Page 68 - Diversity in Action

Martina Irsara, Valentina Gobbett Bamber, and Barbara Caprara

stages of English language learning, children can benefit from teachers’ use
of reformulations, expansions, and comments in additional languages to
support their understanding of the story. As young English learners may
struggle to express thoughts, answer open-ended questions, or ask ques-
tions in the target language, the thoughtful integration of multiple lan-
guages can help foster critical thinking and deeper engagement with the
story. Moreover, various types of multilingual picturebooks can be used in
educational settings to promote linguistic diversity and foster more inclu-
sive practices in ELT. For example, interlingual picturebooks combine a dom-
inant language with occasional words or phrases in other languages, while
bilingual picturebooks feature the entire text in two languages (see https://
wordsandpictureslibrary.com). Additionally, teachers can include silent or
wordless picturebooks to encourage YLs to engage in high-quality dialogue,
thoughtfully using multiple languages to enhance their understanding and
communication.
Finally, separate versions of picturebooks in different languages, but with
identical illustrations, are sometimes used in schools. This practice is com-
mon in South-Tyrolean schools that implement an Integrated Linguistic Ed-
ucation framework in a subject called Languages. This subject is generally
co-taught by three language teachers, each using a different language, with
each language represented by a distinct colour: English is blue, German is
red, Italian is yellow, and Ladin is green. Teachers employ various multilingual
strategies to enhance learners’ cross-linguistic awareness, activate metacog-
nitive language learning strategies, and facilitate language switching. Rather
than focusing on contrastive linguistic features that may pose challenges,
the emphasis is on identifying cross-linguistic similarities to strengthen posi-
tive transfer. Picturebooks play a key role in supporting this approach (Irsara,
2023).

Reflection Point
1. How do you select picturebooks?
2. How do you prepare yourself as a teacher and how do you read picture-
books in class?
3. To what extend do you use plurilingual strategies in reading picturebooks
to young learners and why?

Montessori Approaches in ELT and GCED Using Picturebooks
In this section, we aim to explore the educational potential at the multidisci-
plinary intersection of ELT, GCED, and the pedagogical use of picturebooks,

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