Reimagining Binary Framings of Learning/ers in Two-Way Bilingual Education

• In Event: Cultivating Bi/multilingual Learners' Full Range of Knowledge(s) and Skill(s): The Promise of Translanguaging Spaces

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a researcher-practitioner collaboration aimed at fostering a translanguaging space (Hamman, 2018; Li, 2018) in a second-grade two-way bilingual education (TWBE) classroom. TWBE programs are those that teach content and literacy in “two” languages to “two” groups of students (i.e., majority and minoritized language speakers). These ideational and actual constructions of “two-ness” (Hamman-Ortiz, 2019) have come under scrutiny in recent years, with scholars contesting the framing of bilingualism as “parallel monolingualism” (Heller, 1999) through programmatic language separation and the positioning of TWBE students as (only) one kind of language user (de Jong, 2016; García-Mateus, 2020). Yet, despite these critiques, many TWBE programs around the nation continue to reinforce binary constructions of language and identity.

In an effort to move beyond programmatic binaries, the teacher and researcher in this study (co)designed and (co)implemented a collaborative bilingual identity text project (Cummins, 2001; 2006) in which students composed a bilingual book that collectively represented their bilingual learning experiences. The study is conceptually grounded in translanguaging theory (García, 2009; García & Li, 2014), which understands bilingualism as dynamic activity through which bilingual individuals leverage their holistic linguistic repertoires for meaning making. While research on translanguaging has expanded in recent years, still little is known about pedagogical applications of the theory in TWBE contexts, particularly with a consideration of contextual and ideological factors that shape the design of translanguaging pedagogy. This paper responds to this gap, drawing upon and extending García and colleagues’ (2017) notion of translanguaging stances, designs, and shifts to trace the design shifts and stance shifts that transpired throughout the project.

This project was one component of a larger yearlong ethnographic case study of languaging and identity negotiation in a second grade TWBE classroom. Data sources for the identity text project included video-recorded observations of whole class writing instruction (n=15), audio recordings of student group work (n=40), instructional materials, student writing artifacts, and pre-/post-project interviews with the students and teacher. Data analysis followed a qualitative approach (Miles et al., 2014), with multiple rounds of inductive and deductive coding guided by the conceptual framework (i.e., translanguaging stances, designs, shifts). Comparative data matrices were also generated for instructional design and bilingual ideologies to trace shifts across time.

Findings reveal that the project opened spaces for more dynamic bilingual practices, including cross-linguistic pedagogies and metalinguistic conversation about translating texts. Linguistically heterogeneous student groups, coupled with the authentic goal of creating a bilingual text, also increased peer language scaffolding. Additionally, the project led to a shift in the teacher’s stance on bilingual learning, from a language separation advocate toward embracing a holistic stance on bilingual learning. This last finding is particularly significant, as translanguaging stance is typically viewed as a prerequisite for engaging in translanguaging pedagogies; here, however, it emerged as a result of the teacher’s participation in the project. In sum, the study demonstrates the potential for collaborative translanguaging pedagogy design to create opportunities for reimagining bilingual languaging in TWBE.

Author

• Laura Hamman-Ortiz, University of Northern Colorado