Translanguaging for Critical Literacy: An Expansive, Ecological View of Language

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Aiming to disrupt raciolinguistic ideologies, this symposium articulates and showcases studies that adopt a critical heteroglossic perspective toward translanguaging (TL) pedagogies that focus on critical literacy (CL) and embrace an expansive, ecological, distributed view of language to offer new lenses/dimensions for critical engagements. This symposium features a conceptual paper articulating such an expansive view of critical TL aimed for greater change-enhancing possibilities in additional language classrooms. Three presentations on classroom research will follow, speaking to how such critical TL approaches (e.g., legitimizing whole-body sense making, leveraging non-alphabetic, embodied Indigenous literacies, and creating TikToks for heritage language learners to explore racialized identities) can help challenge coloniality in language and language education in South Africa, Mexico, and U.S.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Semiotics in Education: Signs, Meanings and Multimodality

Chairs

• Sunny Man Chu Lau, Bishop's University

• Zhongfeng Tian, Rutgers University - Newark

Papers

• Critical Literacy and Additional Language Learning: An Expansive View of Translanguaging for Change-Enhancing Possibilities - Sunny Man Chu Lau, Bishop's University; Zhongfeng Tian, Rutgers University - Newark; Angel Mei Yi Lin, Education University of Hong Kong

• Critical Translanguaging to Disrupt the Coloniality of Language in a South African Teacher Education Class - Carolyn McKinney, University of Cape Town

• Literacy Practices of Mexican Indigenous Children - Mario E. Lopez-Gopar, Universityersidad Autonoma Benito Juarez de Oaxaca

• TikToks as Resources for Critical Reflection, Discussion, and Growth: Pursuing Critical Literacies Through Translanguaging Pedagogies in a College Course for "Heritage" Speakers - Josh Prada, Indiana University - Indianapolis

Discussants

• Hilary Janks, University of the Witwatersrand

• Angel Mei Yi Lin, Education University of Hong Kong