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4. Making sense of Scottish texts
The much debated notion of 'Scottish identity' has particular implications for the teaching of language and literature in Scottish schools, especially where school populations reflect the growing diversity of Scotland's culture.
4.1 Scottish identity: Scottish children's literature and language in education
Guidance on the teaching of Scottish culture is included as one of the Specific Issues in English Language Teaching in the English Language 5-14 National Guidelines, and suggests that Scottish writing and writing about Scotland should permeate the curriculum:
It should be a central aim of Scottish schools to help their pupils understand that the common experiences, activities, history and artefacts of the people of Scotland constitute an identifiable and distinctive culture, worthy of transmission and of study. ( SOED 1991: 68)
That this aim remains debateable or in some felt sense unfulfilled arises from a complex series of causes, both cultural and educational. These have been usefully analysed within the broad context of national and European language and cultural planning by Joseph Lo Bianco in his Language and Literacy Policy in Scotland (2001). Here Scots language, by the criteria of its range of social and regional uses, and 'its elaboration, literature and comprehension between it and southern British English ... lays claim to recognition and warrants acceptance as a Scots language' (Lo Bianco 2001: 6).
He therefore treats it within the policy context of educational provision for modern European languages, Gaelic, minority and community languages and British Sign Language, all of which are taught in Scottish schools. A key difference between Scots and other minority languages, however, is recognised to be the historical neglect and misrepresentation of the language, and even hostility towards it in school contexts, where developing children's competence in Standard English has understandably been a key concern for teachers and parents. The resulting absence of statistical information about the use and teaching of Scots means that:
positive moves in policy are continually challenged, delayed and frustrated. Many educational measures that could be sustained from a better information base are made difficult because they cannot legitimately be based on secure information. (Lo Bianco 2001: 9)
Our project contributes to that need for an information base in respect of language and culture, particularly as these are broadly defined within multicultural and bilingual Scottish educational contexts. It can provide answers to some of the questions that Lo Bianco raises about how Scots is represented in schooling, what pedagogy is to be used and what attitudes are exhibited towards it. The research activity in itself might contribute in a small way to the necessary language planning process of 'prestige-allocation' that is necessary for Scots (in a way that is very different from the language planning needs of the other heritage language, Gaelic).
Languages and their literatures from this perspective are strongly linked to preparing the ground for the kinds of citizenship necessary within a national context that is not single or homogenous. Lo Bianco argues for dynamic notions of culture that prepare young people for substantive participation in the political community. As a combination of knowledge and skill, bilingualism and multiple-literacy must be counted as powerful additions to human capital (Lo Bianco 2001: 25)
Within this wider vision, Scotland's formal and juridical connection with Europe within the UK context has meant that the Council for Europe Charter for Regional or Minority Languages has been accepted, although the most visible sign of this to date has been provision for the use of Scottish Gaelic in some civil proceedings in the Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland.
So far as Scots language is concerned, there is growing awareness that globalisation has somewhat paradoxically been a spur to recovery of local and historical identities, and that tourism and other 'cultural industries' would benefit from a greater focus on the distinctiveness of Scottish culture, including its languages, literature and arts. There is awareness too of the ways in which technological changes in society have brought increasing need for a multi-modal approach to literacy in which 'previously separate channels of literacy, visual, audio, gestural, iconic combine with the textual format to produce a hybrid and very complex kind of literate practice' (Lo Bianco 2001: 40). This becomes particularly apparent among the children in our study, as their understandings of a new culture emerge from a complex and sometimes contradictory series of messages and interpretations through home or community languages, sacred languages, playground and classroom languages, and electronic or media literacies.
A more traditional educational perspective on this complex cultural issue can be found in the Curriculum and Classroom Applications perspective of McGillivray (ed. 1997: 57-107), and in the national assessment issues raised by Corbett et al. (2003: 265-70). Nicolson (2003) extends that secondary school focus in her examination of Scottish higher education student perspectives on bilingualism, from students on a range of courses including teacher education. She notes the persistence of a deficit model of bilingualism, and argues for priority status to be given to sharing another outlook on the world through other forms of thought, literature and lexis [...] which can only enhance tolerant relationships between different cultural groups and impact positively on the whole area of language learning.
Nicolson 2003: 134)
Issues of social inclusion are part of the picture here, with the Scottish Executive's focus on the social capital (Coleman 1988) that accrues through the networks and norms that build the trust and reciprocity that create not only local communities but also wider civil society. If children of present-day immigrant communities are to become the Scots of the future, as Irish, Lithuanian, Polish and Italian children have done in the past, then the development of confident literacy and linguistic awareness is vital for individual and economic development. Thus one of the key aims of the Executive's Cultural Strategy is 'Promoting Scotland's languages as cultural expressions and as means of accessing Scotland's culture' (Scottish Executive 2000: 23).
Such concerns inform the new Curriculum for Excellence that is being developed to help Scottish schools meet the needs of pupils in a changing world. The most current information available for teachers on this developing curriculum includes the following guidance ( www.acurriculumforexcellencescotland.gov.uk: last accessed 15 November 2006):
Language is at the core of thinking. We reflect, communicate and develop our ideas through language. Literacy offers an essential passport to learning, helping children and young people to achieve to the full and be ready for active involvement in society and work. Literature opens up new horizons, and a love of reading can be an important starting point for lifelong learning. As we communicate increasingly through digital technologies, we need to be able to interpret and convey information in new ways and to apply discernment.
Scotland has a rich diversity of language, including the different languages of Scotland and the growing number of community languages such as Urdu, Punjabi and Polish. This diversity offers rich opportunities for learning. Learning other languages enables children and young people to make connections with different people and their cultures and to play a fuller part as global citizens.
These (and other) broad aims for language are focused through 'the four capacities' that are intended to provide coherence for curriculum change across a range of subjects in primary and secondary schools. A selection of the website guidance includes the following commentary relevant to the present project :
Developing successful learners
Language facilitates more complex thinking and learning processes. Through their reading of literature, children and young people can be challenged in their thinking, encouraging openness to new and alternative approaches and ideas. Applying literacy skills successfully through technologies allows children and young people to engage with and express themselves using different media. Learning other languages enables children and young people to communicate with those from other cultures and backgrounds. Successful learning of another language can give them the capabilities and confidence to pick up further languages later in life.
Developing confident individuals
Language is an important expression of identity. [...] Through their reading, children and young people are able to explore other people's experiences, emotions and relationships in the safe contexts of literature. Within this range of reading, studying Scottish literature allows children and young people to develop their own sense of one of the creative forces within Scottish culture. Being able to communicate in an additional language boosts children and young people's confidence and helps them to cope in new situations.
Developing responsible citizens
Through varied reading in their own language and, progressively, in other languages, children and young people can extend their perspectives on the world, helping them to develop their views and come to difficult decisions. Learning additional languages is an important component of active international citizenship. Through their learning of additional languages, children and young people can develop their understanding of other cultures and be challenged to reconsider preconceptions and stereotypes.
Developing effective contributors
Through expressing their creativity individually or as part of a group, children and young people can contribute to the life of their school and community through, for example, writing and sharing their stories and poems. [...] Effective language and literacy skills enable children and young people to contribute to developing creative and enterprising ideas and communities. [...] Through their learning of other languages, children and young people can contribute to the wider international community and Scotland's diverse society.
Advice on curriculum content, admittedly general at this stage of the development programme for a new national system, includes the following remarks that relate directly to the context and strategies of our project:
Children and young people should experience an environment which is rich in language. From the early years, they can extend their skills in listening and talking and develop early reading and writing skills through appropriate play-based contexts. They need to spend time with stories, literature and texts which will enrich their learning, develop their language skills and enable them to find enjoyment.
Scotland has a rich diversity of languages and dialects and teachers should value and build upon the languages that children bring to school. The languages and literature of Scotland provide a valuable source for learning about culture, identity and language.
[...] When they begin to learn another language, children and young people need to make connections with the skills and knowledge they have already developed in their own language. To help this, teachers can make use of the diversity of languages which children may bring to school, making connections and comparisons between different aspects of language.
[...] The guidance on learning other languages will take account of developments to define language competence across Europe.
Very strong connections between learning in languages and learning in other areas of the curriculum are essential - each supporting the other. There will be close links, for example, between the expressive arts and creative writing, and modern languages and social studies. Interdisciplinary projects are likely to involve both research and a strong element of presentation and will provide valuable opportunities to extend language skills.
Schools and individual teachers wishing to develop topics in Scottish literature in line with such national guidance can now draw on a range of new publications and resources. Since just before Devolution, there has been a slow but steady growth in Scots language publishing for children, some of it funded by a Scottish Executive that recognizes its importance as part of the linguistic and cultural heritage of young people. Funding often combines support from several sources, such as the Scottish Arts Council, National Lottery, or Learning and Teaching Scotland. As well as the Itchy Coo series of children's books in a range of genres from interactive picture books to rhymes, ghost stories, translation (of Roald Dahl's The Twits as The Eejits) and political history, all written in a lively demotic Scots, other collections of stories and poems are also available, including The Kist (2001), A Braw Brew (1997, repr. 2000), The Jewel Box (2000), My Mum's a Punk (2002), and The Thing that Mattered Most (2006). Scottish writers for children such as Matthew Fitt visit schools and higher education institutions, promoting the language and literature of Scotland. Several educational websites provide resources, information and games. Scottish National Dictionaries, publishers of The Scots School Dictionary, for example, has The Schuil Wab (website), which includes classroom activities and guidance on Scots word-building, grammar, language and community. The issue of Scots and Gaelic in schools has also been the subject of frequent articles in the national press.
While these efforts in children's literature are to some extent replacing earlier traditional educational practice which concentrated mainly on Burns, Scott and Stevenson - described by educationalist Margaret Spencer Meek as 'the encircling Protestantism' of her childhood schooling (Meek 2001: viii) - it often appears that in most primary classrooms today Scottish literature is limited to the celebration of Burns Night and the occasional choral use of Scottish songs. Thus pupils leave primary school with very little knowledge of their nation's authors and texts. Scots is still considered by most pupils and teachers as 'slang', to be spoken only in the playground or outside school, a legacy of the past when it was banned in the classroom, as was Gaelic, and often for the same causes: a fear that it would make the learning of Standard English, so vital for achieving academic or economic success beyond the boundaries of locality and country, much more difficult for the next generation. Although it is currently used by over 1.5 million people in various dialects, 6 there is no clear perception of Scots as a 'proper' language in itself. Rather, it is seen as an 'inferior' version of English, which both parents and teachers have concerns about devoting too much time to.
All this linguistic and cultural uncertainty has consequences for children's sense of their Scottish identity. As Meek writes:
National identity, commonly regarded, is a stylistic way of identifying differences between 'us' and 'others', chiefly in terms of origins, optings and associations. Strong identifications are difficult to change, especially if they have territorial attachments […]. Part of our individuality resides in the way we fill up words with our experiences and feelings, as when we respond to 'exile', 'refugee', 'immigrant', 'travel' and 'homeless'. (Meek 2001: ix)
Given Scotland's history of emigration and immigration, it would seem that the Scots would find it easier to empathize with others whose language and culture are different. The results of the Scottish Election Survey in 1997 portrayed the country as having 'a conception of citizenship among the most liberal in Europe', as 52% of people considered it enough to be living in Scotland (rather than being born there) to be Scottish, and only 34% supporting citizenship on the basis of having a Scottish parent (cited in McCrone 2003).
Such generosity in terms of definition corresponds to that accepted by the Scottish Qualification Authority for 'a Scottish text' used in national examinations: one written by a writer born in Scotland, or living there, or containing recognisably Scottish settings or themes.
However, a more recent report (Lewis 2006) that looked at the attitude of Scots towards immigrants found that they were less welcoming. This is perhaps due to greater numbers of immigrants arriving in Scotland since 1997.
- Ethnic minority children reading children's books: interpreting and making sense of text and pictures
Margaret Meek reminds us about the importance of children's books in constructing identities:
If we agree that literature offers and encourages a continuing scrutiny of 'who we think we are', we have to emphasise the part that children's literature plays in the development of children's understanding of both belonging (being one of us) and differentiation (being other). In the outside world, children adopt adults' attitudes that their books either confirm or challenge. (Meek 2001: x)
But what about readers who are having to explore where they 'belong' because they have either recently arrived in a new country or because their families have a different national and cultural heritage? How does literature influence the transformation of these children's identities? How do they make sense of the language, the cultural references, values and beliefs? How do their own socio-cultural background, life- experience and understanding of narrative affect their meaning-making?
There is now a growing body of research on the subject of how minority ethnic readers make sense of children's literature in English. A brief summary of the studies that have most relevance for our research is given below (Bromley 1996; Laycock 1998; Colledge 2005; Walsh 2000, 2003; Mines 2000; Coulthard in Arizpe and Styles 2003; Arizpe 2006). 7 These studies have involved pupils from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and different genres of texts, such as picture books or adolescent novels. Most studies focus on emergent readers, but there are also case studies of older readers, beyond primary school.
Bromley followed the progress of a six-year Pakistani child, Momahl, adapting to reading literature in a foreign classroom. Picture books played a crucial role in her development as a reader and allowed her to become part of the community of readers in the classroom. Bromley shows how this child 'read' emotions in a picture book and how important her responses became to the rest of her class:
Momahl was by no means fluent in English […] it was in the art of discourse she was not so skilled. However, picture books were to help her go some way towards overcoming this problem and give her powers of negotiation where she had previously had none. (Bromley 1996: 138)
Colledge also followed the development of emergent bilingual 5 and 6 year old children in their first year of schooling. Over one year she looked at their response to a selection of classic picture books used in English schools, such as Jill Murphy's Peace at Last and Trish Cooke and Helen Oxenbury's So Much. She found that there were cultural gaps where these children did not grasp inter-textual allusions as well as their British or European peers did. However, 'the books formed a bridge between the known and the culturally unfamiliar, giving children access to an understanding of scenes from types of homes other than their own' (Colledge 2005: 24). This was similar to the findings by Liz Laycock who briefly reports on the responses to a wordless picture book, John Prater's The Gift, by two children who are new to English. She finds their experience served 'to reinforce the pleasures of reading, as well as allowing them to draw on existing skills of storytelling in their community language' (Laycock 1998: 82).
In a study conducted in Australia, Walsh read two picture books ( I Went Walking by Sue Machin and Julie Vivas, and Felix and Alexander by Terry Denton) with primary children in the first two years of school (Walsh 2000 and 2003). Some of these pupils were second language learners, others were from English-speaking backgrounds. The research involved reading sessions with individual children after books had been studied in their classrooms. Walsh found the books activated emergent reading behaviour through a range of cognitive and affective processes as well as cultural understandings. There were few differences between the range of comments made by the two groups. She also noticed that most pupils were able to label, observe detail and create links to their own experience.
In 2000 Mines completed her doctoral study on research with Anthony Browne's The Tunnel and three groups of 5 and 6 year olds with distinct cultural backgrounds: Bangladeshi newcomers, second generation Bangladeshi immigrants, and English children from rural Sussex. Mines studied the transcripts with codes based mainly on Barthes' semiotic theory which links the text to the real world and builds on readers' social and inter-textual knowledge. This is particularly relevant to a text like The Tunnel where the limits of the 'real world' are blurred and knowledge of other texts is required to make sense of the story. Mines contends that readers approach the text as cultural beings, bringing to the transaction with the text their own experiences of life and the world in order to make the new culture less strange. Thus, for example, the recent immigrants to Britain saw snakes and dragons in the forest, while the Sussex children recognized the references to familiar fairy stories. Mines found cultural differences in each group's reading, particularly with respect to their response to the everyday objects in the book; intertextual references; the ideology of the text; and the secondary world within the text.
Within the study conducted by Arizpe and Styles (2003) on how primary school children make sense of picture books, Coulthard focused on bilingual children's response. She built on Gregory's (1996) work by analyzing the interpretive steps and emotional engagement of bilingual pupils from a variety of nationalities. She found that Anthony Browne's picture books stimulated them to profound meaning-making, despite alternative cultural traditions. She shows how bilingual children rose to the intellectual challenge and were able to overcome their hesitation in using a new language in order to communicate this meaning to others. Based on the study's questioning techniques, Coulthard went on to design a series of lessons (mainly for use with the curriculum for England and Wales, but which can be adapted to any classroom) which incorporate activities around the visual and the dramatic to further the literacy skills of any child.
Building on Coulthard's work, Arizpe looked further into using picture books with ESL learners, together with academics and practitioners from all over Europe (Enever and Schmid-Schönbein 2006). The findings of this collection of articles show the positive effects of using picture books with bi-cultural children as they have the potential to interest most children. However, findings also stressed the importance of having constructive dialogue around the texts, with both teachers and peers, in order to enhance emotional and aesthetic engagement and to connect knowledge and cultures (Arizpe 2006 and Arizpe and Styles 2008,forthcoming).
In a study involving older children, Leung looked at Asian-American readers' responses to a cross-cultural text, Jean Fritz's Homesick. She found a wide difference of responses influenced by knowledge of Chinese culture, stages of ethnic identity development, personality and genre experience. The relationship between ethnicity and reader response was further complicated because even within one ethnic group young people experience their culture in different ways. Like other research on adolescent response to texts (see Arizpe 1994), this study showed that readers prefer, and become more involved with, stories that are related to their personal experience. Ethnicity is just one dimension of this experience, which also includes gender, economic status and geographical location.
Children's literature can provide an enjoyable space for those new to a language and culture in which to explore unfamiliar elements through words and images (whether visual or textual). If there is a supportive environment, it can become a 'third space', in the words of Homi Bhabha (1994) 8, in which emergent bi-culturate children can negotiate and construct identities without fear of 'getting it wrong'. The interaction of teachers and pupils around a text can lead to a better understanding, for everyone involved, about how texts work within a particular cultural context and also about what readers bring from their own cultural backgrounds to the meaning-making process.
Summary
Scottish children's language and literature is a growing field of literary and academic interest that can provide bilingual pupils with a space in which to explore Scottish and other identities, yet it has not been the subject of research similar to that on ethnic minority children reading English books. The lack of a specifically Scottish focus in earlier research underlines the need for research such as the present project, particularly within the changing demographic patterns of language and culture within contemporary Scotland, a society that is increasingly open to economic migration and educational change within a global perspective.
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