Translanguaging interventions and the construction of the multilingual self through culturally sustaining pedagogies

ABSTRACT

In this study, we analyse how multilingual students portray themselves, what attitudes do they hold regarding translanguaging pedagogies and how these pedagogies may or not, in reverse, be related to students’ own self-concept as multilingual speakers. The study presents the results of an intervention based on Pedagogical Translanguaging (PT) conducted in a secondary public school with a high rate of students of an immigrant origin. For data collection, a questionnaire was designed combining closed Likert-type questions and open questions, and the materials gathered from the intervention were analysed. The results showed that most of the participants portrayed themselves as multilingual speakers with fluid interactions between their languages but with very specific feelings and functions attached to them. Additionally, most of the participants reported that the intervention was positive in the development of their critical thinking and self-concept. These results challenge the monolingual perspectives on (language) teaching and highlight new challenges in the goal of including more flexible curriculums and immigrant students’ home languages in the classrooms.

KEYWORDS:

• Translanguaging
• culturally sustaining pedagogies
• multilingual education
• minority languages
• immigrant languages

Acknowledgements

The authors are extremely grateful to the principals, assistant principals, and teachers of the school that supported this research. This project would have never been possible without their partnership.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

María Orcasitas-Vicandi belongs to LASLAB (Language and Speech Laboratory) Research Group supported by The Basque Government (IT1426-22) and by the University of the Basque Country (GIU 20/26).