Play, drawing and writing: a case study of Korean–Canadian young children

Abstract

From a sociocultural approach to literacy, young children, including culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) children, can be viewed as active meaning-makers through participation in everyday literacy practices. This theoretical emphasis on the importance of the social context requires teachers and caregivers not only to improve and co-create learning environments but also to consider how to make sense of children's drawings and other non-verbal modes embedded in literacy practices. Drawing on a Vygotskian perspective, this study explores how young children use drawings and other semiotic tools as important mediators through which they represent their experience, feeling and knowledge in terms of the process of meaning-making. Within a qualitative research framework, this study uses data collected during the lesson theme of ‘circle’ to understand how young culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners' drawings serve as a psychological tool for understanding and representing important aspects of their own experiences in terms of social, cognitive, and affective aspects. Implications of this study are discussed.