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Article published In:
Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts
Vol. 7:3 (2021) ► pp.279–307

Teachers’ perceptions and practices of translanguaging for emergent bilinguals in U.S. multilingual classrooms

| George Mason University
| George Mason University

Building on the framework of translanguaging both as individuals’ flexible language practices and classroom pedagogy, this article reports on a case study that examined perceptions and practices of pedagogical translanguaging among a group of teachers from elementary school classrooms with emergent bilingual learners in a Mid-Atlantic U.S. school district. The analysis shows a range of transformations in the teachers’ perceptions and practices as well as their perceived and structural challenges in implementing pedagogical translanguaging for content-integrated literacy instruction. The findings point towards the complexity of pedagogical translanguaging in superdiverse classrooms and address the need for expanded empirical research on pedagogical translanguaging.

Keywords: pedagogical translanguaging, emergent bilingual learners, superdiverse classroom, monolingual ideologies
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Related literature
    • 2.1Theorization of translanguaging
    • 2.2Translanguaging as classroom pedagogy
  • 3.Research methods
    • 3.1Context and participants
    • 3.2Data collection and analysis
  • 4.Findings
    • 4.1Developing an integrative view of languaging and literacy development
      • 4.1.1Taking up translanguaging stance
      • 4.1.2Spectrum of translanguaging stances
        • ii.Enacting translanguaging pedagogy
      • 4.1.3Preparing instructional resources for classroom translanguaging
      • 4.1.4Facilitating translanguaging interaction with peers and texts
      • 4.1.5Mobilizing multiple modes for embodied learning
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 10 September 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ttmc.00079.kim
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