32.2039, Review: Applied Linguistics; Language Acquisition: Breuer, Lindgren, Stavans, Van Steendam (2021)

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Subject: 32.2039, Review: Applied Linguistics; Language Acquisition: Breuer, Lindgren, Stavans, Van Steendam (2021)

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Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2021 20:53:19
From: Sviatlana Karpava [karpava.sviatlana at ucy.ac.cy]
Subject: Multilingual Literacy

 
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http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36694737


Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/32/32-376.html

EDITOR: Esther Odilia Breuer
EDITOR: Eva  Lindgren
EDITOR: Anat  Stavans
EDITOR: Elke  Van Steendam
TITLE: Multilingual Literacy
SERIES TITLE: New Perspectives on Language and Education
PUBLISHER: Multilingual Matters
YEAR: 2021

REVIEWER: Sviatlana Karpava

SUMMARY

“Multilingual Literacy”, edited by Esther Odilia Breuer, Eva Lindgren, Anat
Stavans and Elke Van Steendam, provides an overview of current international
research in the area of multilingualism and multilingual literacy. The book is
a collection of 12 chapters arranged in four parts: “Issues, Methods and
Insights into Multilingual Literacy (Chapters 2–4); “Formal Education
Framework: Multilingual Literacy in Classroom Practices (Chapters 5–7);
“Formal Education Framework: Technology-Driven Multilingual Literacy in School
(Chapters 8–9) and “Non-Formal Education: Multilingual Literacy at Home, in
the Community and in Cyberspace (Chapters 10–11).
 
In Chapter 1, “Multiple approaches to understanding and working with
multilingual (multi) `literacy”, Esther Odilia Breuer and Elke Van Steendam
establish the context, define the field of research and describe the structure
and content of the book. They define terms such as multilingualism and
multiliteracy. They emphasise that there is a shift in the way researchers and
educators view multilingualism from a subtractive perspective, which has a
monolingual bias and compares multilingual language proficiency with native
speakers’ language competence, to the perception of multilingualism as “a
unique entity” (p. 16) or as “multicompetence” (Cook, 1992), which presupposes
that multilingual speakers live and operate in diverse linguistic, cultural,
social and educational settings and have complex and flexible identities
(Stavans and Hoffmann, 2015), and that they have enhanced “chances and
possibilities for communication” (p. 18). Literacy is seen as being closely
related to multilingualism. This is because multilingual individuals, working
with different types of texts, styles and genres in different contexts, have
complex cognitive tasks. The authors suggest the value of a multi-perspective
on literacy, incorporating reading, writing and digital skills as well as
creativity and critical thinking in a dynamic, multimodal and socially
constructed way.

 Part I: Issues, Methods and Insights into Multilingual Literacy

In Chapter 2, “Linguistic and social diversity, literacy and access to higher
education”, Tiane Donahue addresses multilingual literacy, multilingual
diversity and relevant theoretical models such as plurilinguism,
translingualism, metrolingualism, cosmopolitanism and heteroglossia. The
author also emphasises that multilingual literacy should be taught in line
with the principles of social activism and social justice. The focus of the
chapter is on academic writing, literacy teaching, access to higher education,
language diversity and empowerment and on challenges in current research and
future directions for multiliteracy investigation. The aspects identified
include text analysis and the implementation of corpus linguistics, grounded
theory coding and analytic methods, dialogic approach, Bakhtinian linguistic
analysis of utterances, translation research and machine translation and new
empirical research on translingual practices (Canagarajah, 2011) or a
combination of research methods (Lee, 2017).

In Chapter 3, “Studying the learning of immigrant students with limited
German: A proposal for developing and applying an instrument for selecting
suitable research participants”, Monika Angela Budde and Franziska Prüsmann
explore multilingual literacy development with respect to immigrant learners
in educational settings in German-speaking countries. They describe their
project, the LAWA (Language Awareness – Mehrsprachige Fähigkeiten wahrnehmen)
and the data collection methods (a pre-selection questionnaire with closed and
open questions to select participants who can provide information regarding
their school experience and language abilities, and a battery of cognitive
tasks). The data analysis suggests ways of improving data collection
procedures with the focus on individual learners, systematicity and in-depth
analysis.

Chapter 4, “‘I should really interpret word by word for you’: Researcher,
interpreter and interviewee negotiating roles, responsibilities and meanings
in two multilingual literacy research interviews”, by Annika Norlund Shaswar
explains the relationship between research on multilingual literacy and
methodological challenges, in particular when dealing with the co-construction
of meaning and interaction in multilingual cross-cultural interviews between a
researcher, an interpreter and an interviewee. An interpreter, who is
“familiar with the theoretical, epistemological, and methodological starting
points of the research” (p. 132) can have a role of a co-researcher,
responsible for discourse management and translation, which can facilitate
intercultural dialogue and understanding if the researcher is “acquainted with
the interpreter’s views on the researched phenomena and on values related to
the research” (p.132). This chapter is based on “a small study on digital
literacy practices in multilingual contexts in everyday life and in the
educational domain of Swedish for immigrants (Svenska för invandrare, SFI)”
(p. 98).

Part II: Formal Education Framework: Multilingual Literacy in Classroom
Practices

In Chapter 5, “Paving a new way to literacy development in multilingual
children: A DMM perspective”, Ulrike Jessner, Emese Malzer-Papp and Elisabeth
Allgäuer-Hackl suggest adopting a Dynamic Systems and Complexity Theory
perspective for teaching multilingual literacy. They provide an example of
Austrian kindergartens and elementary schools with multilingual children and
pupils, providing an overview of linguistic and cultural diversity in Austria.
This perspective focuses on societal and individual multilingualism (Aronin
and Singleton, 2019) and multicompetence (Jessner, 2016), linguistic and
cognitive development, metalinguistic and cross-linguistic awareness, in a
holistic way in relation to new educational approaches to elementary and
primary education and multiliteracy. In this chapter, the authors discuss the
different approaches to multilingualism and multiliteracy research taking
social context and the interaction of internal and external factors into
consideration.

The objective of Chapter 6, “‘He just does not write enough for it’ – Literacy
practices among polish adolescents in Ireland” by Malgorzata Machowska-Kosciak
is to emphasise the importance of multilingual literacy and its effect on the
negotiation of identity in writing and in the expression of the writers’
emotions. The author examines the issues of intercultural communication and
the diverse cultural approaches to the teaching of writing and multilingual
literacy to immigrants with a Polish background in Ireland, taking
socialisation, community values, identities and social positions into
consideration. The chapter is based on a longitudinal study (five years) of
four Polish immigrant families in Ireland. The children in these families
attended mainstream secondary schools. They also attended Polish weekend
schools. The researcher implemented an ethnography of communication and
discourse analysis approaches to the data collection and analysis
(Georgakopoulou, 2016).

In Chapter 7, “Construction of identities in diverse classrooms: Writing
identity texts in grade five”, Åsa Wedin examines the relationship between
multilingualism, multiliteracy, language identity, emotion, teaching and the
learning procedures associated with creative writing. This chapter is based on
an action research project in Meadow School, a school in a municipality in
central Sweden, where most of the students are multilingual and come from
families with low socioeconomic status. The author follows a critical,
socio-constructionist perspective on language, identity and education (Ivanič,
1998; Gee, 2000). The aim of the project was to improve teaching practices in
the school by incorporating innovations and raising awareness and
understanding of linguistic diversity and multilingual education. The analysis
of the data, based on classroom observations, field notes, student and teacher
interviews, student texts and teaching materials, showed that creative writing
facilitates intercultural dialogue and identity construction among
multilingual students.
 
Part III: Formal Education Framework: Technology-Driven Multilingual Literacy
in School

In Chapter 8, “Developing multiliteracies in online multilingual interactions:
The example of chat-room conversations in Romance languages”, Sílvia
Melo-Pfeifer provides detailed information on digital literacy, dynamic
multiliteracy, multilinguality and intercultural communication via
computer-mediated communication. The author also examines exolingual,
plurilingual, transsemiotic and multimodal communication, collaborative
activities and translinguistic practices in the classroom (Canagarajah, 2013).
The researcher investigates the use of chat rooms by students regarding the
development of multilingual and electronic literacy as part of a European
project, Galanet (Platform for the development of Intercomprehension between
Romance Languages). The participants could use different Romance languages in
collaborative communicative situations online and could co-construct meaning
by experiencing, conceptualising, analysing and applying words, phrases and
sentences. The analysis of the data (interactions in the chat rooms) shows
that students are able to move across languages and modes via translanguaging
(García and Wei, 2014).

Chapter 9, “Promoting multilingualism and multiliteracies through
storytelling: A case study on the use of the iTEO app in preschools in
Luxembourg”, by Claudine Kirsch, presents the way digital tools can be
implemented in formal and informal education to promote multilingualism and
multiliteracy. The chapter is based on a study conducted in a Luxemburg
preschool, where children were given a chance to work with digital devices to
develop their storytelling, book reading, writing and phonemic awareness in
multiple languages and modes. Working with the app helped children enhance
their motivation and knowledge in terms of grammatical and narrative
structures, vocabulary and styles. The author takes a sociocultural
perspective on literacy and language learning, multiliteracies and
multilingual pedagogies and considers New Literacies studies, focusing on home
literacy and funds of knowledge (Cope and Kalantzis, 2009, 2015). The results
of the study show that multilingual pedagogy based on the creative
implementation of new technologies, strategic translanguaging, collaboration
and participation is beneficial for students in terms of their academic
achievements.
 
Part IV: Non-Formal Education: Multilingual Literacy at Home, in the Community
and in Cyberspace

Chapter 10, “Multilingual preschoolers’ word learning from parent-child shared
reading of informational and narrative books” by Deborah Bergman Deitcher,
Helen Johnson and Dorit Aram, emphasises the importance of joint reading of
parents and children at home in a bilingual context. The authors examine the
effect of digital literacy, multimodality, the genre of the book
(informational vs narrative texts) on vocabulary learning, communication about
the book read together with a child and the effect of L1 competency on
learning other languages. The study was conducted in Israel, and the
participants were immigrants from native English-speaking countries, from
middle to upper socioeconomic status. The researchers examine factors such as
language use and home literacy environment. They implemented a home language
and literacy environment questionnaire (completed by parents) and tests,
pre-tests and post-tests on productive and perceptive vocabulary (for the
children). The results of the study show that children and parents have more
interaction regarding informational texts in comparison to other genres and
that shared book reading is effective in terms of children’s vocabulary
development in both languages.

Anat Stavans, Maya Tahar Eden and Lior Azar, the authors of Chapter 11,
“Multilingual literacy: The use of emojis in written communication”, elaborate
on multiliteracy, digital communication and the use of emojis in different
social, educational and cultural contexts. The use of these universal signs
provides better understanding and communication in a multilingual, multimodal
environment. Factors such as linguistic, textual and cognitive skills,
individual differences, age and linguistic background should be considered. In
technologically mediated communications, multilingual individuals have the
option to translanguage between the languages, codes and modes (García and Li,
2014; Vogel and García, 2017). In the sociocultural literacy perspective,
emojis, which help to express emotions online, are important for time and
cultural spaces, anthropological and cognitive development (Danesi, 2017). The
results of their research project indicate that emojis are “a notational
system … they are language-less or hyper-language … conditioned by culture for
encoding and interpreting” (p. 344).

The purpose of Chapter 12, “Building the multilingual literacy bridge”, by
Anat Stavans and Eva Lindgren, is to raise questions regarding the role of
multilingual literacy and multilingualism in mediating between individuals,
countries and cultures, taking pedagogical, political, and cultural factors as
well as technological advancement and growth of international mobility into
consideration. The authors summarise the findings of the edited volume,
pointing out prominent theoretical frameworks, models, strategies and methods
implemented by researchers in their projects on multiliteracy. They identify
the “multilingual literacy bridge” (p. 357), connecting two disciplines,
multilingualism and literacy. They also stress that global and national
language policy, family language policy and formal and informal education
systems should be based on individual and societal multilingualism and
multiliteracy.
 
EVALUATION

This volume, co-edited by four leading international specialists, with its
accessible style, broad coverage, and theoretical and practical focus, is
essential reading for newcomers and established scholars in the field of
multilingualism and multiliteracy. The four sections cover various topic
areas, providing a complete, authoritative and up-to-date overview of the
state of the field. This helpful work provides frameworks for understanding
multilingualism and multiliteracy based on diverse topics and analyses. Each
chapter highlights a topic area, covering key concepts, examples of previous
interdisciplinary research and studies from different geographical regions and
languages, critical reviews and analyses, specific projects undertaken by the
authors and their personal reflections. This book is ideal for students of
applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, sociology, psychology, language
acquisition and education, as well as practitioners, teachers, parents,
experts and researchers wishing to update their knowledge regarding
multilingualism and multiliteracy.
 
REFERENCES

Aronin, L. and Singleton, D. (2019). Introduction. In D. Singleton and L.
Aronin (eds), Twelve lectures in multilingualism (pp. xii-xix). Bristol:
Multilingual Matters.

Canagarajah, S. (2011). “Translanguaging in the classroom: Emerging issues for
research and pedagogy”. Applied linguistics review, 2, 1–28.

Canagarajah, S. (2013). Translingual practices. Global Englishes and
cosmopolitan relations. Oxon: Routledge.

Cook, V. (1992). “Evidence for multi-competence”. Language Learning, 42(4),
557–591.

Cope, B. and Kalantzis, M. (2009). “Multiliteracies: New literacies, new
learning”. Pedagogies: An international journal, 4(3), 164–195.

Cope, B. and Kalantzis, M. (2015). “The things you do to know: An introduction
to the pedagogy of multiliteracies”. In B. Cope and M. Kalantzis (eds), A
pedagogy of multiliteracies: Learning by design (pp. 1–36). London: Palgrave.

Danesi, M. (2017). The semiotics of emoji: The rise of visual language in the
age of the Internet. London/New York: Bloomsbury.

García, O. and Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and
education. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Gee, J.P. (2000). “Identity as an analytic lens for research in education”.
Review of research in education, 5(25), 99–125.

Georgakopoulou, A. (2016). “Small stories research: A narrative paradigm for
the analysis of social media”. In L. Sloan and A. Quan-Haase (eds), The Sage
handbook of social media research methods (pp. 266–281). London: Sage.

Ivanič, R. (1998). Writing and identity the discoursal construction of
identity in academic writing. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Jessner, U. (2016). “Multicompetence approaches to language proficiency
development in multilingual education”. In O. García et al. (eds), Bilingual
and multilingual education, encyclopedia of language and education. Cham:
Springer.

Lee, J. (2017). The politics of translingualism: After Englishes. Boca Raton,
FL: Taylor & Francis.

Lee, F. and Lin, A. (2006). “Newspaper editorial discourse and the politics of
self-censorship in Hong Kong”. Discourse and society, 17(3), 331–358.

Stavans, A. and Hoffmann, C. (2015). Multilingualism. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

Vogel, S. and García, O. (2017). “Translanguaging”. In G. Noblit and L. Moll
(eds), Oxford research encyclopedia of education. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1962). Thought and language. 1934. Trans. Eugenia Hanfmann and
Gertrude Vakar. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Sviatlana Karpava is a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics in the Department of
English Studies at the University of Cyprus. Her main research interests are
applied linguistics, first and second language acquisition, bilingualism,
multilingualism, sociolinguistics, teaching and education.





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