Language Policy and Practice in Almost-Bilingual Classrooms

Abstract

This study explores language policies in "almost-bilingual" classrooms, in which most, but not all, students share a home language. Teachers who are bilingual face a dilemma in these settings. Should they draw on shared linguistic expertise to benefit the majority while excluding a few, or should they forego significant benefits for most in the interest of equity? This qualitative study examines the classroom language policies and practices of one English-as-a second-language (ESL) teacher at a majority-Latino high school. Drawing on fieldnotes, interviews, and systematic teacher reflection, the authors identify a collection of multilingual practices across ESL and sheltered content courses: translated texts, "translanguaging from the students up," and concurrent translation. They discuss the benefits and drawbacks of these policies for Spanish speakers and "singletons"-students with no same-language peers-to offer pedagogical and policy insights for meeting the diverse and sometimes-conflicting needs of students in multilingual classrooms.

The Research Trends of Multilingualism in Applied Linguistics and Education (2000–2019): A Bibliometric Analysis

“…For example, numerous studies have explored the bilingual or multilingual policy in various countries and regions such as France [34], Cameroon [35], and the Arabian Peninsula [36]. Other topics in this line of research include bilingualism or multilingualism policy and politics [37,38], bilingual language policy in classrooms [39,40], bilingual language policy in universities [41,42], and bilingual language policy in family [43][44][45].…”

(Re)imagining the Future of Translanguaging Pedagogies in TESOL Through Teacher–Researcher Collaboration

“…In our own experiences, and much like Allard and her colleagues’ studies (2017, 2019), we recognized that translanguaging pedagogies do not always fulfill their transformative aims. As Leah and Ms. Hassan discovered, building a multilingual ecology (García & Menken, 2015) in the classroom and school should be the first priority and very intentional.…”

“…Studies illustrate that strategic use of translanguaging pedagogies may lead to deeper and more complex content and language learning (Allard, Apt, & Sacks, 2019), build metacognitive and metalinguistic awareness (Jiménez et al, 2015), and support students’ identity development (Creese & Blackledge, 2015). Yet, educators and school systems face a number of constraints in implementation of translanguaging pedagogies, such as restrictive language ideologies and policies, curriculum, time, testing, and lack of materials (e.g., Allard et al, 2019; Burton & Rajendram, 2019). Because translanguaging pedagogies are relatively novel and represent a radical departure from monolingual bias in TESOL contexts, we have yet to find sustainable ways to make translanguaging pedagogies norms in our classroom spaces.…”

Stakeholders' attitudes and beliefs towards the bilingual pedagogy of Islamic studies subject in a Malaysian international Islamic school

“…Translanguaging encompasses concepts and methodology of dynamic bilingualism (May, 2017), whereby the learners' L1 is a resource to be used in teaching and learning. Translanguaging allows the flexible use of "codeswitching, co-languaging, and translation" (Allard et al, 2019b). Therefore, in learning Islamic Studies, students' additional languages are beneficial to the learners.…”