Bilingual Books-Biliterate Children: Learning to Read Through Dual Language Books »

Raymonde Sneddon is a French/English bilingual who loves playing with languages. She was a primary teacher in east London who specialized in working with bilingual children, their families and communities and is now Research Fellow at the University of East London.

This fascinating study shows how young children work simultaneously in two languages to decode unfamiliar text, negotiate meaning and explore the differences between their languages. Set in the context of current research and practice in relation to multiliteracy, personal and learner identity, and issues in translation, the book explores dual language books and their use since the 1980s.

Developed from action research work by primary teachers, the book follows seven children aged 6 to 10 as they use dual language storybooks to learn to read in Albanian, Urdu, Turkish, French and Gujerati, with the help of their mothers or their friends.

Teachers, parents and researchers will find the book invaluable. It explores the nature and benefits of biliteracy and offers ideas and strategies for teaching young children languages, whether by developing their bilingualism or teaching them new ones.

Acknowledgements vi

Introduction vii

Chapter 1 Context and history 1

Chapter 2 Language use and literacy practices in families and communities 27

Chapter 3 Issues in identity 43

Chapter 4 Issues in translation 55

Chapter 5 Magda and Albana 69

Chapter 6 The suraj, the sun, is inside the mashriq, and it comes out 85

Chapter 7 Practice, pleasure and persistence Collaborative learning in Turkishd 99

Chapter 8 Sarah the reader 113

Chapter 9 Mohammed-learning to read in Gujarati 127

Chapter 10 Bilingual books-biliterate children? 141

Appendix Practical ideas for the classroom: further reading 149

Websites resources 151

References 155

Index 163