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Multilingual Poetry in the Community

During summer 2019, together with a local poetry group, WFBG will be organising Displays of Poems representing the linguistic diversity of Waltham Forest. Poems in over 45 languages will be put on display in Libraries and Parks across the Borough and on The Walthamstow Town Square Big Screen. Children will be given interactive walkabout learning

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Books of interest

Bilingualism

by Suzanne Romaine Since it was first published in 1989, Suzanne Romaine’s book has been recognized as the most authoritative introduction to the sociolinguistics of bilingualism. The new edition has been completely revised to incorporate recent work in this fast developing field. Throughout the book, bilingualism is seen as both a societal and cognitive phenomenon.

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Language Strategies for Bilingual Families

by Suzanne Barron-Hauwaert This book focuses on the one parent one language/one person one language (OPOL) approach and covers issues that can come up in some detail. It is very practical and offers parents specific advice or options. For example, it is the only book that we are aware of, apart from Colin Baker’s see

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7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child

by Naomi Steiner  The best time to learn a second language is as a child. During childhood, the brain is more receptive to language learning than at any other time in life. Aware that a second language can enrich their children’s understanding of other cultures and bring future job opportunities in a world drawn ever

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Language, Power and Pedagogy

by Jim Cummins As linguistic diversity increases in countries all around the world, policy-makers and educators are faced with complex and conflicting issues regarding appropriate ways of educating a multilingual school population. This volume reviews the research and theory relating to instruction and assessment of bilingual pupils, focusing not only on issues of language learning

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A Parents and Teachers Guide to Bilingualism

by Colin Baker If you are just starting out and want a general introduction, this is the best book by an academic or expert (who, in fact, is also a parent in a multilingual family). It is very practical, comprehensive and detailed. It is written in the form of questions and answers which are all

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Life with Two Languages: An Introduction to Bilingualism

by Francois Grosjean Many people consider bilinguals to be exceptional, yet almost half the world’s population speaks more than one language. Bilingualism is found in every country of the world, in every class of society, in all age groups. Life with Two Languages is the first book to provide a complete and authoritative look at the nature

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Assessing the Needs of Bilingual Pupils: Living in Two Languages

by Deryn Hall, Dominic Griffiths, Liz Haslam and Yvonne Wilkin (Resource Materials for Teachers) Offering ways for teachers to consider why some bilingual pupils are not making progress or are academically underachieving, this book looks at ways of asking questions about the pupil and collecting evidence of both learning and language development. The second edition

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Raising a Bilingual Child

by Barbara Zurer Pearson This book provides parents with information, encouragement, and practical advice for creating a positive bilingual environment. It offers both an overview of why parents should raise their children to speak more than one language and detailed steps parents can take to integrate two languages into their children’s daily routine. Available to borrow

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Becoming Biliterate: Young Children Learning Different Writing Systems

by Charmian Kenner An accessible, and inspiring book about children learning to read and write in different languages. The examples used are English children also learning Spanish, Arabic and Chinese. Thus covering different alphabets, writing right to left as well as left to right and a character based language. Available to borrow at the Limes.

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Raising Bilingual-Biliterate Children in Monolingual Cultures

by Stephen J. Caldas This book is a longitudinal case study carefully detailing the French/English bilingual and biliterate development of three children in one family beginning with their births and ending in late adolescence. The book focuses most specifically on the children’s acquisition of French and English during their early through late adolescence, in both

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Bilingual Children: From Birth to Teens

by George Saunders This is another accessible book that tells the story of one family raising children bilingually in English and German in Australia. It quotes parts of relevant conversations and discusses how the children’s views change over time. Although this family is one where neither parent is a native German speaker (George, the father,

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Raising Multilingual Children

by Tracey Tokuhama-Espinoza Evaluates the most recent research in linguistics, neurology, education, and psychology and reinterprets the findings in an easy-to-follow format. Case studies illustrate the many ways families combine ten key factors in order to successfully raise multilingual children. The book encourages parents and teachers to reflect on their personal situations and helps them

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Supporting Identity, Diversity and Language in the Early Years

by Iram Siraj-Blatchford and Priscilla Clarke This book provides the main ingredients for professional development in working with young children in a diverse society. It fills the gap that most early years training neglects, that is, how to work with children in developing a positive disposition towards themselves regardless of their differences.Available to borrow at

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Multilinguals are …?

by Madelena Cruz-Ferreira This is quite a short book (89 pages) that sets out the common myths or widely held views about multilingualism. The author then uses her specialist knowledge of the field to poke fun and those that are without foundation. For those who are interested in more depth, it is a bit frustrating

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The Bilingual Edge

by Kendall King and Alison Mackey Why, When, and How to Teach Your Child a Second Language. It’s no secret that parents want their children to have the lifelong cultural and intellectual advantages that come from being bilingual. Parents spend millions of dollars every year on classes, computer programs, and toys, all of which promise

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Growing up with three languages: birth to eleven

by Xiao-Lei Wang This book is for parents who live in a foreign country and intend to raise their children in their own heritage language(s). It offers helpful suggestions for this challenging situation and provides useful strategies in the daily interactions between parents and children. Available to borrow at the Limes.

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The Bilingual Family

by Edith Harding-Esch and Philip Riley A handbook for parents who might be considering bringing up their children as bilinguals. Available to borrow at the Limes.

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Growing Up with Two Languages: A Practical Guide

by Una Cunningham-Andersson and Staffan Andersson This is an easy to read book based on the experience of a Swedish/English family living in Sweden (and written by the parents in this bilingual family). It covers many of the common issues and concerns and the authors talked to a number of other multilingual families so it

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The Bilingualism Reader

by Li Wei This is a comprehensive collection of the classics in the study of bilingualism. Designed as a structured student reader, it covers: definitions and typology of bilingualism language choice and bilingual interaction grammar of codeswitching and bilingual acquisition the bilingual brain and bilingual production and perception methodological issues in the study of bilingualism. Available

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About WFBG

Swahili

KIKUNDI CHA WAZUNGUMZAO LUGHA MBILI CHA WALTHAM FOREST(WALTHAM FOREST BILINGUAL GROUP) – KINACHOSAIDIA FAMILIA ZENYE KUZUNGUMZA LUGHA MBILI.

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Spanish

Grupo bilingüe in Waltham Forest – Apoyo a las familias que hablan varios idiomas

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About WFBG

Somali

KOOXDA DADKA LABADA LUQADOOD KU HADLA EE WALTHAM FOREST – TAAKULAYNTA QOYSASKA KU HADLIDDA LUQADAHA

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About WFBG

Russian

Группа поддержки многоязычных семей Уолтам Форест

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About WFBG

Portugese

GRUPO BILINGUE DE WALTHAM FOREST – APOIO A FAMÍLIAS QUE FALAM VÁRIAS LÍNGUAS

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About WFBG

Polish

Dwujęzyczna grupa Waltham Forest – wsparcie dla rodzin wielojęzycznych

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About WFBG

Lithuanian

DVIKALBĖ „WALTHAM FOREST“ GRUPĖ – PARAMA ŠEIMOMS, KALBANČIOMS KELIOMIS KALBOMIS

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About WFBG

Italian

WALTHAM FOREST BILINGUAL GROUP – UN AIUTO PER LE FAMIGLIE MULTILINGUI

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About WFBG

German

WALTHAM FOREST BILINGUAL GROUP – WIR UNTERSTÜTZEN FAMILIEN DABEI ALLE IHRE SPRACHEN ZU SPRECHEN

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About WFBG

French

WALTHAM FOREST BILINGUAL GROUP – Aide aux familles qui parlent plusieurs langues

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Esperanto

DULINGVA GRUPO de WALTHAM FOREST – SUBTENANTA FAMILIOJN PAROLANTAJN LINGVOJN

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Dutch

WALTHAM FOREST BILINGUAL GROUP – STEUN VOOR MEERTALIGE GEZINNEN

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About WFBG

Chinese

瓦尔珊森林区双语小组(WALTHAM FOREST BILINGUAL GROUP )——帮助家庭构建多语种环境

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About Waltham Forest Bilingual Group

WALTHAM FOREST BILINGUAL GROUP – SUPPORTING FAMILIES SPEAKING LANGUAGES

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Top tips

Guide for parents

Guide for parents raising a multilingual family – The early years (0-5 years) WFBG exists since 2003 and we have discussed issues, concerns and advice given by others on many, many occasions. From these discussions we have extracted some very basic tips which every bilingual family starting out will find useful to read. Thanks to

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Key tips

We are based in England, so we refer to English as the community language. If you are worried about your children learning English: Don’t! Your children will always learn the community language. If you speak only another language at home, try to arrange some exposure to the community language “ child care, play groups, nursery,

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Advantages of bilingualism

The many advantages in becoming bilingual are outlined below Communication advantages Communication within the family may be improved. Being able to communicate with each parent in the parent‒s preferred language may contribute to making the parent-child relationship closer and enables parents to pass on part of their own heritage to their child. Bilingualism is also

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Common concerns

My partner doesn’t speak or understand my language. I feel that s/he is being excluded from family life because s/he does not understand conversations between my child and me. Our members have had different ways of dealing with this. Much depends on whether the partner is him or herself supportive of the decision to raise

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Growing up with Languages

Reflections on Multilingual Childhoods By Claire Thomas Primarily aimed as a practical resource for parents, but also of interest to students and researchers because of its unique content, it includes recollections and advice on many of the common issues or dilemmas that arise in multilingual families. A team at WFGB interviewed 50 adults about their

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Vicky Obied

GUEST SPEAKER on 7th December 2013  at the Limes 3.30 – 5.30 pm Vicky Obied will come to talk to the group about the issues that may arise in multilingual families when the children are around secondary school age and get into the teenage years.  Having herself raised two multilingual children through their teenage phase,

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