Abstract
In Reunion Island, the diglossic relationship between French and Creole, incorporated from an early age by Reunionese children, often leads to a non-harmonious bilingualism that results in monolingual literacy practices. In this uncomfortable sociolinguistic situation, the oral poetry workshops we conducted with students demonstrate that a negotiation between languages allows for intercultural translation and thus the development of plurilingual skills. At the same time, this mediation makes possible a biographisation that favours the emergence of a language of one's own that is prevented by the school institution and of narrative capacities acquired during language socialisation. Often linked to a familiar genre of discourse, the actualization of this knowledge associated with rhythmic work then directs the performances towards the development of a proper style, in which the musical dimension of the language is felt.