Translanguaging Practices and Perspectives of Four Multilingual Teens

• Published in: Journal of adolescent & adult literacy 2016-05, Vol.59 (6), p.653-663
• Main Authors: Daniel, Shannon M., Pacheco, Mark B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3-Early adolescence; 4-Adolescence; Adolescents; Bilingual students; Code switching; Dialects; Discussion strategies; Educational Research; English as a second language; English as a second language learning; English for speakers of other languages; English Language Learners; English learners; etc; Expressive language; FEATURE ARTICLE; First; First, second, etc., language (L1, L2,etc.); High School Students; Home language; Home language practices; Instructional strategies; Instructional strategies, teaching strategies; Language; language (L1; Language acquisition; Learning strategies; Linguistics; Literacy; Middle School Students; Multilingual instruction; Multilingualism; Oral language; Pedagogy; Qualitative; Reading comprehension; Refugees; second; Second-language learning; Secondary education; Secondary school students; Secondary Schools; Sociocultural; Teachers; teaching strategies; Teenagers
• ISSN: 1081-3004; 1936-2706
• DOI: 10.1002/jaal.500

Increasingly, educational research suggests that translanguaging pedagogies can provide meaningful supports for English language learners. Yet, few studies examine how multilingual teens in English‐dominant settings independently translanguage to make sense of school and achieve their goals. In this study, we review definitions of translanguaging and shed light on the rich translanguaging practices of four transnational, multilingual teens in high school and middle school. Holding the view that pedagogical moves should be developed in response to particular groups of learners, we show teens' agentive use of translanguaging and connect these to implications for practice in secondary schools. Free author podcast