Creating multilingual spaces through arts-based methods (LITASA Seminar)

Join us for the second event for the 2025 Gauteng LITASA Webinar Series: Creating multilingual spaces through arts-based methods in Foundation Phase classrooms!

Abstract

This seminar considers how the use of multiple languages and the incorporation of arts-based methods in the Foundation Phase (Grades 1 to 3) classroom led to the creation of a third space, which is characterised by openness and creativity. The third space is transformative in nature, as it facilitates the process of cultural exchange among traditions that creates new identities, values, and practices. A third space also facilitates ‘new’ learning: here, parents, teachers, and learners share their cultural artefacts, co-construct knowledge, and connect home and school literacies. The study incorporated the theories of third space, art-based enquiry and multimodality to create a space that incorporated innovative pedagogies. The findings of the study indicate that allowing learners to create meaning through multilingualism, multimodalities and arts-based methods improved their language skills. Participating learners’ understanding of reading passages improved when they were allowed to express their cognition through a combination of drawings, multilingual discussions and writing, as opposed to answering in writing only. In the South African context, many people are able to speak more than two languages. Therefore, both multilingualism and art-based methods can be used to create innovative pedagogical practices in the classroom to enhance literacy development.

Biography

Shine Aung holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instructional Design and Development, from the University of Pretoria. She has a passion for working with children, specifically those within township contexts. Her Masters and PhD studies focused on the area of translanguaging in Education, and the implementation of translanguaging strategies within the classroom. She is enthusiastic about how multilingualism (translanguaging) and multimodality form part of pedagogies within classrooms to improve the reading and language skills of foundation phase learners. The aim is to better prepare learners for the intermediate phase. She has experience in the NPO sector, where she works at township primary schools in Eersterust. Here she assists Grade 3 learners and teachers with remedial reading interventions, based on multimodal and art-based methods. She has seen firsthand how learners within low-income contexts are not able to read for meaning. Teachers need support for alternative methods of instruction to better support learners. She also works for the University of Pretoria, where she lectures modules based on classroom literacies, the methodology of English, assessment and curriculum design in Education.