Exploring Perceptions and Practices: Preservice Teachers' Engagement With Translanguaging Pedagogy in Primarily White, English-Dominant Contexts

• In Event: Fostering Equity in Teacher Preparation: Addressing Racial Literacy, Translanguaging Pedagogy, Professional Dispositions, and Trauma-Informed Practices

Abstract

This exploratory qualitative study investigated how pre-service teachers (PSTs) at a predominantly White, English-dominant institution perceived and implemented translanguaging pedagogy with elementary-aged multilingual students (MLs). Participants included four female undergraduate PSTs enrolled in a Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) course. Data collection methods comprised semi-structured interviews, coursework artifacts, and demographic surveys. Thematic analysis revealed four findings: PSTs held positive orientations toward translanguaging, viewed it as a strategy or scaffold, connected translanguaging to both student and teacher comfort, and identified perceived barriers to its implementation. Our findings indicate an overarching methods-centric approach to translanguaging. But to achieve repair and just educational renewal for MLs in U.S. schools, PSTs need to engage with translanguaging beyond its instructional purposes.

Authors

• Irene Izaguirre Post, University of Delaware

• Jonathan M. Kittle, University of Delaware

• Christina M. Budde, University of Delaware

• Ekaterina Bergwall, University of Delaware

• Zhixian Zhuang, University of Delaware