"Teníamos Hilo, Teníamos Tela, y Hacíamos Cosas": Translingual Writing and Making in an Intergenerational Workshop

• In Event: Translanguaging Perspectives on Writing: Learning From Findings Across Contexts

Abstract

Objectives
We explored the making (Vossoughi et al., 2016) and translingual writing (Canagarajah, 2013) practices of bilingual mothers and their children in an intergenerational storytelling workshop, highlighting how such practices supported them in storying the fullness of their lives. Ultimately, we highlight the power of bringing expansive lenses to composition--including those rooted in making practices.

Theoretical Framework
We drew on two perspectives: translingual writing (Canagarajah, 2013) and the maker movement (Halverson & Sheridan, 2014). Translingual writing emphasizes expansive ways of negotiating and expressing meaning through a range of linguistic and semiotic resources. The maker movement refers to “the growing number of people who are engaged in the creative production of artifacts…who find…forums to share their processes and products with others” (Halverson & Sheridan, 2014, p. 496). Although making is often explored in STEM fields and with digital tools (e.g., 3D printing), it has a long history within communities of color, and those who have experienced migration (Vossoughi et al., 2016). We brought translingual writing into conversation with making, positioning writing and language as two of many materials for expression.

Methods and Data Sources
Participants in this qualitative case study included mothers (n=4) and their children (n=13). We generated data through audio-recorded participant observation of workshop sessions (n=7), audio-recorded semi-structured interviews(n=8), and collection of artifacts (n=76). We analyzed data through multiple cycles of qualitative coding (Saldaña, 2015), using descriptive (e.g., “stories with lessons”), process (e.g., “asserting transnational identities”), and in vivo methods (e.g., “you get to do your own stories”) to generate 62 codes. We collapsed the codes into 18 categories, which we connected to literature and theory to generate themes (Ravitch & Riggan, 2016).

Findings
Across workshop sessions, mothers and children composed to recreate memories of the past across borders, share glimpses into the present, and assert bilingual identities that brought the past and present together. We found that mothers “re-made” the Mexico of their childhoods through multimodal composition. For example, Sandra evoked nostalgia for the stars she saw growing up in Guanajuato, using paint and pipecleaners to create striking images of the earth and sky. We also found that mothers and children remixed materials to story present experiences. For instance, Ava (10 years), used photographs, writing, and drawing to remix lyrics and language from digital youth culture. Finally, we found that families asserted bilingual identities through languaging choices. For instance, Iris crafted a code-meshed composition that reflected her bilingualism, explaining, “Bueno, yo soy nativa español, pero en casa realmente cuando hablamos…ya lo mezclamos, no?” [Well, I’m a native Spanish speaker, but at home really when we talk…we mix them, right?].

Significance
This study extends scholarship that articulates connections between writing and making (e.g., Woodard, 2019), bringing a translingual focus to such work. Although making has historically been associated with STEM fields, we contribute to literature that explores making in the humanities and arts (Nichols, 2020), and support expansive understandings of composition--including making--in multilingual literacy learning spaces.

Authors

• Emily Machado, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author

• Grace Cornell Gonzales, University of Washington
  Presenting Author

• Lauren Plitkins, University of Washington
  Presenting Author