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Translanguaging, Sara Vogel, Ofelia García

Publications and Research

Translanguaging is a theoretical lens that offers a different view of bilingualism and multilingualism. The theory posits that rather than possessing two or more autonomous language systems, as has been traditionally thought, bilinguals, multilinguals, and indeed, all users of language, select and deploy particular features from a unitary linguistic repertoire to make meaning and to negotiate particular communicative contexts. Translanguaging also represents an approach to language pedagogy that affirms and leverages students’ diverse and dynamic language practices in teaching and learning.

Journal Of Multilingual Education Research, Volume 7

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This file contains the entire publication of volume 7 of the Journal of Multilingual Education Research.

The First Of The Firsts: Leadership And Legislation For Bilingual Preschools In Illinois, Samina Hadi-Tabassum, Idalia Gutiérrez

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

With the rising numbers of bilingual children, particularly young Latinos, in 2010 Illinois was the first state to pass legislation requiring preschool sites that serve 20 or more emergent bilinguals to offer home language instruction. The purpose of this study was to examine the responses of early childhood directors to the changes required by the 2010 policy through an online survey. The results indicate that the directors do not have a background in bilingual education and are mixed philosophically regarding the benefits of bilingualism—highlighting the silo effect between the discipline of bilingual education and early childhood education. Anxiety and frustration …

Publication Description & Guidelines For Submission

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Description of the Journal of Multilingual Education Research (JMER) and guidelines for submission.

Notes On Contributing Authors

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Contributing authors for this volume.

Position Statement On Bilingual Education In Early Childhood/Preschool Programs, New York State Association For Bilingual Education

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

The main goal of the New York State Association for Bilingual Education (NYSABE) is to ensure equitable access to all educational opportunities for English language learners (ELLs)/bilingual students in New York State. To this end, NYSABE affirms its commitment to Bilingual Early Childhood/Preschool programs for all ELLs/bilingual learners that underscore the academic, socio-emotional, and language needs of these students by building upon the rich linguistic and cultural experiences that they bring from their homes and communities.

Rethinking Preschool Education Through Bilingual Universal Pre-Kindergarten: Opportunities And Challenges, Zoila Morell

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Historically, little was known about the services and experiences that young children have before they enter school in the United States. In fact, there was no unifying system that captures the early experiences of children across the country during the preschool years that might bridge early care programs with early education; much of what is known relates to utilization rates for federally funded programs such as Head Start and Early Head Start or state funded subsidies for childcare (Early Childhood Data Collaborative, 2011).

Translanguaging Practices For Educational Equity: Moments In A Bilingual Middle School Classroom, Luz Y. Herrera

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs in New York City largely follow a 50-50 model: half of the instruction is in English while the other half is in another target language. In NYC, as well as the rest of the country, these programs are typically English-Spanish due to the large Spanish-speaking population in the U.S. Bilingual programs also tend to strictly separate languages and often insist that teachers and students only use the designated language according to the school or district’s particular language allocation policy.

This qualitative case study challenges the strict separatist language model of some dual language bilingual …

Escribiendo Para Desahogarme: Release And Resistance In A Middle School Bilingual Writing Workshop, Carla Espana

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines a teacher’s language ideologies, their impact on curriculum modifications and bilingual Latinx middle schoolers’ storytelling, to understand how a bilingual pedagogy builds on their cultural and linguistic resources. This qualitative study was conducted in a sixth grade writing workshop class in New York City as the focus teacher taught the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Personal Narrative Unit of Study. The first two findings center on the factors that influence a teacher’s stance on language practices and bilingual pedagogy, and how these contributed to curriculum modifications that included using students’ full linguistic and cultural repertoires, integrating …

Understanding How Emergent Bilinguals Bridge Belonging And Languages In Dual Language Immersion Settings, Marialuisa Di Stefano

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to understand how young children bridge belonging and language in a dual language immersion (DLI) setting. I developed a 10-week ethnographic study in a Spanish-English third-grade class in the Northeast of the U.S. where data was collected in the form of field notes, interviews, and artifacts. Here I explored the way language instruction and student participation influenced the development of the teacher and students’ multiple identities. The findings of this study suggest that emergent bilinguals’ identity development derives from the process built through multiple dialogic classroom instruction and practices. The products of this process …

Spiral Of Decline Or “Beacon Of Hope:” Stories Of School Choice In A Dual Language School, Timothy Pearson, Jennifer R. Wolgemuth, Soria Elizabeth Colomer

Jennifer Wolgemuth

Public schools in some areas of the U.S. are as segregated as they were prior to court-ordered busing, in part due to school choice policies that appear to exacerbate extant segregation. In particular, Latina/o students are increasingly isolated in schools characterized as being in cycles of decline. Our case study of one such school is based on a reanalysis of interview, focus group, and survey data from three research and evaluation projects. We constructed accounts of parents’ decisions to leave and remain at Martinez Elementary, a segregated dual language school experiencing increases in Latina/o and low socio-economic student enrollment and …

Understanding The Level Of Achievement Bilingual Education Fosters In Students, Erica Mallett

Master's Theses

Traditional approaches to examining the effectiveness of bilingual programs typically compare them to monolingual programs and rarely discuss the meaning and complexity of the notion of achievement therein. A vertical case study framework is used to examine this local phenomenon at a bilingual elementary school in Chicago, Illinois across local, national, and global contexts. This vertical case study aims to answer the question; how does a bilingual program define the notion of achievement and work to facilitate that achievement for students? To do this, I conducted interviews and analyzed policy documents to examine how achievement is defined in bilingual education …

Educators’ Beliefs About Appropriate Pedagogical Models For Spanish-Speaking Ells Who Differ In Home-Language And English-Language Literacy Abilities, Audrey Figueroa Murphy, Bruce Torff, David Sessions

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

Survey research (n = 366) examined educators’ beliefs about the efficacy of five pedagogical models (English as a second language (ESL) self-contained, ESL push-in, ESL pullout, bilingual, and dual language) for English language learners who differ in English literacy proficiency and home-language abilities (delimited to Spanish in this research). Dual language was preferred when students have high English proficiency; this effect was extremely strong for students who are also proficient in Spanish, and moderate when students’ Spanish skills are low. Bilingual education was moderately favored when English is low and Spanish is high. ESL self-contained was moderately favored when students …

Bilingual Education Around The World: Practices And Perspectives At An Indonesian School, Rachel A. Rébert

Graduate Education Student Scholarship

Immersion programs are growing in popularity for their potential to promote second language development along with academic content instruction. While bilingual education can offer many benefits, it also comes with many challenges for effective implementation often resulting in students who lack high proficiency and communicative competence in one of the school languages. This research employed a case-study approach to explore issues of bilingual education in immersion model classrooms at an Indonesian school. Specifically, this study examined the instructional practices of teachers who are delivering academic content in English with a focus on language use, methods, and balancing content and language …

Math Is More Than Numbers: Beginning Bilingual Teachers’ Mathematics Teaching Practices And Their Opportunities To Learn, Cathery Yeh

Education Faculty Articles and Research

In this article, the author provides results from a 3-year, longitudinal study that examined two novice bilingual teachers’ mathematics teaching practices and their professional opportunities to learn to teach. Primary data sources included videotaped mathematics lessons, teacher interviews, and field notes of their teacher preparation methods courses. Findings revealed that the teachers were oriented toward differing views of learning that shaped how they organized students’ learning of language and mathematics during classroom instruction. While both teachers used similar teaching strategies to support students’ development of mathematics specific literacies, there were variances in how the learners were positioned within the classroom …

Translanguaging: Definitions, Implications, And Further Needs In Burgeoning Inquiry, Luis E. Poza

Faculty Publications

The term translanguaging has appeared with growing frequency in research about the education of linguistic minority students. Amid increasing application of the term, concern emerges regarding the consistency of its definitions and characterizations, specifically with respect to the term’s social justice implications, which risk dilution. Early instances (García, 2007, 2009a) position the term as both a pedagogical strategy for supporting multilingual learners and a critique of existing conceptualizations of language and bilingualism that have historically marginalized particular speech communities. In this review of recent literature, I analyze 53 texts published between 1996 and 2014 for their definitions, exemplifications, and attributed …

Filipino Parents’ Opinions About Bilingualism And Bilingual Education Programs: Does Information Affect Support?, Francisco Ramos

Franciso Ramos

Seventy-eight Filipino parents were surveyed on their opinions about bilingualism, the underlying principles of bilingual education, and placement of students in instructional programs that include a native language component. Fifty-two parents were in the comparison group, and twenty-six parents were in the experimental group. Parents in the experimental group received a phone call during which the rationale and objectives of bilingual programs were explained to them. Support for the underlying principles of bilingual education was stronger among the parents in the group. A large number of the parents had never received any information about programs that included a native language …

Promoting Bilingualism In School In Two Different Contexts: The English-Spanish Bilingual Programs In The United States, Francisco Ramos

Franciso Ramos

Education authorities in several American states and the Andalusian autonomous community have made great efforts to implement programs in their territories bilingual in English and Spanish in order to improve the language proficiency of students in both languages. American programs were first established in the early 60s Andalusians, meanwhile, they were recently created. This article briefly describes the theoretical foundation, goals, origin and distribution of languages in the programs. The article concludes with a summary of studies conducted in the United States on different aspects of programs that can serve as a guide for those wishing Andalusian scholars to investigate …

Referendums Education In The United States: Reform Or Assimilation?, Francisco Ramos

Franciso Ramos

The antibilingüe movement that is spreading across the United States has become one of the most controversial in the debate on the education of linguistic minorities issues. Ron Unz, the California millionaire who has managed to eliminate bilingual programs in California and Arizona and trying to do the same today in Colorado and Massachusetts, is a clear example of assimilationist movement, which argues that immigrants should give up their languages and vernacular cultures to integrate into American society. This article summarizes the history of bilingualism in the United States, focusing on decisions that have affected the education of minority students, …

Targeted Professional Learning To Implement A Biliteracy Model: A Change Leadership Plan, Nicole M. Robinson

Dissertations

With the achievement gap for students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and their non-LEP peers widening rather than closing in Brighton School District 32 (pseudonyms are used throughout this change plan), it became clear that a change of the bilingual program model was necessary. This change plan examines the need for change in the current traditional Transitional Bilingual Education program to an extended Developmental Bilingual Education model with an emphasis on teaching for biliteracy. Because altering the bilingual program model requires a significant change in teaching practices and beliefs, this plan focuses on implementing a targeted professional learning plan to …

Building On The Cultural And Linguistic Capital Of English Learner (El) Students, Kathryn Brooks, Katya Karathanos

Kathryn Brooks

...While our nation has a long history of competing ideologies and political controversies related to English immersion (in which the primary language of instruction is English) programs versus bilingual education, scholars contend that these two educational approaches need not be conceptualized as dichotomous. Rather, when educators consider what approaches and strategies will provide the best opportunities for particular students to learn in particular contexts, they must bear in mind that for EL students, their native languages and cultures are key resources to draw upon for teaching both content and language (Lucas & Katz, 1994). They must also think about how …

More Than Meets The Eye: Latino Students In A Two-Way Immersion Program And Stereotype Threat, Edgar Ubaldino Solares Vega

Dissertations and Theses

Figures from the 2010 Census indicate that there are 50.5 million Latinos (16% of the total population) living in the United States (US) today. From 2000 to 2010, the Latino population experienced a very rapid growth rate of 43%, which accounted for over half the total population growth. More and more Latino students are entering our public schools and face the reality that 62 years after the Brown V. Board of Education ruling to integrate schools and equalize educational opportunities, schools are more racially and economically segregated and more unequal than they were more than half a century ago. As …

Creating Curriculum Cartographers To Instruct English Language Learners And Support Heritage Languages, Christopher Kaiser

Master's Projects and Capstones

Students learning English as a second language are using the ESL teacher’s curriculum and instruction as their primary means for becoming privileged bilinguals. However, teachers are being provided textbooks with little direction as to how to build an inclusive curriculum plan that supports their English language learners in meeting their goals. As ELLs, students’ goals include reaching a certain level of proficiency in English, but more importantly, they also aim to maintain an equivalent proficiency in their primary languages as they strive for bilingualism. Teachers are often unwilling or unable to incorporate ELLs into their class curriculum, and therefore do …

Separate But Not Equal: Questioning La Separacion De Idiomas Of Dual Language Instruction, Tess Leverenz

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper is separated into two parts: (1) an investigation and analysis of the separation of languages in dual language schools in the United States and (2) a guide for educators in developing translanguaging spaces within a Spanish/English dual language Unit of Study. The first part of this paper looks at the current popular trend of dual language instruction with the notion that bilingual programs are implemented to serve the interests of the dominant group in society; in this case, White families of privilege. Along this vein, a clear separation of languages in dual language instruction models is seen as …

Parent Motivation Regarding Dual Language Immersion Programs, Bryan W. Taylor

Education Dissertations and Projects

Some consider the current arrangement of public education to be counterproductive to change and improvement. There are those who call for more parental choice when it comes to education. One way to provide more choice is bilingual education, more specifically, dual language immersion.

This study sought to determine if dual language immersion programs are viable choice options. This study also investigated and analyzed motivating factors that led parents to enroll their children in dual language immersion programs. This study involved 91 families from three elementary schools in three North Carolina school districts. Participants were surveyed to determine what factors motivated …

Vocabulary And Sentence Structure In Emergent Spanish Reading, Allison Briceño

Faculty Publications

Dual language and bilingual education programs are increasing in number and popularity across the country. However, little information is available on how to teach children to read and write in Spanish. This article explores some of the similarities and differences in vocabulary and sentence structure in Spanish and English and considers the resulting implications for teaching emergent Spanish literacy. Understanding linguistic aspects of both languages enables teachers to better support the development of biliteracy and bilingualism.

La Necesidad De Bilingual Education En Los Estados Unidos: Its Benefits For Students, Immigrants, And The American Mindset, With A Practical Focus On Knox County Schools, Jacob W. Wilson

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Bilingual Education: History, Controversies, And The Philosophies That Drive It, Dia Gary

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Education and Professional Studies

The purpose of this literature review is to examine the history of bilingual education. The literature review will investigate the various controversies that surround bilingual education, and the philosophical forces behind bilingual education.

The Role Of The Press In Framing The Bilingual Education Debate: Ten Years After Sheltered Immersion In Massachusetts, Fern L. Johnson, Marlene G. Fine

New England Journal of Public Policy

In 2002 Massachusetts voters passed a voter initiative that changed the way children who are not fluent in English are taught. The initiative overturned the state’s requirement for “transitional bilingual education,” through which children are gradually transitioned, usually over a three-year period, from instruction in their native language to instruction entirely in English. Transitional bilingual education was replaced with “sheltered English immersion,” which places children with little or no English-language fluency in classes where almost all instruction is in English, with the expectation that they will move to regular English-only classrooms after one year.

We used frame analysis to examine …

The Importance Of Maintaining A Heritage Language While Acquiring The Host Language, Anna L. Vallance

Honors College Theses

Few issues are as relevant to modern education as the topic of bilingual students. As the school-age population in the United States becomes increasingly diverse, teachers and other educational professionals need to know how they can best serve their English learners (students who speak a first language other than English). A common question that many educators grapple with is what role a student’s heritage language (native language) ought to play in the classroom. Specifically, how important is it that students maintain their heritage language? By critically reviewing the existing literature relating to the subject, this article strives to answer that …