A preliminary development and validation of the Translingual Disposition Questionnaire with Latinx students

Abstract

Current scholarship on translingual pedagogies focus on writer’s translingual strategies and practices. While scholarship explores translingual assessment practices, there is limited quantitative research on how we can measure students’ translingual dispositions. This article examines factor structure of a Translingual Disposition Questionnaire to measure students’ metalinguistic awareness as it relates to translingual dispositions (N = 281). Using Parallel Analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis, three factors that measure translingual dispositions were retained. With the increase of linguistically diverse students in higher education, a translingual dispositions instrument can assist educators in designing linguistically inclusive assignments and assessments that respond to students’ translingual identities, realities, and practices. Additionally, the instrument can also be used to explore how translingual dispositions are linked to students’ sense of belonging in higher education, academic success, self-efficacy, acculturation, and rhetorical writing abilities. Implications for translingual practices and for future research on translingual dispositions are discussed.

Keywords:

• Translingual
• translingual dispositions
• translanguaging
• writing
• Latinx students
• Hispanic students

Acknowledgements

This research study was made possible, partially, due to funds from a small research grant awarded by the Office of Research, Innovation, & Economic Development at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. We would like to express our appreciation to Ms. Norma Denae Dibrell and Ms. Judith Ramirez who assisted in conducting secondary research and developing an initial pilot survey. We also wish to thank the faculty members, students, and scholars who offered feedback on early versions of the survey.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alyssa G. Cavazos

Alyssa G. Cavazos is an Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Studies in the Department of Writing and Language Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework in writing studies. Her pedagogical and scholarly interests include: language difference in the teaching of writing, translingual writing across communities, professional development in higher education, and border rhetorics. She was awarded the University of Texas System 2017 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award and the 2017 UTRGV Excellence Award in Teaching. She is committed to designing linguistically inclusive pedagogies, which can lead to students’ academic success across academic disciplines in higher education.

Mehmet Akif Karaman

Mehmet Akif Karaman is an Associate Professor at the Department of Educational Sciences at the Kilis 7 Aralık University, Turkey. He has practised in psychiatric hospitals, community mental health agencies, school districts, and non-profit organizations. His research interests include achievement motivation, instrument development, cross-cultural studies, and counseling children and adolescents.