The Rivers of Reading tool helps children to chart and understand their reading journey, highlighting what reading in their lives has been most ‘important’ to them, and, crucially, why it is important.
Sabine's research found that multilingual children have far more complex reasons to declare reading important than those who grow up speaking just one language in the home, and, potentially, expanding the reasons for reading can also expand the motivation for it.
The study found that multilingual children are much more likely to focus on what a book or story represents, than whether it was liked or disliked. For example, children focused on who gave them the book, whether it introduced them to a new hobby or activity, who the book was read with, and whether it marked an achievement milestone, such as being the first book read in a specific language, or the first book read independently. The research was funded by the UK Literacy Association, and builds on work by Dr Gabrielle Cliff Hodges, who explored Rivers of Reading with adolescent readers. Sabine believes that all children can benefit from thinking about reading more holistically:
“What we are learning from multilingual children is that they are thinking about their reading from a very complex view point. They think of reading as representing a whole variety of things - access to a hobby, access to different groups of people, memories of places and family members, and also a sense of achievement. These attitudes can be expanded to all children, which is why I am so pleased that World Book Day decided to feature the research in their school packs this year. At the same time, with about a quarter of all children in the country growing up with multiple languages, it is important that we facilitate these children to understand their multilingual development, and the activity facilitates schools and teachers to delve into pupils’ reading habits regardless of language background, and understand the nuances involved.”
In previous research in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust, Sabine found that multilingual children are more likely to read for pleasure than monolingual ones, and that, even if they do not enjoy reading in English, they are more likely to enjoy reading in their home or heritage language.
The River of Reading activity is suitable for all children, regardless of language background, and has the added bonus of involving parents in discussions about a child’s reading journey, to capture memories and experiences in early childhood. This World Book Day, teachers can therefore help all children understand their reading journey to date better, and support multilingual learners at the same time.
