Emergent Bilingual Children's Multimodal Practices: Supporting Varying Purposes of Show-and-Tell

• In Event: Emergent Bilinguals' Meaning-Making Across Languages and Modalities

Abstract

This study uses a critical multimodal lens to investigate how emergent bilingual (EB) preschoolers employ diverse bodies of knowledge and modalities to realize their communicative purposes during Show-and-Tell presentations. Video data of Show-and-Tell activity in two bilingual preschool classrooms were analyzed for the actional, verbal, and visual modes used by children as well as for features of their transmodal repertoire. Analyses reveal varying patterns in EB children’s employment of multimodal resources, including translanguaging practices, across presentation types. Findings have implications for ways that early childhood teachers can promote and scaffold students’ engagement with the discourses of schooling in Show-and-Tell and related literacy activities.

Authors

• Sabrina Francesca Sembiante, Florida Atlantic University

• Alain Bengochea, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• Mileidis Gort, University of Colorado - Boulder