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UEL researchers explore young people’s multilingual experiences

Tuesday 25 April 2006

Researchers from the School of Education at the University of East London (UEL) are taking part in a major collaborative 18-month investigation into the multilingual experiences of young people from minority ethnic backgrounds in contemporary Britain.

The Economic & Social and Research Council funded study will take place in London, Birmingham and Manchester, and will involve pupils at complementary schools serving the Bangladeshi, Chinese, Gujarati and Turkish communities.

Complementary schools are those schools run voluntarily by communities outside normal school hours, usually during the evening or at weekends.

The purpose of the study is to gain a better understanding of young people's multilingual lives in multicultural Britain. It will cover issues such as social inclusion and how young people see their identities, with the aim of finding out whether multilingualism is perceived as an asset today.

Professor Peter Martin, and Research Fellow Arvind Bhatt of UEL's School of Education are focussing on Gujarati complementary schools in London. The study is led by the University of Birmingham and also includes researchers from King's College London and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Professor Peter Martin said: “This study builds on a successful project on complementary schools in Leicester, a project also supported by the ESRC. It is the first sociolinguistic investigation of multilingual practices of young people of minority ethnic background in complementary schools in Britain.

“The earlier project found that complementary schools offer rich educational, linguistic, cultural experiences to young people who attend them. We aim to explore the very real contribution complementary schools provide for young people and their communities.

“We view them as ‘safe spaces' where young people from linguistic minority backgrounds can make use of the full range of their linguistic repertoires and explore their diverse personal and social identities in new ways.”

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For details and pictures contact Patrick Wilson: 020 8223 2061 or 07951 797 975

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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