Young poet’s multilingual talents celebrated

The multilingual talents of Erika Aitkenhead from Kirkintilloch High were celebrated at a prestigious award ceremony at University of Strathclyde on 17 March 2018. The East Dunbartonshire pupil used her language skills to create and share poetry for this year’s Mother Tongue Other Tongue poetry competition and was Highly Commended in the Mother Tongue category. Her work is published in an anthology.

Mother Tongue Other Tongue is an exciting competition that celebrates linguistic and cultural diversity through creative writing and showcases the many languages used by children and young people across Scotland, in education and at home. Children and young people from primary, secondary and early years use their language skills to create and share poetry. The competition is organised by SCILT, Scotland’s National Centre for Languages, based at University of Strathclyde. Jackie Kay is the patron of the competition. 
 

This year, over 100 entries were submitted from across Scotland. Winning and Highly Commended entries came from schools in Renfrewshire, Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, Edinburgh, North Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire and West Lothian as well as from the University of West of Scotland, University of Dundee, University of Edinburgh and City of Glasgow College.
 

One teacher said of the competition: “I am extremely proud of all our pupils. It was a wonderful chance to hear so many beautiful languages being celebrated. Thank you for this opportunity.”

 

Another teacher added: “Mother Tongue Other Tongue gives my quieter pupils confidence and self-worth.”

One of the young competitors commented:  “It has been an amazing experience.”                                                                                                   
 

Fhiona Mackay, Director of SCILT, said: “Mother Tongue Other Tongue is a celebration of the many languages that are spoken and learned by young people across Scotland. The collection of their poems weaves a rich tapestry of voices that honours cultural diversity and pays testament to the wealth of Scotland’s many languages and cultures. We were delighted to see such a high calibre of entries this year, submitted in 29 different languages.  Our congratulations go to the winners and to all who took part in the competition.”
 

Mother Tongue invites competitors who do not speak English as a first language to write a poem, rap or song in their mother tongue and share their inspiration. Other Tongue encourages competitors learning another language to use that language creatively with an original poem, rap or song in that other tongue. Prizes are awarded in both categories. 
 

Mother Tongue Other Tongue is supported by creative writer Juliette Lee, the University Council for Modern Languages Scotland, Languages in Colleges and the Scottish Poetry Library.

Mother Tongue Other Tongue supports the Scottish Government initiative, ‘Language Learning in Scotland: A 1+2 approach’ by allowing pupils to apply their language learning in a creative way and by providing children who do not have English as their first language with an opportunity to celebrate their mother tongue. 
 

The targets laid out in the Scottish Attainment Challenge are about achieving equity in educational outcomes, with a particular focus on closing the poverty-related attainment gap. One of the key drivers is improved literacy. Through reflecting on poetry in their mother tongue and creating poetry in another tongue, learners are developing their literacy skills.

Details of the winners and the anthology will be published on the SCILT website http://www.scilt.org.uk/MTOT/tabid/5841/Default.aspx.