Content uploaded by Suzanne García
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Suzanne García on Aug 16, 2017
Content may be subject to copyright.
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=hlie20
Download by: [T&F Internal Users], [Ayumi Sakamoto] Date: 15 August 2017, At: 19:06
Journal of Language, Identity & Education
ISSN: 1534-8458 (Print) 1532-7701 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hlie20
Translanguaging Pedagogies for Positive Identities
in Two-Way Dual Language Bilingual Education
Suzanne García-Mateus & Deborah Palmer
To cite this article: Suzanne García-Mateus & Deborah Palmer (2017) Translanguaging
Pedagogies for Positive Identities in Two-Way Dual Language Bilingual Education, Journal of
Language, Identity & Education, 16:4, 245-255, DOI: 10.1080/15348458.2017.1329016
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2017.1329016
Published online: 02 Aug 2017.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 51
View related articles
View Crossmark data
Translanguaging Pedagogies for Positive Identities in Two-Way
Dual Language Bilingual Education
Suzanne García-Mateus
a
and Deborah Palmer
b
a
Southwestern University;
b
University of Colorado
ABSTRACT
Research suggests that identity matters for school success and that language
and identity are powerfully intertwined. A monolingual solitudes understanding
of bilingualism undermines children’s bilingual identities, yet in most bilingual
education classrooms, academic instruction is segregated by language and
childrenareencouragedtoengageinonly one language at a time. Few studies
have explored how a translanguaging pedagogy supports the development of
positive identities when learning through two languages. This article explores
the co-construction of identities of emergent bilingual children whose teacher
embraced dynamic bilingualism. We carried out a close discourse analysis,
drawing on the sociocultural linguistic framework of Bucholtz and Hall of
children’s interactions in a two-way bilingual education classroom. Our data
revealed that translanguaging offered equitable, empowering educational
and language learning opportunities to minoritized, bilingual students. A trans-
languaging pedagogy resulted in greater metalinguistic awareness, while
developing bilingual identities.
KEYWORDS
Bilingualism; identities;
identity construction;
pedagogies; teacher
education; translanguaging;
two-way bilingual education
A growing body of scholarly work demonstrates how identity is co-constructed through linguistic
interactions (Bucholtz & Hall, 2005; Reyes & Vallone, 2007). Research suggests that identity matters
for school success and that language and identity are powerfully intertwined (Lee, Hill-Bonnet, &
Raley, 2011; Norton, 2000; Palmer, 2008; Sayer, 2013). In this article, we explore one teacher’s
flexible approach to language learning and the importance of critical metalinguistic awareness, which
we are defining as a developing awareness of both language structures and the structural inequalities
around language use in society. Emergent bilinguals (EBs) in the context of the two-way dual
language bilingual education (hereafter TWBE) classroom are defined as students who are in the
process of becoming bilingual. That is, in this first grade TWBE classroom the term emergent
bilingual refers to students who come from English-speaking and Spanish-speaking homes and
students who are simultaneous bilinguals, because all are in the process of becoming bilingual and
biliterate while learning academic content. We argue that strictly separating the language of
instruction appears to inhibit both EBs’development of positive identities and their willingness to
take linguistic risks and engage in critical discussions exploring societal issues related to equity.
During the fall of 2011, as part of a larger study (García-Mateus, 2016), The first author,
García-Mateus, collected data for 6 weeks in a 1st-grade classroom at Hillside Elementary (a pseudonym,
as are all other names), a small elementary school with a TWBE program located in the southwestern
United States. With the goal of exploring the potential of critical multicultural children’s literature to
stimulate critical and relevant discussions, García-Mateus collaborated with the classroom teacher to plan
and implement read-aloud lessons during the language arts or social studies instructional blocks. This
analysis will look closely at one lesson that took place during the social studies block. According to the
TWBE model being used, the designated language of instruction for social studies was always Spanish,
CONTACT Suzanne García-Mateus garciams@southwestern.edu P.O. Box 770, Georgetown, TX 78627-0770.
© 2017 Taylor & Francis
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE, IDENTITY & EDUCATION
2017, VOL. 16, NO. 4, 245–255
https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2017.1329016
Downloaded by [T&F Internal Users], [Ayumi Sakamoto] at 19:06 15 August 2017
although the language of the day (which alternated) happened to be English during the recording of this
lesson. We will share a close discourse analysis, drawing on the sociocultural linguistic framework of
Bucholtz and Hall (2005), of an interaction between Ms. Jackson (the teacher), García-Mateus, and two
focal students, Alejandro and Ray. We will explore how the use of translanguaging in instruction
impacted students’critical metalinguistic awareness, as well as their identities.
Literature review
Scholars examining the practice of translanguaging have become increasingly convinced that students
are more likely to experience academic success when presented with the opportunity to engage in this
form of flexible bilingualism (Bartlett & García, 2011; Cahyani, de Courcy, & Barnett, 2016; Durán &
Palmer, 2014; García & Kleyn, 2016; Gort & Sembiante, 2015; Palmer & Martínez, 2013; Palmer,
Martínez, Mateus, & Henderson, 2014; Sayer, 2013; Velasco & Fialais, 2016). Translanguaging appears
to serve as a means to open up spaces to co-construct identity and negotiate meaning. With this
analysis, we seek to contribute to the growing understanding of translanguaging strategies that develop
critical metalinguistic awareness in the TWBE classroom. EB students naturally draw on all their
language practices as they develop in their interactions with others and as they make sense of language
and content. Educators in TWBE contexts are divided in the way they support EBs’language use in the
classroom. While some continue to insist upon language separation (Cloud, Genesee, & Hamayan,
2000; Lindholm-Leary, 2005), others are pushing the field to allow a more flexible form of bilingualism
for instruction in content areas (Palmer et al., 2014; Sayer, 2013).
Traditionally, the “effective features”(Lindholm-Leary, 2005)or“guiding principles”(Howard,
Sugarman, Christian, Lindholm-Leary, & Rogers, 2007) of TWBE programs promote the separation
of languages. This has included monolingual lesson delivery and a language policy to ensure students
are using the instructional language. Dual-language-bilingual-education instruction consistently
directs teachers to use standard registers of each program language, to shelter their instruction
through various means to ensure comprehension and to refrain from mixing languages. Cloud et al.
(2000) explain “although code-switching is normal and can be used to great effect, it should be
avoided in Enrichment Education (i.e., dual language) classrooms as much as possible”(p. 65).
Among the arguments the researchers make are that “clear expectations”for where and when each
program language is used will make things easier for students “in the long term,”and that students
entering school with only one of the program languages will gain more of their second language
when they are asked to engage in it solely without recourse to their first language during lessons
(p. 65). Many dual-language-bilingual-education practitioners and researchers see this language
separation as a necessary measure to ensure students have adequate exposure to the standard
monolingual register of each program language. While there is research supporting language
acquisition benefits of such separated language instruction (or language immersion experiences)
for children who enter TWBE programs as monolinguals (Lindholm-Leary, 2001; Watzinger-Tharp,
Swenson, & Mayne, 2016), in this study we were concerned with the growth of students’critical
metalinguistic and social consciousness, especially related to equity among all children. In the
classroom we studied, there was tremendous variation in children’s bilingualism, and it is growing
clearer that for initial bilinguals and Spanish-dominant working class EBs in a U.S. context, language
separation during academic instruction can be counterproductive (Cervantes-Soon, 2014; Cervantes-
Soon et al., 2017; Fitts, 2006; Lee, Hill-Bonnet, & Gillespie, 2008; Martinez et al., 2014); meanwhile,
explicit centering of bilingual students’vernacular language practices has potential to support the
development of critical metalinguistic consciousness in all students.
Languages are not the only dimension of diversity in a TWBE context; these are intentionally diverse
contexts in many ways. Researchers have explored and documented the challenges teachers face when they
try to integrate ethnically, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse students in TWBE classrooms while
promoting positive academic and bilingual identities (Cervantes-Soon et al., 2017; Fitts, 2006; Palmer, 2009;
Palmer & Martínez, 2013). Others have found that ensuring that students have equal or nearly equal footing
246 GARCÍA-MATEUS AND PALMER
Downloaded by [T&F Internal Users], [Ayumi Sakamoto] at 19:06 15 August 2017
in academic interactions has implications for the kinds of identities that emerge (Bartlett, 2007; Creese &
Blackledge, 2010; García & Bartlett, 2007;Gutierrez,Bien,Selland,&Pierce,2011;McKay&Wong,1996;
Palmer, 2008,2009; Potowski, 2004;Sayer,2013).
García (2009) defines translanguaging as the “multiple discursive practices in which bilinguals
engage in order to make sense of their bilingual worlds”(p. 45). According to García and Li Wei
(2014), translanguaging is “part of a moral and political act that links the production of alternative
meanings to transformative social action”(p. 37). They acknowledge that such a welcoming of
bilingual language practices in classrooms as a tool for transformative social action is controversial,
arguing that the controversy points to a general undervaluing of bilinguals’fluid or vernacular
language practices in school settings. They emphasize the transformational nature of translanguaging
in the context of the United States for the co-construction of positive bilingual identities: A
translanguaging approach to teaching allows a teacher to draw on his or her full linguistic repertoire
and to engage the range of language practices of the children in the classroom. This includes
acceptance of what has been called code-switching, translating, and vernacular forms of languages,
all of which are often devalued in school. Thus, children whose everyday language practices are not
traditionally valued in school find themselves centered in a translanguaging classroom (Durán &
Palmer, 2014; Gort & Sembiante, 2015; Palmer et al., 2014). García and Li Wei (2014) point to the
need for more research exploring the transformative potential that a translanguaging approach to
learning in the classroom can have for all students. There is powerful learning potential both for
students whose everyday vernaculars become acceptable for academic work, and for those who may
enter school with language practices that more closely match standard registers (e.g., monolingual,
middle-class speakers) but learn to value their classmates’language practices as well as their own.
Lee et al. (2008) demonstrated ways in which asking children to behave as if they were “two
monolinguals in one”(p. 76) (i.e., only use one of their languages at a time) limited their use of their
full linguistic repertoire for learning. Findings indicated that children were tagged as either “Spanish”
or “English”speakers in the classroom, which limited their participation in their new language. Bartlett
and García (2011) meanwhile illustrated the power of including student’s full linguistic repertoires to
learn, which translated into an increase in academic success and a positive bilingual identity for
immigrant youth. For example, in 2008, Luperón High School graduated 83.8% of their students, all
Latino EBs, within 4 years. However, the graduation rate of Latinos in New York City that same year
was only 53.4%. One’s language or languages serve as markers to an individual’s identity; when we ask
practitioners and students to speak one language at a time we are at the very least discouraging
students’application of their full linguistic repertoire to challenging academic tasks; potentially we are
also conveying the message that their ways of “doing being bilingual”(Auer, 1984,p.7)—that is,
performing bilingualism—are not acceptable in school spaces. Bakhtin (1998) argues that heteroglossia
is generative—that creative potential lurks within diversity. In line with this, we agree with García and
Li Wei (2014) that translanguaging pedagogies appear to offer tremendous potential for generative,
transformational learning. This study seeks to contribute to our understanding of the transformative
potential of translanguaging pedagogies by exploring strategies that support positive identity develop-
ment and promote critical metalinguistic awareness in the TWBE classroom.
Theoretical framework
This study explores the way co-construction of identity occurs through linguistic interaction. Bucholtz
and Hall (2005)defineidentitybroadlyas“the social positioning of self and other”(p. 586). They
described how the co-construction of identity involves the use of language as a tool individuals use to
produce identity. “Because these tools are put to use in interaction, the process of identity construction
does not reside within the individual but in intersubjective relations”(p. 608). It is through the use of
tools, or linguistic resources, that individuals negotiate the meaning of their social positions and
emerging identities.
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE, IDENTITY & EDUCATION 247
Downloaded by [T&F Internal Users], [Ayumi Sakamoto] at 19:06 15 August 2017
Peirce (1995) explained that some students have a greater investment in becoming bilingual,
depending on various factors, such as home language use and support of Spanish; students’attitudes
towards bilingual programs and Spanish; teachers’positioning of students; and students positioning
within their peer group. According to Peirce (1995) and Potowski (2004), learners will take risks in
their use of language and other semiotic resources to position and reposition themselves and each
other depending on how invested they are in acquiring a target language.
Peirce (1995) drew on Bourdieu’s(1991) notion of cultural capital as the resources, linguistic
knowledge, and variety that “different classes and groups [of people use] in relation to specific sets of
social forms”(Peirce, 1995, p. 17), where certain social/linguistic forms have a higher exchange value
than others depending on the context. If language, both voiced and gestural, is valued in the same
sense as cultural capital, then it too could be used as a tool, a cultural artifact, to assert one’s position
in any given context. While second language acquisition theorists have traditionally posited second
language learners’motivation, or lack thereof, as central to their process of acquiring an additional
language, Peirce (1995) argued that this conception of investment drives individuals to assert their
interest (or lack thereof) in acquiring a second language. Norton’s conception of investment is
multifaceted. It is essential to the process of acquiring another language, but this belief in investment
also
presupposes that when language learners speak, they are not only exchanging information with target language
speakers, but they are constantly organizing and reorganizing a sense of who they are and how they relate to the
social world. Thus an investment in the target language is also an investment in a learner’s own social identity,
an identity which is constantly changing across time and space. (Peirce, 1995, p. 18)
When language learners speak, they are achieving several goals. On the surface, they are
attempting to exchange information in their second language with target language speakers. At
the same time, they are co-constructing their sense of identity and their positionality within a
certain context.
Through this framing, we examine the ways purposeful translanguaging strategies promote critical
metalinguistic awareness in all students. We will present how a translanguaging pedagogy appeared to
provide a safe space wherein students could draw from their full linguistic repertoires to make sense of
content and thereby potentially dig deeper into a challenging critical discussion regarding language and
societal issues related to equity. The following question guided our analysis: How do children’sand
teachers’linguistic interactions work to co-construct identities during a challenging critical discussion on
issues dealing with language use?
Methods and methodology
Context
Hillside Elementary is located in the southwestern United States. The TWBE model implemented
at Hillside Elementary required that science and social studies were taught in Spanish and math, in
English. Reading and language arts were taught in the student’s“primary”(usually stronger)
language,whichmeantthatduringlanguagearts instruction students were separated into two
language groups. Meanwhile, the program also designated a Language of the Day, depending on
thedayofweek,foruseduringtransitions,specialareas(PE,art,music,etc.),recess,lunch,and
transitions: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were designated Spanish days, while Tuesday and
Thursday were English days. This was intended to validate the use of both English and Spanish as
informal languages by the school community. A unique feature of this TWBE model required that
on many occasions throughout the day, students were asked to work in “bilingual pairs”to
complete academic tasks in which each student in the pair served as the expert in his/her “native”
language. The TWBE program therefore expected students to engage academically and socially in
Spanish and English.
248 GARCÍA-MATEUS AND PALMER
Downloaded by [T&F Internal Users], [Ayumi Sakamoto] at 19:06 15 August 2017
For 6 weeks García-Mateus and the classroom teacher, Ms. Jackson, planned and implemented
read-aloud lessons during the language arts or social studies instructional block that focused on
discussing critical and relevant topics. Among recommended practices for language/content acquisi-
tion in TWBE contexts, teachers are highly encouraged to design instruction for ongoing cooperative
group-work and interaction; in this school’s program model, “bilingual pairs”is meant to accomplish
this (Gomez, Freeman, & Freeman, 2005).
As required by this TWBE model, the language of instruction for social studies was Spanish,
although the language of the day varied during the observations depending on the day of the week
(see description above). It should also be noted that students in this classroom, like Ms. Jackson,
the teacher, used both languages fluidly during each observation. In other words, although Ms.
Jackson was expected, according to the TWBE model, to teach in either Spanish or English during
certain content areas, like the students, she tapped into her linguistic strategies of code-switching
and translating—that is, her translanguaging resources—to communicate with students when
something was not clear. The children in her class varied in their level of Spanish and English
proficiency.
During the fall of 2011, all students had been engaged in implementing process drama (Roser,
Martínez, & Moore, 2015; Rothwell, 2011) during the literacy and social studies block. Together they
read texts but stopped before the resolution at a critical juncture and then played into the text,
meaning that students took on the characters’dilemmas as their own and came up with their own
solutions. The implementation of process drama in the TWBE classroom provided a safe space for
children who came from varying backgrounds to discuss sensitive issues, such as those related to race
and class. This analysis will focus on two of García-Mateus’observations: the first occurred during a
whole-class debrief following process drama group- work, and the second occurred immediately
after a whole-class read-aloud as two students were beginning to engage in the small-group process
drama work. Both observations were during the social studies instructional block.
Participants
The student population at Hillside Elementary consisted of approximately 300 students who were, as
agroup, 66% Latino, 3% African American, and 29% White or mixed race. The population was
approximately balanced in terms of home language or languages, although some of the children
designated as “Spanish speaking”were actually initial bilinguals. There were approximately 60 first-
graders, and they were divided between three first-grade teachers. Here we focus on Ms. Jackson’s
class.
Ms. Jackson grew up in the Rio Grande Valley in a bilingual household. She reported that her
home language practices as a child included constant switching back and forth between Spanish and
English, although she was English-dominant and schooled entirely in English. Ms. Jackson explained
that she began formal study of Spanish when she went to college and decided to become a bilingual
teacher; in fact, it was not really until then that she began to see herself as bilingual. Thus, Ms.
Jackson had a natural inclination to use Spanish and English fluidly when she spoke with other
bilinguals.
The study in this classroom actually included seven focal students. For the purposes of this article,
we will focus on two students: Alejandro and Ray. These two students were working together in a
bilingual pair during the interactions that we analyze below. Both students were dominant in their
“native”language, but seemed to be developing metalinguistic awareness during discussions and
interactions about multicultural books.
Alejandro was considered a 2nd-generation Latino immigrant (Rumbaut & Portes, 2001) and was
new to Hillside in 1st grade. During the observations, he would frequently respond in Spanish to
inquiries (in Spanish or English) by his classmates and teacher. Alejandro was more reserved during
whole-group interactions and seemed to speak up more during the reenactment of scenes from
multicultural children’s literature.
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE, IDENTITY & EDUCATION 249
Downloaded by [T&F Internal Users], [Ayumi Sakamoto] at 19:06 15 August 2017
Ray was one of two African-American students and the only African American male participating
in the TWBE program in 1st grade. It was his first year participating in the TWBE program and he
had only been exposed to Spanish for a month when the interactions that are described later
occurred. Ray was dominant in English and also appeared to use African American Vernacular
English (AAVE) in some contexts. Ray was not shy about sharing his thoughts and opinions in class,
although as will be evident he sometimes seemed resistant to attempting Spanish.
Data collection
Between October 6 and December 16, 2011, García-Mateus visited Ms. Jackson’s1st grade classroom
a total of 12 times. She video- and audio-recorded these sessions, wrote detailed field notes, and
carried out interviews with Ms. Jackson and with the focal students. As we said, for this analysis, we
focus on two of the seven focal students, Alejandro and Ray.
To select the transcripts for this article, we drew from a thematic analysis of the entire data set,
purposely selecting transcripts that engaged children across language groups in critical conversations,
which we defined as conversations exploring larger societal issues related to equity. Many transcripts
fit these criteria; we selected two that we judged would illustrate patterns we saw across the data set.
Erickson’s(2006) type one method, which involved a microanalysis of language, was used to closely
analyze selected transcripts and look explicitly at the ways the use of Spanish and English between
Ms. Jackson, García-Mateus, and the focal students transpired to promote critical metalinguistic
awareness.
Researchers’positionality
García-Mateus is a 2nd-generation Mexican immigrant in her early 40s who grew up in a bilingual
home and community in southern California. Formerly a TWBE 1st-grade teacher, she is a
university professor who teaches courses in literacy, the language arts, and reading methods with
an emphasis on students who come from bilingual backgrounds. She is actively involved in her local
and the national community to advocate for equitable dual language bilingual education programs
for minoritized language communities.
Palmer is a White woman in her mid-40s who became bilingual in Spanish as an adult to work more
effectively with the children in her elementary classrooms in California. Formerly a TWBE 4th- and
5th-grade teacher, she is a university professor who teaches courses in language and education and
conducts research in bilingual schools and strives to work in solidarity with bilingual and multilingual
communities in their efforts to achieve equity and access to educational opportunity.
Findings
We will discuss the conversations that surrounded two bilingual poems from the children’s picture
book My Name is Jorge on Both Sides of the River (Medina, 1999). The first poem, “My Name is
Jorge,”was one of the early poems in the book (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
ANTSWkDkGfw or https://www.vsra.org/HANDOUTS2010/ELL%201/01%20Medina%20Poem.
pdf). First, Ms. Jackson read, out loud in Spanish, the poem, which is about a young boy named
Jorge who has moved from México to the United States who laments the fact that people in school
now call him “George,”even though his name is really Jorge. Then, children were asked to take on
the roles of Jorge (and his classmates and teacher) and “play”what they would do in his place. The
interaction below between Ms. Jackson and Ray occurred during the whole-class debriefing, after the
children had “played into”the poem. Ms. Jackson and Ray discussed why Jorge’s name might have
been mispronounced as George. (Note. In the following excerpt and the explanation below it, letters
between slash marks, or virgules, (e.g., /H/) indicate vocalization of the English letter sound, while
letters standing alone indicate the stating of the letter’s English name).
250 GARCÍA-MATEUS AND PALMER
Downloaded by [T&F Internal Users], [Ayumi Sakamoto] at 19:06 15 August 2017
Excerpt 1: Developing Metalinguistic Awareness: “It sounds like a /H/.”
(1) Ray: Like, Josué’s name starts with a G [states the English letter name], but it’s /H/ [vocalizes
the English “h”sound].
(2) Ms. Jackson: …with a J.
(3) Ray: …but it has to do with a /H/.
(4) Ms. Jackson: I’m sorry?
(5) Ray: …in Josué’s name. It’s a J in his name, but it sounds like a /H/.
(6) Ms. Jackson: It does sound like an H, right. You’re right.
During the six weeks of data collection Ray was not observed speaking Spanish. It is clear from
this exchange, however, that he was nevertheless developing some metalinguistic awareness about
the differences between Spanish and English. He explained to Ms. Jackson that, like Jorge, his
classmate Josué’s name starts with a J, but that in Spanish the Jmakes the sound of the letter H
in English. Ray makes a mistake and refers to Josue’s name as starting with a G. Ms. Jackson clarifies
and says, “with a J.”Ray counters that “it has to do with a /H/.”Ms. Jackson, a little confused by
Ray’s explanation, asks for clarification: “I’m sorry?”Ray clarifies: The letter Jin Spanish makes the
same sound as the letter Hin English. With this, Ray demonstrates bilingual phonemic awareness.
An important part of developing a translanguaging practice and pedagogy is helping students make
cross-linguistic connections (Palmer et al., 2014). Ray has illustrated, and Ms. Jackson has welcomed,
a developing awareness of phonetics across the languages he is learning; this is one small example of
the potential of translanguaging in a TWBE program.
Ray’s contribution to the conversation about the phonological difference between Spanish and
English letters in the pronunciation of Spanish names provoked the student with the name in
question, Josué, to step in and correct the class; immediately after the above exchange, Josué jumped
in to tell everyone that his name is not “Jozuey”(as pronounced in English), but “Josué”(with a
softer s, i.e., Spanish pronunciation). It could be argued that Ray’s participation in this conversation
may have heightened his critical metalinguistic awareness: He not only engaged with a poem
exploring the differences between Spanish and English pronunciation of names (and how this
mattered to the character in the poem), he now knew that one of his own classmates, Josué,
struggled with a similar issue.
The following transcript occurred right after the read-aloud on a different day. Another poem
later in the same collection titled, T-shirt (https://www.vsra.org/HANDOUTS2010/ELL%201/01%
20Medina%20Poem.pdf) had just been read out loud and students were beginning to “play into”the
poem in pairs and small groups. Alejandro and Ray were assigned to work together, and
García-Mateus was supporting their interaction. In the poem, the teacher, Mrs. Roberts (played by
Alejandro), was asking Jorge (played by Ray) to call her “Mrs. Roberts”instead of “teacher.”The
teacher made this request because “it is a sign of respect,”and added that when Jorge said teacher it
sounded like t-shirt, and she didn’t“want to turn into a t-shirt.”The teacher was insinuating that
Jorge’s English was accented due to the fact that he was a recent immigrant from Mexico and just
learning English. Alejandro and Ray had been assigned their roles from the poem, but they were
invited to change its outcome/direction. In their case, this took a unique turn:
Excerpt 2: Developing Bilingual Identities: “He keep on actin’in Spanish!”
(Note. Translations of Spanish into English are in [brackets], and body language, gestures, or
tones are in parentheses.)
(1) Researcher: Okay, let’s, let’s act.
(2) Ray: He keep on actin’in Spanish!
(3) Researcher: Oh, okay….
(4) Alejandro: Yo no sé inglés. [I don’t know English.]
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE, IDENTITY & EDUCATION 251
Downloaded by [T&F Internal Users], [Ayumi Sakamoto] at 19:06 15 August 2017
(5) Ray: It’s English day.
(6) Researcher: Okay, well, do you understand a little bit of Spanish?
(7) Ray: (shakes head no)
(8) Researcher: Ray, let’s try, let’s just see how it goes, okay? Let’s just try it. Go ahead.
(9) Ray: TeCHER.
(10) Alejandro: No, teacher.
(11) Researcher: What did you….
(12) Alejandro: No, teacher.
(13) Ray: NO, teacher.
(14) Alejandro: No llama ese teacher. [Don’t call me teacher.]
(15) Ray: Okay, teaCHA
(16) Alejandro: No, I said, “t-shirt!”
(17) Researcher: ¿Qué quieres que diga entonces? [What would you like him to say?]
(18) Alejandro: Maestra. Yo soy maestra, yo. [I am teacher, me.]
(19) Researcher: OH, he wants you to call him maestra [teacher.] Okay?
(20) Ray: Ummm, I can’t do that. I don’t know how …
In the 20 turns of talk above, Alejandro spoke in English, Spanish, and both (turn 14). Ray used a
standard register of English, included some features of AAVE, and shook his head. The researcher
also spoke in English, Spanish, and both. There were many kinds of linguistic resources at play. In
general, interactions between people have this level of complexity, especially in a TWBE classroom
where children are intentionally linguistically diverse and becoming bilingual is a primary focus and
goal.
While most children playing Jorge around the room finished their reenactment by asking the
teacher to call them Jorge rather than George, just the way Jorge in the poem did, Alejandro (playing
the teacher) added a twist: he asked Ray, playing Jorge, to call him maestra (instead of teacher in
English). In Mexican school contexts, the use of this title is a sign of respect; a teacher would expect
to be called maestro/a. Perhaps being placed in the powerful role of a classroom teacher who was
correcting a student gave Alejandro the agency or confidence to change the storyline to address his
concerns as a Spanish-dominant student learning English; essentially, he pushed his partner, an
English-dominant student, to speak Spanish (which was the language of instruction for social studies
lessons) and to follow the Mexican cultural norm.
Alejandro, in this example, was more than merely code-switching, or translating, or reading/
writing across languages; he was engaging academically, drawing across his linguistic and cultural
resources with intention; he was translanguaging. Ms. Jackson made this possible for him by reading
a bilingual poem with her students that pushed them to think about the power of naming someone,
specifically, and about different countries’cultural norms for naming teachers and, then, by placing
children in positions of power to act out the scenes. Essentially, Ms. Jackson gave Alejandro
permission to demand that the “teacher”in the poem be called by the respected Mexican title:
maestra.
Ray, meanwhile, asserted his identity as an English speaker by refusing to engage with Alejandro
in Spanish on an “English day,”even at the request of a participating adult. To be clear, although this
was an “English day,”the language of instruction for this social studies lesson (and all social studies)
was expected to be Spanish; furthermore, Ms. Jackson was a flexible bilingual who tended to draw
upon her own bilingual repertoire regardless of the constraints imposed by the TWBE model. Thus,
in a sense, both children were right—Spanish or English appeared to be acceptable in this moment,
depending upon interpretation. Certainly, in his first month in the TWBE program, Ray’s reticence
to speak in this brand-new language was completely understandable and expected. (He may not even
have yet fully understood that Spanish was expected during social studies.) However, this did not
take away from the identity implications of his insistence on sticking to English. Quite the contrary,
Ray’s assertion of his monolingualism was a key part of the identity work going on in this interaction
252 GARCÍA-MATEUS AND PALMER
Downloaded by [T&F Internal Users], [Ayumi Sakamoto] at 19:06 15 August 2017
(and many interactions in TWBE classrooms); there was still much work to be done to convince this
English speaker that he could or should embrace a bilingual identity. The first step in this process,
we would argue, was the very fact that Ray got to hear maestra alongside teacher in ways that he
otherwise would not have if Alejandro and Ray had only been given permission to speak in Spanish
(or in English) during the lesson; translanguaging could play a part in supporting Ray’s development
of a bilingual identity.
Finally, it was clear that Ray himself exhibited a complex linguistic repertoire, in that he drew on
home language practices related to AAVE (e.g. “He keep on actin’”) to assert his own identity in this
interaction. Unfortunately, neither the teacher nor the researcher brought Ray’s multilingual com-
petencies to the fore in this moment. This would have been another example of a translanguaging
pedagogy, this time to benefit everyone by drawing on the unique linguistic strengths of the small
minority of participants in this classroom whose home language repertoires included features that
are said to be AAVE. This warrants further attention, as the presence of African American students
in TWBE classrooms is definitely under-examined (Palmer, 2010).
Conclusion
By opening a space where Ray and Alejandro could leverage their full linguistic repertoires to
construct meaning around critical bilingual literature, Ms. Jackson and the researcher were working
to promote the development of a positive bilingual identity and critical metalinguistic awareness of
the Spanish speaker’s experience in English-dominant spaces. Ms. Jackson opened up a space in her
classroom where young students like Alejandro could resist “the historical and cultural positionings
of English monolingualism or ‘heritage language’bilingualism in the USA”(García & Leiva, 2014,
p. 199). The translanguaging practices in which Alejandro, Ray, García-Mateus, and the teacher
engaged became a part of this process. Translanguaging, therefore, appeared to support the devel-
opment of cross-linguistic awareness for both students, to potentially contribute to constructing
(over a long-term) empowering bilingual identities for both students and to potentially address
language-related social justice issues within the context of critical multicultural stories and real
classroom situations.
We are here reporting only on two very short transcripts of the kinds of discourse happening in
only one classroom involving only two children and two adults. These findings, however, are well-
aligned with others from the larger study in which this analysis was embedded (Martinez, Roser,
Zapata, & Greeter, 2015; Palmer et al., 2014; Roser et al., 2015). Of course, more exploration is
necessary regarding the potential of translanguaging in TWBE spaces, as many issues also arise in
these contexts that we have not fully addressed here. We hope that this study might inspire others to
explore the potential of translanguaging pedagogies to support the development of positive bilingual
identities and critical metalinguistic awareness for students, both “English”dominant and “Spanish”
dominant, who are users of minoritized languages or language varieties.
Notes
1. Both poems have Spanish translations alongside the English.
ORCID
Suzanne García-Mateus http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9220-0637
References
Auer, P. (1984). Bilingual conversation. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Bakhtin, M. K. (1998). The dialogic imagination. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE, IDENTITY & EDUCATION 253
Downloaded by [T&F Internal Users], [Ayumi Sakamoto] at 19:06 15 August 2017
Bartlett, L. (2007). To seem and to feel: Situated identities and literacy practices. Teachers College Record,109(1), 51–69.
Bartlett, L., & García, O. (2011). Additive schooling in subtractive times. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bucholtz, M., & Hall, K. (2005). Identity and interaction: A sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies,7,
585–614. doi:10.1177/1461445605054407
Cahyani, H., de Courcy, M., & Barnett, J. (2016). Teachers’code-switching in bilingual classrooms: Exploring
pedagogical and sociocultural functions. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,1–15.
Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/13670050.2016.1189509
Cervantes-Soon, C. G. (2014). A critical look at dual language immersion in the new Latin@ diaspora. Bilingual
Research Journal,37,64–82. doi:10.1080/15235882.2014.893267
Cervantes-Soon, C. G., Dorner, L., Palmer, D., Heiman, D., Schwerdtfeger, R., & Choi, J. (2017). Combating inequal-
ities in two-way language immersion programs: Toward critical consciousness in bilingual education spaces. Review
of Research in Education, 41(1), 403–427. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X17690120
Cloud, N., Genesee, F., & Hamayan, E. (2000). Dual language instruction: A handbook for enriched education. Boston,
MA: Heinle & Heinle.
Creese, A., & Blackledge, A. (2010). Translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: A pedagogy for learning and
teaching? Modern Language Journal,94, 103–115. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00986.x
Cummins, J. (2008). Teaching for transfer: Challenging the two solitudes assumption in bilingual education.
Encyclopedia of Language and Education,5, 1528–1538. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_116
Durán, L., & Palmer, D. (2014). Pluralist discourses of bilingualism and translanguaging talk in classrooms. Journal of
Early Childhood Literacy,14, 367–388. doi:10.1177/1468798413497386
Erickson, F. (2006). Definition and analysis of data from videotape: Some research procedures and their rationales. In
J. Green, G. Camilli, & P. Elmore (Eds.), Handbook of complementary methods in education research. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Fitts, S. (2006). Reconstructing the status quo: Linguistic interaction in a dual-language school. Bilingual Research
Journal,30, 337–365. doi:10.1080/15235882.2006.10162880
García, O. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century. A global perspective. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
García, O., & Bartlett, L. (2007). A speech community model of bilingual education: Educating Latino newcomers in
the USA. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,10,1–25. doi:10.2167/beb364.0
García, O., & Kleyn, T. (2016). Translanguaging with multilingual students: Learning from classroom moments.
New York, NY: Routledge.
García, O., & Leiva, C. (2014). Theorizing and enacting translanguaging for social justice. In A. Blackledge & A. Creese
(Eds.), Heteroglossia as practice and pedagogy. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
García, O., & Li Wei. (2014). Translanguaging and education. In O. García & Li Wei (Eds.), Translanguaging:
Language, bilingualism and education (pp. 63–77). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
García, O., & Li Wei. (Eds.). (2015). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gomez, L., Freeman, D., & Freeman, Y. (2005). Dual language education: A promising 50–50 model. Bilingual
Research Journal,29, 145–164. doi:10.1080/15235882.2005.10162828
Gort, M., & Sembiante, S. F. (2015). Navigating hybridized language learning spaces through translanguaging pedagogy: Dual
language preschool teachers’languaging practices in support of emergent bilingual children’s performance of academic
discourse. International Multilingual Research Journal,9,7–25. doi:10.1080/19313152.2014.981775
Gutierrez, K. D., Bien, A. C., Selland, M. K., & Pierce, D. M. (2011). Polylingual and polycultural learning ecologies:
Mediating emergent academic literacies for dual language learners. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy,11, 232–261.
doi:10.1177/1468798411399273
Howard, E., Sugarman, J., Christian, D., Lindholm-Leary, K., & Rogers, D. (2007). Guiding principles for dual language
education (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Lee, J. S., Hill-Bonnet, L., & Gillespie, J. (2008). Learning in two languages: Interactional spaces for becoming bilingual
speakers. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,11,75–94. doi:10.2167/beb412.0
Lee, J. S., Hill-Bonnet, L., & Raley, J. (2011). Examining the effects of language brokering on student identities and
learning opportunities in dual immersion classrooms. Journal of Language, Identity and Education,10, 306–326.
doi:10.1080/15348458.2011.614544
Lindholm-Leary, K. (2001). Dual language education. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Lindholm-Leary, K. (2005). Review of research and best practices on effective features of dual language education programs.
Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. Retrieved from http://www.lindholm-leary.com/resources/review_
research.pdf
Martinez, M., Roser, N. L., Zapata, A., & Greeter, E. (2015). Latino children’s literature in picture book format. In E. R.
Clark, B. B. Flores, H. L. Smith, & D. A. Gonzales (Eds.), Multicultural literature for Latino bilingual children: Their
words, their worlds. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Mateus, S. G. (2016). “She was born speaking English and Spanish!”: Co-constructing identities and exploring children’s
bilingual language practices in a two-way immersion program in central Texas (Doctoral dissertation). University of
Texas, Austin, TX.
254 GARCÍA-MATEUS AND PALMER
Downloaded by [T&F Internal Users], [Ayumi Sakamoto] at 19:06 15 August 2017
McKay, S. L., & Wong, S. C. (1996). Multiple discourses, multiple identities: Investment and agency in
second-language learning among Chinese adolescent immigrant students. Harvard Educational Review,66,
577–608. doi:10.17763/haer.66.3.n47r06u264944865
Medina, J. (1999). “My Name is Jorge.”My name is Jorge on both sides of the river (pp. 6–7). Pennsylvania: Wordsong/
Boyds Mills Press.
Medina, J. (1999). My name is Jorge on both sides of the river. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.
Medina, J. (1999). “T-Shirt.”My name is Jorge on both sides of the river (pp. 24–25). Pennsylvania: Wordsong/Boyds
Mills Press.
Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity and education change. Harlow, UK: Longman.
Palmer, D. (2009). Middle-class English speakers in a two-way immersion bilingual classroom: Everybody should be
listening to Jonathan right now. TESOL Quarterly,43, 177–202. doi:10.1002/j.1545-7249.2009.tb00164.x
Palmer, D. (2010). Race, power, and equity in a multiethnic urban elementary school with a dual-language “strand”
program. Anthropology and Education Quarterly,41,94–114. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1492.2010.01069.x
Palmer, D., & Martínez, R. A. (2013). Teacher agency in bilingual spaces: A fresh look at preparing teachers to educate
Latina/o bilingual children. Review of Research in Education,37, 269–297. doi:10.3102/0091732X12463556
Palmer, D. K. (2008). Building and destroying students’‘academic identities’: The power of discourse in a two-way
immersion classroom. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 21(6), 647–667.
Palmer, D. K., Martínez, R. A., Mateus, S. G., & Henderson, K. (2014). Reframing the debate on language separation:
Toward a vision for translanguaging pedagogies in the dual language classroom. The Modern Language Journal,
98(3), 757–772.
Peirce, B. N. (1995). Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly,29(1), 9–31.
Potowski, K. (2004). Student Spanish use and investment in a dual immersion classroom: Implications for second
language acquisition and heritage language maintenance. Modern Language Journal,88,75–101. doi:10.1111/j.0026-
7902.2004.00219.x
Reyes, S. A., & Vallone, T. L. (2007). Toward an expanded understanding of two-way bilingual immersion education:
Constructing identity through a critical additive bilingual/bicultural pedagogy. Multicultural Perspectives,9(3),
3–11. doi:10.1080/15210960701443433
Roser, N., Martínez, M., & Moore, H. C. (2015). Reinvite drama into classroom: Part 2, exploring stories through
process drama. In IRA E-ssentials. International Reading Association.
Rothwell, J. (2011). Bodies and language: Process drama and intercultural language learning in a beginner language
classroom. Research in Drama Education: Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance,16, 575–594. doi:10.1080/
13569783.2011.617106
Rumbaut, R. G., & Portes, A. (2001). Ethnicities: Children of immigrants in America. University of California Press.
Sayer, P. (2013). Translanguaging, TexMex, and bilingual pedagogy: Emergent bilinguals learning through the
vernacular. TESOL Quarterly,47,63–88. doi:10.1002/tesq.53
Velasco, P., & Fialais, V. (2016). Moments of metalinguistic awareness in a kindergarten class: Translanguaging for
simultaneous biliterate development. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,1–15. Advance
online publication. doi:10.1080/13670050.2016.1214104
Watzinger-Tharp, J., Swenson, K., & Mayne, Z. (2016). Academic achievement of students in dual language
immersion. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,1–16. Advance online publication.
doi:10.1080/13670050.2016.1214675
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE, IDENTITY & EDUCATION 255
Downloaded by [T&F Internal Users], [Ayumi Sakamoto] at 19:06 15 August 2017