Teachers' Beliefs and Responses to Student Translanguaging in Dual-Language Mathematics Classrooms

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding Teacher Beliefs, Evaluation, and Student Learning

Abstract

The recent theoretical debate over the role of translanguaging in dual language programs can be described as moving from prohibition to promotion. At the center of the debate are teachers and their beliefs, which are argued to influence their practice. The present study explored 14 elementary dual language teachers’ beliefs and responses to students’ translanguaging as well as the practice in mathematics across two states and seven different school districts. The study design aimed to broaden understanding of translanguaging in lesser studied contexts. The findings show that the teachers held principally permissive beliefs and uniformly permitted translanguaging. The student translanguaging served primarily social functions. The results suggest a reappraisal of the practices and purposes of translanguaging.

Author

• Jolene Castillo, Denver Public Schools