How a Second-Grade, Dual Language Teacher Facilitated Border Crossings for Her Mexican Immigrant Students

• In Event: Young Learners and the Promise of Bilingualism

Abstract

This ethnographic study employed border and translanguaging theories to study how a bilingual Latinx teacher facilitated the linguistic and class border crossings of four Mexican immigrant second-graders in a 50-50 dual-language classroom in the U.S. Midwest. Half the students in the classroom were dominant English speakers from middle-class backgrounds, and half were dominant Spanish speakers from working-class backgrounds. Language and class intersected in the classroom, with the English dominant students resistant to speaking Spanish. The teacher drew from her personal and educational experiences to shape her DL instruction, reducing linguistic borders. She facilitated class border crossings by supporting the students’ developing friendships. She conveyed that when the English dominant students disrespected the Spanish language, they disrespected their Spanish-speaking friends.

Authors

• Maria G Lang, Baylor University

• Georgia E. Garcia, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign