WP182 Promoting multilingual creativity: Key principles from successful projects

There are now over 1 million pupils in UK schools who speak English as an additional language (EAL). In intensely diverse contexts such as London this has thrown up new hybrid ways of using language. Rather than languages living neatly side by side, they mix and mingle, with individuals drawing on two or more languages at once as they communicate and express themselves. This phenomenon is referred to as ?plurilingualism? in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001). The educational and creative potential of plurilingualism goes largely untapped within mainstream schools and cultural initiatives which tend to channel young people into using one language at a time. The goal may be multilingualism, but this is pursued through monolingual learning experiences.

Multilingual Creativity is about engaging positively with the reality of plurilingualism and is an umbrella term for the current range of projects and research across schools, arts/cultural organisations and universities, which grapple with celebrating, drawing a dividend from and further developing such linguistic skills. This report presents findings from a review of current practice, identifying five key principles associated with successful projects in Multilingual Creativity. Each of the main sections in the report is divided into a practical explanation based around an example project, and a theoretical perspective which highlights a related concept drawn from sociolinguistic and educational research and explains its potential use for practitioners on the ground. This report contributes to a wider endeavour of sharing insights, models and theoretical approaches amongst the different partners involved in Multilingual Creativity