"I'm Tired of Writing in English, pero yo le gusto Ingles": Children Enacting Agency as Multilingual Writers

• In Event: Roundtable Session 42
  In Roundtable Session: Multilingual Pedagogies: Spaces for Flexible Language Use in Bilingual Settings

Abstract

This qualitative study examines the writing of four language immersion students during their second and third grade years. Data were analyzed using grounded theory (Charmaz, 2010) and methods of discourse and textual analysis (Gee, 2011; Rogers & Mosley, 2014; Kamberelis, 1999; Bazerman, 2003) asking: (1) What kinds of writing do children from different linguistic backgrounds produce over time at their Spanish immersion elementary school? And (2) How do children use translanguaging and other strategies to enact identities as multilingual writers? Findings show that children used different multilingual and multimodal strategies to build confidence and establish agency as writers.

Author

• Angela Layton, University of Missouri - St. Louis