Envisioning a Critical Translanguaging Space: Collaborative Bilingual Identity Texts as Research and Pedagogy

• In Event: 18.039 - Critically Engaged Educational Research: Leveraging Creative and Collaborative Pedagogies for Transformative Change

Abstract

Purpose
There is ongoing debate concerning the extent to which instructional languages should be separated in Two-Way Bilingual Education (TWBE) classrooms. Within the debate, some scholars have begun calling for a ‘middle ground’ approach, recognizing the need for both ‘focused’ (target language emphasized) and ‘flexible’ (dynamic bilingualism emphasized) language spaces (Author, 2018; Sánchez, García, & Solorza, 2018). While this is promising, there are still relatively few resources for educators seeking to adopt dynamic bilingual pedagogies in TWBE. In this paper, I propose collaborative bilingual identity texts (Cummins, 2001, 2006) as one strategy for facilitating a flexible languaging space in TWBE and share findings from a researcher-practitioner partnership in a second-grade classroom that employed this method.

Theoretical Framework
I introduce a theoretical frame for conceptualizing a pedagogy of translanguaging (García, 2009) in TWBE, which I term a "critical translanguaging space" (Author, 2018). The theoretical underpinnings of this concept include Li’s (2011, 2018) notion of Translanguaging Space and conceptualizations of ‘third space’ across language and literacy scholarship (e.g., Anzaldúa, 1987; Bhabha, 1994; Gutiérrez, Baquedano-López & Tejeda, 1999; Gutiérrez, 2008). I also draw from García, Ibarra-Johnson, and Seltzer’s (2017) three-part framework for a translanguaging classroom: (1) an ideological stance on bilingualism, (2) an explicit design for classroom translanguaging, and (3) a willingness to engage in translanguaging shifts.

Methods and Data Sources
The collaborative bilingual identity text project was part of a larger case study of a TWBE second-grade classroom conducted over an academic year, which included 38 in-class participant observations (127 hours). I drew upon synthetic approaches to ethnography and discourse analysis (e.g., Bloome et al., 2005; Wortham & Reyes, 2015) to explore the complex interrelationship among language practices, identities, and ideologies in the classroom. For this paper, I focus on the implementation of the 15-day identity text project. Data sources include video and audio recordings of instruction and group work on the project, interviews with students and the teacher, and written artifacts from the project.

Results
Findings reveal that the collaborative bilingual identity text project opened up spaces for more dynamic bilingual practices, including cross-linguistic pedagogies and metalinguistic conversations about the art of translation. Linguistically heterogeneous student groups, coupled with the authentic goal of creating a bilingual text, also increased peer language scaffolding. The project had a significant impact on the teacher, who began to embrace a more holistic stance on bilingual learning, recognizing the potential to, as she put it, “support one language with the other.” In sum, the project opened up a space for bilingual languaging—not just languaging in a bilingual classroom.

Scholarly Significance
As the debate on language separation in TWBE continues, this study makes an important contribution to research and practice by presenting a strategy for fostering dynamic bilingualism. The study provides needed evidence for a ‘middle ground’ approach to the debate, demonstrating how the intentional design of flexible language spaces supported student learning, while still acknowledging the hegemony of English and the role of ‘protected’ spaces for the minoritized language.

Author

• Laura Hamman-Ortiz, University of Colorado - Boulder