Arts-based literacy activities as third space for authoring ethno-religious and multilingual identities among immigrant children

• In Event: Multimodal Negotations of Language and Identity

Abstract

This paper explores how young children of immigrant backgrounds articulate their language-ethnicity-religion identities (Souza, 2015) in mainstream schools through culturally relevant arts-based prompts. Focusing on four focal students of Punjabi background, we analyzed artworks, interviews, and observations using Rose’s (2023) visual methods. Findings indicate that arts-based literacy activities created a “third space” (Gutiérrez, 2008), allowing children to integrate their ethno-religious knowledge and actively use their heritage language in biliteracy practices.

Authors

• Guofang Li, The University of British Columbia

• Ziwen Mei, University of British Columbia

• Yilin Song, The University of British Columbia

• Jonathan Ferreira, University of British Columbia

• Henny Yeung, Simon Fraser University