Du Iz Tak?

Some evidence of inclusion in (the) multilingual primary school

Authors

  • Emanuela Atz Language Centres, Bolzano
  • Elisa Fava Istituto Comprensivo Bassa Atesina
  • Cecilia Varcasia Free University of Bolzano

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/isla.25495

Keywords:

plurilingual approach, metalinguistic awareness, inclusion, primary school, learners'engagement

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the introduction to a project inspired by the éveil aux langues approach with the storytelling of the picture book Du Iz Tak? by the American/Canadian author Carson Ellis (2016). This propaedeutic activity was a multimodal input given in an unknown language to all children, namely an invented language. The aim of this study is to bring more evidence on how the development of metalinguistic awareness at a young age can help pupils meet their learning needs, especially pupils with SEN. Results show that telling a story in a invented language through the use of multimodal resources to convey meaning not only captures the attention of all pupils in the class, but leads them to observe and manipulate this language by making and developing hypotheses about languages, especially pupils with SEN.

Author Biographies

  • Emanuela Atz, Language Centres, Bolzano

    Emanuela Atz has been a second language teacher (Italian L2, ESL and DAZ) and teacher trainer since 1992. Her fields of interest are second language acquisition, plurilingual approaches and heritage languages. She is currently working at language centres in South Tyrol (Italy) supporting the inclusion of all children and those with international backgrounds in kindergartens and schools.

  • Elisa Fava, Istituto Comprensivo Bassa Atesina

    Elisa Fava graduated in philosophy and modern languages at the University of Trento where she specialised in intercultural and gender studies. She currently works as and Italian L2 teacher at I.C. Bassa Atesina (BZ) and I.C. Brentonico (TN).

  • Cecilia Varcasia, Free University of Bolzano

    Cecilia Varcasia is a fixed-term research assistant at the Free University of Bolzano, Italy where she teaches second language acquisition, teacher training, and multilingual literacy to prospective primary school teachers. Her research interests lie in second language acquisition, (plurilingual) linguistic education, pragmatics, interactional linguistics and language testing. 

References

Altman, C. Goldstein, T. and Armon-Lotem, S. (2018) Vocabulary, metalinguistic awareness and language dominance among bilingual preschool children. Frontiers in Psychology 9: 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01953

Andorno, C. (2004) I repertori e gli usi linguistici’. In M. Chini (eds.) Plurilinguismo e immigrazione in Italia 239–96. Milan: Franco Angeli.

Andorno, C. (2020) Quando i bambini fanno i linguisti. Osservare la competenza meta-linguistica in un laboratorio di Éveil aux langues. Italiano LinguaDue 12(2): 352–69.

Andorno, C. and Chini, M. (eds.) (2018) Repertori e usi linguistici nell’immigrazione. Una indagine su minori alloglotti dieci anni dopo. Milan: Franco Angeli.

Andorno, C. and Sordella, S. (2018) Usare le lingue seconde nell’educazione linguistica: Una sperimentazione nella scuola primaria nello spirito dell’Éveil aux langues. In A. De Meo, A. and M. Rasulo M. (eds.) Usare le lingue seconde. Comunicazione, tecnologia, disabilità, insegnamento. Studi AItLA 7: 211–33.

Andorno, C. and Sordella, S. (2020) Noi e le nostre lingue. Potenziare attitudini meta-linguistiche in laboratori di Éveil aux langues. Italiano LinguaDue 12(1) 330–52. https://doi.org/10.13130/2037-3597/2.

Balboni, P. E. (2019). Le sfide di Babele: Insegnare le lingue nelle società complesse (4th edn). Milan: UTET Università.

Benincà, P. (1995) Il tipo esclamativo. In L. Renzi, G. Salvi and A. Cardinaletti (eds.) Grande grammatica italiana di consultazione (Vol. 3) 127–52. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Bettoni, C. (2006) Usare un’altra lingua. Guida alla pragmatica interculturale, Roma-Bari: Laterza.

Bialystok, E. (1991) Language Processing in Bilingual Children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bialystok, E., Peets, K.F. and Moreno, S. (2014) Producing bilinguals through immersion education: Development of metalinguistic awareness. Applied Psycholinguistics 35: 177–91.

Candelier M., Camilleri-Grima A., Castellotti V., De Pietro J., Lorincz I., Meissner F. J., Noguerol A., Schroder-Sura A. and Molonié M. (2012) Le CARAP. Un Cadre de référence pour les approches plurielles des langues et des cultures. Compétences et ressources, Centre Européen pour les Langues Vivantes, Graz. Trans A. M. Curci and E. Lugarini, Il Carap. Un quadro di riferimento per gli approcci plurali alle lingue e alle culture. Competenze e risorse, in Italiano. LinguaDue 4: 2. https://doi.org/10.13130/2037-3597/2

Caon, F. and Rutka, S. (2004) La glottodidattica ludica. FILIM – Formazione degli Insegnanti di Lingua Italiana nel Mondo; laboratorio. Venezia: Università “Ca’ Foscari”, 1–16.

Carter, R. (2003). Language awareness. ELT Journal 57.

Chini, M. (2011). New linguistic minorities: repertoires, language maintenance and shift’. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2011(210): 47–69. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2011.030

Cummins, J. (2001) ‘Bilingual children’s mother tongue: Why is it important for education?’ Spogforum 7(19): 15–20.

Daloiso, M. (2021) Oltre le didattiche delle lingue: Riferimenti teorici e principi evidence-based per costruire un’educazione linguistica inclusiva. In Garulli, V., Pasetti, L. and Viale, M. (eds.) Disturbi specifici dell’apprendimento e insegnamento linguistico. La didattica dell’italiano e delle lingue classiche nella scuola secondaria di secondo grado alla prova dell’inclusione 9–24. Bologna: Bologna University Press.

De Santis, C. (2010) Esclamative, formule. Retrieved 5 October 2023 from http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/formule-esclamative

Duncan, L. G., Casalis, S., and Cole, P. (2009) Early metalinguistic awareness of derivational morphology: observations from a comparison of English and French. Applied Psycholinguistics 30(3): 405–40. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716409090213

Ellis, C. (2016a) Du iz tak? Somerville, MA; Candlewick Press.

Ellis, C. (2016b) Five questions (plus one!). Retrieved 5 October 2023 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv9fVJx8p04

Ellis, C. (2016c) Te to té? New York: White Star Kids.

Ellis, C. (2016d) Koi ke bzz? Actes Sud.

Ellis, C. (2017a) Wazn Teez? Zurich: NordSüd Verlag AG.

Ellis, C. (2017b) Mau iz io? Barbara Flore Editor.

Ferrari S. (2022) Fare pragmatica alla scuola primaria. Tra teoria e prática didattica. Studi di Glottodidattica 8: 51–67.

Ferreri, S. (2014). Metalinguisticità riflessiva: Statuto teorico e potenzialità d’uso. In A. Colombo and G. Pallotti (eds.) L’italiano per capire 29–48. Rome: Aracne.

Hattie, J. A. C. (2003) Teachers make a difference: What is the research evidence? Paper presented at the Building Teacher Quality: What does the research tell us? ACER Research Conference, Melbourne, Australia. https://Doi/10.23795/JahrbuchGKJF2019- https://bit.ly/3R5RQDP

James, C., & Garrett, P. (1991) The scope of language awareness. In C. James & P. Garrett (eds.) Language Awareness in the Classroom 3–21. London: Longman.

Lala, L. (2011) Testo, tipi di. Retrieved 5 October 2023 from http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/tipi-d

Lo Duca, M. G. (1997) Esperimenti grammaticali. Riflessioni e proposte sull’insegnamento della grammatica dell’italiano. Rome: Carocci.

Machetti S., Barni M. and Bagna C. (2018) Language policies for migrants in Italy: Tension between democracy, decision-making and linguistic diversity. In M. Gazzola, T. Templin and B. A. Wickström (eds.) Language Policy and Linguistic Justice: Economic, Philosophical and Sociolinguistic Approaches 477–98. Berlin: Springer.

Mariani, L. (2012), Le strategie comunicative interculturali. Insegnare a interagire in un’educazione linguistica plurilingue e multiculturale. Retrieved 25 January 2023 from https://www.learningpaths.org/Mariani%20-%20Le%20strategie%20comunicative%20interculturali.pdf

Melogno, S., Pinto, M. A. and Lauriola, M. (2022) Becoming the metalinguistic mind: The development of metalinguistic abilities in children from 5 to 7. Children 9(4): 550. https://doi.org/10.3390/children9040550

Mikota, J. (2019) Von ‘Mutmachsprachen‘ und Mehrsprachigkeit: Sprachenvielfalt in der Kinderliteratur. In L. Decker und K. Schindler (eds.) Von (Erst- und Zweit-)Spracherwerb bis zu (ein- und mehrsprachigen) Textkompetenzen, KöBeS 13. Duisberg: Gilles and Francke Verlag.

Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca (MIUR) (2012) Indicazioni Nazionali per il curricolo della scuola dell’infanzia e del primo ciclo di istruzione.

Morillas, E. (2022) Reading aloud and invented languages: Translating Du iz tak? by Carson Ellis. MonTI 14: 386–405.

Mortara Garavelli, B. (2010) Manuale di retorica. Milan: Bompiani.

Nuzzo, E. (2007) Imparare a fare cose con le parole. Richieste, proteste, scuse in italiano lingua seconda. Perugia, Guerra Edizioni.

OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) (2022) Improving early equity: From evidence to action. Retrieved 5 October 2023 from https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/6eff314c-en/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/6eff314c-en

Poggi, I. (1995) Le interiezioni. In L. Renzi, G. Salvi and A. Cardinaletti (eds.) Grande grammatica italiana di consultazione (Vol. 3) 403–25. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Ramirez, G., Walton, P. and Roberts, W. (2013) Morphological awareness and vocabulary development among kindergarteners with different ability levels. Journal of Learning Disabilities 47(1): 54—64. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219413509970

Roehr-Brackin, K. (2018) Metalinguistic awareness and second language acquisition. New York: Taylor and Francis.

Serianni, L. (2010) Italiano. Turin: Garzanti.

Staiger, M. (2014) Erzählen mit Bild_Schrifttext-Kombinationen. Ein fünfdimensionales Modell der Bilderbuchanalyse. In J. Knopf and A. Ulf (eds.) BilderBücher. 1. Theorie 12–23. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag Hohengehren.

Svalberg, A. M. L. (2007) Language awareness and language learning. Language Teaching 40(4): 287–308. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444807004491

Stevenson, D. (2016). Review of the book Du Iz Tak?, by Carson Ellis. Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books 70(4): 169. https://doi.org/10.1353/bcc.2016.0957

Varcasia, C. (2022) Plurilinguismi endogeni ed esogeni. Italiano Lingua Due 14(2): 547–59. https://doi.org/10.54103/2037-3597/2.

Vertovec, S. (2007) Super-diversity and its implications. Ethnic and Racial Studies 30(6): 1024–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870701599465

Wilhelmy, B. (2019). »Iz an Freuenschuh! An mirobelli Freuenschuh!« Die fiktive Sprache in Carson Ellis’ Du Iz Tak? als Feld der Polyvalenz und Prüfstein der Bilderbuchübersetzung. Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft für Kinder und Jugendliteraturforschung, 105–19. https://doi.org/10.21248/gkjf-jb.41

Published

2023-11-15

How to Cite

Atz, E., Fava, E., & Varcasia, C. (2023). Du Iz Tak? Some evidence of inclusion in (the) multilingual primary school. Instructed Second Language Acquisition, 7(2), 194-221. https://doi.org/10.1558/isla.25495