Our book

Language, place and the body in childhood literacies; theory, practice and social justice

Children playing behind a clear plastic barrier at a colorful indoor play area.

This book project was led by Abigail Hackett and edited by nine interdisciplinary scholars, including other Entangle Collective members, Vishnu Nair, Warda Farah and David Ben Shannon.

The premise of this book is that where talk happens—be it spoken, mimed, signed, or assisted through one or more communication tools—is not a neutral backdrop or controllable variable in how talk happens, but is deeply entangled in the emergence of language from the body, in how these vocalisations make their way into the world, what they might feel like and set into motion and how they are received, heard and listened to, by other humans and by non humans. 

Illustration of two happy children jumping, one girl wearing a purple dress with star patterns and a yellow scarf, and a boy wearing a blue shirt with purple spots, pink shorts, and yellow sneakers.

This book brings together a rich body of contemporary research about language, body and place. Whilst there are many books for educators and researchers about young children’s language, few account well for the role of body and place in early communication.

Internationally, an emerging body of interdisciplinary research is helping us to make sense of why young children’s language (including their talk, their vocalisations, their singing, and their other forms of multimodal meaning making) is so entangled with place.

This book aims to

  1. introduce educators to some of the theories about language, body, and place (which are not usually the most dominant ones in current policy and curriculum);

  2. provide examples of what this work might look like in practice; and

  3. inform and support educators who are working with (or want to work with) place, the body and movement to open up space for young children’s improvisatory, creative, playful language practices.

Who is this book for?

We hope that this book will be useful for anyone working with or spending time with young children. It is intended for anyone who would like to create spaces and moments where, for young children, moving, playing, communicating, storytelling, disrupting, experimenting and surprising, will feel easy, comfortable and right. 

Chapter deep-dive

Rights of the talker

  • Rights of the Talker, the last chapter in our edited book Language, place and the body in childhood literacies, is a manifesto for chattering, whispering, translanguaging, not-speaking, non-verbalising, screeching, signing, clicking, twirling, stimming, assistive technology-ing, jumping, shouting, grasping, gasping, dancing, drawing, repeating, refusing, gesturing, glancing, smirking, eye-rolling, whistling…

    The notion of ‘rights’ (whilst also problematised in the chapter) is intended as a route to unsettle the often unspoken rationale that intervening early to shape children’s language in narrowly controlled ways is benign because it is intended to secure their future educational success. As a counter, ‘Rights of the Talker’ makes the argument that all children should have the right to take their time, to remain silent, to make up words, to speak in all their languages, and to choose how and when they speak.

Several large autumn leaves with blue painted markings and words, placed on green grass. A gray cloth is partially visible on the right, and some chalks and a clay-like object are in the lower left and right corners.
Child's hand resting on a white sheet of paper with scribbles and drawings, a large green leaf, and red and yellow crayons.
Colorful ribbons and paper strips tied to a branch of a leafy green tree, possibly for decoration or celebration.
A child's hand tossing colorful confetti and shredded paper on a table with scattered pasta and small decorations, with a blue feather in the mix.
Close-up of a child's legs and feet, showing denim shorts, white tights, and brown shoes with bows, standing on a wooden floor.
Child wearing a skirt with red, white, and black floral and geometric patterns, pink polka-dotted rain boots, and holding a yellow toy with purple and pink accents, standing on a purple rug with other children visible nearby.
Close-up of a small garden bed with young plants, sticks, and feathers, with a person's hand planting a small stick.
Child holding a colorful braided bracelet with purple and green ribbons.
A person drawing on a green leaf with colorful markers on grass.