Teaching English language learners in Alaska: a study of translanguaging choices

Abstract

The number of English Language Learners continues to rise in U.S. schools. However, general classroom teachers are not equipped with English language acquisition methodologies and strategies to teach their increasingly diverse student populations. Because of the deficit views regarding bilingual students, and the monolingual ideologies present in today's public school system, these attitudes and perspectives impact teacher practices in the classroom. They negatively affect student language learning by neglecting to utilize the vast linguistic repertoires bilinguals bring with them to the classroom as resources. They also lead to the over-referral of English language learners for special education services and to teacher burn-out. Being drawn to the concept and utility of translanguaging, I conducted research on my own teaching practices as an English Language Learner Specialist in Alaska. From an autoethnographic stance, I focused on how I encouraged or discouraged translanguaging, what factors impacted my own attitudes and expectations towards translanguaging, and how those attitudes and expectations changed over the course of the action research. This occurred within the context of language moments and critical incidents with my students where I collected field notes, audio files, and reflexive journaling as data instruments. Using constructivist grounded theory for the analytic framework, I developed an informed awareness of my teaching, and how I can utilize translanguaging in the classroom to create meaning, invoke learning, and maximize communication. I found that I encouraged translanguaging with my students for 14 reasons/purposes. I categorized these reasons/purposes into three action-based categories: 1) Demonstrating Unity, 2) Working in Multiple Languages, and 3) Using Good Teaching Practices. The factors that impacted these practices included academic material and time constraint management, teacher/student language proficiencies, student dynamics, and school/classroom climate. Over the course of the study, my own attitudes and expectations towards translanguaging changed from an umbrella term for linguistic practices such as code-switching, code-mixing, and codemeshing to a strategic, purposeful, and intentional process along the language acquisition continuum. This change impacted how I use my languages in the classroom, and how I teach.