This part of the toolbox is meant for museum professionals (directors, educators, museum guides, curators, designers) who would like to encourage multilingual children, their families, and their teachers, to participate more in the museum. The toolbox contains ideas for both family visits and school visits. While we give some examples for science museums, we believe all museums could make use of these ideas, with some modifications. It is good to know that some of these ideas have already been used by other museums and educational institutions in the past.
The ideas are meant to inspire museum professionals and show how they can make steps towards becoming more multilingual, while staying true to the museum’s mission and unique characteristics. The toolbox has been developed for children between 7 and 13 years old, but the ideas can be adapted to other age groups.
We provide examples from our own research and from the innovative work carried out by our three partner museums: Teylers museum, NEMO Science museum, and Museon-Omniversum.
Tools
Multilingual science word walls
Small steps go a long way! Create a multilingual word wall to quickly introduce key science words.
Putting into action: Multilingual walls show science words in multiple languages. In our research, we found that even if their own language was not present, families felt more welcome when multilingual walls were present. Do not be afraid to make mistakes – you can add a ‘comments box’ for visitors to let you know if something should be changed.
Examples:
- Multilingual digital wall – Museon-Omniversum has implemented a digital screen that shows the word ‘welcome’ in different languages. With time, new languages can be added.
- Multilingual name wall – NEMO Science museum has a ‘name wall’ to which visitors can add their own names and move them around. Visitors do not only get the chance to make their names a part of the museum, but also to reflect on how different names relate to each other (by origin, sound, etc.).
What’s behind it? Multilingual walls show children and families that their languages are acknowledged. They also provide a quick look at what an exhibition is about. Many science words have the same Greek roots in different languages. This can promote metalinguistic awareness, or the ability to reflect consciously on the nature of languages.
Multilingual buddies
Encourage classmates, or children and parents to translate for each other during the museum visit.
Putting into action: Children and parents can be invited to translate for each other by the museum staff or through a museum sign.
In school visits, museum guides can encourage the children to translate for each other. Rules should be set so that everyone feels included, and translation does not interfere with the visit (for example, by giving time to explore freely).
Do not be afraid if one child does not have a buddy who speaks their home language. Rather, this is an opportunity for the guide or the teacher to help this child with gestures, by giving them more personalized attention.
Example: In our research, we found that some children and parents translated for each other spontaneously, and that children felt proud of being interpreters. Sometimes the children read the prompts from the museum text, and the parents followed by explaining the science to the children in their everyday home language. In an interview with a family, the parent explained that if he did not understand something in Dutch, he would ask his son. The son explained: “It is nice when my Dad does not know something and I do know it!”.
What’s behind it? In multilingual families and classrooms, Dutch proficiency varies among children and family members. From research, we know it is common for children and parents to take on different roles in museum visits. Acting as interpreters can promote engagement and empower children to see themselves as ‘language experts’
Multilingual language policy
Invite children and parents to use all their languages during the visit by introducing a ‘multilingual language policy’. This can be added to the usual museum rules. Museum rules are important because they help children who have never visited a museum know what the expectations are.
Putting into action: The main rule of a multilingual language policy is that all languages are welcome. However, you can go further by specifying in which moments classmates may talk to each other in their home languages. Make sure to state the rules in a positive manner. The language policy can be written on a museum sign or can be introduced at the start of the school visit by the museum guide.
Example: In our work with Teylers, we showed a sign with rules to the children at the start of the visit. The sign included how to behave in a museum that is very old and needs protection, as well as prompts to encourage the children to help each other with Dutch by using their home languages.
What’s behind it? Language policies are explicit or implicit rules on the use and status of languages in a particular context. Families, cities, museums, all have language policies. Language policies can influence how people feel and act in a context. Multilingual language policies promote linguistic diversity and feelings of belonging and promote deeper science meaning making through a conversation where all languages are used.
Bilingual prompts
Use bilingual prompts to promote conversations between parents and children. Bilingual prompts are short texts presented in two languages, often side-by-side. They allow different members of the family to read at the same time in their language of preference.
Putting into action: Decide which prompts can get families to discuss the main ideas in an exhibition. Science museums often have prompts that get visitors talking about a topic, by remembering what they already know. The questions or prompts can be translated to another language. Make sure that both languages are equally visible (one language is not more important than another).
Translations do not need to be literal or word-for-word to get the families talking!
Example: At NEMO, small prompts that were part of family workshop instructions were translated to Turkish. We found that parents and children read from different languages at the same time, and switched between languages when for example, a science word was hard to understand.
What’s behind it: Parents and children of multilingual families may feel most comfortable with different languages. Multilingual prompts can help migrant families to start talking about an exhibition, and children and parents with different proficiencies in the Dutch or English can have equal access to the content. This is especially useful when the language of the museum is scientific.
It is important that all languages are presented in an equal stance. If a language is in a bigger font size, this could make the other language less accessible or give the impression that one language is more important than the other (in other words, it creates what we call a ‘language hierarchy’).
Multilingual glossaries
Offer children and families a leaflet with a multilingual glossary with keywords in different languages. The keywords in Dutch can be accompanied by pictures and translations to other languages. Families can receive this glossary at the start of their visit and schools, even before. At school, children can look up the translations to their home languages themselves, using a dictionary or GoogleTranslate.
Putting into action: Decide which keywords are essential for the ‘message’ conveyed in the exhibition. The number of keywords should not be very high, as this can distract from the main message (think of fitting them into one page). Search for pictures that could help children and families understand the meaning of the keywords. While pictures and icons are not universal, they can still help in understanding. From a science and language education perspective, it is best when these keywords are also presented in context. This means adding some sentences that show how these keywords are used.
Example: At Teylers museum, we designed a multilingual glossary containing the scientific keywords for the tour “Climbing Mont Blanc”. The keywords (in Dutch) were accompanied by: small sentences using the highlighted keywords that added up to the ‘main story’ of the visit, pictures or icons, and a space for children to own the translations of the keywords to their own home languages. Teachers found this tool very useful to prepare the children for the visit.
What’s behind it? A multilingual glossary is a language scaffold/support tool that can help children, their families and teachers quickly become acquainted with the content and main message of the museum. It can increase understanding and support visitors’ conversations around the museum content.
Multilingual DIY labels
Involve the visitors in creating museum labels with information in different languages.
Putting into action: Create a template that children and families can fill in. Through this template, you can help them by showing what information needs to be part of a museum label (for example, in the case of a taxidermy animal: species name, colloquial name, where it lives, what it eats, etc.). Make sure to let children and families know that they can write in any language.
Example: At MuseumLab, Mirona Moraru and our museum partners helped children organize an exhibition on nature, science and technology. The children created their own multilingual labels for the museum objects they chose and recreated. We first came across this idea in the Manchester Museum’s online gallery (https://multilingualmuseum.manchester.ac.uk/).
What’s behind it? Participatory strategies like this are useful in making visitors feel like they also belong to the museum (if you are interested in participatory strategies, check out Nina Simon’s work). They also serve learning purposes, as a child or adult needs to look up information on museum objects and decide how to best convey it in the label.
Fixed questions for multilingual children and parents
Start a conversation with multilingual children and parents by using pre-defined questions that can be applied to any museum topic. These pre-defined questions can be created by you or found in toolboxes such as this one. They can become a fixed resource for museum staff to turn to, when they find themselves interacting with multilinguals.
Putting into action: Make a list of one to three questions that can get the conversation going, even when you do not share the same language with the visitors. Share them with the floor staff and invite the staff to add new ones to, for example, a board in the office. You will find that museum staff know a lot from their own experience and can be very creative in getting families talking!
Example: At Teylers, we provided the museum guides with a series of questions to support the children throughout the visit. Here are the ones we used:
- Have you ever seen [museum object] before? Tell me about it. Do you know what [museum object] is? Do you know what [museum word] means? Can you explain?
- How do you say [museum word] in your home languages?
- Oh! I think I understand but, to be sure, can you help me with what [person speaking in home language] is saying? Could you translate for me?
- It does not matter if I don’t understand, please, keep explaining in your language.
- Can you point/show me?
What’s behind it? When people are allowed to use all the languages they know without fear of making mistakes, museum staff can get them to go deeper into a topic. In this way, children or parents who know the main language less are encouraged to participate as much as others and feel more motivated to stay in the conversation. A bit of frustration is normal, but usually, a smile can help in keeping the conversation going!
FAQ
These ideas seem like a lot of work. Is there something smaller that I can try out?
Of course! Adapting exhibitions IS a lot of work. But already making yourself and your colleagues aware of multilingualism, and their own language skills (however ‘small’ they may be), is a step forward. We recommend that you simply start a conversation, during breaks, lunch, on languages. If you want to go further, you can start by asking multilingual families or children what languages they speak. Any effort is valuable and will make your museum more multilingual.
Would it help to add QR-codes for children and families to listen to explanations in their own languages?
In our experience, sound can be distracting in a museum setting, and families often do not spend a long time reading or listening at a specific point of an exhibition. Our advice is to experiment with QR-codes in quieter rooms or incorporate more languages in games or stands that already have a voice-over.
What happens if the museum guide does not understand what the children are saying when they talk in their home language?
It is normal to have interactions with children and not understand what they are saying. This can bring feelings of discomfort or frustration for you, as you feel you cannot help the child. However, it is important to keep trying, by using gestures, or rephrasing in Dutch. Today, using a translator on your phone can work quite well, also with audio. It will take a bit more time, but having a conversation across languages can be lots of fun!
Do I need to hire translation agencies or translators to do the work?
Professional translators are an ideal asset because they have the necessary training to ensure that the translated text is accurate, relevant, and appropriate for the target audience. Additionally, multilingual staff members or frequent visitors can also help with translating lower-stakes texts. However, keep in mind that speaking two languages is not enough for a person to be a translator. We advise proceeding with caution, especially in the case of technical texts. We recommend employing translation software programs available online for free for simple texts, or when the previous recommendations are not an option.
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