Inaugural lecture: Professor Sabine Little

Inaugural lecture: 'Once Upon a Neverending Story: Language, Identity, and Space in Multilingual Childhoods'

“We have so many languages in our class, but not in our stories!” (Year 1 pupil, age 6)

Children growing up in multilingual contexts learn early on to become chameleons: to understand which “part” of them is wanted in which context, and to adjust their language accordingly. In doing so, they spend considerable time living and learning with one hand tied behind their back: if your brain is used to having two languages to draw on, using just one introduces a limitation. Seeing how their different languages occupy different spaces also sends strong messages about some languages being more valued than others, impacting on identity development. Finally, breaking free from parental expectations and charting your own path as a multilingual person involves a lot of reflection and identity negotiation, which often gets overlooked.

This inaugural lecture will foreground the voices of multilingual children (and sometimes the people around them) - through a series of research studies exploring links between multilingualism, identity, and belonging. We will be looking at the power of artefacts and multilingual stories to help children transcend barriers between their different “spaces”, making multilingualism visible and audible around them. And, since it is the National Year of Reading, we will have a “red thread” of books and stories that shaped us (and the children I have worked with) - including how a book led to a PhD and a 24-year-wait for a sword. Please feel free to bring a book that is important to you - for whatever reason.