Conducting research in the classroom: interviewing each other (age range: 7+)

Aims: 

The aim of the activity is to give visibility to multilingualism and to increase the active participation of children.


Links to curriculum:

Literacy in the language(s) of instruction.


Procedure:

  • Teachers start a conversation with children on languages (by using the aforementioned example or other materials that could be interesting/intriguing for children) or seize the chance of a spontaneous conversation among children…it might happen.

  • Children can be engaged in conducting research on the language repertories and biographies of the children in the class. Children can decide with the teacher what questions are interesting and important to ask and then they can interview each other in pairs or divided into groups.

Examples of questions (questions can be made up by children based on what is relevant from their point of view...):

  • What are all the languages that you know? (that you can understand, speak, write and read)
  • How did you learn them? With whom?
  • What is your mother tongue?
  • What language or languages do you speak with your family?
  • What language do you speak with your parents?
  • with your siblings?
  • with your grandparents?
  • with your schoolmates at school?
  • with your friends outside of school? (in the park, in the community, when you're doing a sport, or other activities…)
  • Rate the languages you know: which is the most important language among the ones you know? Which is your favourite one? Which is your least favourite one?
  • Would you like to learn a new language? What language?
  • Each child can prepare a table that describes the classmate that he/she has interviewed, but without saying who the classmates is
  • Each child can randomly pick an anonymous table and guess whose it is.
  • Each child can save his/her linguistic profile on his/her own page on the platform (in his/her avatar profile)
  • The number of languages that are spoken in the class can be counted and made available to parents and other classes of the school on the platform or on the school’s website; alternatively, children can write an article for the school journal (if there is one)…


Further development:

  • Teachers and children can decide to interview the parents to collect information regarding the parents’ linguistic biographies and repertories (see activity: Interview with my parents)


Materials and digital tools:


Look at the example and edit it!


  



Last modified: Tuesday, 29 January 2019, 3:02 PM