MTOT

Information about the competition

The competition is split into two categories:

Mother Tongue
encourages children and young people, who do not speak English as a first language, to submit an original poem, song or rap, written in their mother tongue language, accompanied by a commentary in English detailing the inspiration behind their writing. In Scotland, pupils will be able to submit commentaries on Scots and Gaelic texts in this category.

Other Tongue
encourages children and young people learning another language in school, college or university (French, Spanish, German, Italian, Mandarin, Urdu, Gaelic, and Cantonese) to use that language creatively by writing an original poem, rap or song in that other tongue.

An accompanying text should also be included outlining their inspiration.

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The competition has been running in Scotland since 2014-15. Details of all the previous year's competitions and celebration events can be found via the following links:

2018-19

The celebration event for the 2018/19 competition took place on 16 March 2019 at the University of Strathclyde. View the the full list of winners, see photos from the event and read the winning entries on our MTOT 2018/19 celebration event webpage.

Previous years

For information about the events and the supporting writers, poets and performers who have helped to bring the competition alive in Scotland since the pilot launch in 2014, follow the links below:

Mother Tongue Other Tongue is an ideal platform for children and young people to be creative and to find their own voice.

Teachers may find the competition useful to support the following activities in school:

Creative approaches to Primary Language Learning
School run competitions
Learning and teaching on existing units of work, e.g. Scots poetry or Gaelic song
P7 to S1 Transition projects
IDL projects between English, Modern Languages and other departments
Cross-stage creative writing groups
Overtaking Es and Os in Literacy and English, Literacy and Gaidhlig, Modern Languages and Literacy Across Learning
EAL creative writing

Remember any teacher and any student can engage with MTOT - we have seen fantastic entries produced within a variety of different contexts:

Staff running an MTOT lunchtime club with a group of pupils - click on the 'testimonials' tab above to listen to pupils sharing their views about taking part in the competition
Teachers doing poetry with their whole class as part of their usual literacy curriculum and then submitting to MTOT
EAL teachers running MTOT as a project with a group of pupils
Collaboration between English and Languages departments

These are just a few suggestions, but you may have ideas of your own.

We have sourced a collection of downloadable poetry and language materials to help inspire you. Previous events, anthologies, winners, photos and testimonials provide further sources of information you may find useful, all of which you can find within the tabs above.

You can also take a look at the MTOT website from Routes into Languages North West and Manchester Metropolitan University, where the competition originated. Their website contains video footage featuring the boxer, Amir Khan, and Poet Laureate, Dame Carol Ann Duffy, amongst others speaking about the benefits of the competition and having language skills.

Follow SCILT on social media for updates, information and inspiring resources that we will share. If you'd like to share what you're doing for MTOT this year, contact Angela de Britos or use the #MTOT_SCILT hashtag on Twitter

Pupils from St James Primary tell us why entering the competition in the Mother Tongue category in 2016-17 was important to them.

Listen to two pupils, Maggie and Weronika, who took part in the 2015-16 competition describe their experiences and why they feel that MTOT was beneficial for them.

Here are some comments from 2015-16:

Pupil – “It was breath-taking to see and hear everyone’s poems and how they are all so different”
Pupil – “What a great day! I really enjoyed taking part and meeting lots of nice people”
Parent – “A wonderful event! Great to showcase the talented youngsters. Love languages!”
Teacher – “The proudest moment of my teaching career”
Teacher – “An opportunity for children to let their souls fly!”
Audience member/guest – “Every language is a window to a new world”

See what some of the previous participants, teachers and parents have said about the competition:

MTOT 2014-15 feedback

Guidelines for schools

Register for the competition between 14 September and 2 November 2018 (extended due to October half-term) via the online registration form.

MTOT rules and criteria

Two elements to the competition
- Mother Tongue (for community/heritage languages and languages used at home)
- Other Tongue (for languages young people are learning at school)

Six age categories:

P1-P3
P4-P6
P7-S1
S2-S3
Senior Phase
(Beyond School)

Maximum 10 entries in total per institution (this can be a combination of both MT and OT entries). An ‘in-house’ competition* may help determine the final 10 each institution wishes to submit to the competition.
Poems MUST be original entries created by the young people themselves. They CANNOT be remembered poems or songs due to copyright issues.

Entrants may submit either individually or in groups up to a maximum of four persons. Entries can take the following formats:
- Raps, poems or songs
- Electronically submitted as a typed document (eg Word file)
- Handwritten entries can be accepted if they are legible when scanned and sent electronically
- Short video clip performing the entry*
In the P1-P3 category only, a whole class piece may be entered.
Entrants may wish to use more than one language within the same poem, reflecting the nature of our multilingual society.
Pieces must be accompanied by a commentary* of no more than 250 words written in English by the learner. Entries are judged on the basis of the poem and commentary combined.
Entries and appendices* should be scanned and submitted electronically by a teacher/lecturer who will be the contact for the competition. In the email, please include:
- name of teacher/lecturer
- name of institution
- total number of young people participating in competition within your institution
- total number of entries submitted and names of entrants
- copies of the cover sheets, entries and commentaries
Deadline for entries to reach SCILT is 14 December 2018. Email: scilt@strath.ac.uk

* For full competition guidelines see the Information pack

Guidance for beyond school entrants (students in FE/HE, bilinguals and adult learners)

MTOT guidelines at a glance:

Mother Tongue Other Tongue has two elements
- Mother Tongue (for community/heritage languages and languages used at home) and
- Other Tongue (for languages being learned at college, university or other educational establishment).
Students are to self-register using Eventbrite by Friday 2 November 2018 at the latest.
Pieces MUST be original entries created by the students themselves. They CANNOT be remembered poems or songs due to copyright issues.
Students may produce raps, poems, songs – be creative! They may also choose to work in groups of up to a maximum of four persons.
Students may choose to submit a short video clip* of themselves performing their piece.
Students may wish to use more than one language within the same piece, reflecting the nature of our multilingual society.
Pieces must be accompanied by a commentary of no more than 250 words written in English by the student. Entries are judged on the basis of the poem and commentary combined. Entrants should write enough in the English commentary* to allow them to develop their thoughts, feelings and ideas about their poem.
Pieces should be scanned and submitted electronically to the designated FE/HE lecturer at your institution.
There is a maximum number of 10 final entries in total per institution (for example, 4 MT entries and 6 OT entries). SCILT partners at each FE/HE institution taking part will hold an ‘in-house’ competition* to celebrate all students’ efforts and to determine which 10 they will actually submit to SCILT.
Each entry must be accompanied by the relevant cover sheet (Appendix A*). Entries received without a cover sheet cannot be judged.
Deadline for entries to reach your university/college coordinator is 3 December 2018.

* For full competition guidelines see the Information pack

MTOT blog

The 'Creative Bag of Tricks' series on the MTOT blog provides a number of suggested poetry activities for the classroom. This is now an archived resource, but teachers may still find the materials useful.

Poetry resources

We have produced a number of resources and collated links to various websites to help teachers prepare their pupils for the competition.

These cover a selection of poetry styles and techniques as well as examples of foreign language poems and themed poetry.

There is also a link to National Poetry Day resources to help schools incorporate this event into their competition preparation.

Examples of Mother Tongue Other Tongue poetry

The above presentation contains a collection of entries to the competition in Glasgow during 2014 and the competition run by Routes into Languages/Manchester Metropolitan University in 2015.

Mother Tongue winning poetry examples

Through the links below you can access the MTOT anthologies containing winning poems.

Information pack 2018-19

To help guide teachers and FE/HE students wishing to take part in the competition the pack expands on the categories, criteria and rules, providing additional information around entry submissions. The pack also contains relevant submission and consent forms which should be completed as appropriate during the competition.