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Fostering a Translanguaging Pedagogy within a Blended Learning Environment

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Fostering a Translanguaging Pedagogy within a Blended Learning Environment

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Image © 2020 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.

Used with permission.
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Seo-yoon, an early elementary learner in the EAL program, connects both online and in-person within a blended learning model with her multilingual classmates. As she gets ready to write a personal narrative her teacher considers how to help her access the instructions. Using a translation app, her teacher translates the writing prompt to Korean to ensure Seo-yoon understands the task. Seo-yoon then sketches her ideas, labelling the sketches in English, and writing the body of the piece in Korean. Her teacher has the final piece translated into English and scores the work based on content knowledge, rather than English language proficiency.
What is translanguaging?
Translanguaging is the adaptable way in which multilingual people use their languages to communicate. It is the action and practice of using a person's full linguistic repertoire to construct meaning. Translanguaging acknowledges that languages are interdependent and interchangeable; challenging the antiquated idea that multilingual learners have separate language systems which do not impact each other. This practice supports the intentional use of one language to leverage the acquisition of another language(s).

The use of translanguaging in schools challenges assumptions that are rooted in linguistic inequality and monolingual policies and practices (e.g., English-only policies). Teachers may demonstrate translanguaging pedagogy as instructional strategies for learning, administrators may adhere to this pedagogy to convey a school-wide vision of linguistic inclusion, and multilingual students translanguage to enhance learning.
Why do we use translanguaging strategies?
When we use translanguaging strategies in schools, we communicate support for multilingualism; an asset-based view of the practices of culturally and linguistically diverse populations. When used as a part of instruction, translanguaging conveys the exercise of purposeful planning. When used within assessments, it demonstrates that multilinguals can understand and engage with grade-level content-as they can show their knowledge in their home language.

When a translanguaging pedagogy is adopted in schools, it conveys a belief in developing additive bilingualism/multilingualism, as many of the international schools following the International Baccalaureate programmes strongly suppor t. When content is taught by incorporating the home language as a resource within instruction, students develop both the language of school and their home language, making rigorous content learning achievable. Translanguaging pedagogy highlights the development of multiple languages and shows respect for and attention to multilingual and multicultural identities; when this is accomplished, these beliefs become the norm, not the exception.

Trauma resulting from a post-COVID environment and the isolation of online or blended learning makes it more crucial than ever for teachers to focus on social and emotional learning. The intentional use of the home language in virtual learning lowers the affective filter of multilingual students and makes learning more accessible. To explore more about how to support the social and emotional needs of your multilingual learners, visit the recent Voices from the Field article by Matt Hajdun and Esther Bettney, Build social-emotional support and maintain community.
How might we support a translanguaging pedagogy in our schools?
At the American School of Bombay (ASB), translanguaging beliefs and strategies are embedded throughout the curriculum and the culture. Students are encouraged to use their home language to engage with and process content. For example, in an online Jamboard activity, instructions were provided visually in multiple languages. Through the chat function or virtual breakout rooms, students with the same home language can talk about their ideas in their home language, before sharing with the class in English.

Students in the earlier stages of language development can use their home language during online/in-person assessments. As students submit work in their home language, community interpreters help teachers translate student work. This helps teachers to understand whether or not a student understands grade-level content in any language, not only in English.

ASB models translanguaging in parent outreach, as well. For example, translation is available for both in-person and virtual school presentations to provide access points for multilingual families, as shown in this slideshow. Schoolwide surveys show families are actively engaging with these translanguaging tools.
How might we practice translanguaging strategies to enhance learning?
Create school and classroom environments that value and represent diverse cultures and languages

Multilingual and culturally diverse resources (texts, anchor charts, labels, multilingual word walls/word banks, journals, signs, greetings, songs, etc.)

Involve parents in sharing stories, traditions, and words/phrases in home languages through videos and joining online classrooms

Encourage families to discuss subject/concepts learned in school (e.g. units of inquiry) in their home language

Adopting an assets-based approach by getting to know your students' linguistic and cultural strengths through student portraits and activities that highlight their multicultural and multilingual identities

Use technology tools to encourage translanguaging practices for both receptive and expressive use

Use online translators (Google Translate, Microsoft Translator and Immersive Reader, iTranslate, wordreference.com, etc.) to translate key vocabulary or transcribe text for online lessons and record lessons so students can listen to them again in their language of choice

Use multimedia reading resources in many languages such as Unite for Literacy, International Children's Digital Library, and Global Storybooks Portal so students can read the text first in their home language, then in English

Provide research tools for students, such as EBSCO, Britannica School, and PowerKnowledge, which have translation and audio features

Have students engage in discussions in same-language groupings (such as in breakout rooms) for cooperative learning in their home language.

Resources

A version of this article originally appeared in the WIDA Newsletter.
is at the American School of Bombay. Esther Bettney is with the WIDA International Program.

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Fostering a Translanguaging Pedagogy within a Blended Learning Environment | The International Educator (TIE Online)

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Image © 2020 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. Used with permission._______________________________________________________________________________ Seo-yoon, an early elementary learner in the EAL program, connects both online and in-person within a blended learning model with her multilingual classmates. As she gets ready to write a personal narrative her teacher considers how to help her access the instructions.

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Enhance the use of technology Using ChatGPT

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Enhance the use of technology Using ChatGPT

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ChatGPT helps you get answers, find inspiration, and be more productive.

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All APS elementary, middle, and K-8 schools received Culturally Responsive Classroom Libraries in Fall of 2019. In order to help children feel welcomed and engaged in school, we must show our students that we see and value all aspects of them, including their language and culture. It is our hope that by putting books in front of children in which their cultures or cultures of other students are represented, we can positively impact a student's acceptance of their own race and others' races. These culturally responsive texts are a start to an initiative that we will continue to expand yearly.

The list of books, below, was created by APS departments Language and Cultural Equity (LCE) and Library Services and Instructional Materials (LSIM). In 2017, LCE and LSIM began collaborating on the Multicultural Library, a resource for teachers, librarians, and other APS employees to check out high-quality, engaging, and culturally responsive books. The Multicultural Library then served as a starting point for the creation of the Culturally Responsive Classroom Libraries. LCE and LSIM worked with educators who are members of the African American, Native American, Hispanic, and LGBTQ+ communities to gather input about which titles to include.

We're hoping these books are a start, and that teachers, parents, principals, and members of the community will continue to share thoughts and feedback with us to help inform any future purchases. If you would like to submit feedback about the CRL books, possible future books, or books in general, there's an online form: https://www.aps.edu/libraries/book-recommendations-form

Kindergarten - 2nd Grade

Red: a Crayon's Story

And Tango Makes Three

The Princess and the Warrior

Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress

This is the Rope

A Different Pond

Love

Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos

Danza: Amalia Hernadez and El Ballet

Crown: an Ode to the Fresh Cut

Mae Among the Stars

Fall in Line, Holden

Dreamers

Under My Hijab

Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas

Duke Ellington: the Piano Prince and His Orchestra

Let the Children March

Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History

Adrift at Sea: a Vietnamese Boy's Story of Survival

Lowriders to the Center of the Earth

Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets

All Around Us

Before She Was Harriet

Drum Dream Girl

Yo Soy Muslim

Alma and How She Got Her Name

The Field

Islandborn

Early Chapter

Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel

Lola Levine is Not Mean (Book 1)

Juana and Lucas

Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same

3rd - 5th Grade

Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code

Son Who Returns

In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse

The Birchbark House

Step up to the Plate, Maria Singh

Hurricane Child

They Call Me Guero: a Border Kid's Poems

How Tia Lola Came to Stay

George

Aminas Voice

Stella by Starlight

Long Pitch Home

Inside Out and Back Again

6th - 8th Grade

Listen Slowly

How I Became a Ghost

Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team

Kira Kira

Code Talker

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (8th Grade)

Enrique's Journey

The Red Umbrella

El Deafo

Brown Girl Dreaming

Enchanted Air

Full Cicado Moon

As brave as you

The Distance Between Us

The Only Road

Long Way Down

The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora

Piecing me Together

#Notyourprincess (8th Grade)

Lucky Broken Girl

Pashmina

First Rule of Punk

Booked

Better Nate Than Ever

Crossroads

Bravo! Poems About Amazing Hispanics

Under the Mesquite

Dreamer

One Crazy Summer

Ghost

I Lived on Butterfly Hill

Crossover

Stars Beneath Our Feet

Amal Unbound

The House you Pass on the Way

The Hate U Give (8th Grade)

Before We Were Free

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Culturally Responsive Classroom Libraries Titles

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All APS elementary, middle, and K-8 schools received Culturally Responsive Classroom Libraries in Fall of 2019. In order to help children feel welcomed and engaged in school, we must show our students that we see and value all aspects of them, including their language and culture.

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Professional Development - ECIS Translanguaging Group

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Professional Development - ECIS Translanguaging Group

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Educational Collaborative for International Schools (ECIS)

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TRANSLANGUAGING
09 MARCH (DEPENDING ON TIMEZONE: SEE BELOW FOR THE MEETUP THAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU)
ABOUT THE MLIE MEETUPS
MLIE MeetUps are hosted by the MLIE special interest group every month for an hour. They are free of charge and open to all ECIS member schools. Join us for a short presentation by an expert in the field and then have the opportunity to discuss and share with colleagues from around the world.

ABOUT THIS SESSION
Let's hear how we use translanguaging across language classrooms: main/subject classrooms, host country classrooms, and second language classrooms.
REGISTRATION LINKS
PLEASE NOTE: Timings are listed in London time.
Europe/West Africa/Americas time zones: 09 March 15:00 Middle East/East Africa/Asia/Australasia time zones:

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ECIS | MLIE Meetups: Translanguaging: 09 March OR 14 March - Educational Collaborative for International Schools (ECIS)

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TRANSLANGUAGING 09 MARCH OR 14 MARCH (DEPENDING ON TIMEZONE: SEE BELOW FOR THE MEETUP THAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU) ABOUT THE MLIE MEETUPS MLIE MeetUps are hosted by the MLIE special interest group every month for an hour. They are free of charge and open to all ECIS member schools.

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This video can be used during staff meeting as a provocation to get teachers thinking about developing culturally responsive libraries

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This video can be used during staff meeting as a provocation to get teachers thinking about developing culturally responsive libraries

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Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

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An article about supporting translanguaging:

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An article about supporting translanguaging:

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Using multiple languages in creating texts:

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Using multiple languages in creating texts:

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Professional Development - Teaching and Learning for Intercultural Understanding

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Professional Development - Teaching and Learning for Intercultural Understanding

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DEIJ (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Justice) - Decolonising the Curriculum

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DEIJ (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Justice) - Decolonising the Curriculum