“Murmuration as Translanguaging”: In-Service Teachers’ Visual Metaphors to Conceptualize Varying Language Perspectives

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 1:45 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Translanguaging in Action: Perspectives and Practices of Bi-/Multilingual Educators in Dual Language Settings (Table 5)

Abstract

To advance theoretical understandings of dynamic language practices, TESOL teacher education programs should harness multimodal forms of expression to develop teachers’ multilingual/translanguaging awareness. This qualitative study examined 49 in-service teachers’ (ISTs) visual metaphors to conceptualize three language perspectives (subtractive and additive bilingualism; translanguaging). Using systemic functional linguistics and multimodal frameworks, our findings showcase patterns in ISTs’ conceptualizations, with larger proportions of 1) using one theme to characterize the three perspectives and 2) employing literal, less nuanced representations. A smaller subset used images to metaphorically represent the three perspectives and also presented greater depth in their written descriptions. This study has implications for using multimodal representations in TESOL teacher education to target theoretical gaps foundational to ISTs’ pedagogical practice.

Authors

• Alain Bengochea, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• Sabrina F. Sembiante, Florida Atlantic University

• Tracey West, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• Xin Zhang, University of Nevada - Las Vegas