ways to teach and collaborate in superdiverse schools

Translanguaging in Diverse Learning ContextsKate Seltzer The CUNY Graduate CenterOctober 8, 2015

Today’s Plan:This presentation will:

Extend existing understandings of translanguaging as pedagogy

Clarify the purposes and benefits of translanguaging in the classroom

Provide examples of translanguaging in action in language learning classrooms

Use a case study of a super diverse school/classroom to illustrate the power & possibilities of translanguaging

Leave you with practical strategies and resources for using translanguaging in your schools and classrooms

Context for today’s presentationA U.S. perspective on a theoretical

approach/pedagogy being taken up internationallyForthcoming book:

Translanguaging Classrooms: Reimagining the Education of Bilingual Students (García, Ibarra-Johnson, & Seltzer)

Research project: CUNY-NYSIEB (New York State Initiative on Emergent

Bilinguals)Translanguaging: A CUNY-NYSIEB Guide for Educators (Celic &

Seltzer, 2012)

The Translanguaging CorrienteRefers to the constant flow of

students’ dynamic bilingualism that runs through classrooms and schools

Changes the static linguistic landscape that is described and defined from monolingual perspectives

Allows bilingual students to integrate language features that are usually kept separate

Translanguaging Classrooms

Students’ Translanguaging PerformancesEnable us to understand students’ ability to use

features of their entire linguistic repertoire, as well as their ability to conform to different sociolinguistic situations Do not separate “proficiency” into countable “languages”

Move away from deficit views of students’ languaging

Look at students’ bilingual performances holistically

Recognize that bilinguals’ “proficiency” shifts depending on the social situation/social context (not linear)

Teacher’s Translanguaging PedagogyTranslanguaging Stance

A philosophy that informs all instruction and assessment of bilingual studentsStudents’ language practices and cultural understandings

include those they bring from home/communities, as well as those they take-up in schools

Students’ families/communities are sources of knowledge and must be involved in the education process.

The classroom is a democratic space where teachers & students co-create knowledge, challenge traditional hierarchies, and work towards social justice

Teacher’s Translanguaging PedagogyTranslanguaging Design

Includes the design of the classroom space, units, lessons, learning activities, assessments, etc.A science teacher organizes students into groups with

different levels of home/new language proficiencyAn English teacher organizes a unit around writers who utilize

multiple languages in their writing A bilingual teacher gives out a text in Spanish and English and

asks students to compare/contrast the lexicon, syntax, morphology, and discourse structure

A TESOL teacher plans assessments that differentiate students’ general linguistic performances from their language specific performances

Teacher’s Translanguaging PedagogyTranslanguaging Shifts

Moment-by-moment decisions that change with the flow of the translanguaging corriente and allow for flexibility in language practices, conversations, activities, and plans In moments of difficulty/misunderstanding, encouraging

students to talk to one another about a new concept, vocabulary word, etc., using their own language practices

Looking up words and phrases using online translation tools or having students do so on their own

Using culturally meaningful metaphors and/or stories that students relate to in order to make sense of new content

Why use translanguaging in instruction?To enable students to engage with and

comprehend complex content and textsTo develop students’ linguistic practices for

academic contexts To make space for students to draw on their

bilingualism and bilingual ways of knowing To support students’ social emotional development

and bilingual identities, and advance social justice

Classroom Examples – As a part of an unit on voting, students created

one election campaign advertisement for their community in their home language, and a different one in the second language. Students presented both, in the second language, to the class.

Classroom Examples – After a poetry study, students chose a poem

written in their home language and created a PowerPoint presentation to teach their classmates about that poem. Students read the poem in their home language, but spoke about and explained it to the class in the second language.

Classroom Examples – Students were paired by shared home

language to complete a chemistry experiment. They were able to discuss the experiment, read the directions, and record their findings in that home language. When it was time to discuss their findings with the class and write up their formal lab report, students did so in the second language.

Translanguaging in diverse contexts

An Elementary School in New York State

The SchoolLocated in northern New York StateEducates approximately 800 students in grades K-5

92% low income 57% emergent bilingual Come from 70 different countries and speak 30 different languages Top languages: Karen, Somali, Burmese, and Nepali

English as a second language programming; no bilingual programming

Has partnerships with community & refugee groups

Enacting a translanguaging stance through design: A school-wide multilingual/multicultural ecology

The Classroom 3rd grade ESL classroom

“Pull-out” group of 10 students

Students: Karen speakers from

Burma/Myanmar Karen – a minoritized

language in Burma Most are refugees/come

from refugee families Teacher: Nicole

English-speaking; does not speak Karen

Born & raised in New York

Why use translanguaging? Little-to-no education in

Karen in students’ rural communities of Burma or in the refugee camps of Thailand, and thus no bilingual program option

Leverages students’ language practices and releases their voices in order to engage them in learning rigorous content & meeting academic standards

Creates a safe, positive space for students adjusting to a new life

Nicole’s Translanguaging StanceBecame a teacher after volunteering with a

refugee organization in her cityAttends Karen cultural and social events

around the city Advocated for an ESL pull-out classroom for

small number of Karen speakers

“Translanguaging is a way to showcase how special [my students] are and what I feel as a person, not just as a teacher. It has given me the support that I

need to do what I want to do with these kids. Before it was like, ‘shh, hush it under the rug, use English only”…[Translanguaging] is a way for me

to showcase who they are, make them feel special, and give me a chance to learn about them.”

Nicole’s Translanguaging DesignUnit: Aesop’s Fables in English & Karen

① Nicole recorded members of the Karen-speaking community & video recorded them reading the fables (6 total) in Karen

② Nicole planned literacy lessons around the use of the 2 versions of the fables• Students read the fable in English with translations of key words

in Karen while practicing literacy skills (i.e.: compare/contrast, sequencing, cause & effect)

• Students listened to the fable in Karen & followed along with the Karen text, picking out the key words already introduced

• Students engaged in literacy activities that extended their understandings of the fables in both English & Karen

Impact of translanguaging in Nicole’s classroom“The most noticeable [differences] were motivation and

engagement…total, 100% attention.” “When I incorporate translanguaging in this way, I notice how

happy students are…they want to understand [the text] because they’re proud [of their language”].

Students’ role: from passive listeners to active teachers and experts When students were held responsible for teaching Nicole new

words in their own language, they rose to the challenge!

Translanguaging Strategies for the Second Language Classroom

Students read in the SL and discuss/analyze what they read in the HL

Assign reading partners that share a HL for mutual assistance

Students do independent reading in multiple languages

Encourage students to read & research for research projects in both languages

Supplement SL readings with HL language readings on the same topic/theme

Allow students to audio record ideas first using both languages, then transfer to writing

Students pre-write in both languages, then publish in the SL

Assign writing partners that share a HL for mutual assistance

Students write first in the HL and then translate that text into the SL

READING WRITING


Assign partners: beginner speakers with intermediate speakers, intermediate speakers with any level, advanced speakers with intermediate

Assign newcomers a buddy to show them around school, answer questions, etc.

Group students so they can use both languages in small group work, then present in the SL

Allow students to discuss lesson/ideas with partner in the HL and SL

Allow students to explain/share ideas using the HL and the SL (another student can translate if you don’t speak language)

Have students interview one another using both the HL and the SL and then share what they learned in the SL

Create a multilingual listening center comprised of fiction and non-fiction texts in the classroom, narratives of community members, and books recorded by students (a favorite book or their own writing)

SPEAKING LISTENING


Create multilingual word walls

Create cognate charts

Utilize multilingual graphic organizers

Provide students with bilingual and/or bilingual picture dictionaries

VOCABULARY COLLABORATIVE WORKStudents can:

Discuss/reflect/negotiate in any language and share out in the SL

Preview in HL and collaborate/create a product in the SL

Listen in the SL and discuss in any language

Research/prepare in a HL and present in the SL

Ideas for moving forward with translanguaging:Read more about it:Available for free online:

Celic, C. & Seltzer, K. (2012). Translanguaging: A CUNY-NYSIEB guide for educators.

Hesson, S., Seltzer, K. & Woodley, H. (2015). Translanguaging in Curriculum and Instruction: A CUNY-NYSIEB guide for educators.

Forthcoming publications:

García, O., Ibarra-Johnson, S., & Seltzer, K. (forthcoming). Translanguaging Classrooms: Reimagining the Education of Bilingual Students.

García, O., Seltzer, K. & Witt, D. (forthcoming). Disrupting linguistic inequalities in US urban classrooms: The role of translanguaging. In The Multilingual Edge of Education.

Ideas for moving forward with translanguaging:Think about small ways you could bring translanguaging into your classrooms, such as:Tell students that their home languages are welcome in

the classroom and are valuable to their learning a second language

Tell students that they can talk to one another in the home language when doing work in the second language

Create a multilingual welcome sign, bulletin board, or other visual in students’ home languages

Learn a few greetings or words of encouragement in students’ home languages

Questions & Answers

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Kate [email protected]

Thank you!