do you notice? Good grief .'

* Compare the onomatopoeia in the English and Chinese editions: What does the cow say in English? 'moo!' What does the cow say in Chinese? P[section]! ('mou!').

* Note that word play does not always translate. Can we clap the Chinese story like the English one? Do the Chinese words start with the same sounds as each other?

* Find an animated Chinese-English version of the popular Chinese children's song, 'Well-behaved little rabbit', on YouTube. Does it rhyme in English as it does in Chinese?

Closing comment

In this article we have suggested some ways for using paired and shared reading to create continuity of curriculum and pedagogy during transition to school while simultaneously strengthening connections with the home. These reading routines can be used not only to teach about the linguistic diversity of the community, but also to engage with the identities and linguistic resources of children and students as they become literate in English as a first or additional language.

Acknowledgement

The authors owe a debt of gratitude to Robyn Whiting, Manager, Policy and Resource Development (K-2), QCAA for feedback on an earlier version of this article. They acknowledge Adele Bosworth for insights shared in the course of her work as a recipient of an award from QUT's Vacation Research Experience Scheme in 2013. The limitations of the article remain the responsibility of the authors.

Children's literature

[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Carle, E.) (2006). [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Spot goes to school, trans. Peng Yi) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Beijing: Jieli Publishing House).

Cummings, P. (2010). Wilbur (English, Amharic, Chinese, Arabic & French version). (Illus. A. Graham). Norwood, SA: The Little Big Book Club.

Fox, M. (1986). Hattie and the Fox. Sydney, NSW: Scholastic.

Fox, M. (1995). [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]' trans, J. Fry). Gosford, NSW: Scholastic.

References

ACARA Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2015). The Australian Curriculum: English (Version 8.1). Retrieved from http://www. australiancurriculum.edu.au/

Cameron, C.A., Pinto, G., Hunt, K.A., & Leger, P.D. (2015). Emerging literacy during 'Day in the Life' in the transition to school. Early Child Development and Care. DOI:10.1080/0 3004430.2015.1105800

Chern, C.L., & Dooley, K. (2014). Learning English by walking down the street, ELT Journal, 68(2), 113-23.

Commonwealth of Australia. (2009). Belonging, being and becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for the Council of Australian Governments. Retrieved from http://www.education.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_ file/0018/20538/BelongingBeing-Becoming.pdf

Ernst-Slavit, G., & Mulhern, M. (2003). Bilingual books: Promoting literacy and biliteracy in the second language and mainstream classroom. Reading Online, 7 (2). Retrieved from: http://www.readingonline.org/articles/ art_index.asp?HREF=ernst-slavit/index.html

Naqvi, R., McKeough, A., Thorne, K., & Pfitscher, C. (2013a). Dual-language books as an emergent-literacy resource: Culturally and linguistically responsive teaching and learning, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 3(4), 50-528.

Naqvi, R., Thorne, K.J., Pfitscher, C.M., Nordstokke, D.W., & McKeough, A. (2013b). Reading dual language books: Improving early literacy skills in linguistically diverse classrooms. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 11(1), 3-15.

QCAA Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority. (2015). Curriculum connections: English. Retrieved from https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/p-10/ transition-school/continuity-curriculum-pedagogies/ curriculum-connections-english

Karen Dooley is an Associate Professor in English Curriculum in the Faculty of Education at the Queensland University of Technology. She is a long-standing ALEA member, and formerly, the secretary of Meanjin--Brisbane's local council--and coordinator of Meanjin's International Literacy Day activities. Karen is interested in literacy education in linguistically diverse settings. Email: k.dooley@qut.edu.au

Yue Melody Yin is a PhD candidate in the School of Curriculum in the Faculty of Education at the Queensland University of Technology. She is interested in sociology of education. Email: y5.yin@hdr.qut.edu.au

Liwei Livia Liu is a PhD candidate in Early Childhood Education in the Faculty of Education at the Queensland University of Technology. She is interested in transition to school and parental engagement in different cultural settings. Email: l42.liu@hdr.qut.edu.au