Revealing the Portrait

Abstract

Chapter 5 presents a richly coloured portrayal of ‘silent experiences’. At this point in the ‘journey’ the key characters provide key vignettes, which having being thematically analysed, will now be examined through sociocultural theorising. It is only through this iterative process that interpretations of the silent experiences of young bilingual learners can be established. This final sample represents the key findings of 150 vignettes which were initially analysed within this longitudinal study. It is at this juncture that you (the reader) are able to share in the revelation of what is actually occurring throughout the silent period. The silent period’s complexity is revealed through an analysis of nine vignettes which highlighted 3 key themes and 3 sub-themes.