Creating a Pictorial and Talking Dictionary in a Superdiverse Classroom

ABSTRACT:The shared process of creating a dictionary in a classroom has the potential to develop skills in communication, collaboration, and translation: all of which may be regarded in pedagogical terms as "mediation activities" (Council of Europe 2018). Such activities help language learners to use and develop plurilingualism and are regarded as increasingly important in children's development given the linguistic and cultural superdiversity in many European schools. This paper describes a dictionary-creation project in a linguistically superdiverse primary school in Spain, which showed how creating a dictionary offers opportunities for children and teachers to engage collaboratively in mediation activities that help to bridge concepts, text and communication that are central to the process of co-constructing meaning between people. It draws on evidence from pre-service teachers' weekly reflections and includes photographs of classroom-based activities and samples of teaching and learning materials used in the project.