Preparing Pre-Service Content Area Teachers Through Translanguaging

ABSTRACT

In response to the multilingual and multicultural realities in U.S. classrooms, it is important to prepare all teachers who understand translanguaging and are capable of implementing it across contexts. This exploratory qualitative study investigates how five pre-service content area teachers grappled with translanguaging in a graduate-level teacher education course which was designed from a translanguaging perspective. Data sources include teachers’ written coursework and exit interviews, and class observations. Using an inductive coding approach, we found that our content area teacher candidates developed a dynamic, holistic view to understand bilinguals’ meaning-making practices. They also perceived students’ home languages as a valuable resource that needs to be incorporated in general education classrooms to boost emergent bilinguals’ academic learning and socioemotional well-being. In addition, all five participating teachers employed a variety of translanguaging strategies (e.g., grouping based on home languages and providing translations) in their content area lesson plans.

KEYWORDS:

• Emergent bilinguals
• pre-service content area teachers
• teacher education
• translanguaging

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zhongfeng Tian

Zhongfeng Tian is an Assistant Professor of TESOL/Applied Linguistics in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Theoretically grounded in translanguaging, his research centers on developing equity-oriented pedagogies with pre- and in-service teachers to advance cultural and linguistic pluralism and justice in K-12 urban classrooms and beyond.

Qianqian Zhang-Wu

Qianqian Zhang-Wu is Assistant Professor of English and Director of Multilingual Writing at Northeastern University, USA. Her research focuses on multilingualism, multiliteracies, and TESOL. Zhang-Wu is author of the book Languaging Myths and Realities (Multilingual Matters, 2021). Her work appears in TESOL Quarterly, TESOL Journal, College English, Composition Forum, Journal of Education, Journal of International Students, and Journal of Second Language Writing, among others.