Translingual "Safe Houses": Translanguaging as Sites of Agency and Reproduction in One Multilingual Science Classroom

• In Event: Language Hybridity in Diverse Settings

Abstract

This classroom discourse study critically examines the social functions of classroom translanguaging practice. Drawing on classroom interaction data from one U.S. multilingual science classroom, I adopted a discourse analytic approach to examine how translanguaging factored into students’ negotiation of power relations. My analysis showed that students sometimes engaged in translanguaging to (1) transgress classroom norms, (2) subvert teacher authority, (3) perform alternative identities, or (4) socialize with peers for fun or learning. I theorize such translanguaging acts as translingual safe houses (Canagarajah, 2004) for students to bypass the surveillance such as teacher control. However, students also used translanguaging for aggression. This study underscores the importance of examining the complexity of classroom translanguaging as a site of both agency and reproduction.

Author

• Kongji Qin, New York University
  Presenting Author