Using and Researching Dual Language Books for Children

Recent and Current Research and Plans for Future Research at UEL

Using home languages in Foundation Stage One. Linda Mullis 2004

For this project, Linda Mullis adapted Joe Debono’s “Language of the Month” to a nursery school. She focused on one language each half term. Each key group was provided with words and phrases, pictures and activities to use. With the help of parents, LM provided practitioners with songs, captions for displays and number lines in different languages. A large board was allocated in a central position and children were encouraged to bring in photographs, pictures, artefacts and information about their country of origin for display.  Initial languages involved were Bengali, French, Urdu, Tamil and Spanish. A thematic approach to teaching took place, whereby each half term a different topic was chosen and a number of ‘core books’ were selected to form a basis for planning different activities. The use of dual language books meant that the children had a good knowledge of the stories in their home languages and therefore showed a greater interest and level of participation in the related activities. This in turn improved the quality of the observations and subsequent assessments which the practitioners were able to carry out.

The year long project had a very significant impact on the overall language skills of the young children which was noted and praised in an OFSTED Report.

The project was written up for an M.A. dissertation (unpublished):

The project took place in a nursery school in the London Borough of Newham throughout the academic year. Its aims were

• to show respect for other languages and cultures
• to give children the opportunity to speak and hear their home language in the nursery
• to enable families to become more involved in their children’s learning
• to enhance the status of languages other than English
• to give everyone the opportunity to develop their knowledge of other languages
• to develop an interest in different countries and cultures

The work considered the value of the project in terms of the aims outlined above and the importance of incorporating children’s home languages to help them progress towards the Early Learning Goals defined in the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage. After making observations of children taking part in the daily activities in the nursery and holding discussions and interviews with the parents and staff, it was concluded that the inclusion of the languages of young children can bring about a positive impact on their learning and on the involvement and attitudes of staff and parents.

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© 2011