Elisa Bertoldi | Università degli Studi di Udine / University of Udine (original) (raw)
Papers by Elisa Bertoldi
Ecological Communication and Ecoliteracy: Discourses of Awareness and Action for the Lifescape, 2024
The chapter focuses on picturebook read-aloud sessions as multimodal communicative contexts that ... more The chapter focuses on picturebook read-aloud sessions as multimodal communicative contexts that promote children’s approach to environmental education in a foreign/second language. The initiative TALES (Telling and Listening to Ecosustainable Stories) is the context of observation of the present study. TALES is a series of read-aloud sessions about nature in English L2 for children organized in informal contexts. The aim of the initiative is to promote ecoliteracy through stories that can influence children’s interpretation of events, situations and people and their relationship with the environment (Eisler 2000; Nanson 2021; Stibbe 2021). By adopting a multimodal perspective on communication and interaction (Bezemer and Kress 2016; Jewitt 2017; Norris 2020), the chapter analyses the process of picturebook mediation including storyteller’s picturebook selection and the read-aloud performance with children. The analysis focuses on multimodal aspects that allow storytellers to give salience to natural elements during read-aloud sessions.
Mobile Assisted Language Learning Across Educational Contexts, 2021
Stories are an essential part of children\u2019s life. And they are a means for parents, teachers... more Stories are an essential part of children\u2019s life. And they are a means for parents, teachers, caregivers and educators to take care of children and their cognitive, emotional and communicative development. This book presents resources, strategies and techniques that can support storytelling activities for an informal, involving and enriching approach to English as a foreign/second language for children. It addresses teachers, student teachers, educators, parents, caregivers, librarians and volunteer narrators interested in storytelling with children in English L2. The book and its open access set of resources (Online Companion) are based on the experience of Let\u2019s Tell a Tale, a collaboration between the teacher education section of the University of Udine (Italy) and the Udine Municipal Library \u2018Vincenzo Joppi\u2019
This chapter discusses how digital multiliteracies and multimodal practices are shared and recont... more This chapter discusses how digital multiliteracies and multimodal practices are shared and recontextualised through a mobile-assisted community for language teachers; the case study is about YELL/TELL (Young / Teen English Language Learners), which is a professional online community open to student teachers, language teachers, language educators and volunteer narrators in English L2. The chapter, underpinned by multiliteracies pedagogy and multimodal studies, focuses on Mobile-Assisted Language Teacher Education (MALTE) as a way to support student teachers and experienced teachers in their initial and lifelong development through mobile-assisted learning. We analyze mobile-assisted practices for teacher education in the project Storytelling with Children in English L2, based on storytelling events for children whose native language is not English. We discuss how professional actions performed by language teacher narrators (searching, planning, rehearsing storytelling events, perform...
Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature, 2019
57.3 – 2019 | 51 In Italy, cultural organizations and associations promote children’s literature ... more 57.3 – 2019 | 51 In Italy, cultural organizations and associations promote children’s literature and the pleasure of reading through storytelling initiatives. These initiatives support reading from very early childhood to adolescence, starting from parental storytelling and gradually proceeding to autonomous engagements with books. The initiatives are organized and take place in libraries, theaters, cultural centers, and schools where volunteer narrators and librarians run open-access storytelling events based on books for children or adolescents (Nati per Leggere, Crescere Leggendo, Youngster). To cater to the many different languages used in Italy and to promote inclusion through activities and initiatives that are relevant at the intercultural level for children, local libraries in Italy also organize storytelling events in languages other than Italian. For many years, the collaboration between the University of Udine and the Municipal Library “Vincenzo Joppi” in Udine (Northeast Italy) has given rise to initiatives that promote plurilingualism through children’s literature. A few years ago, a lecturer of the University of Udine, Maria Bortoluzzi, and the librarians of the main municipal library decided to offer some storytelling events in English as a second language (from now on English L2) in the main library of the town. For the children and the narrators, English is a foreign language. The main aim was to promote the acquisition of English L2 through narrative and informal modalities in libraries as significant and familiar contexts for children. Thanks to the local librarians, teachers, and educators, a series of storytelling meetings called “Let’s Tell a Tale” was organized. The events in English L2 have been taking place in the town libraries and focus on children from four to eight years old. The volunteer narrators have been offering to little boys and girls the opportunity to listen to stories in English inspired by books for children. The initiative promotes English acquisition not only as a second language but also as a multicultural means to offer a wider perspective on children’s literature in languages different from the native languages. The events have been taking place in recent years at the children’s section Let’s Tell a Tale: Storytelling Events in English L2
The project Let's Tell a Tale aims to establish partnership among different educational insti... more The project Let's Tell a Tale aims to establish partnership among different educational institutions (university, schools and libraries) for promoting children's development through stories about nature in English L2. Undergraduates of Primary Education (University of Udine, Italy) are involved as volunteer narrators in English L2 storytelling events in the local libraries of the Udine area. Student-teachers have the opportunity to experiment new modalities, resources and processes of mediation to present stories about nature in English L2. Telling stories is at the core of the events organised in the project: sharing econarratives promotes empathy and identification with the environment. The aim of the project is addressing future teachers of English L2 to adopt ecosustainable narratives. This paper presents the project Let's Tall a Tale as an example of partnership education. It focuses on the aims and the outcomes of the project in relation to teacher training and chi...
Multimodal Literacies Across Digital Learning Contexts
Accepted for publication by “Bookbird”
The article presents the initiative Let's Tell a Tale which is part of the research project S... more The article presents the initiative Let's Tell a Tale which is part of the research project Storytelling in English L2 in informal contexts. Thanks to the collaboration between the University of Udine and the Municipal Local Library, 16 storytelling events have been organized in four district libraries. Observations conducted during the storytelling sessions allowed researchers to gather information, data, materials and resources about the use of narration in L2 with children in informal contexts of acquisition. This article has been accepted for publication by Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature (ISSN 0006 7377) is a refereed journal published quarterly by IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People)
Ecology and Partnership Studies in Anglophone Literatures, 2020
The project Let’s Tell a Tale aims to establish partnership among different educational instituti... more The project Let’s Tell a Tale aims to establish partnership among different educational institutions (university, schools and libraries) for promoting children’s development through stories about nature in English L2. Undergraduates of Primary Education (University of Udine, Italy) are involved as volunteer narrators in English L2 storytelling events in the local libraries of the Udine area. Student-teachers have the opportunity to experiment new modalities, resources and processes of mediation to present stories about nature in English L2. Telling stories is at the core of the events organised in the project: sharing econarratives promotes empathy and identification with the environment. The aim of the project is addressing future teachers of English L2 to adopt ecosustainable narratives. This paper presents the project Let’s Tall a Tale as an example of partnership education. It focuses on the aims and the outcomes of the project in relation to teacher training and children’s development and awareness on environmental concerns, on the bases that ‘out of university’ and ‘out of school’ experiences have the effect of ‘bridging’ the divide with different institutions.
Bookbird, 2019
The main aim of the initiative Let's Tell a Tale is to promote the acquisition of English L2 thro... more The main aim of the initiative Let's Tell a Tale is to promote the acquisition of English L2 through narrative and informal modalities in libraries as significant and familiar contexts for children. The events in English L2 have been taking place in the town libraries and are addressed to children from 4 to 8 years old. The volunteer narrators have been offering to little boys and girls the opportunity to listen to stories in English inspired to books for children. The initiative promotes English acquisition not only as a second language but also as a multicultural means to offer a wider prospective on children's literature in languages different from the native languages. The events have been taking place in the recent years at the Children's section of the Municipal Library of Udine and they are based mainly on picture books of stories in English.
From June 2018 regional funding meant that the initiative Let's Tell a Tale was transformed into a research project of the Udine University entitled "Storytelling in English L2 for young learners and adolescents in informal contexts of acquisition: innovative and inclusive approaches for local library networks".
There are many ways to be creative, each child has his/her own way to be creative and to use crea... more There are many ways to be creative, each child has his/her own way to be creative and to use creativity, but I think that the most they are familiar with an activity the most they become creative in doing it. As children grow and develop their language skills they can become more and more creative with the language.
An increasing number of educational applications and tools offers new opportunities for teachers ... more An increasing number of educational applications and tools offers new opportunities for teachers to create resources and materials to meet Primary School pupils ‘educational needs in the learning process of English as L2. Integrating digital tools into lesson planning can be considered a measure to support all pupils during class activities and promote inclusive education in ELT.
This article, after considering the role of picture dictation games as communicative and interactive activities in the language learning process of young and very young learners, aims to show how to support and engage the whole class using digital applications and tools to create self-access materials meeting pupils ‘needs during the task.
HLT Magazine, 2017
As L2 teachers of young learners, each one of us has got his or her personal working bag or too... more As L2 teachers of young learners, each one of us has got his or her personal working bag or tool box, which is usually full of flashcards, sheets of paper, crayons, felt tips, dictionaries, books, puppets, guides, CDs and all those resources that support our teaching practice and help us carry out our lessons and our work with children. In addition to these resources there is also a huge variety of tools and Apps that can be integrated into our teaching practice: technology can be used to enhance student achievement by providing multiple means, channels and methods for students to learn the new language. Taking inspiration from the resources that are most frequently used by L2 teachers, in this article I will suggest some free educational Mobile and Web Apps that can be used by teachers as digital tools for language teaching in primary school.
Books by Elisa Bertoldi
Udine: Forum Editrice, 2019
Stories are an essential part of children’s life. And they are a means for parents, teachers, car... more Stories are an essential part of children’s life. And they are a means for parents, teachers, caregivers and educators to take care of children and their cognitive, emotional and communicative development. This book presents resources, strategies and techniques that can support storytelling activities for an informal, involving and enriching approach to English as a foreign/second language for children. It addresses teachers, student teachers, educators, parents, caregivers, librarians and volunteer narrators interested in storytelling with children in English L2. The book and its open access set of resources (Online Companion) are based on the experience of Let’s Tell a Tale, a collaboration between the teacher education section of Udine University (Italy) and the Udine Municipal Library ‘V. Joppi’.
Ecological Communication and Ecoliteracy: Discourses of Awareness and Action for the Lifescape, 2024
The chapter focuses on picturebook read-aloud sessions as multimodal communicative contexts that ... more The chapter focuses on picturebook read-aloud sessions as multimodal communicative contexts that promote children’s approach to environmental education in a foreign/second language. The initiative TALES (Telling and Listening to Ecosustainable Stories) is the context of observation of the present study. TALES is a series of read-aloud sessions about nature in English L2 for children organized in informal contexts. The aim of the initiative is to promote ecoliteracy through stories that can influence children’s interpretation of events, situations and people and their relationship with the environment (Eisler 2000; Nanson 2021; Stibbe 2021). By adopting a multimodal perspective on communication and interaction (Bezemer and Kress 2016; Jewitt 2017; Norris 2020), the chapter analyses the process of picturebook mediation including storyteller’s picturebook selection and the read-aloud performance with children. The analysis focuses on multimodal aspects that allow storytellers to give salience to natural elements during read-aloud sessions.
Mobile Assisted Language Learning Across Educational Contexts, 2021
Stories are an essential part of children\u2019s life. And they are a means for parents, teachers... more Stories are an essential part of children\u2019s life. And they are a means for parents, teachers, caregivers and educators to take care of children and their cognitive, emotional and communicative development. This book presents resources, strategies and techniques that can support storytelling activities for an informal, involving and enriching approach to English as a foreign/second language for children. It addresses teachers, student teachers, educators, parents, caregivers, librarians and volunteer narrators interested in storytelling with children in English L2. The book and its open access set of resources (Online Companion) are based on the experience of Let\u2019s Tell a Tale, a collaboration between the teacher education section of the University of Udine (Italy) and the Udine Municipal Library \u2018Vincenzo Joppi\u2019
This chapter discusses how digital multiliteracies and multimodal practices are shared and recont... more This chapter discusses how digital multiliteracies and multimodal practices are shared and recontextualised through a mobile-assisted community for language teachers; the case study is about YELL/TELL (Young / Teen English Language Learners), which is a professional online community open to student teachers, language teachers, language educators and volunteer narrators in English L2. The chapter, underpinned by multiliteracies pedagogy and multimodal studies, focuses on Mobile-Assisted Language Teacher Education (MALTE) as a way to support student teachers and experienced teachers in their initial and lifelong development through mobile-assisted learning. We analyze mobile-assisted practices for teacher education in the project Storytelling with Children in English L2, based on storytelling events for children whose native language is not English. We discuss how professional actions performed by language teacher narrators (searching, planning, rehearsing storytelling events, perform...
Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature, 2019
57.3 – 2019 | 51 In Italy, cultural organizations and associations promote children’s literature ... more 57.3 – 2019 | 51 In Italy, cultural organizations and associations promote children’s literature and the pleasure of reading through storytelling initiatives. These initiatives support reading from very early childhood to adolescence, starting from parental storytelling and gradually proceeding to autonomous engagements with books. The initiatives are organized and take place in libraries, theaters, cultural centers, and schools where volunteer narrators and librarians run open-access storytelling events based on books for children or adolescents (Nati per Leggere, Crescere Leggendo, Youngster). To cater to the many different languages used in Italy and to promote inclusion through activities and initiatives that are relevant at the intercultural level for children, local libraries in Italy also organize storytelling events in languages other than Italian. For many years, the collaboration between the University of Udine and the Municipal Library “Vincenzo Joppi” in Udine (Northeast Italy) has given rise to initiatives that promote plurilingualism through children’s literature. A few years ago, a lecturer of the University of Udine, Maria Bortoluzzi, and the librarians of the main municipal library decided to offer some storytelling events in English as a second language (from now on English L2) in the main library of the town. For the children and the narrators, English is a foreign language. The main aim was to promote the acquisition of English L2 through narrative and informal modalities in libraries as significant and familiar contexts for children. Thanks to the local librarians, teachers, and educators, a series of storytelling meetings called “Let’s Tell a Tale” was organized. The events in English L2 have been taking place in the town libraries and focus on children from four to eight years old. The volunteer narrators have been offering to little boys and girls the opportunity to listen to stories in English inspired by books for children. The initiative promotes English acquisition not only as a second language but also as a multicultural means to offer a wider perspective on children’s literature in languages different from the native languages. The events have been taking place in recent years at the children’s section Let’s Tell a Tale: Storytelling Events in English L2
The project Let's Tell a Tale aims to establish partnership among different educational insti... more The project Let's Tell a Tale aims to establish partnership among different educational institutions (university, schools and libraries) for promoting children's development through stories about nature in English L2. Undergraduates of Primary Education (University of Udine, Italy) are involved as volunteer narrators in English L2 storytelling events in the local libraries of the Udine area. Student-teachers have the opportunity to experiment new modalities, resources and processes of mediation to present stories about nature in English L2. Telling stories is at the core of the events organised in the project: sharing econarratives promotes empathy and identification with the environment. The aim of the project is addressing future teachers of English L2 to adopt ecosustainable narratives. This paper presents the project Let's Tall a Tale as an example of partnership education. It focuses on the aims and the outcomes of the project in relation to teacher training and chi...
Multimodal Literacies Across Digital Learning Contexts
Accepted for publication by “Bookbird”
The article presents the initiative Let's Tell a Tale which is part of the research project S... more The article presents the initiative Let's Tell a Tale which is part of the research project Storytelling in English L2 in informal contexts. Thanks to the collaboration between the University of Udine and the Municipal Local Library, 16 storytelling events have been organized in four district libraries. Observations conducted during the storytelling sessions allowed researchers to gather information, data, materials and resources about the use of narration in L2 with children in informal contexts of acquisition. This article has been accepted for publication by Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature (ISSN 0006 7377) is a refereed journal published quarterly by IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People)
Ecology and Partnership Studies in Anglophone Literatures, 2020
The project Let’s Tell a Tale aims to establish partnership among different educational instituti... more The project Let’s Tell a Tale aims to establish partnership among different educational institutions (university, schools and libraries) for promoting children’s development through stories about nature in English L2. Undergraduates of Primary Education (University of Udine, Italy) are involved as volunteer narrators in English L2 storytelling events in the local libraries of the Udine area. Student-teachers have the opportunity to experiment new modalities, resources and processes of mediation to present stories about nature in English L2. Telling stories is at the core of the events organised in the project: sharing econarratives promotes empathy and identification with the environment. The aim of the project is addressing future teachers of English L2 to adopt ecosustainable narratives. This paper presents the project Let’s Tall a Tale as an example of partnership education. It focuses on the aims and the outcomes of the project in relation to teacher training and children’s development and awareness on environmental concerns, on the bases that ‘out of university’ and ‘out of school’ experiences have the effect of ‘bridging’ the divide with different institutions.
Bookbird, 2019
The main aim of the initiative Let's Tell a Tale is to promote the acquisition of English L2 thro... more The main aim of the initiative Let's Tell a Tale is to promote the acquisition of English L2 through narrative and informal modalities in libraries as significant and familiar contexts for children. The events in English L2 have been taking place in the town libraries and are addressed to children from 4 to 8 years old. The volunteer narrators have been offering to little boys and girls the opportunity to listen to stories in English inspired to books for children. The initiative promotes English acquisition not only as a second language but also as a multicultural means to offer a wider prospective on children's literature in languages different from the native languages. The events have been taking place in the recent years at the Children's section of the Municipal Library of Udine and they are based mainly on picture books of stories in English.
From June 2018 regional funding meant that the initiative Let's Tell a Tale was transformed into a research project of the Udine University entitled "Storytelling in English L2 for young learners and adolescents in informal contexts of acquisition: innovative and inclusive approaches for local library networks".
There are many ways to be creative, each child has his/her own way to be creative and to use crea... more There are many ways to be creative, each child has his/her own way to be creative and to use creativity, but I think that the most they are familiar with an activity the most they become creative in doing it. As children grow and develop their language skills they can become more and more creative with the language.
An increasing number of educational applications and tools offers new opportunities for teachers ... more An increasing number of educational applications and tools offers new opportunities for teachers to create resources and materials to meet Primary School pupils ‘educational needs in the learning process of English as L2. Integrating digital tools into lesson planning can be considered a measure to support all pupils during class activities and promote inclusive education in ELT.
This article, after considering the role of picture dictation games as communicative and interactive activities in the language learning process of young and very young learners, aims to show how to support and engage the whole class using digital applications and tools to create self-access materials meeting pupils ‘needs during the task.
HLT Magazine, 2017
As L2 teachers of young learners, each one of us has got his or her personal working bag or too... more As L2 teachers of young learners, each one of us has got his or her personal working bag or tool box, which is usually full of flashcards, sheets of paper, crayons, felt tips, dictionaries, books, puppets, guides, CDs and all those resources that support our teaching practice and help us carry out our lessons and our work with children. In addition to these resources there is also a huge variety of tools and Apps that can be integrated into our teaching practice: technology can be used to enhance student achievement by providing multiple means, channels and methods for students to learn the new language. Taking inspiration from the resources that are most frequently used by L2 teachers, in this article I will suggest some free educational Mobile and Web Apps that can be used by teachers as digital tools for language teaching in primary school.
Udine: Forum Editrice, 2019
Stories are an essential part of children’s life. And they are a means for parents, teachers, car... more Stories are an essential part of children’s life. And they are a means for parents, teachers, caregivers and educators to take care of children and their cognitive, emotional and communicative development. This book presents resources, strategies and techniques that can support storytelling activities for an informal, involving and enriching approach to English as a foreign/second language for children. It addresses teachers, student teachers, educators, parents, caregivers, librarians and volunteer narrators interested in storytelling with children in English L2. The book and its open access set of resources (Online Companion) are based on the experience of Let’s Tell a Tale, a collaboration between the teacher education section of Udine University (Italy) and the Udine Municipal Library ‘V. Joppi’.