Using and Researching Dual Language Books for Children

Recent and Current Research and Plans for Future Research at UEL

Magda and Albana learning to read in Albanian from dual language books

(All participants chose their pseudonyms for publication of the research)

The opportunity for this study occurred as a result of the Redbridge Project on Developing Reading through Home Languages.

A case study of two young bilinguals in Albanian and English whose families wished to bring up them as biliterates but who had no access to Albanian books. The children, both good readers in English, learned to read in Albanian with their mothers using the dual language story books (and the encouragement) provided by their class teacher. The study demonstrates the strategies used by the children and their mothers and how they both used the dual text to learn new words in Albanian and in English. This study highlights the crucial role played by the school in valuing the children’s bilingualism and providing essential teaching materials.

The study aimed to explore the transfer of skills between the two languages and how meaning and strategies were negotiated between the two languages by the mothers and their children.

Children and their mothers were observed and recorded reading together for six sessions.

Magda and Albana - some key findings from the study:

Reading strategies used by children’s mothers:

Decoding text: Lere (Albana’s mother) and Miranda (Magda’s mother) explain that, although some Albanian letters have different sounds and use accents, there is enough similarity so that the girls are able to use their English reading skills to help decode the Albanian text. The women focused their initial teaching on the letters with different sounds such as “u”, “y” and “ë”. Miranda noted that while the irregularity of English caused difficulties, Albanian was much easier to decode. However the many complex polysyllabic words presented a challenge: the girls had difficulty pronouncing the words correctly and this led to difficulties in understanding. Both women let the children decode on a first reading of the text, supplying a word when they get stuck and occasionally correcting a misplaced stress. While access to Albanian print is limited in her home, Miranda supports Magda by using magnetic letters on her fridge.

Understanding the text: Miranda and Lere both ask their daughters questions to check their understanding, in both languages. Lere is particularly focused on this strategy and she prompts Albana’s retelling in English with questions such as “what did she do? Who did she meet? What did she say to her? Because? Why were they hungry? When she was about to go to her father, what happened?”

Explaining words: Both women have commented on the challenge presented by the language of books which is different from what is used in everyday communication, both in Albanian and in English. They gave the example of përvoje (ordeal) which is not a word they were familiar with in either language. But they have welcomed this as an opportunity for both themselves and their daughters to learn new words. There were a number of examples of the women exploring the meaning of unknown words, initially without reference to the translated text.
“It is not so difficult for me to explain that, but I want to find the best way for her to understand me, you know. And I think it’s more easy for her in English, but it is better to explain it in Albanian, because that is why we are working. I work with both languages to make it easier for her” comments Lere “but I am also learning English this way, because I do not have so much opportunity to talk English”.

Translating: Lere explains that she sometimes asks Albana to translate what she is reading. Albana can manage short sentences, she says, but not long ones. Albana asks her mother to break these down for her to help her understand what she is reading. Both women and children also refer to the parallel text for the meaning of new words and the high quality illustrations in the books used support the understanding of words (such as names of animals) that are unfamiliar in both languages.

Magda and Albana are proud of their diaries.

Outcomes for the children

Two girls proud of their biliteracy, keen to demonstrate their skills to the researcher and to read in Albanian in a school assembly
Two girls who have become dominant in English and who may have been at risk of losing their first language, speaking more Albanian in the home, looking forward to a first holiday in Albania and to bringing home more books to read
Close involvement of two mothers in their children’s education, developing effective teaching strategies and with great ambitions for their daughters’ futures (including qualifications in Albanian)
Two women, learning new vocabulary and expressions in English and keen to go back to college when their youngest children are in full time education to improve their own opportunities in England.

Key issues raised by the study:

The role of the teacher both in valuing and promoting bilingualism and biliteracy in her classroom and in making sure that two little girls who loved books had all the support they needed to learn to read in English in the classroom. They were taught to decode print, to blend sounds, to understand and talk about their reading, to read with expression.
The availability of appropriate language resources in the classroom and, in particular, of dual language versions of books used in the teaching of reading to all children
In this particular language combination, the languages, although both classified as Indo-European, are very distant in structure and vocabulary. However the fact that Albanian uses the Roman alphabet enables the fairly easy transfer of decoding skills, enabling learners to make a certain amount of progress on their own.
The dual text books enable the class teacher to relate to work done at home and to talk to the children about their reading, which she could not do if the texts were in Albanian only. However, the books available in dual language cover stories from many cultures. Part of the new vocabulary challenge for Magda and Albana comes from the unfamiliar cultural setting of books such as the Swirling Hijab and the unfamiliar animals in Handa’s Hen. None of the books available to them had an Albanian context. The girls and their mothers would have welcomed books that reflected Albanian experience and context and were planning to buy children’s books in Albania when on summer holiday.

Update: After the study took place, Magda’s mother was involved setting up an Albanian club at the school. The children involved, with the support of a local organisation, put on a display of poetry reading and dancing in traditional costume for the school as part of Refugee Week. This performance was very successful and the children were invited to repeat it in other venues. The girls have now started writing diaries in Albanian and are planning to make their own dual language book.

Raymonde Sneddon, 2007. This study has now been published in Language and Education, Volume 22, n.2 (2008).

The books used by Magda and Albana were:

Brown,E. (2002) Handa’s Hen. London: Mantra Lingua
Clynes,K. and Daykin,L. (2003) Not Again Red Riding Hood. London: Mantra Lingua
Robert, N. (2002) The Swirling Hijab. London: Mantra Lingua

Further update: Magda and Albana have both made their own dual language books based on summer holidays in Albania. With some editorial help they have written about grandparents and cousins, playing freely in the countryside, going to weddings and to the sea-side. Their books were published internally by their school and they recorded CDs to go with them.

A page from Ana's holiday diary in English and Albanian