Translanguaging in linguistically diverse classrooms: theory to practice

Abstract

A new model for second-language learning, translanguaging, is emerging in recent years as an antithesis to the immersion model of language education. Translanguaging views language as a system and encourages the use of all of students' languages and language learning resources in the classroom. Translanguaging stands in stark contrast to the language-separation underpinning of the immersion model of language education. While there exists a growing quantity of research on the theoretical foundations of translanguaging, there is a very limited amount of published application of translanguaging principles to curriculum, especially in the linguistically diverse classroom. This project investigates translanguaging inside these classrooms where multiple different languages are spoken and where the teacher does not speak the same second language as the students. As an application product, eight translanguaging strategies are provided and applied to a pre-established language arts curriculum, with a specific focus on the linguistically diverse classroom. While the strategies are crafted specifically for fifth- and sixth-grade language arts, they are easily adaptable to fit a wide variety of grade levels and content areas.