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Listen
8.3 Sample interview schedule for 'Wee Grantie'
Sample questions for the whole class session
"Wee Grantie"
1) What did you think of the story?
2) Do you think that this how children treat each other in Scotland? Boys? Girls?
Could this happen to boys in another country? Girls?
If it did happen to someone in another country, would there be anything different about the story?
3) What did you think about how the boys treated Grantie? How could they feel sorry for him at the same time as they teased him?
4) I wonder why Grantie acted the way that he did?
5) What were the girls thinking when they saw Grantie?
6) Is this the way Scottish children speak at school? Do they speak differently when they come out of school? Do you?
7) What do you think about writing down the words the way they sound? Does it make the story more real?
8) In what other ways is the story 'Scottish'?
9) Can you describe the pictures you saw in your head when you heard the story?
10) Is there anything else you would like to tell me about this story? Does it remind you of any other stories you have heard or read?
Sample questions for the small group session
1) Do you speak any other languages apart from English?
Where do you speak these languages?
Who do you speak them with?
Do you read or write in any of these languages?
Do you go to any language lessons after school?
Who helps with homework, siblings, parents etc?
2) What sort of books do you read in your language?
Where are they usually set?
Could you tell me about them.
How are they different from the books you read in English -what they are about, language, are they funny, do they have pictures?
3) Do you watch videos or play computer games in your language?
Who buys these for you?
4) Do you think books and pictures help people understand more about other countries?
Could you tell me in what ways they can help them?
Interview questions for English language teacher and bilingual support teacher
- The aim of our research is to find out more about how children from immigrant ethnic minorities understand British and Scottish culture as it appears in children's books. What do you expect we will find?
- Briefly talk us through the general process by which recently arrived pupils are introduced to English - what sort of materials/texts are they given to learn to read?
- How much information is gathered about home situation- language, previous level of education- and how is this done?
- How much do teachers know about literacy practices in the home, ie community lessons - how do they find out?
- How much do pupils talk about these and/or are encouraged to bring in texts, to reflect about language use at home, community and at school?
- Have you had an experience with any particular Scottish text/book used with bilingual pupils or in general in class that has raised interesting issues about culture and identity?
- Do you agree with the Cassels report findings that:
-'The view was expressed that some British born bilinguals are becoming British born semi-linguals talking 'Scotch Broth'. (p16)
- How do the pupils, both 'Scots' and 'ethnic minority' respond to using/ hearing 'Scots' in classroom: sense of it being 'inferior', parental expectations. How do children who consider themselves as 'Scottish' respond to the portrayal of their own culture in such texts?
- One of the issues we want to explore is what it means to be bi-cultural in a country like Scotland where national identity is itself in a process of change and self-definition. To what extent do you think pupils from minority ethnic families feel 'Scottish' - when do they begin to feel 'Scottish' if they do?
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