“The Story is One, No Matter the Language”: The Triadic Role of Bilingual Children’s Literature, as Perceived by Preservice Teachers

ABSTRACT

Israeli bilingual children’s literature provides evidence of a multicultural process. Despite the small number of these books, it is important to examine the phenomenon, as such books provide a representation of the numerous cultures and minority groups that comprise the population of Israel. The role and contribution of Israeli children’s bilingual books have not been sufficiently explored. The focus of the current study is on the roles of bilingual children’s literature, as reported from the perspective of 90 preservice teachers. The data collected were analyzed and thus three interrelated roles emerged: (a) the linguistic role, that is, fostering literacy, (b) the social role—promoting multiculturalism, and (c) the educational role—imparting values. The model constructed on the basis of these findings highlights the unique contribution of each role and the synergic effect of the three roles combined.

KEYWORDS:

• Bilingual literature
• children’s literature
• identity
• literacy
• multiculturalism
• preservice teachers

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Orna Levin

Orna Levin is a senior lecturer at the Department of Education in Achva Academic College and serves as the head of the Simulation and Research Center since 2017. Her studies focus on literature with an emphasis on cultural aspects of the literary text. Among her publications are the book Contiruptance: Poetical Fluctuations in Naomi Frankel’s Work (2019); and the articles “Techno-Poetics in Micro-Stories of the Digital Age: The Case of Alex Epstein” (2020); and “Nano-Poetics and a Nano-Representation of the Israeli Milieu in Yossel Birstein’s Short-Short Bus-stories” (2021).

Lea Baratz

Lea Baratz has a PhD in Hebrew literature. Her fields of research are Modern Literature (mostly children’s literature), Literature Teaching, and Multicultural Education. She has written several research books and in addition one book of poetry.