Enacting Bilingualism: A Case Study of Dual Language Bilingual Education Preschool Co-Teachers' Coordinated Practices During Large-Group Shared Book Readings

• In Event: 29.060 - Biliteracy: Bilingual Children Learning to Read and Write

Abstract

This study examined how a pair of Spanish/English dual language (DL) preschool teachers enacted their bilingualism while working cohesively and simultaneously toward common instructional goals. We drew on classroom video data, field notes, and other relevant artifacts collected weekly during shared readings in one classroom for one academic year documenting interactions in which teachers engaged with each other and students. Guided by a translanguaging framework (García, 2009a, 2009b), findings indicate that teachers drew on their own and each other’s dynamic bilingualism, supporting coordination of instructional targets (e.g., vocabulary and story development) and instructional practices (e.g., translation). Findings have implications for DL program language policy development as the utility of bilingualism for co-teachers and students was highlighted by teachers’ coordinated practices.

Authors

• Ryan W. Pontier, Miami Dade College

• Mileidis Gort, The Ohio State University