Korean Bilingual Students' Strategic Employment of Translanguaging

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: Translanguaging: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

This qualitative study utilized a heteroglossic perspective to examine the oral translanguaging of three English-dominant, Korean-American first-graders in a Korean heritage language (HL) classroom. The following question was addressed: How, when, and why did the Korean-American students employ oral translanguaging when they communicated in a HL classroom? Discourse analysis documented the form, pattern, and function of the students’ translanguaging. The findings showed that the first graders’ translanguaging was fluid and dynamic, and indicated that they employed their unitary linguistic resources to communicate, make meaning, and share experiences. The students’ translanguaging appeared to increase their participation in the Korean HL class.

Authors

• Chaehyun Lee, Southeastern Oklahoma State University

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