Jessica Rainey

Thesis title: Examining creative translation in the classroom as a tool for engagement with language

Creative Translation in the Classroom (CTiC) is the flagship educational programme from the Stephen Spender Trust, a leading charity in the UK for international literature and literary translation. CTiC engages an award-winning three-step Decode-Translate-Create framework, where the literal translation of a source text becomes the catalyst for creative (re)writing. The language used in the source text is usually more challenging than the ability of the class, but a comprehensive glossary is provided, enabling authentic texts to be selected that are appealing to secondary school students.

Evidence suggests that CTiC positively and significantly impacts modern foreign language (MFL) students: boosting language skills, enhancing intercultural competence and improving attitudes towards language learning and translation. This appears to be the case for students with a range of language learner identities, including monolingual and multilingual students and stronger and weaker language learners. Teachers also reportedly feel inspired and supported by CTiC. The research, however, is limited with evidence predominantly from self-report studies.

This collaborative PhD project therefore seeks to provide vital empirical data, contributing not only to the gap within the research field, but also to reinforcing the charitable work of the Stephen Spender Trust. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council through the Northern Bridge Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership, it will seek to identify and understand the types and levels of engagement in the three stages of CTiC by applying Svalberg’s Engagement with Language model. The research will take a predominantly qualitative approach, with the main phase involving case studies in three secondary schools in North East England.

Supervisory team

• Jennifer Arnold, School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University
• Judith Reynolds, School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University
• Pamela Woolner, School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University
• Charlotte Ryland, Director of the Stephen Spender Trust