Growing numbers of scholars in composition studies support translingual orientations in their postsecondary writing classrooms. However, translingual orientations are rarely extended to elementary school writers, who are often asked to compose exclusively in Dominant American English. Drawing on theories of translingualism and emergent biliteracy, we use case study methods to examine children’s translingual writing in a highly linguistically diverse second-grade classroom. We pay particular attention to students who had not had formal instruction in languages they tended to use orally, documenting the creative and strategic ways in which they wrote. Among other strategies, students repurposed English sound–symbol correspondences in developmental spelling, composed strings of non-Roman symbols, and remixed multilingual environmental print. They also engaged in translingual writing for a range of purposes, such as expressing pride, connecting with audiences, and indexing identities. Our findings suggest the potential of moving translingual perspectives beyond postsecondary contexts and into elementary classrooms.
Critical conversations can prompt students to explore connections among language, race, and power and can encourage students to write in personally meaningful and transformative ways.
Although growing numbers of children engage in transnational literacy practices in their homes and communities, these practices are rarely invited into the early literacy classroom, where teachers face increasing pressure to standardize instruction. In this qualitative, participatory case study, we examined how one early literacy teacher created space for young children to explore transnationalism within his primary‐level writers’ workshop. Drawing on theories associated with the trans‐ turn in scholarship and using portraiture in analysis, we document how this teacher modified his published literacy curriculum to center students’ translingual and transnational literacy practices. We also describe how three young children took up invitations to compose poetry that explored their transnational identities and experiences, highlighting how explorations of transnationalism enriched their writing. Ultimately, we suggest that early literacy teachers, including those working within the confines of increasingly standardized curricula, can create spaces for children to explore and express the fullness of their lives, including their transnationalism. We conclude with implications of this work for teaching and future research.
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